Assigning and Teaching Writing in the Age of AI

Uncategorized, , , , , , , ,

By Shyam Sharma
Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director
Program in Writing and Rhetoric
shyam.sharma@stonybrook.edu

Last year, students in my WRT 102 class systematically explored how AI chatbots can help them as writers–that is, if they learn how to use the tools effectively and responsibly. By breaking down the process of writing a research-based paper into a step-by-step process, my students asked ChatGPT to assist them with a few dozen different tasks related to those steps. The result has so far been fascinatingly mixed. 

Unfortunately, most faculty across campus do not have the luxury of time (i.e., small class), teaching experience/expertise (in some cases), or the curricular space that writing teachers do in order to engage their students in the research and writing processes with the assistance of AI or not. With these challenges in mind, the following are some strategies that can be helpful to colleagues across campus:

Time

The first challenge, lack of time, is most significant for faculty teaching larger classes. Natural language processing tools can be a convenient way to reduce time and labor that writing-intensive assignments require from instructors. Unfortunately, this convenience comes with a number of risks, including plagiarism and the bypassing of learning/skill development. Consequently, all instructors who assign writing might also have to allocate some time on writing instruction as well as time to help students use the new tools effectively and responsibly. 

Blackboard drawing of a clock.
Finding ways to effectively incorporate AI into assignments can be a time consuming process.

Adopting the “writing to learn” (WTL) approach (rather than just “learning to write”) can justify the investment of some time for teaching writing, as it helps students “discover” ideas and perspectives, “create” connections and structures, and “interpret” text or the real world around them. If writing needs to mediate learning, then it must be seen as more than merely a means for encoding pre-existing ideas in words; it calls for assisting students in the process, including for using AI tools productively and responsibly. 

With some scaffolding/support and the right approach, even a small amount of time to help students use AI tools meaningfully can greatly help to harness the power of writing as a means for learning, fostering disciplinary identity, and preparing for professional careers. Below I share a range of strategies to optimize whatever little time faculty can invest.  

Trust 

Trust is the second challenge when individualized attention is not feasible, and AI tools can complicate this even further. I started my teaching experiments with AI using a simple rule–“cite what you use”–but even in a small class, that simple rule didn’t survive the complexity of how students use the tools. Students used chatbots in too many ways in the process and couldn’t just cite specific words or ideas! 

My experience so far is that the only thing we can do is to develop trust in our students, as we help them develop their own “brain muscles” for research and writing skills, with or without using AI tools. AI tools are making academic integrity issues too complex to address through any technologies or policies. With that said, they can also enhance writing if used effectively and responsibly. 

Professor and student shaking hands.
Trust between students and instructors is an important part of teaching students how to use AI in a beneficial and productive manner.

In place of doubt and distrust, we must teach our students where to draw the line for themselves. We can no longer just specify “requirements” like page or word count, topic or method specifications, number of citations or strategies of source engagement, etc. We should help students understand and achieve the goals of the assignment by using appropriate tools and resources. We should help students answer their own educational questions: Why am I in this course? What skills will I develop if I invest adequate time and effort–including with AI assistance? 

Broadly put, educators are bound to shift focus from policing plagiarism to bolstering originality, from requirements to commitment toward learning, from fear to interest, from policy statements to support, from challenge to confidence, from moralizing to motivating. Students can best decide when and how to use AI tools if they possess sufficient skills and confidence and are inspired enough to take on the challenges of learning.

Teaching 

Beyond allocating some time and shifting focus toward trust building, faculty across the disciplines need new teaching strategies to mitigate the challenges posed by AI tools. That requires first educating students what “writing” means in the context of learning and in relation to AI. 

Some students ask: Could we soon be just asking AI to do all our writing? This question views writing as a product, ignoring that the use of a text generator in the process of learning is fundamentally different from a businessperson using it to cut costs, a father using it to make lasagna, or a freelance journalist using it to speed up writing. Unlike other users, students must use writing to develop their own brain muscles for researching and reading, summarizing and synthesizing, citing and engaging sources, developing and defending an intellectual position, organizing and creating flow in her ideas, and so on–with and without using AI tools as they become more and more a part of our world. Simply asking a chatbot to “do” these things for us is more like asking for the answer to all math problems and less like using a calculator to better handle the more complex ones. 

Professors should also identify and address distinct challenges posed by AI use in writing processes in different disciplines and professions, from the ethical in medicine to the legal in engineering to the financial in business. Creating and using machine-generating language requires more layers of responsibilities for “languaging” than we have always known. This calls for some teaching of “critical AI literacy” skills–including technical skills, rhetorical savvy, and political and ethical considerations.  

Teach spelled out on a desk with books.
It is important that students understand not only the “what”  regarding any  assignment but the importance of “why” it is important as well.

