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How can a first-year writing course help to create 21st century STEM students with foundations for interdisciplinary inquiry? Could such as curriculum engage STEM students in knowledge production in ways that help to acculturate them as collaborative, ethical, and empathetic learners? Bringing together insights from writing pedagogy, work on critical science literacy, and science studies, this round-table is hosted by the collaborative team leading an effort to rethink the first year writing course required of all students at Lyman Briggs College, MSU's residential college for STEM students. A major goal of the curriculum redesign is to develop science studies-inspired writing assignments that foster reflective experiential learning about the nature of science. The purpose of this approach is not only to demonstrate the value of inquiry in science studies (history, philosophy, and sociology of science) to STEM students as they pursue their careers, but to foster diverse inclusion in science by demystifying key aspects of scientific culture and its hidden curriculum for membership. Following the guidance of critical pedagogy (e.g. bell hooks), we aim to use the context of first-year writing instruction as an opportunity for critical reflection and empowerment. The roundtable describes how the instructional team designed the first-year curriculum and adapted it to teaching online during the pandemic, and shares data on lessons learned by both the instructor team and our students. We invite participants to think with us as we continue to iteratively develop and assess the curriculum.To access a PDF version of the "Reimagining First-Year Writing for STEM Undergraduates as Inquiry-Based Learning in Science Studies" poster, click here. Description of Poster:
Reimagining First-Year Writing for STEM Undergraduates as Inquiry-Based Learning in Science Studies  
Marisa Brandt, HPS Lyman Briggs College & June Oh, English 
Project Overview: Reimagining LB 133 
Lyman Briggs College aims to provide a high quality science education to diverse students by teaching science in social, human, and global contexts. LB 133: Science & Culture fulfills the Tier 1 writing requirement for 80-85% of LBC students. Starting in F19, we implemented a new, collaboratively developed and taught cohort model of the LB 133 curriculum in order to take advantage of opportunity to foster a community of inquiry, inclusion, and curiosity.  
First year college writing and literacy courses aim to give students skills to communicate and evaluate information in their own fields and beyond. While teaching important writing skills, LB 133 focuses on developing students’ science literacy by encouraging them to enact a subject position of a socially engaged science professional in training. LB 133 was designed based on ideas of HPS. 
History, Philosophy, and Sociology (HPS) or “science studies” is an interdisciplinary field that studies science in context, often extended to include medicine, technology, and other sites of knowledge-production. LB 133 centers inquiry into relations of science and culture. One way HPS can help students succeed in STEM is by fostering inclusion. In LB 133, this occurs through demystifying scientific culture and hidden curriculum through authentic, project-based inquiry.  
Like WRAC 110, LB 133 is organized around five writing projects. Each project entails a method of inquiry into science as a social, human practice and teaches them to write first as a form of sense-making about their data. (Column 2) Then, students develop writing projects to communicate what they have learned to non-scientific audiences.  
Research Questions:  


How did their conceptions of science change?[Text Wrapping Break] 2. Did their writing improve?[Text Wrapping Break] 3. What did they see as the most important ideas and skills they would take from the course?[Text Wrapping Break] 4. Did they want more HPS at LBC?  


Data Collection:  
[Text Wrapping Break]1. Analysis of the beginning and end of course Personal Writing assessments. [Text Wrapping Break]2. End of term survey. [Text Wrapping Break]3. Answers to course reflection questions.  
Selected Results: See Column 3. 
Conclusions: The new model seems successful! Students reported finding 133 surprisingly enjoyable and educational, for many reasons. Many felt motivated to write about science specifically, saw communication as valuable scientific skill. Most felt their writing improved and learned more than anticipated. Most learned and valued key HPS concepts and wanted to learn more about diversity in scientific cultures, and wanted to continue HPS education in LBC to do so. 
Column 2 - Course Structure: Science & Culture 




Assessment 


Science Studies Content[Text Wrapping Break]Learning Goals 


Literacy & Writing Skills Learning Goals 




Part 1 - Cultures of Science 




Personal Writing 1: Personal Statement [STEM Ed Op-ed][Text Wrapping Break]Short form writing from scientific subject position.  


