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It is Graduate Student Appreciation Week, and we would like to highlight the many roles of our graduate and professional students. This week we will recognize one outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant/Educator every day on #iteachmsu. 
Megan Walsh teaching in 2019Megan Walsh stands out as a MSU Graduate Teaching Assistant. Megan applies pedagogical approaches that promote student agency. Megan keeps students’ attention by changing their focal points. She’s like a highly organized traffic cop. She physically and mentally divides her lessons into clear, logical sequences. Each purposeful transition results in refreshed student mental states. Students could not help but be fully engaged in her fast-paced environment. It was like watching a seasoned sports coach getting team members to run different, complicated plays really well. I was very fortunate to have had Meagan as a student. She is a rising teacher-star!  Thank you for being an excellent educator, Megan! Department/Program: The Department of Linguistics & Germanic, Slavic, Asian and African Languages, The Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Program

For years, the Office of Admissions has provided our campus with an academic profile of each incoming class. Admissions is now positioned to provide a similar profile of admitted students' co-curricular activities. The data-informed profile provides opportunities to assess how many such activities were tied to areas such as athletics or find more narrow measures, such as the scale of first-year Lyman Briggs College student involvement within the fine arts. Additionally, our institution can identify involvements in areas such as research activity, with such involvements potentially providing students with a foundation for future involvement in high-impact experiences at the undergraduate level.To access a PDF of the "What is the Activities Profile of our Fall 2021 First-Year Class?" poster, click here.
Description of the Poster 
 
What is the Activities Profile of our Fall 2021 First-Year Class? 
Terence Brown 
Abstract 
For years, the Office of Admissions has provided our campus with an academic profile of each incoming class. Admissions is now positioned to provide a similar profile of admitted students’ cocurricular activities. The data-informed profile provides opportunities to assess how many such activities were tied to areas such as athletics or find more narrow measures, such as the scale of first-year Lyman Briggs College student involvement within the fine arts. Additionally, our institution can identify involvements in areas such as research activity, with such involvements potentially providing students with a foundation for future involvement in high-impact practices at the undergraduate level.  [The abstract is accompanied by word cloud that forms a two-dimensional Spartan helmet from the Common Application’s categories for student co-curriculars.]  
Introduction 
MSU’s adoption of the Common Application, now allows Admissions for to collect descriptive information for applicants’ cocurricular activities. The additional information includes applicant descriptions of their high school cocurriculars, categories assigned to each activity and whether a student wishes to continue participation in the activity during their collegiate years. Currently, approximately 71% of first-year students apply to MSU via the Common Application.    This assessment fundamentally asks two questions: 

What does the profile look in the aggregate and by college? 
Can the profile information support our institution’s efforts in the realm of offering high-impact practices (Kuh et al., 2008; AACU, 2018) to our students? 

Results 
In assessing the 204,672 admitted student activity entries as of April 19, 2021, there were a few general findings. First was that students wished to continue with approximately 66% percent of these activities. Second was that the leading activity categories were athletics, community service and work. The collective of academic activities was ranked fourth, with the category having been in the top three in the two preceding years. The test case of Lyman Briggs majors with fine arts experiences was a significant (378 total) but small 5.5%. A full review of results across colleges is pending, but early findings only showed occasional reordering of the established top four categories.   This data must be viewed with the understanding that many applications are completed by the parents of applicants (Jaschik, 2017). However, the data still provides a good foundation for identifying activities that can serve as a gateway to high-impact practices at MSU. There were lower rankings for high school activities categories covering involvements that would most-readily prepare students for Internships, Diversity/Global Understanding and Research.  [The “results” section includes an Excel chart that lists the total activities reported by category, the Common Application’s activity categories, high impact experience categories and MSU Student Activities categories for student organizations.]  
Methods 
During the three most-recent admissions cycles, an iterative process has been used to collect and organized the cocurricular data from applications submitted via the Common Application platform. The Common Application is one of three platforms available to students, but was used by the majority of applicants in each of the last three admission cycles.   Summary data was compiled and applied to a matrix that incorporates all 30 Common Application categories for activities, five of the 11 high-impact practice categories and 12 of MSU’s Student Activities Office’s applicable student organization categories. Additional keywork searches were conducted, identifying student involvement in popular activities such as DECA and rare research areas such as CRISPR, but the activity profile’s assessment mainly focused on the broader categories.  [This section includes seven small, unconnected circles that are collectively placed in an array that forms a larger circle. Each circle includes text that describes a different step in the process used to gather, compile and share the data used in this poster presentation.]  
Conclusions 
The dominant application categories have largely held steady for three admission cycles. There was a notable change with the emergence of work moving into the top three. Incidentally, the top three categories have slightly varied in previous comparisons between MSU college cohorts. A similar assessment will be made after the closing of our MSU’s deposit deadline.  Future work in this area can be supported through use of the Educational Development Plan which Michigan schools maintain starting in middle school. To determine whether a particular high school activity helps prepare for high-impact involvement, the assessment portion of the EDP (Michigan Department of Education) could be used to identify traits that George Kuh associates with high-impact practices. Were the EDP to identify activities that provide students with sustained involvement, advisor involvement or a relevant coaching philosophy, such data could be inputted into the Slate CRM, and shared with appropriate campus partners prior to admitted student matriculation.  
Citations 