To summarize, a little time, a focus on trust, and a few teaching strategies could turn a menace into a meaningful resource. From their explorations so far, my students have created a list of tasks that ChatGPT can (potentially) assist them write better, faster, etc–that is, if they have the skills and invest the time to make that assistance meaningful: finds sources**, suggest new ideas or perspectives*, help to brainstorm or start writing*, jog memory on a topic, find/generate basic knowledge about a topic**, outline a paper*, write up thesis statements and topic sentences*, elaborate topic sentences or citation*, tighten and otherwise revise draft*, recognize rhetorical strategies in samples, change style of draft such as by reducing jargons, give feedback or critique on draft*, edit for clarity and correctness, etc. In the list above, to represent the cautions my students say are necessary, I’ve used two asterisks where they’ve flagged it for unreliability (such as making up sources and facts) and one asterisk for other kinds of problems. 

I must also add that my class has found that ChatGPT isn’t very reliable even with papers based on library and internet research–not to mention papers that are lab-based or fieldwork-based, creative or contextual, culturally informed or sensitive. And yet, where there is instructional support and seriousness on the part of student writers, the tool becomes more and more useful. Hence the need for some time and trust. In contrast, instructors who simply assign essays and wait for the deadline are going to receive papers, paragraphs, or paraphrases based on chatbots from many students. 

With the three major challenges above in mind, as well as the cautions, I would like to share a class handout that I created for AI-assisted writing instruction for a research-based paper. Please adapt any part of it as it best serves the needs of your courses and assignments in your disciplines and contexts. The handout can be found at the link below.

Independent Versus AI-Assisted Learning of Research and Writing Skills Handout

Using Creative Thinking Blocks in Teaching

Classroom Technology, Creativity, Student Experience, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , ,

By Rachita Ramya
Instructor, Creative Writing and Literature
rachita.ramya@stonybrook.edu

As a creative writing and literature teacher, I find myself in a unique position, having grown up in India and now teaching undergraduate students at Stony Brook University. My first language, Hindi, gifts me with a strong Indian accent when I speak English, and I fear that my words may be misunderstood by my students. At times, I worry that some students may wonder why an Indian woman is teaching Creative Writing & Literature in English. To address these concerns, I’ve designed a more inclusive syllabus that features stories and essays from writers of different countries, races, and backgrounds. My course, “Everyone has a story, let’s find yours,” helps students explore their voice through writing and tell their important stories. In class, we read stories from all over the world, including translated texts. Over time, I’ve realized that good stories don’t need to be written in a specific language to be considered good. The best stories transcend language and vocabulary limitations.

Students building with MuBaBaO blocks in class.
Students used MuBaBaO blocks to build and brainstorm their ideas for their stories.

In our class discussions about Arundhati Roy’s essay, “What is the morally appropriate language to think & write?” my students have diverse opinions. They often relate to the idea that we’re not always understood by even people who speak the same language as us. Surprisingly, about a quarter of the class is multilingual. They’re amazed when I share that the language of storytelling is not as crucial as evoking universal emotions and interest.

To overcome language barriers in storytelling, I introduced wooden blocks from MuBaBaO into our creative journey. Originating from Poland, these wooden blocks, also known as creative thinking blocks, were brought to us by the distinguished storyteller Michal Malinowski, who uses them in his own classroom while teaching undergraduate students at the University of Krakow. Prior to that, Michal employed these blocks with war refugees from Ukraine, who found it easier to articulate their experiences using building blocks rather than struggling with broken words and sentences. In Michal’s own words, ‘the blocks serve as a vehicle for storytelling, an instrument to make sense out of the chaos and create something out of nothing.’

When used in my class, the blocks sparked my students’ imagination. They built intricate structures like spaceships, bicycles, basketball courts, carriages, and houses. Each creation had a unique story behind it, reflecting the individuality of its creator. Even reserved students opened up and shared their creations. This exercise went beyond storytelling; it became a form of problem-solving and an exercise in critical thinking and communication. It reminded me that stories have historically been a way to address complex challenges. What’s remarkable is the impact these blocks have beyond the classroom. They create a means for interaction and collaborative artwork within the community. 

Students final products using MuBaBaO blocks.
MuBaBaO blocks helped students think creatively and solve problems during the writing process.

Exploratory studies with similar blocks showed that they can help learners understand course concepts, experience group dynamics, and build communication skills (Allen et al., 2009, Auvinen et al., 2013, Rick et al., 2005, Roos et al., 2004, Roos et al., 2018, Peabody et al., 2018). This visual approach to storytelling engages participants in dynamic and multi-layered exercises, fostering creative thinking, spatial intelligence, and effective communication. It adds depth by requiring participants to narrate a story related to their creation, including considering solutions to real-world challenges. These blocks can act as a universal language, uniting people from diverse backgrounds through the shared language of imagination and expression. They can also be applied in various fields to enhance organizational and leadership skills. Together, we can embark on a journey of discovery and growth, learning to appreciate the depth and power of storytelling beyond spoken words, and embracing the beauty of diverse voices in literature.