Reflect on evolving identity, role, and responsibilities in scientific culture.   


Diagnostic for answering questions, supporting a claim, providing evidence, structure, and clear writing. 




Scientific Sites Portfolio[Text Wrapping Break]Collaborative investigation of how a local lab produces knowledge.   


Understand scientific practice, reasoning, and communication in its diverse social, material, and cultural contexts. Demystify labs and humanize scientists. 


Making observational field notes. Reading scientific papers.  
Peer review. Claim, evidence, reasoning. Writing analytical essays based on observation.   




Part 2 - Science in Culture 




Unpacking a Fact Poster 
Partner project assessing validity of a public scientific claim. 


Understand the mediation of science and how to evaluate scientific claims. Identify popular conceptions of science and contrast these with scientists’ practices. 


Following sources upstream. Comparing sources.  
APA citation style.  
Visual display of info on a poster. 




Perspectives Portfolio[Text Wrapping Break]Collaborative investigation of a debate concerning science in Michigan. 


Identify and analyze how diverse stakeholders are included in and/or excluded from science. Recognize value of diverse perspective. 


Find, use, and correctly cite primary and scholarly secondary sources from different stakeholder perspectives. 
Learn communicating to a broader audience in an online platform. 




Personal Writing 2: Letter + PS Revision[Text Wrapping Break]Sharing a course takeaway with someone. 


Reflect again on evolving identity, role, and responsibilities in scientific culture.   


Final assessment of answering questions, supporting a claim, providing evidence, structure, and clear writing. 




Weekly Formative Assessments 




Discussion Activities Pre-meeting writing about the readings 


Reflect on prompted aspects of science and culture 


Writing as critical inquiry. 
Note-taking. 
Preparation for discussion. 




Curiosity Colloquium responses 
200 words reflecting on weekly speaker series 


Exposure to college, campus, and academic guests—including diverse science professionals— who share their curiosity and career story.  


Writing as reflection on presentations and their personal value. 
Some presenters share research and writing skills. 




Column 3 - Results  
Results from Personal Writing 
Fall 19: There were largely six themes the op-ed assignments discussed. Majority of students chose to talk about the value of science in terms of its ubiquity, problem-solving skills and critical thinking skills, and the way it prompts technological innovation. 
Fall 21: Students largely focused on 1. the nature of science as a product of human labor research embedded with many cultural issues, and 2. science as a communication and how scientists can gain public trust (e.g., transparency, collaboration, sharing failure.)  
F19 & S20 Selected Survey Results 
 108 students responding.The full report here.  


92.5% reported their overall college writing skills improved somewhat or a lot. 


76% reported their writing skills improved somewhat or a lot more than they expected. 


89% reported planning to say in LBC. 


Selected Course Reflection Comments 
The most impactful things students report learning at end of semester. 
Science and Culture: Quotes: “how scientific knowledge is produced” “science is inherently social” “how different perspectives . . . impact science” “writing is integral to the scientific community as a method of sharing and documenting scientific research and discoveries” 
Writing: Quotes: “a thesis must be specific and debatable” “claim, evidence, and reasoning” “it takes a long time to perfect.” Frequently mentioned skills: Thesis, research skill (citation, finding articles and proper sources), argument (evidence), structure and organization skills, writing as a (often long and arduous) process, using a mentor text, confidence. 
What do you want to learn more about after this course? 
“How culture(s) and science coexist, and . . . how different cultures view science” 
“Gender and minority disparities in STEM” “minority groups in science and how their cultures impact how they conduct science” “different cultures in science instead of just the United States” “how to write scientific essays”  
 

Leadership Fellows

2016-2018: Megan Jackson
2017-2019: Dominik Neuman
2019-2020: Matthew Klein
2021-2022: Radhika Sen

