We found 60 results that contain "aan"

In Fall 2020, we conducted CSE 260 (Discrete Mathematics) as a flipped class, where students were expected to watch videos before class so that they could use class time to work together to solve problems. This class covers foundational mathematics for computer science and computer engineering students. Students need a lot of practice to master the methods and concepts. Unfortunately, these problems do not provide an instant feedback mechanism similar to programming projects. A flipped class where students work together in a group, along with regular assistance by the instructional team, provides such a mechanism. We surveyed students to gather their impressions on the course. Most students liked the flipped class structure and generally preferred it to a traditional lecture format. Furthermore, students reported it helped them develop friendships, something difficult to achieve in the Covid-era.
To access a PDF of the "Benefits of Teaching a Large Course Using a Flipped Zoom Classroom" poster, click here.Description of the Poster 
CSE 260 Flipped Class (Lessons Learned) 
Sandeep Kulkarni and Eric Torng 
 CSE 260: Discrete Mathematics

Topics Covered: 


Propositional and predicate logic 
Set Theory 
Elementary Number theory and its applications to cryptography 


Mathematical Induction 
Counting and probability 
Relations 


Role in Curriculum 


Foundational mathematics for computer science  

Analog to calculus (continuous mathematics) for engineering and natural sciences 
Why Flipped Class 

Students need lots of practice to master the methods and concepts 
Discrete math problems do not provide instant feedback to students if they do something wrong (unlike some programming errors such as a program failing to compile), so doing problems in class in groups helps students get quick feedback on any mistakes 
For Fall 2020, student groups not only improved learning, they also created a sense of community for students who participated regularly. 


80% of students responding to an end of semester survey reported they developed friendships through the homework groups 

 Flipped Class Design 

Class enrollment roughly 200 (10-20% were outside the US, several in Asia) 
Instructional Team 


2 faculty, 6 TAs/ULAs 


Online videos covered the core concepts 


Each video had an associated homework assignment that would be worked on in class by student groups 
Each video had an associated online quiz that every student was required to complete before working on the associated homework in class in groups 


Homework group composition 


20 groups, approximately 10 students per group 
Group creation started about a month before the first class 
Each student was asked to fill out a survey that asked two main things 


Do you request specific group partners? 


15% of students made such requests 


What is your self-perceived math background and ability to lead a group discussion? 
60% of students filled out the survey 


Groups were created based on these responses (group partner requests and balancing self-perceived ability) 
Groups did not change 


Homework group technical support 


Groups had a shared Google drive space for working on assignments 
Groups had predefined Zoom breakout rooms  


Some issues due to Zoom max of 200 participants for predefined breakout rooms 

First Week Activities 

The first week was focused on group work logistics and the daily structure 


We discussed group roles and group dynamics 
We had students practice their group collaboration on ungraded simple math exercises  


We had several technical issues the first week including having to move roughly 80 students rather than the anticipated 20 students to their predefined Zoom breakout rooms 

Daily Structure 

At the end of every class, each group submitted a survey to identify (1) difficulties encountered, (2) their current status in solving the homework problems, (3) and their assessment of the group collaboration. 


Before the next class, we prepared a few slides summarizing the responses in all three dimensions along with 2-3 quoted comments that best captured the current student sentiment. 
At the start of the next class, we spent roughly 20 minutes covering those slides. 
Afterwards, groups began their collaborative work in their assigned breakout rooms 
The instructional team moved through the groups to help as needed for both content and to enforce good group dynamics. 
The work done in class was submitted as (lightly graded) homework to ensure that it was completed 

Common Difficulties 

Internet issues 
Some students not watching the videos before class 
Freeloaders: some students not participating on a regular basis but getting the same homework grade leads to resentment from those that do participate. 
Groups were not perfectly synchronized; leading groups might be 2-3 assignments ahead of trailing groups. 

Lessons Learned 

# instructional staff needs to be about 1/3 # of groups 


This implies we can have at most ~20 groups with current instructional staff size 


Need better mechanisms to address freeloaders 


Perhaps more frequent individual assessments to ensure all students are participating and learning 


Each class/week must have specific deliverables to ensure group synchronization 
Stricter enforcement of requirements to watch videos before class 

 Survey 

Administered by Qualtrics 
Roughly 1/3 of students (65) responded 

Selected Comments 

I think the flipped model is much more effective when it has to be online and potentially I think it could work when in person classes are able to be taught again. I think some students learn a bit differently than others so I think having the option of flipped classes (maybe every other semester) could be beneficial to some and hindering to others.  