References:

  1. Allen, S. J. and Hartman, N. S. (2009), “Sources of learning in student leadership development programming”, Journal of Leadership Studies, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 6-16. https://doi.org/10.1002/jls.20119
  2. Auvinen, T., Aaltio, I. and Blomqvist, K. (2013), “Constructing leadership by storytelling- the meaning of trust and narrative”, Leadership and Organization Development Journal, Vol. 34, No. 6, pp. 496-514. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-10-2011-0102
  3. Rick, J., & Lamberty, K. K. (2005). Medium-based design: Extending a medium to create an exploratory learning environment. Interactive Learning Environments, 13(3), 179–212. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820500401883
  4. Roos, J., & Victor, B. (2018). How It All Began: The Origins Of LEGO® Serious Play®. International Journal of Management and Applied Research, 326–343. https://doi.org/10.18646/2056.54.18-025
  5. Roos, J., Victor, B., & Statler, M. (2004). Playing seriously with strategy. Long Range Planning, 37(6), 549–568. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2004.09.005
  6. Peabody, M. A., & Turesky, E. F. (2018). Shared leadership lessons: Adapting LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® in higher education. International Journal of Management and Applied Research, 5(4), 210-223.

 

Advice for Writing Your Teaching Statement

Graduate Students, TA/Postdocs, Teaching Dossier, Uncategorized, , , , , , , ,

By Kimberly Bell, Ph.D.
Teaching Assistant Development Specialist
kimberly.bell@stonybrook.edu

As you start to think about next steps in your academic and/or professional career, you may find that you will be asked to either write or revise a teaching statement or a statement of teaching philosophy. A teaching statement, or statement of teaching philosophy, is a reflective essay that often includes what you value as an educator and why this is important to you, a description of how you would teach, the justification for why you teach that way, and evidence of how you have been effective. 

Ball Point Pen on Opened Notebook
Teaching statements are more common these days and have become a largely important part of academic life.

The first time writing a statement like this can be a bit daunting, confusing, and often leads to questions on how to write an effective statement. Here are some questions I often hear: 

What if I don’t have much teaching experience?

You probably have more than you think. Informal teaching experiences can also inform
your statement. Some examples include training students in your lab (protocols, data analysis, etc.), summer students, mentoring student assistants in work environments, working with Undergraduate Teaching Assistants (UGTAs), or participating in teaching professional development, such as CELT workshops. If you have been a graduate TA, can your course director give you some feedback on your teaching? Can you guest lecture in the course your PI or a colleague teaches? In absence of any of the above, you should show that you have thought intentionally about what you value as an educator, how you would achieve this in the classroom, and how you would tell you were effective. 

How do I stand out from other applicants in the statement? 

Hook your readers right at the start. Your opening sentence should be strong and reflect personal experiences that have made a large impact on your philosophy. Avoid cliche terms and academic jargon to engage your readers. Instead, focus on how you can not only “tell” your reader about your experiences but “show” them by bringing specific stories from your teaching experiences into your writing. Ultimately, an honest account of your experiences and passion towards your work in the field is going to be more impactful to your audience than a general statement.

Are detailed technical approaches in the classroom required in the statement?

The more specific you can be with examples and evidence, the stronger your statement will be. Different positions will weigh the teaching statement differently, such as research intensive vs. teaching intensive, but either way, the more specific details about your experiences that you can include in your statement the better. Your examples should be concise, however, as there is typically a 2-page limit for the statement. If you are applying for a teaching focused position, citing the learning sciences literature the same way you would in your research is recommended. 

Should I include DEI elements in my teaching statement?

If you and the institution you are applying to similarly value DEI then yes, include specific elements of inclusive teaching in your statement. You may also be asked to write a separate diversity statement which would rely less on teaching and more on your lived experiences, mentoring, and community engagement. You don’t want the specific examples in the statements to overlap. 

Can I incorporate positive comments received about my teaching in the statement?

Yes! You would not want this to take up a lot of text in your statement, so use sparingly and concisely, and be sure they speak to specific skills and successes that you have been recognized for (not: “they were a great teacher!”). This is another great way to incorporate evidence of your teaching effectiveness in your statement.  

When your personal statement is relevant and authentic, it communicates the passion that you have for the work in your field clearly and confidently. Personal writing can be difficult but following the guidance from these common questions when writing your statement can put you in a great position to write an impactful statement!

One Student’s Experience With Code-Switching

Equity and Inclusion, Graduate Students, Hidden Curriculum, Social-emotional Learning, Student Experience, Uncategorized

By Bismi Biju
CELT Graduate Student Assistant

Have you ever noticed a difference in how you speak around your colleagues compared to how you speak with your friends and family? It’s likely that you unconsciously adjust your speech to fit professional settings, such as using more formal language and being more measured in your tone. Additionally, if you come from a place with a regional dialect, you may also adapt your speech based on the social context. For example, you may speak with a different accent or use different words or phrases depending on who you’re talking to.

decorative
Coming to campus can mean choosing new ways to speak and dress in order to fit in. Social scientists call that code-switching.

I find myself having to switch between dialects and slang when talking to professors on campus versus friends back home versus traditional family settings. As I spent my undergraduate career at Stony Brook, I naturally found myself changing tone and sentence structure to fit into the classroom setting better, especially in STEM courses. This is something that I didn’t consider in high school as everyone around me was familiar with regional slang words. 