Association of American Colleges & Universities (2018). High-impact educational practices. Retrieved from https://www.aacu.org/node/4084 
Jaschik, S. (July 26, 2017). Survey: Parents finishing parts of college applications. From Inside Higher Education 
Kuh, G. D., Schneider, C. G., & Association of American Colleges and Universities. (2008). High-impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities 
Michigan Department of Education (n.d.). The Educational Development Plan, p. 3. Retrieved from https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/EDP_Fundamentals_ADA2017_570694_7.pdf 

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. 

Instructing students during the Covid 19 pandemic has created many new challenges and upended normative pedagogical practices in learning spaces. Teaching in the arts, a traditionally hands-on process, represents a particularly unique set of challenges. Studio art faculty have long been asked to perform with limited resources, particularly those in the domestic arts where practitioners are largely women, people of color, and folks from marginalized populations. In this poster presentation, I will discuss how historically, in times of war, and now a pandemic, domestic work or matriculture, is revisited by societies at large. One needs only to look at the proliferation of bread making advice across social platforms; an intense return to cooking, and the sharing of recipes for meals that are comforting; renewed interest in growing plants and gardening to recognize the need to prioritize domestic activities as high priorities during this time. It is noteworthy to acknowledge that these same domestic activities function as productive distractions from trauma, and offer meditative practices, while providing individuals and their families with activities and outcomes that commonly bring about feelings of comfort, and security. Accordingly, I will discuss how these domestic skills can be applied to experimental learning and how students can draw on these practices with rigor for more personal resilience, innovation and imagination in their studio arts practice.To access a PDF of the "Matricultural Practices in Studio Art Courses" poster, click here.
Description of the Poster 
Matricultural Practices in Studio Art Courses 
Rebecca E. Schuiling Apparel and Textile Design Art, Art, History and Design Michigan State University 
Introduction 
Studio environment, now that we are online, happens in the home. Students are making studios of their kitchen table, twin bed, and basement floors. Creative projects that would have been executed on industry standard machines and equipment are now being created from discarded items in the family garage, recycle bin, and the junk drawer. While creative spaces, commonly known professionally as studios, have always had direct connections to matricultural underpinnings, at this time, studio practices and matricultural practices commingle.  
Students and professors alike take for granted the matricultural items and spaces around them, because they commonly exist in patriarchal spaces such as drawing studios with rigid standing tables, fluorescent lighting, cell structure classrooms with concrete floors. The pandemic forced them to examine their surroundings with a critical eye to discover new approaches and materials for creative outcomes. This returned everyone to a matricultural ethos, where materials and approaches reflect the Hestian sphere. Materials that were readily available commonly were found in the natural environment and in the home, which lead to a new appreciation for  sustainable media and materials readily available when viewed through a lens of multiplicity. 
In my studio courses; Knitwear, Advanced Knitwear, and Explorations in Apparel and Textile Design, I employ matricultural pedagogical strategies. The following are a few highlights as to the use and success of Matriculture as a pedagogy. 
Matriculture as Pedagogy 
In the introduction to her book, Cassandra Speaks 2020, Elizabeth Lesser notes that the stories a culture tells, become the culture. Stories with terms coded as feminine, “the home, the hearth, the “womanly arts” of empathy and care” are erased in favor of stories of warriors and violence (Lesser 2020:11). In this way, matriculture embraces practices commonly considered domestic arts, crafts, and even women’s work, because it offers sustainable practices and compassionate community based outcomes. 
In ReMembering Matricultures: Historiography of Subjugated Knowledges, Irene Wiens-Friesen Wolfstone imagines a future where curricula and syllabi are developed through the conceptual and theoretical framework of Matricultures. Her working definition of Matriculture is mother-centered societies founded on maternal values of care-taking and meeting needs, which become ethical principles for men and women, mothers and not-mothers. Matricultures are socially egalitarian and governed by consensus (2018: 5)  
During the Coronavirus pandemic, many returned to matricultural spaces, materials, and approaches for creative studios without fully realizing the connection. Given these factors, professors commonly asked students to use what is around them for creative outcomes in their studios, such as garden mud and dough used for ceramics; a pile of pots and pans for still life drawing; and onions and beets used for fabric dyes.  
Matriculture Pedagogical Case Study Examples 
Students were asked to be highly resourceful for space and materials while taking creative studios online. Closets of parents and peers were raided so as to locate appropriate materials that can be upcycled or repurposed. Furry family companions and stuffed animals within the home, are now models for knitted items such as scarves, blankets, mittens and hand warmers. 