I feel like there would be more participation if the flipped class happened in person rather than zoom. People would likely hold themselves more accountable.  
I think the reason group work helped me learn was because it was over zoom. This way everyone is able to see a screen and hear each other. If it had been an in-person flipped class it would have been more difficult to communicate with such a large group, so groups would have to be smaller. The people sitting furthest away from wherever the work is being done would not participate. I think I learned the most when I was doing problems as a group.  
Flipped classroom in person is very nice.  For example CMSE 201, 202 and STT 180 all do very nice jobs of balancing the in class work and the pout of class lecture.  Also, having TA's walking around to help is very nice.  

 Information from Graphs 
Most students preferred flipped class 
There was a preference towards flipped in-person class 
Most students reported that they learnt a great deal from their peers 
49% students preferred flipped class, 5% preferred any option, Remaining students were ok with either. 

Click the image above to access a PDF of the Quick Guide. Remote Communication With Your Students
This quick guide provides an introduction to communicating with your students as you move to remote teaching. It outlines key steps to Plan, Modify, and Implement when making this move to optimize student learning. As with any steps you take in moving to remote teaching, it’s important to anchor your decisions in course learning objectives and to be transparent, flexible, and generous with students.
Plan
Michigan State University has shifted to remote teaching, which means your course will be moving to a digital environment. Remote teaching is a way to continue instruction when face-to-face meetings are disrupted and you are not able to meet in person. When planning for remote teaching, it’s important to develop a communication plan for helping students transition to a remote environment.
Modify
It is important that you develop a communication plan for maintaining ongoing contact with your students about the course. Consider the following:

Clarify your modified expectations and course elements:

When your class will meet. Schedule any virtual sessions during the time your course already meets. This guarantees that students have the availability.
How you will deliver content (e.g. Zoom, recorded lectures, etc.).
How students will engage with one another.
How students will be assessed moving forward.
Changes to assignments.


Tell students how they can contact you and how soon they can expect a reply from you.
Consider using the D2L announcements and discussion board tools to push out course-level communications.

 
Even if you have not yet finalized all the changes to your course, it is important to send a message to your students so they know how to reach you. To get started, here is a sample email you might send:
 
Dear [insert course name here] students,
 
I’m writing to let you know that the University is implementing a remote teaching strategy in response to the novel coronavirus. What this means for you is that we will not be meeting at our normal class location. Instead, we will meet online at the same time our class normally meets. However, I will be hosting the class through Zoom. We will also be using our D2L course site to deliver and collect materials for the class. To access the course, go to https://d2l.msu.edu/. Once you log in with your NetID and password, you should see our course listed under “My Courses”.
 
Over the next few days, I will keep you informed about how our course experience will change. Know for now that we are planning to move forward with the course, and please be patient while we get things shifted for this new mode. I will be back in touch soon with more details.
 
Best,
[Insert your name]
Implement
As your initial form of communication with students, it is important to inform your class often about course changes and expectations. To send emails, you have several options:

D2L email classlist function
The Instructor Systems email tool from the Registrar’s website
Spartan Mail for individual and small group communications

Additional Help
For additional help and support, please check out the other Remote Teaching articles here, or contact the MSU IT Service Desk at local (517) 432-6200 or toll free (844) 678-6200.
 
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Michigan State University was an early leader adopter of an integrative studies approach to undergraduate general education. Unfortunately, this program has experienced structural changes that resulted in a significant increase in class sizes for ISS classes in particular. As a result, instruction in these classes has become largely didactic, and in many classes, student assessment is primarily measured through high-stakes, multiple-choice exams. For so many MSU students, this passive pedagogical approach leaves them disengaged and disinterested. The question remains: How can ISS faculty facilitate engaged and project-based interdisciplinary curriculum with the current scale of their large-format classes? It is in this context and around these challenges that this project takes shape, and with the support of a Hub Faculty Fellowship in 2020-2021, we set out to bring innovation to ISS. Over the course of three semesters and amidst mandated remote online learning, our instructional team designed and implemented a meaningful, engaged, interdisciplinary, and team-based research project into an ISS general education course (with enrollments of 300 students) on the broad topic of Material Culture Studies. For the course project, students were required to explore a complex integrative research topic of their choice related to Material Culture Studies. Their research developed within weekly benchmark steps and culminated in the production of a short documentary film over their chosen topic. All student films were then showcased in an end-of-semester virtual student film festival. The course project design and the student outcomes and experiences with this project are the focus of our presentation. Our research proposal team includes the ISS professor of the class, two teaching assistants (both who completed the film project as students in SS20), and three participant students (all who created films in FS20). Together with our various positionalities, we propose to present the findings of this innovative ISS pedagogical research in the form of an academic poster—a common format to present preliminary findings of a research project that is still in progress. Additionally, we will embed into our poster a link to our team-produced short film that documents this guiding course project in engaged digital storytelling within an ISS general education course. We hope this film will demonstrate that we are pedagogically practicing what we preach to our students.To access a PDF of the "ISS Innovation: Documentary Storytelling as Engaged Learning in General Education" poster, click here. Please note: This poster contains embedded videos that are accessible via the PDF or below. 
The title of this poster is:  ISS Innovation:  Documentary Storytelling as Engaged Learning in General Education. 
This poster contains several sections. The first section outlines the research problem and purpose and provides a brief literature review on the topic. This section ends with the articulation of the guiding research question. 
The second section is a table that describes the research methods and data collection choices for the project. This is followed by the third section that provides a detailed iconic logic model of the data analysis scheme for the research project. 
The fourth section presents selected findings from the project. There are three major findings presented, and accompanying each of the findings is a short YouTube video/film that was produced by the research team to give the viewers a comprehensive picture of the guiding course ISS project that this pedagogical research investigates.  
ISS Innovation: Active and Engaged Learning
Culturally Responsive CurriculumMotivating Creative Risk Taking
There are links to the associated film festival that showcases the documentary films that MSU students in the ISS class produced as their guiding course projects. The poster has a brief conclusion section and a references section. 