Linguists refer to this phenomenon as code-switching, which originally meant switching between two languages in a conversation (Gardner-Chloros, 2009). However, in today’s increasingly multicultural and multiethnic society, the term has evolved to describe how people shift between different cultures as they communicate with others. This can include choosing different communication styles, such as using different languages, adjusting your accent or tone, or adapting your behavior and dress.

There are many reasons why people use code-switching. Sometimes, it’s to fit in with a particular group or to convey thoughts and concepts that might be easier to explain in a specific language or communication style. Other times, it’s simply a force of habit or a way of expressing one’s cultural identity. However, the most common reason for code-switching is to identify with a particular social group, and most of the time, people don’t even realize they’re doing it (Myers‐Scotton, 2017). Code-switching happens subtly, and it’s not limited to bilingual speakers.

For example, when you leave your hometown for college, you may find yourself in a new cultural environment where you must navigate unfamiliar social structures while retaining your identity. This can involve cultural code-switching, which can include multiple aspects of one’s cultural identity, such as the type of clothing worn, hair style, speech, or behavior (Martin-Jones, 1995). Unfortunately, those from Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) communities are more likely than their non-Hispanic White counterparts to say they feel the need to code-switch. A study found that 4 in 10 Black and Hispanic adults often feel the need to change the way they talk around others of different races and ethnicities, especially among non-Hispanic Whites. Additionally, 48% of Black professionals under age 50 see code-switching as a career necessity (McCluney, et al., 2021).

Expertly navigating another culture isn’t a rejection of where you come from or a signal that you are any less authentic. Especially in the American culture that too often demands assimilation or marginalization, it matters that academic and corporate spaces are embracing people of all backgrounds. If it isn’t intentionally inclusive, it is unintentionally excluding. Therefore, flexibility and awareness is necessary in these circles to make sure everyone feels heard and empowered. Those that are in the majority have less code-switching and less adaptation required when in these settings, so it is important to bring awareness to the issue.

 

References: 

Gardner-Chloros, P. (2009). Code-switching. Cambridge University Press.

Martin-Jones, M. (1995). Code-switching in the classroom: Two decades of research. One speaker, two languages: Cross-disciplinary perspectives on code-switching, 90-111.

McCluney, C.L., Robotham, K., Lee, S., and Durkee, M. (2019). The costs of code-switching. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2019/11/the-costs-of-codeswitching

Myers‐Scotton, C. (2017). Code‐switching. The handbook of sociolinguistics, 217-237.

 

 

2023 CELT Symposium, ‘Transitions’ in Teaching

Assessment, Equity and Inclusion, Instructional Design, TA/Postdocs, Virtual Reality,

By Luis Colon and Jenny Zhang
CELT Instructional Designers
luis.colon@stonybrook.edu and yi.zhang.13@stonybrook.edu

Participants at the CELT Symposium.
CELT Symposium on Teaching and Learning: Faculty, graduate students, staff and administrators attended the day-long event in the Student Activities Center.

The Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) held a Teaching and Learning Symposium on March 24. The theme for this year’s conference was Transitions. The theme reflects how we navigate across multiple changes, such as those with technologies, learning modalities, and in our teaching practices as we strive to provide a more inclusive environment for students. Close to 100 faculty, graduate students, staff and administrators attended the day-long event in the Student Activities Center. Participants from across the university attended sessions that explored transitions and discussed how to best navigate transitions as we are going through them while also anticipating and preparing for future transitions in higher education.

The event opened with a statement from Dr. Carl Lejuez, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, and promptly launched into the keynote event. Dr. Kelly Hogan and Dr.Viji Sathy presented a highly interactive workshop on Inclusive Teaching that modeled concepts, strategies, and activities that instructors can adopt in their own teaching practice. Both Hogan and Sathy are award-winning instructors from the University of North Carolina who are deeply passionate about student success, equity, and inclusive teaching. They have been featured in national publications such as The Chronicle of Higher Education, The New York Times, and others. Their recently published book, Inclusive Teaching: Strategies for Promoting Equity in the College Classroom, analyzes ways that instructors can design their courses and their teaching practice to help students feel that they are welcome and that they can succeed in the academic space. 

The workshop started by bringing attention to how inequities can manifest within the learning environment. To address these inequities, Hogan and Sathy provided practical skills and strategies, saying, “It’s our job to ensure that all students have the ability to succeed.” Concrete examples included: “Provide [lecture] notes with blanks, so students can be prompted to recall and fill in the blanks. Use subtitles, visual prompts, and microphones. Pause in time to give people a chance to construct their ideas.”

Throughout the session, participants were encouraged to reflect on their own teaching experiences and to consider how they could use what they took from this session to reduce inequities in their own courses. Hogan and Sathy kept the workshop interactive by utilizing polling, think-pair-share, and other learning strategies to model the value to engaging learners and to keep the audience focused on the learning objectives of the session. The audience responded positively and many continued discussions later on as the event progressed.

