Big XII Teaching and Learning Conference: Session VII Description

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6th Annual Big 12 Teaching and Learning Conference

June 13 - 14, 2019 | Austin, Texas

Individual Session Descriptions

The following schedule will be updated until the start of the conference.  Unless otherwise indicated, all events will take place in the Texas Union.


Friday, June 14, 10:15-11:15am: Session 14 (Santa Rita Room)

"Expanding Our Students' Reach into Their Future Careers: How Teaching About Teamwork Gives Students Work Experience"

Brett Robertson (University of Texas at Austin)

Undergraduates want work experience. Unfortunately, there's been a reported disconnect between perception of skills students feel they acquire in the college classroom, and what employers need (Selingo, 2015). This paper details a semester-long assignment in which students experience stages of teamwork (Tuckman, 1965) while working as "consultants" for an external client. This theoretically-driven project uses experiential-instructional methods in which students, in their teams, create a project derived from the consensus of their fellow team members. At the same time, students learn about how teamwork undergirds nearly every possible career path and prepares students for future team experiences.

The assignment: Students are placed into teams of four-to-five of their peers and tasked with creating a "communication deliverable" for an outside client. Starting with creating a "team contract," teams set their own expectations for success, and embody these expectations through various, typical tasks that communication consultants are expected to deliver over the course of a semester. This encompasses the experiential-learning component because students take a hands- on role and lead the final project in a direction of their choice. Along the way, students explore dimensions of teamwork, and thus are introspective of what makes a successful team. They also gain skills needed to be successful outside of the classroom, including understanding how to work with different personality types, decision making ability, conflict management, and the division of labor. Students also gain work experience, thus minimizing the disconnect that students and employers feel about skills needed in the workforce. In this paper, I describe many of these tangible outcomes students have received, and how this project expands students' reach into their future careers and jobs.

"Collaborative Teaching and Learning in UT-Austin's Core Curriculum: Student and Faculty Perspective"

Laura Costello and Hillary Procknow (University of Texas at Austin)

A broad institutional review of data from the past 5 years revealed that there was not enough emphasis placed on students gaining teamwork skills as a part of leadership development at The University of Texas at Austin. UT has now embarked on a 5-year initiative, known as the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), to improve the teaching and assessment of teamwork (or collaborative learning) on campus. The School of Undergraduate Studies (UGS), which manages the core curriculum, is leading the QEP in an effort to promote faculty understanding about best practices for engaging students in teamwork activities and to improve student awareness about the importance of teamwork in connection to leadership skill development. To accomplish this initiative, UGS implements a collaborative, reflective, and iterative assessment process that is driven by faculty and is supported by UT's Center for Teaching and Learning. The session facilitators will briefly present data gathered regarding student and faculty experiences with teamwork. 

"Effect of an Encouraging Email on Undergraduate Students' Motivation to Learn Throughout a Semester"

Lauren Cline, J. Shane Robinson, Sergio Abit, Samantha Blackwell, and Beatrix Haggard (Oklahoma State University)

Limited studies investigate the effect of different modes of rapport-building between faculty and students on students’ motivation to succeed in a course. This study determined the effects of an encouraging pre-course email on undergraduate students’ motivation to learn in three plant and soil science courses and two oral and written agricultural communication courses during the first, eighth, and sixteenth weeks of the semester(N= 630). One-half of the students were randomly selected to receive an encouraging email from their instructor before the first class session (n= 316). Motivation data were collected at three points during the semester using an adapted Course Interest Survey(CIS) administered to all students enrolled in the courses. Results from a two-way ANOVA indicated there was not a statistically significant interaction between the effects of an encouraging email and the week of the semester on students’ motivation (F(8, 1441) = .612, p = .769).However, motivation throughout the semester showed a statistically significant difference between weeks one and week eight for all students (p< .01) and was statistically significant between courses (p< .05). Although receiving an encouraging email prior to the beginning of the class did not have an effect on students’ motivation throughout the semester, future research should assess how other encouraging communication can be utilized best to build rapport and motivate student success. Further investigation to understand the changes in student motivation throughout the semester also may help faculty identify key periods when encouragement is most beneficial to student success.