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! 

We are excited to announce the app for the MSU Spring Conference on Teaching and Learning, powered by Guidebook, is now available. With this resource, you have access to the most up-to-date information as well as networking tools. The Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation is excited to be piloting this platform to make engagement in this year’s Spring Conference on Teaching & Learning easy, interactive, and accessible. 
Conference Registration: Please note the two non-consecutive days of the Spring Conference on Teaching and Learning require two separate registrations.  
Day 1: April 19, 2024: Synchronous, Virtual via Guidebook App/Site
Register for Day 2: May 1, 2024: In-Person, Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center 
After you’ve registered, you’ll receive an email with instructions on accessing the Conference’s Guidebook app, where you can build a personalized schedule, connect with others, add linked materials to your session’s discussion board and more! 
If you have not yet downloaded the App, instructions are included here: 1) On your mobile device get guidebook here. Tap “Download the app” to access the guide on your iOS and Android device.AND /OR2) On your computer, access the conference schedule via guidebook online. 

In-Guide Navigation
Tap on the icon in the top-left corner of the screen to access the navigation menu.
Once the menu bar is open, there are three icons on the right-hand side. You can search for content within the guide using the magnifying glass. The share icon will allow you to share the cover page URL if this is enabled for the guide. Tapping on the arrow circles will download the latest available updates to the guide. 
Learn more about creating an account, signing in and managing your profile in Guidebook’s User Accounts support article.
Navigation
From the menu, you can access the various components of your guide. Guidebook provides a few different tools to help you get the most out of your event experience.
The guide builder may have named the menu items differently or used different icons for your guide than what you see in these examples. Tap on the menu items to explore everything in the guide.
Day 1 Info - Virtual
Here users will find information about accessing zoom and zoom best practices.
Day 2 Info - In Person
Here users will find information about parking at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center as well as the floorplan (map). Now that you know what’s happening and when you need to know where to go. You can tap on a location on the floor plan to see what sessions are happening there. 
Schedule and Speaker Info
You can find everything you need to know about sessions in the Schedule. Tap on the dates at the top of the screen to navigate through the schedule. Tap on a session name to get more details. NOTE: you'll need to swipe (on mobile) or advance through the calendar to see the two dates of MSU's Spring Conference-- April 19, 2024 and May 1, 2024.Accessing virtual zoom presentations for the April 19th, Day 1, of the conference, please use the Guidebook App. 

use the public Guidebook Link (shared via email) 
go to the conference schedule in the left menu
click on the session you're interested in attending
when the session opens, you'll see a Blue zoom logo box with a "play icon"
if you want to add a reminder to your outlook calendar you can click the download button and an .ics file will be added to your computer's downloads
at the time of your event, click the play icon - write your name and MSU email, and click log in 

you can choose to open zoom within Guidebook or "launch zoom"