Session One, titled Supporting Students Through Transitions, was led by Dr. Kristin Hall of CELT as well as Brandon Bjertnes, Jennifer Poma, and Jennifer Rodriguez of U-RISE. This session focused on the deluge of changes that higher education has experienced over the years and specifically addressed how to best support the next generation of students as they re-learn how to navigate the in-person learning environment in post-pandemic times. The presenters discussed how the definition of the “traditional college student” has changed as the next generation of college students bring more diversity to higher education institutions nationwide. This session provided strategies to address the different learning needs of these students by understanding how they learn best and prioritizing their success. The presentation combined local university data and research-backed practices to ensure that attendees would be equipped with new strategies that could make a difference in their teaching as soon as they would be implemented. 

Following the first session were the Food for Thought concurrent table sessions where attendees would have lunch and the opportunity to seek out a table in the ballroom that would be focusing on a research topic of interest related to teaching and learning. The topics ranged from active learning, the utilization of virtual reality and/or augmented reality, TA training and assessment, and more to provide a space for attendees to delve deeper into topics that were of interest to them and would help them to develop their own practice further. Attendees that I spoke with expressed excitement at the opportunity to have time for discussions with others interested in similar topics and said it was a great experience to either learn new skills or reframe and refine old ones.

Virtual Reality

The CELT virtual reality team showcased the potential of virtual reality (VR) for enhancing education and collaboration through a captivating VR demo session. Held in the Student Activity Center (SAC) 302, the event drew faculty members who were eager to explore various VR applications for teaching and learning. Three interactive stations were set up, offering immersive experiences using 360 videos, WebXR Framevr, and Horizon Workrooms.

Station 1: 360-Degree Video

Mark Lang, a 360-degree video and photo expert at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS), has been revolutionizing education through immersive experiences that enhance student engagement, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mark’s collaboration with Dr. Darcy Lonsdale led to a virtual field trip to the Rocky Intertidal Zone at Crane Neck Point on Long Island Sound, allowing students to explore marine ecosystems remotely, and learn from Dr. Lonsdale’s narrative at the same time. Mark’s ingenuity in customizing equipment for challenging marine environments has improved the quality of the videos. His station attracted many interested faculty. In that demo, they were transported to a realistic sense of presence, observing the ecosystem through the Oculus headset. Faculty were thrilled to learn how this technology could be utilized to take their students on virtual excursions, making remote and inaccessible locations easily reachable for educational purposes.

A person wearing a virtual reality headset.
The CELT virtual reality team showcased the potential of virtual reality (VR) for enhancing education and collaboration through a captivating VR demo session.

Station 2: WebXR Framevr

The second VR station introduced WebXR Framevr, an innovative platform for creating and sharing immersive content. Here, participants took a guided tour of a virtual CELT classroom, complete with interactive whiteboards, 3D objects, and multimedia resources. The experience was not only engaging but also demonstrated how virtual learning environments could help break down geographical barriers and foster collaboration between students and educators from all around the world. The WebXR virtual classroom can be accessed through VR headsets, computers, or tablets, making it a most sustainable VR solution. 

Station 3: Horizon Workrooms

The third station allowed faculty to experience Horizon Workrooms, a virtual collaboration tool designed for remote meetings and team building. Participants who donned the Oculus headset or computers can join a virtual business meeting. The immersive environment enabled seamless communication and collaboration, showcasing the potential of VR to revolutionize how we work and learn together.

After testing the different VR experiences, faculty members engaged in discussions about the various features of each technology, as well as the hardware and software setup required. They also brainstormed practical applications for their own classes and considered how to integrate VR into their curriculums best to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes.

decorative
Anne Moyer, Sohl Lee, Daniel Amarante, Anthony Gomez III, and Kevin Reed served on a faculty panel discussion, ‘The Rebound After Remote: How Teaching Online has Transformed Current Instruction.’

Following the break for lunch, participants continued to Session Two, The Rebound After Remote: How Teaching Online has Transformed Current Instruction. This part of the program featured a panel discussion facilitated by Dr. Carol Hernandez and Jenny Zhang of CELT, where faculty discussed what they learned and how they grew professionally as a result of teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. The panel featured Dr. Anne Moyer from the Department of Psychology, Dr. Daniel Amarante from the Department of Chemistry, Dr. Sohl Lee from the Department of Art, Dr. Kevin Reed from SoMAS, and Anthony Gomez III, who is a PhD candidate in English Literature. The session not only provided a wealth of experiential knowledge but included inspiring anecdotes and stories as the panel shared what kept them motivated during the early days of the pandemic and how the experience allowed them to reflect and adjust their instructional approaches to meet their student’s needs. For the panelists, the time spent learning and growing during the era of remote learning would continue to be valuable to them to this day as many still use these strategies in their current teaching practice.

Session Three, Brightspace: Lessons Learned, was led by Diana Voss and Jennifer Adams of the Division of Information Technology and focused on some of the most impactful teachable moments that they have experienced as the university has shifted to using D2L Brightspace as the learning management system for Spring 2023 and beyond. The session was informative and useful as faculty, TAs, and staff were provided with some of the most useful and popular features in D2L Brightspace to help enhance the learning experience, create an inclusive classroom environment, collect student data, and more. The Q&A section of the presentation allowed the attendees to engage with the presenters and discuss some of the challenges that they have encountered throughout their transition to D2L Brightspace. Attendees either had their questions answered or were able to set up a time where they could consult with someone from the Division of Information Technology to find solutions to these challenges as soon as possible. 