Megan Jackson (2016-2018)Megan’s work as the first Communication Arts & Sciences Leadership Development Fellow established strong connections with Dean Prabu David as she supported his goal of improving the graduate student experience. Together, they began a 1-credit course to increase awareness of college offerings and university resources, socialize students in the college, and begin to build community. Further, Megan worked with the college’s only GSO, The Association of Graduate Students in Communication (AGSCOM), to facilitate its official recognition as an RSO and supported Karen Cleveland’s new GSO in the Department of Media & Information. A September 2017 meeting between Megan, Dean David, and Matt Helm, the Director of Graduate Student Life & Wellness at the time, led to a social event held at the college that saw graduate students sharing lunch and discussing plans for future social events held off-campus. 
Megan concluded her 2017 report with a reflection on change and the individual; “The success of graduate student collaboration, community, and leadership development is immensely dependent upon an individual, like the fellow, leading the effort within the college. [The] impact of the first year fellow in the college is highly visible as the Dean stated one of his top 5 goals for this academic year to be improving the graduate student experience. Change does not happen, change is led. With the fellow in place, this organic change is within reach and the immensely positive outcomes will be seen for years to come.”Dominik Neuman (2017-2019)During the first year of his Fellowship, Dominik Neumann built on Megan’s work creating social events for grad students in the College of Communication Arts & Sciences by hosting an event series called “Communication on Tap” at local bars in East Lansing where graduate students could share their research while tying in personal stories or humorous anecdotes in a laid-back and relaxed setting. This work-free space for socialization was organized following a survey to the college’s PhD students that determined the events could foster a sense of togetherness and community while working to overcome the feeling of disconnection graduate students perceive between their professional and personal lives.
Dominik began the second year of his Fellowship developing a peer-mentoring system and handbook for the college. His initial survey to PhD students demonstrated the need for individual mentorship, as compared to committee- or group-based support. Domink decided to create a “buddy system” for incoming students in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences. Buddies served to create respectful relationships and an open dialogue that could help incoming graduate students navigate East Lansing, campus resources, classroom dialogues, and other issues that may be relevant for the student.
Matthew Klein (2019-2020)As the third Fellow for the College of Communication Arts & Sciences, Matthew Klein worked closely with a faculty member within the College on a college-wide project looking at the impact of inclusive language on syllabi. Matthew was invested in contributing to College-level efforts related to inclusion, and in collaboration with his key stakeholders, he decided that a mixed-methods study would best serve them in pushing future initiatives forward. Matthew and his stakeholders intend to launch this study after the completion of his Fellowship year.
Radhika Sen (2021-2022)Radhika created Imagine MSU, an initiative that provided graduate students funding to enhance the graduate student community. Grounded in an awareness that a thriving university community is one in which a great variety of lived experiences and perspectives find voice, Radhika’s project aimed to build a stronger culture of belonging among students (which research indicates is a major indicator of student success and retention) at MSU by encouraging creative problem solving and student leadership and supporting the pursuit of innovative community‐building ideas prototyped and implemented in collaboration with students. Radhika applied for and received a Creating Inclusive Excellence Grant from MSU for $5,000. She also partnered with the Graduate School to access additional funds. She recruited a steering committee of faculty who reviewed 25 applications from graduate students and selected 3 projects to fund. The first project aimed to increase a sense of community amongst graduate students in the English department as well as learning how DEI issues intersect with research and writing. They proposed to hold several writing retreats and to bring in a speaker whose work focuses on indigenous studies. The second project proposed developing an LGBTQ+ History course for the MSU History department and developing LGBTQ+ culturally-responsive training for faculty and TAs to incorporate LGBTQ+ history into their current courses and support students in the College of Social Sciences. The third project proposed the creation of a multi-authored Spartan Zine series reflecting on the experiences of MSU graduate students during the pandemic in the hopes of both fostering belonging while honoring difference.
 

