We are pleased to announce the first annual Winter Faculty Convocation. This is an opportunity for all BMCC faculty to gather to discuss teaching and learning in support of student success.
Faculty Convocation will take place on Friday, January 27, 2017 at 199 Chambers Street, starting with an all-faculty meeting at 10 a.m. in Theater One. We will have the opportunity to talk about what we mean by student success and how we create the conditions under which all students can learn. We also will hear from BMCC’s 2016 Distinguished Teaching Award winners John Beaumont, Chamutal Noimann, and Nicholas Marino.
From 1:00 pm. to 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon, faculty-led interactive sessions on high impact teaching practices will be held around the Chambers Street building. Topics will include service learning, faculty mentored research, critical and creative thinking, flipped classrooms, facilitating difficult dialogues, and more.
All faculty are invited and welcome. Refreshments will be served, including a light lunch.
Please go to https://bmccfacultyconvocation.eventbrite.com to register for the event and give us an indication of which break-out topics are of most interest to you.
We look forward to seeing you in January for what we hope will become an important BMCC tradition.
Confirmed Afternoon Sessions
Online Learning: Adapting Teaching Approaches to Address the Challenges and Enjoy the Benefits of the Online Medium
Facilitators: Claire Wladis and Julie Cassidy
Session type: Round table discussion
Participants will share specific goals or challenges that they would like to address in their online teaching. Structured small group and whole group discussion will follow, with brainstorming to address each participant’s needs. Toward the end of the session, participants will begin work on a concrete plan to address their initial concerns regarding online learning. Participants will get the most out of this session if they come prepared with one or two specific challenges or goals for their (current or future) online courses.
Picking up STEAM in the Curriculum
Facilitators: Michael Morford, Holly Fairbank, Yolanda Medina, and Mindi Reich-Shapiro
Session type: Interactive session
Incorporating art and art museum activities in the curriculum has been shown to enhance the creative learning and thinking needed to produce future innovators in all fields, including STEM disciplines. Our CETLS Faculty Interest Group, Arts Across the Curriculum, is an open line of communication for faculty from all disciplines to consider utilizing the arts in their lessons. Participants in this session will learn about the results of this group’s activities, and will engage in an activity to help them consider how they might incorporate the arts in their own lessons.
Cultivating Global Competencies in a Diverse World
Facilitators: Vincent Cheng, Cynthia Wiseman, and Phyllis Niles
Session type: Panel discussion
This session will focus on how interdisciplinary curriculum development in higher education can foster cosmopolitanism. The panel of presenters presenters will define global competencies, share sample syllabi revisions, and report on the preliminary results of the GPI (Global Competencies Index) self-assessment.
The presenters are part of an ongoing National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) funded interdisciplinary professional development program here at BMCC. The main objective of this program is to help faculty members across disciplines revise their syllabi to incorporate pedagogical strategies that support student development in four areas of global competencies: cultural understanding, responsible global citizenship, effective intercultural communication, and integrated reasoning.
Blended/Hybrid Learning
Facilitators: Rebecca Collier and Nanette van Loon
Session type: Interactive session
Share and learn about best practices for designing and facilitating a blended learning course. Facilitators will showcase supplemental instructional technology tools, and participants will review and evaluate examples of hybrid courses.
How Faculty Can Help Prepare BMCC Students to be Internship Ready
Facilitators: La-Dana Jenkins and Glenda Blakely
Session type: Interactive session
During this session, faculty will learn about the BMCC Academic Internship Program and receive resources and information to assist with preparing students for credited internship opportunities.
Helping English Language Learners Succeed in Your Course
Facilitators: Judith Yancey
Session type: Presentation
This session will familiarize participants with methods and strategies to help English Language Learners succeed in their courses. Topics will include helping students handle challenging reading assignments, getting students to participate in class, and tips for giving effective written feedback.
Responding to Student Writing
Facilitators: Christa Baiada and Drew Bucilla
Session type: Presentation
This session will address strategies for offering encouraging, focused, and manageable revision-minded comments to students, dealing with issues of grammar and clarity, and handling the paper load.
Writing to Learn: Promoting Engagement and Deeper Learning Through In Class Informal Writing
Facilitators: Rifat Salam
Session type: Presentation
Writing to learn is a central tenet of Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) Pedagogy, but the idea shouldn’t be limited to officially designated Writing Intensive courses. Writing to learn includes informal or low stakes writing activities which promote deeper learning of course materials. In this session, we will try out informal writing activities and discuss various approaches to assessment and how to incorporate them into courses across disciplines and levels.
Responding to Microaggressions in the Classroom
Facilitators: Leslie Craigo and Kirsten Cole
Session type: Interactive session
This session will begin with a privilege inventory. Participants will be invited to share their definitions and descriptions of microaggressions the topic. The facilitators will draw on participants’ responses and relevant research to form a shared understanding of microaggressions. The facilitators will then share students’ personal narratives of their experiences with microaggressions in the classroom. Emphasis will be placed on desired outcomes for the students. As a group, we will share our own experiences, potential situations and methods to repair relationships when microaggressions occurs. We will brainstorm methods for support so that our classrooms embody inclusive, safe spaces.
It’s Complicated: Difficult Issues and Conversations in the College Classroom and Hallways
Facilitator: Patricia Mathews
Session type: Round table discussion
Transform Your Courses with Open Educational Resources
Facilitator: Jean Amaral
Panelists: Hollis Glaser, Anna Pinkas, and Brenda Vollman
Session type: Panel discussion and practice session
Hollis Glaser, Anna Pinkas, and Brenda Vollman share their experiences ditching textbooks and redesigning their courses with open educational resources (OER) and other freely available materials. After the panel, participants will learn the basics of OER and have the opportunity to find material for one of their courses.
Communication Across the Curriculum
Facilitator: Benjamin Haas
Research in the Classroom
Facilitator: Alona Bach
Panelists: David Allen, Deborah Gambs, Lalitha Jayant, Abel Navarro, and Lauren Wickstrom
Session type: Panel discussion
Faculty from multiple disciplines will discuss their experiences integrating their research and scholarly inquiry into their teaching. Faculty who mentor students in research outside the classroom will also discuss their experiences.
Quantitative Reasoning Across the Curriculum
Facilitator: Lina Wu
Flipping the Classroom
Facilitator: Donna McGregor and Pamela Mills
Faculty as Advisors
Facilitator: George Stevenson