Overall, the 2023 Teaching and Learning Symposium delivered on its promise to address transitions in teaching and learning at the higher education level in an environment that celebrated growth and professional development for all. The event provided an open space for faculty, TAs, and staff to engage in discourse related to teaching and learning with their colleagues in a constructive manner. On the topic of education, theologian John Cotton once said that, “Those who teach, must never cease to learn.” That sentiment is as true today as when it was first written. Events such as the CELT symposium ensure that professional learning never ceases and that today’s educators become better each day.

If you’d like to learn more about the CELT Symposium, here is the Google Collaborative Note-Taking Document from the day’s events. If you have notes to share, please feel free to edit and add your notes. Also, here is a reference sheet from the keynote speakers Dr. Kelly Hogan and Dr. Viji Sathy that they shared after their session. 

 

Teaching as Performance

Creativity, Equity and Inclusion, Learning Outcomes, Uncategorized, , , , , ,

By Devon Coutts
Ph.D. Candidate, Philosophy
Devon.coutts@stonybrook.edu

It can be especially difficult for university faculty members to develop effective teaching skills. While we all invest a great deal of time and energy in learning our respective disciplines, many, if not most, of us are not given any kind of guidance for how to pass on learning to our students. Perhaps surprisingly, such guidance need not come from traditional educational theory; there is a lot we can learn about teaching from the performing arts.

Actors on a stage.
What can educators learn from actors who portray a role, a scene, or a concept to an audience?

That was certainly the case for me when I taught a class for the first time. I approached preparing my classes the way I would have approached preparing for a performance. I wrote out detailed scripts for myself and rehearsed giving lectures. I included “stage notes” for myself to indicate slide transitions, points of emphasis, the questions I planned on asking the students, and the questions that I anticipated students would ask me as we went along. While this method of preparation helped me to feel more confident going into the classroom, it was rare that a class ever played out exactly the way that I had envisioned it. This is because I assumed that my students would be a model audience, when in fact, I should have been thinking about them as my fellow actors. In my experience, the most effective and engaging classes were the ones in which students took an active role in guiding the lesson: where they asked questions, responded to one another, and made new connections within and beyond our course readings.   

Comparisons between teaching and the performing arts have been around since at least the 1960’s. In his 1968 article, “Qualitative intelligence and the act of teaching,” Elliot W. Eisner writes, “Teachers, like actors, attempt to communicate to groups of people in an audience-like situation . . . both the actor and the teacher employ qualities to enhance communication [and] must be able to control their actions in such a way as to capture the attention and interest of those to whom their message is directed.” In other words, for both teachers and actors, the mode of delivery is as important as the content being expressed. Although the goals of acting and teaching differ greatly, both employ similar means toward achieving them. 

For instance, one professor, Aaron Langille, who teaches in mathematics and computer science at Laurentian University, shared six strategies that he uses in his classroom teaching:

  • Voice dynamics: Practice projecting techniques, and varying tone and intonation to convey enthusiasm.
  • Eye contact: Rather than reading from notes or slides, this helps you to connect with your students.
  • Audience involvement: Build in ways of inviting students to share their ideas or generate their own examples in every class.
  • Pop culture: Try to bring in relevant examples, either by asking students directly or by giving them ways to bring what’s important or interesting to them to class discussions. For example, Langille creates meme threads for students to post memes relevant to the course material.
  • Humor: Remember to tread with caution when it comes to humor: keep things light, try to avoid excessive sarcasm,  and always be willing to laugh at yourself.
  • Improvisation: Try the “yes, and . . .” strategy, remember to go with the flow, stay flexible and open to surprises or new avenues of thinking that may pop up. 

 Langille reported that by working on his vocal dynamics and improvisation in particular, he was able to communicate his course material more effectively and with genuine enthusiasm. Bringing these certain performance elements into his teaching thus also helped him show care and concern for his students as learners, which in turn invited them to become “actors” guiding their own learning.

Some professors take the “teaching as performance” idea even further. As Noha Fikry writes in this first person article published on the website for the Society for Cultural Anthropology. Fikry quotes her former professor from the American University of Cairo, AbdelAziz EzzelArab (“Zizo”), who says: “Teaching is all about performance . . . it takes passion and performance skills.” For her mentor, Zizo, teaching “requires an active engagement with every muscle of your body, along with full and undivided attention through which a teacher plays with and builds on student engagements to inform class content and discussions.” The actual content of the lessons, for Zizo, take on secondary importance, but his dedication to his students seems to ensure that learning does not suffer as a result. Reflecting on her own experience of being Zizo’s student, Fikry writes, “Zizo’s intense passion, overwhelming presence, and wholesome engagement in class . . . captivated my entire being to remain fully focused.”  

It might not be possible for all of us to embody our teaching as fully as Zizo, but we can all benefit from incorporating certain performance techniques in the classroom. Even something as simple as making eye contact, rather than reading from notes, and trying out variations in tone and pace while giving a lecture can make a huge difference to how students respond to the material, the instructor, and to one another. What is more, bringing in techniques of improvisation helps to make space for students to become like actors themselves, and to take an active role in guiding their own learning.   