Friday, June 14, 10:15-11:15am: Session 15 (Quadrangle Room)

"Enhancing and Assessing Teamwork Using Professional Learning Communities"

Peggy Semingson, Andrew M. Clark, Justin T. Dellinger, Nilakshi Veerabathina, and Melanie Mason (The University of Texas at Arlington)

Session Handout 1: PLC Facilitator Preparation and Agenda Checklist

Session Handout 2: Experience of Co-facilitating the PLC Group (2018-19) Focus: Virtual Teamwork Professional Learning Community

As part of UT Arlington's Quality Enhancement Plan, Collaborate UTA, the university reenvisioned, enhanced, and (re)developed faculty Professional Learning Communities to help faculty enhance and assess teamwork in their courses. This collaborative teaching and learning program currently has 23 participants from across the university (double from the first year), and has increased from one face-to-face group to two groups with one solely dedicated to virtual teamwork and innovations in online teaching. Results from the first redeveloped PLC initiative in the form of reflections, surveys, and projects show that both faculty and over 1200 students benefited in different ways. Faculty participating appreciate the opportunity to engage in collaborative learning and to receive resources and support to implement innovative teaching strategies. Students benefit from the innovative experiential learning techniques used by the instructors and gain life lessons in the process. For example, when asked what they learned about teamwork in the course, a student wrote, "I learned how to better understand people's opinions and what they had to say about the issues we were talking about." Another stated, "I learned that if you set up expectations for how you want your team to work, it will be more successful." A third noted, "Learning to speak up and state my own opinion even when I'm not entirely confident. Communication and openness is key in order to fully thrive in a group project." In another large course the D-F-W rates dropped from 27% to 12% when a team model was implemented.


Friday, June 14, 10:15-11:15am: Session 16 (Eastwoods Room)

"Faculty Supporting Student Mental Health: Voices from the Field"

Thea Woodruff, Nina Telang, Bryson Duhon, and Heather Pelletier (University of Texas at Austin)

"Research demonstrates relationships between student mental health and success in college (Eisenberg, Golberstein, & Hunt, 2009; El Ansari & Stock, 2010; Keyes et al., 2012; Renshaw, Eklund, Bolognino, & Adodo, 2016). According to El Ansari and Stock (2010), "in the context of universities or colleges, promoting health and well-being of all members means promoting effective learning" (p. 2). Additionally, other research demonstrates the importance of student "non-academic" factors that impact academic outcomes (e.g., self-confidence, goals, social support, commitment; Lotkowski, Robbins, & Noeth, 2004). Given these findings, it makes sense for postsecondary institutions to design programs that promote student wellness and support not only academic but also social and emotional growth.

As university and college administrators, staff, and faculty have begun experimenting with supporting student wellness across entire campus communities, the number of college students seeking help for mental health problems such as anxiety and depression continues to rise (Beauchemin, 2018; Locke, Bieschke, Castonguay, & Hayes, 2012; Locke, Stauffer, Scofield, & Rallis, 2017). For example, Locke et al. (2017) report a counseling center utilization rate increase of 5 to 6 times the rate of postsecondary institutional enrollment. At our university, the demand for mental-health services at the Counseling and Mental Health Center (CMHC) increased 77 percent from academic year 2009–2010 to academic year 2017-18, while the total number of students at The University of Texas at Austin increased by less than 1 percent (CMHC Fact Sheet, 2017-18; The University of Texas at Austin, 2018).

In this session, participants will learn about UT Austin CMHC's initiative to build collaborative relationships with faculty to support student mental health in classrooms and other learning environments. They will learn how UT faculty have begun to create a learning community that decreases stressors, improves learning, builds student resilience, and helps students use specific wellness strategies and resources. Four faculty members participating in the initiative will provide specific examples of strategies and techniques they have incorporated to support student well-being.

Registration

Registration for the conference opens in late January 2019.


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