zoom will open

You may see colorful dots on some sessions. These indicate schedule tracks, which are tags for sessions according to topic, intended audience, etc.
Below the session description text, you may see links to other items in the guide, surveys, PDFs, and/or website as additional resources.
If YouTube, Vimeo, or Twitch videos have been added to the session, you can play these in the header of the session details page.      My Schedule
When exploring the schedule, you will see plus sign symbols next to session titles when viewing a schedule overview. Tap on the plus sign (+) to add a session to your My Schedule.
If you tap on a schedule session name to learn more about it, you will have the option to Add to My Schedule at the bottom of the screen. Tap this button to add the session to your My Schedule.
If the guide-builder has set space limitations and enabled registration for sessions, you will be required to log in to your account before you can add sessions to your My Schedule.
You can also create your own schedule items by tapping on My Schedule feature in the app and tapping on the plus sign (+) near the top-right corner. Add your personal session details, and click Save.
Personal schedules can be created and shared with others via My Schedule, learn more in Guidebook’s article on meeting booking.  
My Notes
You can access Notes from the Notes menu item in a guide. You can also tap Create note or the note symbol from any schedule session or list item.
All notes are stored locally on your device. Tap on a note to edit, delete, or export/share it. 

The export/share button looks like on Apple devices.
The export/share button looks like on Android devices.

You can also export/share all of your notes from the Notes menu item screen.
To be able to export/share your notes, sharing must be enabled in your guide under Guide Details > Privacy. 
Share, Connect, Grow
The Interact feed is a great place to see what’s going on at your event. Read announcements, post pictures, find popular sessions, and have discussions with fellow attendees all in one place. 
If you choose to log in, your profile will be public and you will show in the Connect list. You’ll be given suggested connections based on the interests you filled in upon onboarding (if the guide creator has set any). You can add a picture and modify your profile (if you would like to share information) and chat with other attendees. When you are checked in to a guide you can be invited to meet other users using Meeting Booking.
Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation (CTLI)
This area links users to more information about the CTLI, hosting organization for the Spring Conference, and the basic web version of conference information.
Notifications
Any notifications that have been sent to this guide will show in the Notifications feature. If you have signed in to the guide, notifications can be sent directly to you by the guide builder. 

Hello and welcome to the 2021 Spring Conference on Teaching, Learning, and Student Success poster sessions. All sessions this year will be conducted virtually and asynchronously- which means you can interact with this content at any time by reading the article, clicking the links, and logging in to add comments. All poster presenters have committed to checking in on their poster's comments during their scheduled time of the conference. First, log in with your MSU netID!Visit the Poster Session Playlist (you're probably here already)The box on the left with the dates are the posters organized by their scheduled time slot. You can click the dates to see that day's poster sessionsAfter you click on a section of the playlist (i.e. date), you can select the poster from the list that populates on the right. Once you have an article open and have been able to engage with the poster content, please write your comments and questions in the comment box at the bottom of the page. The presenter will respond during their scheduled presentation time. 

“I want to learn. I want to help.” We regularly hear this from students. How do we design environments that empower positive failures and spark innovation? We created Street Teams, student-run collaborations. We partner with nonprofits to solve challenges in media communication. Students have real-world learning experiences while giving back to the community.To access a PDF of the "Street Teams: Team Resilience on the Street" poster, click here.Description of the Poster 
STREET TEAMS: TEAM  RESILIENCE ON THE STREET 
solution-based learning and resilience 
Street Teams are student-run, creative collaborations. They partner with nonprofits and assist them with media projects. Teams learn while giving back to the community. 

COLLABORATION 

We are stronger together  

Teams consist of students from various majors, backgrounds and skillsets. Their collective diversity amplifies the work of the whole team.  


Strategic focus on group culture and dynamics  

First semester = team building 
Second semester = content creation 
In 2020-21, we did this all through Zoom!  


Holistic approach to solving challenges  

Projects are based on a combination of non-profit requests and student-driven assessment Together, they create sustainable solutions  




MULTI-LAYERED MENTORING 

Faculty mentor students 
Alumni give feedback on student work  
Nonprofit partner-related professional development opportunities 
Student leaders (Producers) mentor teammates 
Street Team Coordinator hosts weekly Producer meetings and trainings  
Teammates mentor each other 


 IMPACT 

Throughout our history: 

131 students involved*  
20 majors represented**  
37 nonprofits served  
550+ products delivered  *At least 1/3 of students return for more than one year **Some are dual majors  




QUOTE FROM A PARTICIPANT

"(Street Teams) make me feel like I belong to a place. Thank you ... for the opportunity you give all of us to connect with the community." - Manuel Pérez Salas 

This week, we are featuring Micaela Flores, Outreach and Retention Specialist, within the College of Veterinary Medicine at MSU. Micaela 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 initiative) regularly!
Read more about Micaela perspectives below. #iteachmsu's questions are bolded below, followed by their responses! 