References

De La Vega, V. (2019). Teaching as performance. Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology. The University of British Columbia. Retrieved from https://ctlt.ubc.ca/2019/10/30/teaching-as-performance/

Eisner, E. W. (1963). Qualitative intelligence and the act of teaching. Elementary school journal, 63(6), 299-307.

Fikry, N. (2022). Teaching as performance: On scripts, preparing for classes, and teaching with passion. Society for Cultural Anthropology. Retrieved from https://culanth.org/fieldsights/teaching-as-performance-on-scripts-preparing-for-classes-and-teaching-with-passion

 

  

 

Summer 2023 Online Teaching Course

Instructional Design, Online Learning, Uncategorized, , , ,

By Carol Hernandez, Ed.D.
Senior Instructional Designer
CELT
carol.hernandez@stonybrook.edu

The Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching offers the Online Teaching Course (OTC) multiple times a year with two options: OTC and  OTC Accelerated. These multi-week online courses will provide you with basic pedagogical, research-based practices specific to the online space and will assist you in planning instructional activities for your course. We will not focus on how to use Brightspace, but rather how to best use technology to meet your pedagogical goals. These courses will be delivered asynchronously online with one optional synchronous session.

  • OTC: This is a 5-week asynchronous course. Plan on spending 3-4 hours per week with assignments due weekly. We suggested logging on 4 times aweek during this course. 
  • OTC Accelerated: This is a condensed, 2.5- week version of the OTC. Plan on spending 6-7 hours weekly with assignments due every 2-3 days. We suggest logging in daily during the course. 
Decorative
Take the OTC this summer and work with our team of instructional designers.

OTC: 2.5 week or 5 week in Brightspace

Registration link: https://forms.gle/XDAfydMiDQ4xt4ms7

Summer Dates:

  • (5-week) Monday, May 22 to Monday, June 26, 2023
  • (2.5-weeks) Wednesday, July 12 to Friday, July 28, 2023

If you are an instructor who has already taken the OTC fairly recently, and you need assistance in Brightspace, you can request a one-on-one consultation by filling out this form: https://forms.gle/Wn2qY4CrwyocW61J9

If you are an instructor new to teaching online, take the OTC and after that, start meeting with an instructional designer.

If you are an instructor who is only revising a course, you can request a one-on-one instructional design consultation by emailing: CELT@stonybrook.edu.

Got questions? Email us: CELT@stonybrook.edu.

Gamified Learning

Uncategorized

By Luis Colón
Instructional Designer
luis.colon@stonybrook.edu

When we think of “games,” many of us think of activities that we normally spend our free time doing. We might think of playing sports, dusting off a board game and getting competitive with family and friends, or even the times we’ve spent in front of a new video game. These activities may seem like a “waste of time,” but instead, the concept of gamification helps us reframe playing as learning. It might be difficult to see the connection between playing games and learning  because for so long the activities have served different roles in our lives. Is it possible for effective learning to occur while playing games?

Monopoly game pieces on a game board.
Playfulness can be sparked in the process of learning.

Gamification, or the application of elements commonly found in games to other topics and activities, is something that most of us have actually experienced before. In fact, many well-known companies have incorporated elements of gamification into their business model. One example is Starbucks, which has an app where customers gain points and rewards that can be redeemed on purchases. Another example is Nike and its Nike Run Club app, which give users incentives such as award badges and achievements for reaching fitness goals and important milestones. These are just some ways that companies use elements commonly found in games to attract new customers and keep them as engaged and excited as possible.

If businesses can incorporate elements of gaming into their approach, could the same be done with teaching and learning? Absolutely! In fact, gamified learning is gaining popularity and results have shown that learners are more invested and likely to engage with learning content when a gamified approach is taken. For example, a 2018 systematic review of the literature study conducted by Subhash and Cudney at the Missouri University of Science and Technology found that in many cases the adaptation of a gamified framework led to an improvement in attitude, engagement, performance, and retention among learners.

Two people playing a game where they stack wooden blocks into a tower.
Fun and games and learning?

A more recent 2022 study used the theory of disruptive innovation to explore student satisfaction in 18 college courses that used  gamification and a social media- like platform. Participants in the study reported feeling engaged, welcomed feedback, and said they enjoyed the communication and collaboration that the platform allowed. One of the most popular examples of a gamified learning experience is the Duolingo app which is used for language learning. Users are awarded experience points after each lesson and, rewarded for streaks of consistent engagement. The competitive leaderboard displays the top score and keeps players engaging  to stay at the top.