Reconnecting with Matricutural Relationships 
A student in my Advanced Knitwear class could not afford new yarn or notions for the class. She reached out to her family, and her grandmother was gifted her a stash of materials including yarns. Her grandmother was thrilled that her granddaughter was learning to knit and that the materials she had collected over the years would finally be utilized for a creative outcome. The student had lots of materials for her projects that would not impinge on her affording other supplies. (Studio majors commonly spend more than $500 per course per semester). 
Reconnecting to Matricultural Spaces 
Due to the fact that many students are working in tiny spaces, as they are sharing their homes with extended family members, or are limited to small apartments or dorm rooms. Space is at a premium in the pandemic, especially for students. Students negotiate with family or roommates for space at the kitchen table or for a bedroom to become a studio for the semester. Storing supplies requires communication and innovative thinking to prevent children or pets from inadvertently ruining paints, markers, fabrics, and other creative materials. In return, the students will offer gifts of their time to make roommates dinner or even some of their creative outcomes. 
Reconnecting to Matricultural Resources 
Students in fashion illustration courses are using tea or coffee to paint their croquis figures. Orange peels and strawberry hulls now build the silhouettes to create texture and line for garment illustrations. Collage items are created as students forage around the house collecting and collating mail, paper goods, and other household items. Everyday household objects take on a new life in still lifes created in the home, frequently with family members critiquing and contributing. 
Analysis 
Wolfstone notes that Foucault’s methodology of historiography exposes how knowledge construction is influenced by colonialism, patriarchy and capitalism. Wolfstone posits that this is a useful framework “for exploring questions such as: How did we get to this place where patriarchy is presented as the only viable social order? How can we remember the subjugated knowledge of matricultures?” ((Wolfstone 2018: 7). In a patriarchal society, crafts are coded as feminine and amateur. They do not carry hegemonic institutional accreditations. Furthermore, crafting is often discounted as medium as it is typically associated with clothing and, therefore, considered superficial or surface. The Covid-19 Pandemic has forced a societal reckoning with this prioritization. The anxiety, fear, and unknown of living through a contagion, coupled with societal and economic unrest and institutionalized disparities; has led us back to the familiar; to home; to matriculture. To the domestic work that sustains life. 
By employing Matriculture as a pedagogical method in my creative studios, students are encouraged through their studio practice and design processes to simultaneously reconnect to family, reconnect to resources, and reconnecting to spaces in their own lives and creative practices. Thus, moving away from a traditional patriarchal lens of institutionalized learning to an authentic, sustainable, and community based matricultural practice. 
Summary 
In times of crisis, the domestic or matriculture is revisited. In my studio pedagogy, I employed matricultural practices, materials, and approaches because many students were isolated in home environments, where they were also engaged with domestic activities that were applicable to experiential learning and creative outcomes. Students reconnected with family, the home, and resources found in the home. Students draw on these practices with rigor for more personal resilience, innovation, and imagination in their studio practice and creative outcomes. 
Bibliography 
Foucault, M. (1984). Nietzsche, genealogy, history. In P. Rabinow (Ed.) The Foucault reader (pp. 76-100). New York: Pantheon Books. 
Kimmerer, R. W. (2015). Braiding sweetgrass. Milkweed Editions. 
Lesser, E. (2020). Cassandra Speaks. Harper Wave. 
Wolfstone I.W.F (2018).  ReMembering Matricultures: Historiography of Subjugated Knowledges. Accessed April 19, 2021: https://www.academia.edu/37336416/ReMembering_Matricultures_Historiography_of_Subjugated_Knowledges 
In her book, Robin Wall Kimmerer notes that “cosmologies are a source of identity and orientation to the world. They tell us who we are. We are inevitably shaped by them no matter how distant they may be from our consciousness…..On one side of the world were people whose relationship with the living world was shaped by Skywoman, who created a garden for the well-being of all. On the other side was another woman with a garden and a tree. But for tasting its fruit, she was banished. And then they met- the offspring of Skywoman and the children of Eve- and the land bears the scars of that meeting, the echoes of their stories” (Kimmerer 2015: 6-7).  
Wolfstone continues, “Matricultures do not presume the subordination of men, and thus are not the reverse of patriarchy. Matricultures assume a reciprocal relationality between land and culture” 
My research is an exploration of the material culture of dress and appearances, specifically knitted dress. I draw from disciplines including but not limited to Dress, Cultural Studies, Sociology, and Visual Culture in order to build qualitative methodological frameworks, studies, and analyses that allow for better understanding of the rituals of craft. My research and scholarship reveal how crafting practices and rituals of handcraft are vehicles of empowerment.  