You were recognized via the Thank an Educator Initiative. In one word, what does being an educator mean to you?  
Responsive
Share with me what this word/quality looks like in your practice?
My role is divided between undergraduate advising and youth outreach programming for traditionally underserved students. When I advise students, I am not only focused on imparting the knowledge and information they need to complete a task or prepare for an opportunity, I focus on where the student is in terms of their familiarity with the systems, departments, or tasks they need to navigate. I listen to their concerns and take my time to understand the things that are important to them and I make sure they leave with a thorough understanding of where they are and what they need to do next. Similarly, when coordinating youth programs, I assess the audience or participants' needs, their existing knowledge and skill levels as well as the needs and desires of the agency requesting the collaboration in effort to create programs and events responsive to the groups’ unique needs.
Have your ideas on this changed over time? if so how?
If I was asked what the role of an educator was as a recent college graduate and high school college adviser, I would have responded with something along the lines of, educators impart knowledge and share information relevant to their educational role. I now understand the importance of meeting students where they are and tailoring my approach or method to fit the needs of the students’ I work with. A one size fits all approach does not work when one’s goal is to provide equitable programs and services.
Tell me 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 am a member of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team in the College of Veterinary Medicine, Office of Admissions, Student Life, and Inclusivity. My work is entirely grant funded through the State of Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity King-Chavez-Parks Initiative for students from underserved backgrounds both financially and academically. I provide academic advising for undergraduate pre-veterinary and veterinary-nursing students as they work towards application and admission to the Veterinary Nursing and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine programs. I also work with youth from our target locations which include Detroit, and Lansing. I have also partnered with groups from Flint and Grand Rapids.CVM, MSU & Community connections:

MSU GEAR UP
MSU GATE Guppy
MSU Latinx Student Success Committee
MSU Assessment and Metrics Working Group
MSU Pre-College Committee
MSU CANR, Pathfinders, AIMS and AIMS-B
MSU Admissions, Dia de La Familia, African American Family Day
MSU CVM Enrichment Summer Program
MSU Office of Cultural and Academic Transitions
MSU Collaborative Learning Center
MSU Student Groups – ASMSU, MSU Preveterinary Club, Delta Tau Lambda Sorority Incorporated.
MSU Dia de La Mujer Conference
MSU New Student Orientation
Michigan Humane (former Michigan Humane Society)
Capital Area College Access Network – CapCan Launch Your Dream Conference
Detroit International Academy for Young Women
Clinton County RESA Career Expo
Flint Area and Capital Area Michigan Career Quest Fairs
Michigan Veterinary Conference
The Fledge – Lansing
Detroit Horsepower

What is a challenge you experience in your educator role?
Time is the biggest challenge. When I began practicing inclusive and responsive pedagogical methods, the amount of time I spent in advising appointments increased significantly. I regularly went over my 30 minute time slots. Now that I am familiar with responsive strategies, appointments are not as long. While time is a challenge it is important to embrace new practices and allow time to learn and adjust.
Any particular “solutions” or “best practices” you’ve found that help you support student success at the university despite/in the face of this? 
As an educator, it is important for me to know my students feel heard and leave with a comprehensive understanding of what was discussed. I have found the technology we have at our fingertips can be leveraged to provide facilitation strategies inclusive of all learners. For example, I always share my screen or seat my students in an area where they can see what I am doing or looking for, I follow up with an email summarizing our discussion, and/or I invite the student to follow up with me via email or by scheduling another appointment with me if we run out of time.
What are practices you utilize that help you feel successful as an educator?
In addition to the best practices listed above, I have created event planning templates to ensure I do not miss or forget critical information. I like to set reminders on my calendar to follow up with students who may be struggling academically as well as reading ESAE reports and following up with students to either congratulate them for their progress or intervene if they are not doing well. This enables me to practice proactive and intrusive advising strategies.
I feel most successful as an educator when I receive positive feedback or sentiments of gratitude from my students, when I see a student who was placed on probation return to good academic standing, or when a student I have advised, supervised, and/or written a letter of recommendation for is admitted to veterinary school.
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 would like to see more information relevant to equitable practices to improve the ways in which we teach diverse students in our courses as well as ways to enhance the programs and services we offer. Practicing culturally inclusive or responsive pedagogy seems difficult on the surface or when the concepts are new, but there are simple changes we can embrace that make a world of difference to our students. I would like to learn more from educators who are also doing this work.
What are you looking forward to (or excited to be a part of) next semester?
Next semester, I will continue to make progress towards the Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education, M.A. program which is where I have picked up inclusive and responsive strategies for teaching and learning. I am excited to continue to learn and improve my educational practice to help my students succeed in higher education.

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!