So, how can you add gamified elements to the learning experience? Miller et al. (2021) discuss multiple additions and/or adjustments that can be made to a course or course content to give it a more gamified look and feel in their book, Game Based and Adaptive Learning Strategies. Some of these include:

  1. Modify the Vocabulary – In some cases, much of what is already done in a course can be renamed in a way that will be more game-like. A module can be a level or world. Grades can serve as XP (experience points) or currency. An assignment sounds way more exciting when it’s called a quest.
  2. Provide Context – Some of the best games of all time are not only fun but are great examples of storytelling as well. Consider what the overall goal is and what you want learners to do. Will your learners be superheroes trying to thwart an evil villain or explorers on a mission to space? Whatever it is, be sure to have a strong and consistent story throughout the learning experience.
  3. Create Diverse Assignments – No matter how much fun a game is, eventually it can become repetitive and cause the player to lose interest. By planning and creating different types of assignments and learning experiences, you can keep learners engaged and on their toes for what might come next.
  4. Be Prompt and Consistent – In a game, we often know where we stand as soon as the level is over, which gives us a sense of accomplishment. We can carry that into our teaching practice by providing useful feedback, updating grades, and offering assistance as often as possible to keep learners motivated. 

Taking the time to incorporate some of these tweaks to your course content can be a great way to add a new and exciting dimension to your teaching. Gamification is everywhere in our everyday lives and with a growing amount of research to support its effectiveness in the learning environment, it is clearly a strategy to keep in mind when organizing and developing dynamic and exciting learning experiences.   

References

Ensmann, S., & Whiteside, A. (2022).  ‘It helped to know I wasn’t alone’: Exploring student satisfaction in an online community with a gamified, social media-like instructional approach. Online Learning, 26(3). https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v26i3.3340.

Subhash, S., & Cudney, E. A. (2018). Gamified learning in higher education: A systematic review of the literature. Computers in Human Behavior, 87, 192-206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.05.028

Miller, C. L. and Batsaikhan, O. (Eds). (2021). Game-Based and Adaptive Learning Strategies.  Mankato, MN:  Minnesota State University, Mankato. https://mlpp.pressbooks.pub/gamebasedlearning/. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License CC BY 2021.

Time for Tea with Luis

Instructional Design, Meet CELT

Luis Colón

CELT Instructional Designer, Luis Colón

Welcome Luis Colón, a new instructional designer at the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching at SBU. Read on to learn a little more about him.

What is your favorite part of your job?
My favorite part of the job so far is working with a great team who have been extremely welcoming and supportive of my growth. I also love working on engaging learning content and being a part of the learning process for students, faculty, and staff.

What did you do prior to working in CELT?
I started my career as a middle school English teacher where I taught 8th grade. I taught courses such as English 8, Intensive Reading, Creative Writing, and more. I also worked with students to develop multimedia for the school for school productions as well as for the weekly video announcements.

a cup of tea
Take a break for tea.

Coffee or tea?
I don’t drink coffee at all, only tea. There’s so many different kinds of tea to try!

Where would you like to visit (real or fictional)?
I would love to visit Japan at some point in my life. I have always wanted to go ever since I was really young and I enjoy learning about its culture and history.

What was the last book you read?
The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa

Are You Creative?

Artificial Intelligence, Creativity, Instructional Design, STEM

By Carol Hernandez, Ed.D.
Senior Instructional Designer
carol.hernandez@stonybrook.edu

A coffee cup in a analog clock display
Is creativity a skill you want to increase in your teaching practice?

Perhaps we all in some way, strive to be creative and to use creativity in our teaching and learning practices. But have you stopped to think about how creativity is defined and measured? How is it  taught?

Creativity is a critical skill as identified by the 21st Century Skills Framework, which focuses on a comprehensive list of abilities, skills, and attitudes that young people around the world will need to be successful in their personal, professional, and civic lives. This is becoming increasingly important as each day we are witnessing artificial intelligence and other technologies showing up to help us do our work.  While at the same time, there is no end to the number of wicked problems we are faced with in every aspect of our lives, which may feel increasingly complex.

Complexity on its own, is not inherently good or bad. But it does present us with an opportunity to be creative in our teaching practice. In the 30s and 40s, Ellis Paul Torrance was a teacher in Georgia who noticed that some of his students had off-beat ideas, but were not necessarily fitting into the traditional classroom structure. He believed that creativity and standard intelligence tests were not measuring the same thing. He wanted to explore and measure creativity on its own, which led him to create the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. He is now considered the Father of Creativity Research. And you can learn more about his ideas here. As defined by Torrance, creativity is (1966, p. 6):

  • A process of becoming sensitive to problems, deficiencies, gaps in knowledge, missing elements, disharmonies, and so on;
  • identifying the difficulty;
  • searching for solutions, making guesses, or formulating hypotheses about the deficiencies;
  • testing and retesting these hypotheses and possible modifying and retesting them;
  • and finally communicating the results.

Using this definition, how could you adjust your teaching practice to help your students be more creative? If you’d like to test your own creativity, there are a number of free tests online. Here is one offered by AULIVE, an online resource for creativity and innovation.

References

Alabbasi, A. M. A., Paek, S. H., Kim, D., & Cramond, B. (2022). What do educators need to know about the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking: A comprehensive review. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. 

Torrance, E. P. (1966). Torrance tests of creative thinking—norms technical manual research edition—verbal tests, forms A and B—figural tests, forms A and B. Princeton: Personnel Pres. Inc.