All of this year's #iteachmsu Educator Award recipients will be receiving a certificate of achievement from Dr. Jeff Grabill, Associate Provost for Teaching, Learning, and Technology and Director of the Hub for Innovation in Learning and Technology. This certificate will also include the "Thank an Educator" story that was submitted for each recipient that resulted in their award recognition. A sample of this year's award is below. 
 
Additionally, Intermin Provost Teresa Sullivan shares her congratulations to each award recipient in a letter that each educator will also receive via email. The body of the letter reads as follows:
"Dear 2020 #iteachmsu Educator Award recipient,
 
Congratulations on being recognized as a recipient of this year’s #iteachmsu Educator Award. Your outstanding work supports Michigan State University’s teaching and learning missions and contributes to student success in a vital way.
 
For the 2019-2020 academic year, over seventy educators from across campus were nominated for this award for the positive impact their work has had on students and student learning. This year’s recipients represent a diverse community of educators from units across campus: information technology staff, academic advisors, librarians, faculty members, and learning designers. Each of you have stepped up in your role in ways that added value and inspired others.
 
I encourage you all to continue to grow in your practice and share your expertise with other educators in the MSU community. The #iteachmsu Commons and Thank an Educator Initiative aim to recognize and support the community of individuals who help MSU students succeed. If you haven’t already, please join the #iteachmsu Commons at iteach.msu.edu, so we can continue to celebrate the innovative contributions to teaching and learning that educators make on our campus throughout the year.
 
Again, congratulations and thank you for your ongoing efforts to make the MSU student experience the best it can be. Thanks also to the individuals who extended the care and took the time to recognize your contributions. This year’s award recipients work at the forefront of our commitment to undergraduate education, and I am grateful for your skills and dedication."
 
While we wish circumstances allowed us to host a reception in celebration of these educators, we hope that the sentiments from Dr. Sullivan and the certificate from Dr. Grabill help show how grateful MSU is to have educators like you!
 

 
 

Registration is now open for the Basic Needs Educator Training, which will be held in-person on Tuesday, April 2nd from 9:30AM-11:30AM. This training aims to equip MSU advisors and instructors with knowledge and skills to identify and support students who are having difficulty in meeting one or more basic needs. The training will cover how to navigate these sensitive situations with compassion, respect boundaries, and connect students with campus and community resources. 
Participants will also have an opportunity to put together finals week thriving kits to take back to their spaces and share with students. A wishlist has been created if you are interested in donating items for the finals week thriving kits. All items not used for the thriving kits will be donated to divisions on campus that stock free self-care items and toiletries for students, including the Student Parent Resource Center. Items are linked to Amazon but do not have to be purchased from this site.
Upon successful completion of the Basic Needs Educator Training, attendees will receive a digital certificate of completion.
Recommended Prerequisite: Attend or watch all recordings from the four Basic Needs Series presentations. All session recordings can be found on iteachmsu: https://iteach.msu.edu/pathways/437/playlist Register here for the Basic Needs Educator Training: https://bookings.lib.msu.edu/calendar/CTLI/BasicEducatorTraining Space is limited, please sign-up soon if interested!

Housing and food insecurity can have profound and detrimental effects on our students, affecting various aspects of their academic performance, physical health, and overall well-being. In the recording below, presenters discuss the critical issues of housing and food insecurity impacting our students. Our panel of speakers share insights, experiences, and innovative solutions aimed at creating a more inclusive and supportive environment for those affected by housing and food insecurity.
This event is for anyone that works directly with students and is seeking to learn more about resources that support students that may be experiencing food, housing, financial, and mental health concerns.
Presenters:

Nicole Edmonds, Director of MSU Student Food Bank
Spencer Good, Co-Founder and President of Spartan Food Security Council
Erin Kramer, Community Liaison Coordinator in the Office of Community and Student Relations

Upon completion of this learning experience participants will be able to:

Identify resources that provide support for students experiencing housing and food insecurity
Direct students to the appropriate offices and resources for further support
Know of proactive strategies to connect students with housing and food concerns.