This week, we are featuring Norman Scheel, a Research Associate in MSU’s Department of Radiology Cognitive Imaging Research Center. Norman 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 Norman’s 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? Share with me what this word/quality looks like in your practice? (Have your ideas on this changed over time? If so, how?) 
The word would be “rewarding”. For me, teaching and learning is a two-way street and no matter in which direction you are driving, it is always an investment in the future and there is always traffic in both ways. Above all, I want to set up my students for success. As a teacher, I see myself as a conductor to help my students achieve their personal goals and as a role model who possibly has a substantial influence on the future of my students. So, seeing my students excel is highly rewarding, but I am also learning so much from my students, every day, which is also immensely rewarding.
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 now in the final stages of my postdoc in the Radiology Department of Michigan State University and am currently applying for Assistant Professor positions. Together with Prof. David Zhu I supervise and mentor the graduate students in our lab as well as students that rotate through it. I also mentor and advise students remotely for their bachelor’s and master's theses at my home University of Lübeck, Germany where I did my Ph.D. in Computer Science and Computational Neuroscience. In my research, I work interdisciplinary with many different universities, e. g. Vanderbilt University, University of Texas, John Hopkins University, or the Max Planck Institute Tübingen, Germany, on a variety of research questions. With my collaborators at these institutions, there are always students working on joint projects where it is natural to mutually teach skills important for the project’s success but also in the personal interest of the students.
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?
My German Diploma in Informatics taught me the importance of multidimensional learning, or as Aristotle said, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. Over the last few years, I saw a trend that students are taught highly specific topics, without relating these to a “grand scheme”. Integrating information from multiple perspectives gives cross-references to other related topics and courses. This integration facilitates the ability to abstract learned information and helps to apply it in a more holistic way of connecting “the bigger picture”. For clarity, the content in my lectures is presented in a way that is illustrative rather than abstract, so that students are able to grasp the content and put it into relation to what they have learned before. I always try to highlight cross-references as much as possible, so that students see past the boundaries of final exams.
What are practices you utilize that help you feel successful as an educator?
The most important I think is to find a way to effectively communicate. As my teaching is typically in a small group or individual setting, I am able to tailor my teaching directly to the needs of my students. This helps tremendously in finding ways to communicate expectations between my students and me. 
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? 
It would be amazing to have a central place on the platform, where educators could advertise potential master’s or bachelor’s theses, or rotation projects, or vice versa, students could advertise that they are on the look-out for these projects, with a few skills that they have, to see if there might be a fit. In my time here at MSU, it has been very difficult to find mid-level academic hands, especially interdisciplinary ones. The lack of or at least problematic communication between different parts of the University makes local collaboration very difficult.
What are you looking forward to (or excited to be a part of) next semester?
I am excited for a few of my students to get the chance to present at scientific conferences. It is always such a rewarding experience and always such a big push for motivation and new ideas.