Learn more about this important topic by viewing the video and access the PowerPoint slides below:

Food Insecurity at Michigan State University presentation
Spartan Food Bank presentation

MSU Food Bank Video (click here)

Housing Insecurity presentation

This week, we are featuring Dr. Eleanor (Ellie) Louson, one of the Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation's educational developers! Ellie earned her bachelor’s degrees from Bishop’s University, her master’s degree in the History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Toronto, and her Ph.D. in Science & Technology Studies at York University. She has a joint-appointment as an educator in Lyman Briggs College, MSU, where she teaches courses in the History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Science. Her research interests include wildlife films’ representation of animal behavior and interdisciplinary, experiential teaching and learning. Her teaching, research, and learning design backgrounds have taught her the value of interdisciplinarity, storytelling, and engagement for higher education. Ellie is originally from the Montreal area and plays in a rock band. Ellie has also been a recipient of the #iteachmsu Educator Award!
Read more about Dr. Louson’s perspectives below. #iteachmsu's questions are bolded below, followed by her responses! 


In one word, what does being an educator mean to you?  
My one word is “care” but it’s more care-as-doing than the emotional dimension of caring. As a teacher, I want to support my students being able to thrive in our class and in their broader lives. I do many things before and during class to support them, including a pre-course survey to learn about their tech and accessibility needs, as well as anything relevant to their situation during the pandemic. I design my classes with lots of flexibility and many assignments are open format. I use an Annotated Syllabus activity so that students can ask questions and make suggestions before I finalize it.
What does this word/quality looks like in your practice? Have your ideas on this changed over time? If so how?
I check in with students in lots of ways. At certain points in the semester, I check in to make sure they understand their progress towards the learning goals and flag any missing assignments. I also start each class with a check-in to give them a mindful moment to reflect on how they’re doing in 3 words, and I turn those check-ins into a word cloud to visualize patterns and to help me be responsive to the class’ energy levels. [Here’s an example word cloud. I use www.wordclouds.com to generate them]
 

I don’t have late penalties, but weekly assignments are spread throughout the syllabus as a marker of the expected pace of work. Students have full lives beyond the course and sometimes it’s reasonable for them to focus on other things. But I also care about their learning. I build in tutorials and extra office hours leading up to major assignments to make sure they can get the help they need. Those assignments also have a draft stage where I give feedback on their in-progress work. And they can revise assignments to improve their grades. I hope this contributes to a climate where it’s ok to try things and fail.
Tell us more about your educational “setting.” This can include, but not limited to departmental affiliations, community connections, co-instructors, and students. (AKA, where do you work?)
I work as an educational developer in the Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation, MSU’s new teaching center, which launched this fall. My colleagues and I work to support and connect MSU’s educators. Before that, I was part of the Hub for Innovation in Learning and Technology. I’m also one of the teaching faculty in Lyman Briggs College, where I teach courses in the History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Science to mainly STEM undergrads. I’m also fortunate to be a director of the CTLI Grad Fellowship, alongside my colleague Makena Neal.
What is a challenge you experience in your educator role? Any particular “solutions” or “best practices” you’ve found that help you support student success at the university despite/in the face of this? 
One challenge for me is that I’m too eager to say “yes” to opportunities that improve academic communities. I like to help, and I know the value of academic service work, so I’m glad to be able to contribute my design or communications skills to a project. But if I take on too many commitments, I am less able to be useful to those efforts. Another downside is that I get overwhelmed! By having stronger boundaries around my downtime and waiting 24 hours before taking on any new commitments, I can better protect my time and energy and make more of a positive difference for the things I deliberately take on..
What are practices you utilize that help you feel successful as an educator?
I learned a lot during the pivot to online teaching about building effective and engaging online courses, and many of those things translate to hybrid and in-person courses as well. I try to give students clarity about expectations, assignments, and the cadence of the class. I think I feel most successful when I share practices that work for me and then fellow educators tell me that they tried them in their own courses and that it helped. I write (and co-author) pedagogy articles for my HPS disciplinary newsletter that I hope help people in my discipline improve their teaching or meet the challenge of online learning. My favorite so far is called “You Can Teach Online! Designing effective and engaging online courses.”
What topics or ideas about teaching and learning would you like to see discussed on the iteach.msu.edu platform? Why do you think this conversation is needed at MSU?
I love iteach.msu as a space for educators to connect and share our ideas and teaching practices. I like learning about new tools and teaching tips on the platform. And I’ve had great experiences sharing resources on iteach.msu. I’ve had MSU educators connect with me after they discovered our playlist for the Spartan Studios Playkit, which is a set of resources for interdisciplinary, experiential teaching based on a pilot project of courses. It’s also really useful that #iteachmsu articles can have audiences beyond MSU. For example, when I present the Spartan Studios project at external conferences, I can share links with the audience and the content is accessible.
I’m interested in learning more about ungrading, both because I think ungrading practices give students more ownership into their own learning and metacognitive reflection, and (probably more selfishly) because I want less grading to do.
What are you looking forward to (or excited to be a part of) this semester?
I’m teaching a Science and the Environment course for Lyman Briggs, and one of the major assignments has students researching conservation initiatives. They also vote (as well as decide on a voting process) to make a real donation to one of the initiatives. It can be a conservation charity, awareness campaign, research institute; any organization that is focused on conservation research or practice. In the past this activity really engaged the students because they end up advocating for the groups, they think are the most impactful or need our donation the most. Since it’s “real” in a way that many academic assignments aren’t, they seem to care about how we make the decision. They also learn about the economics of conservation, and last year a few students got really interested in ranked-choice voting processes. I’m looking forward to improving the assignment based on feedback from last year and learning more about how to teach students to build effective presentations, because communicating in a variety of formats is a key learning objective for the course.
 
Don't forget to celebrate individuals you see making a difference in teaching, learning, or student success at MSU with #iteachmsu's Thank an Educator initiative. Submitted educators recieve a message of gratitude from #iteachmsu and are recognized annually with the Provost's #iteachmsu Educator Award. Submissions are also used to select educators to appear in our Educator Stories features! 

This week, we are featuring, Dr. Gary Roloff, Professor and Chair in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. Dr. Roloff was recognized via iteach.msu.edu's Thank and Educator Initiative! We encourage MSU community members to nominate high impact Spartan educators (via our Thank an Educator form) regularly!
Read more about Dr. Roloff’s perspectives below. #iteachmsu's questions are bolded below, followed by his responses!
 