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!

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. 

Work with us to create a unique teaching and learning experience at CMERC.
You are invited to incorporate nature into courses and create learner‐centered experiences at CMERC (pronounced ‘see‐merk’), the Corey Marsh Ecological Research Center. CMERC is a 350‐acre ecological research center located 20 minutes from MSU campus in Bath Township, Michigan. It is a place for making scientific discoveries and integrating the arts and sciences in a collaborative, interdisciplinary, and inclusive space. CMERC welcomes educators, researchers, and citizens across MSU to explore, co‐create, facilitate and grow experiential courses for students.
CMERC seeks faculty and academic staff collaborators to develop learning experiences that will bring together educators, students, and community members to explore and learn from this vibrant ecological field site. MSU faculty and staff from across campus interested in this funded opportunity to join a SoTL Fellowship in land-based learning can connect with Jeno Rivera, Center Educational Program Development Leader at jeno@msu.edu.What is Corey Marsh (CMERC)?
CMERC is more than a physical place. It is a space that offers meaningful place-based experiences.CMERC was once MSU’s Muck Soils Research Center and operated from 1941 – 2012. In 2018, Fisheries and Wildlife associate professor Jen Owen, with the support of MSU AgBioResearch, led the reimagined CMERC into a place for integrating ecosystem science research with student learning and community engagement. In addition to training MSU undergraduate students in field‐based research and science  communication, the center aims to promote better land stewardship practices and the relevance of science to society. While still early in its development as an AgBioResearch site, CMERC has been engaging in a people-centered approach to the planning, design and management of the space. CMERC foresees a collaborative process transforming the space to a place that engages a diverse community – internal and external to the university in scientific discovery.Location of Corey Marsh Ecological Research Center in Bath TownshipHow can I contribute?
Given the unique opportunity CMERC provides to enhance student learning, we want to make sure that it serves a diverse student community that spans disciplines and units. We want educators in our SoTL Fellowship in land-based learning to reflect that diversity and help develop curriculum that will foster collaboration among students and serve to integrate arts and humanities with sciences.  Consider these examples of possible learning experiences at CMERC:

Edible and Medicinal Plants – for humans and wildlife. What is good for humans vs. wildlife?  What grows in muck soils? How can ecological restoration efforts incorporate edible plants? What is missing that was likely at CMERC in the past? 
Trails – People – Nature – Wildlife: How does trail design enhance natural experiences and maintain integrity of the ecosystem? What informs the development of a trail?
Land Grant or Land Grab?: Who was here before us? How did this land become a part of the land-grant system? How can this land honor those who used it in the past, present, and the future? 
Agriculture and Natural Resources – how can we document and understand how historic land-use affects ecosystem integrity now and in the future?

CMERC actively seeks MSU faculty and staff interested in designing and facilitating an interdisciplinary, learner-centered, sense-making experience built on the resources of CMERC. This curricular/co-curricular programming will be titled Lessons from Nature: Stories from CMERC. We envision that the learning inquiries would be co-created by faculty and students together. More specifically, the lessons will be shaped as a studio experience that is akin to Liberty Hyde Bailey Scholars (BSP) integrated learning/self-directed courses or modular programming. These experiences would be facilitated by a faculty member, but inquiry and assessment are student led. Alternatively, you can develop learning experiences to enhance an existing course or curriculum. You may also be interested in giving your students the opportunity to facilitate place-based informal learning for youth in the local community.Next Steps: Have Fun. Explore Nature. Get to Know Us!
We invite your ideas and input for designing meaningful experiences at CMERC. Collaborators who are selected for our Fall 2022 cohort will receive $2,000 to support their participation. To explore how you can partner with CMERC, contact Jeno Rivera, Center Educational Program Development Leader at jeno@msu.edu  
Deadline to apply: June 15th, 2022.