 
In one word, what does being an educator mean to you? 
Empowering
Share with me what this word/quality looks like in your practice? 
As an educator, I look to facilitate critical thinking, synthesis of ideas and information, acquisition of contextual knowledge, and informed judgment that ultimately results in empowered, confident decision-making and choices by our students.
Have your ideas on this changed over time? if so how? 
My philosophy on this has absolutely changed over time. When I initially started teaching I leaned towards emphasizing contextual knowledge (e.g., why snowshoe hare are white in winter, why pigs turn feral so fast when released into an unconstrained environment), where there was a clear answer that could be assessed for correctness. I quickly realized that guidance for students on synthesizing and integrating contextual knowledge (and other pieces of information) to make informed arguments and decisions was a gap in my learning outcomes. Since then, I’ve worked to correct that deficiency in my course offerings.
Tell me more about your educational “setting.” This can include, but not limited to departmental affiliations, community connections, co-instructors, and students.
I am lucky enough to teach a field-based course in wildlife research and management techniques (I also teach a graduate-level course), which includes a blend of classroom and field experiences. Much of the class is hands-on and outside, and I involve our agency partners like the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and USDA Wildlife Services to teach sections of the class. This professional-student interaction is often a highlight for the students, providing an important opportunity to help build a professional network that is so critical to success. Some students in my class have gone on to work for the agencies that help me teach.
What is a challenge you experience in your educator role? 
My biggest challenge is reading the classroom early and trying to adjust my delivery of content to the different learning styles that I know occur in the room. As instructors, if we fail to recognize and adjust our content and delivery to appeal to diverse learning styles we are not being fair.
Any particular “solutions” or “best practices” you’ve found that help you support student success at the university despite/in the face of this? 
I started implementing a brief survey at the start of the semester in my undergraduate class to gauge personality types. The students work in groups in that class on a semester project that looks for integration and synthesis across the semester. One of my PhD students, as part of her FAST Fellows program, showed that “introverts” were at a significant disadvantage in these types of settings, unless we were able to integrate them into “extrovert” groups from the start. I stopped letting students form groups on their own, as the “introverts” and  “extroverts” tended to group together; instead I purposefully mix the personality types to help create a more equitable chance of success for all students in the class.
What are practices you utilize that help you feel successful as an educator? 
Last fall, I changed my standard assessment technique for the mid-term. I used to implement a standard type test, where students identify things and answer questions on paper. This fall I changed the mid-term to a field practical, where I interacted verbally with the students (i.e., an oral exam) and had them show me how to do things and explain their answers. This one-on-one assessment, though time-consuming, gave me a better sense (I believe) of how the students were learning the course content.
What topics or ideas about teaching and learning would you like to see discussed on the iteach.msu.edu platform? Why do you think this conversation is needed at msu? 
Efficient, effective ways to teach our students better oral and written communication skills as part of the classes they take.
What are you looking forward to (or excited to be a part of) next semester? 
I really miss the energy of campus; I’m hoping we can return to some sense of post-pandemic normalcy soon.
 

Don't forget to celebrate individuals you see making a difference in teaching, learning, or student success at MSU with #iteachmsu's Thank an Educator initiative. You might just see them appear in the next feature! Follow the MSU Hub Twitter account to see other great content from the #iteachmsu Commons as well as educators featured every week during #ThankfulThursdays.
 

PlanningThis is the fourth article in our iTeach.MSU playlist for the Spartan Studios Playkit.Teaching a Studios course requires more coordination with co-instructors and/or external partners than standard undergraduate courses. It’s important to begin planning your course early and take this planning seriously in order for your course to be successful. During the planning phase, you will be selecting a course theme, choosing the right challenges for your students, developing your syllabus and learning objectives, thinking about recruiting students, and deciding on your course structure.
▶️Course Theme: Form your class around a theme or challenge that is difficult to solve and benefits from many disciplinary perspectives. The topic or project you already have for your course might already relate to a wicked problem; you may just need to make that explicit by iteratively asking yourself why that topic matters. For example:
▶️Defining the challenge: The course topic needs to be significant enough for students to create a meaningful connection to the project (develop passion and drive outside of obtaining a grade, or the “Gravity” in our model), while still being focused enough for students to make progress on their projects within the time and resource confines of a semester course. Striking this balance is important for students to feel connected to the project while also feeling empowered to make a tangible difference. Students should have the agency to shape what their solutions to these problems look like, but you’ll need your judgement to balance between the course’s gravity and the depth of focus on these problems. Ask yourself “what project goals will matter to my students and our partners but be achievable in one semester?” Ultimately, your students’ deliverables (what they create in the course, which can range from a plan, a prototype, or a finished product) will depend on the mix of specific students and majors who show up for the class. 

Too broad:

 worldwide food waste (too intractable and disputed)

Too narrow:

students’ personal food waste is too high (not enough impact)
campus is not aware of MSU’s anaerobic digester (pre-existing solution) 

“Just right”:

food waste on MSU's campus (increase awareness and track campaign’s success)
food waste at a grocery store (partner with a local business)
food waste at the individual level within our community (partner with the municipal government)


▶️Future potential: Consider a course theme with the potential for repeat offerings. The local solutions produced by the class one semester can be built on in the following semesters, or you can emphasize different facets of the problem each semester. Think about how to maintain community partnerships for those longer-term projects (see Partnerships, our next article next in the playlist). Consider roles for students interested in continuing to participate in the course; for example, by returning as learning assistants to mentor teams of enrolled students, or encouraging local partners to create internships or job opportunities.
▶️Attracting students to the course

Recruiting students to a new course is a challenge. Incorporate and prioritize your recruitment strategies as early as possible in your course planning.
If your course will be co-listed in multiple departments, one model for a Studio is “bring your own students”: each faculty member promotes the course in their department and “brings” their own set of students (for example, 4 instructors each bring 15 students from their own discipline). This works for classes where a larger number of students still fits the scope of the project(s).
Another option is to use interdepartmental listings. Any potential to list as a general education requirement (IAH, ISB, ISS) should be taken advantage of, as you can reach a larger pool of interested students. Be aware that obtaining approval for a new gen ed requirement can take up to a year. 

🔧Advisors of participating departments/majors should be made aware of the course offering and can be valuable assets in advertising the course. A compelling course description and interesting project are important draw factors as well. Ask your advisors to share the course description with the campus-wide advisor network to reach interested students in other departments. 
▶️Create Learning Objectives. Consider whether these will be uniform or vary for students in different majors, and what goals the disciplines may share together. Learning objectives can be explicitly flexible (i.e. "gain a skill specific to your own career goals"). Other learning objectives can relate to working on interdisciplinary teams or manage relationships with community partners. Experiential courses can include content learning objectives; if these are uniform, they should be achievable by all students, regardless of their major.
🔧Bloom’s taxonomy is a well-known framework for describing educational goals. It’s a great resource for writing learning objectives. 
▶️Planning Iterative Sprints. Project-based learning benefits from phases of iterative design. One model for Studios courses, described in (Heinrich et al. 2020) is to divide the semester into a content delivery phase followed by applied project work broken up into iterative production weeks, known as sprints, with student reflections. At each completed phase of the sprint, student teams present their prototypes and receive feedback from classmates, instructors, and/or community partners.
🔧Course schedule template for Spartan Studios courses including orientation (burn-in), project training, sequential sprints, and final reflection phases.




Weeks 1-4


Week 5


Weeks 6-8


Weeks 9-11


Weeks 12-14


Week 15




Orientation, content delivery (burn-in)


How to run a project in project-based learning


Sprint 1: Project plan, execution, reflection 


Sprint 2: Apply lessons to project, execution, reflection


Sprint 3: Apply lessons to project, execution, reflection


Submit final project, reflect on course experience





▶️Setting expectations for students. Setting course expectations for students should start at the course listing/department advising and continue with the syllabus, the first few class periods, and periodically throughout the course. The experiential framework of the course and the method of assessment may be jarring for students - they have been trained in traditional education styles for nearly their entire lives. 

Mention in the course description that this is an experiential course.
Clearly explain the experiential approach and assessment style to your students.

▶️Consider an online Studios experience. Think about how these in-person, collaborative experiences can be translated into an online format during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have supported one online Studios course so far, which included synchronous sessions and independent student work. Students can benefit from work on interdisciplinary experiential projects regardless of the modality in which the course is delivered; additional work is required to design what student-faculty and student-student engagements look like for an online course.
🔧Resources from ASPIRE, MSU’s self-paced asynchronous professional development for online teaching
🔧Online platforms can facilitate student brainstorming. Students can contribute to collaborative documents (Google Docs), slides (Google Slides) or whiteboards (i.e. Mural or Jamboard). These and other tools can support student teams’ virtual design processes and work sessions can be visible to faculty in real-time.
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