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"Being a part of the Learning Communities at MSU has been a wonderful experience. Within our community we have had the opportunity to share ideas, brainstorm solutions to challenges commonly faced, and expand our thinking with individuals from a wide variety of departments. I have deeply appreciated being a part of this new campus-wide community and having a space to connect with faculty and academic staff in similar positions to my own. Seeing what the other Learning Communities are doing has helped with inspiration for our own progress," said Mary-Anne Reid co-facilitator of the Sharing Process Improvement Tools in Undergraduate Internships and Experiential Education Learning Community. 
Learning Communities are self-organized, safe, and supportive spaces for faculty and academic staff to address complicated questions of curriculum and pedagogy. Michigan State University has supported these initiatives since 2004 and continues to do so through a funding program administered by the Academic Advancement Network in collaboration with the Hub for Innovation in Learning and Technology.
See what Learning Communities are available
 
Different Aims, Different Practices
Dr. Michael Lockett, the program Director, is quick to point out that the word “safe” is crucial to that statement of purpose, as it conveys the agency members and facilitators of Learning Communities enjoy. 
“Once a community is funded, our interventions in their work only take place at the most basic administrative level,” says Lockett. “It’s a space we designed to maximize autonomy and academic freedom.”
Learning Communities at MSU are free to propose their own topics and determine the structures that best support their interests. Accordingly, communities tend to vary greatly in their practices and topics. All communities, however, share three things in common: they meet at least eight times across the academic year, explore important educational themes, and welcome all members of MSU’s instructional staff, regardless of rank or discipline.
“We have approximately thirty communities running. That means approximately three hundred faculty members are contributing to and benefitting from the program.  Given that scale, there’s tremendous diversity in terms of topics and methods,” says Lockett. “Broadly defined, the conversations all connect back to ideas of education, teaching, and learning, but not necessarily in a formalized curricular context. We don’t limit their purview to credit-bearing courses at MSU and some communities are invested in educational topics that transcend this campus, or this country, or even this era.”
 
Dialogues Characterized by Freedom and Safety
Although many Learning Communities do not discuss fraught topics, some do.  “Because some groups explore topics related to critical pedagogy, they may require particular community structures,” says Lockett. “Which is to say the community is not closed but carefully defined.  All communities are inclusive. But the facilitators (those members responsible for the administration and protocol within the Community) determine the structure and it’s fair for them to ask their membership to commit to certain protocols.”
Some Communities only meet the required eight times during the academic year and encourage members to drop in or out at their discretion. Other Communities are working on highly complex questions of critical pedagogy, and require regular attendance, as the associated dialogues must be sustained and reflected upon. Ultimately, the facilitators decide the protocols for each Community. 
The conversations held in the Learning Communities might also involve very personal pedagogical experiences; those kinds of conversations require time, trust, and a sense of open inquiry to make the dialogue supportive and generative. The AAN strives to provide that atmosphere by respecting the autonomy of the facilitators and working diligently behind the scenes to design flexible administrative structures that can support diverse methods. Lockett says, “although it’s not necessarily their primary role, Learning Communities can be therapeutic spaces. There’s an emotional dimension to teaching, particularly in high-pressure contexts. These communities can become a place where people find support, where they can share and hopefully resolve some of the challenges they’re encountering, teacher-to-teacher.”
 
Why Learning Communities?
Variations on the Learning Communities program exist on many campuses. “Questions of curriculum and pedagogy are always complicated and often best addressed face-to-face,” says Lockett. “You can do a lot of important work through dialogue.  When colleagues get together to discuss curriculum and pedagogy, their conversations become nuanced and empathetic and situated in a way they can’t through other discursive forms.  They can also be highly creative and generative places where good ideas disseminate swiftly.”
 
Getting Involved
The Learning Communities at MSU grew over 150% last year, from 12 to 30 groups. Lockett credits the passion of the facilitators and the leadership of Drs. Grabill and Austin (Associate Provost for Teaching, Learning, and Technology, and Interim Associate Provost for Academic Staff Development, respectively).  He also applauds the work of his predecessor, Dr. Patricia Stewart, who advocated for the program’s continued existence and provided a vision of success. “We wouldn’t be seeing this level of engagement and success without Patti’s leadership and dedication to the program,” he says.
A full list of Learning Communities and the contact information of their facilitators is available below and on the Academic Advancement Network website, in addition to information on proposing new communities.
"As a co-facilitator of the ANS TLC the past few years, I have been impressed with our cohort’s desire to continue to become better educators. Our learning community focuses on presenting and supplying tools to our members that address their reported concerns of education, including but limited to instruction, assessment, and student engagement. Since the pandemic has rendered our instruction to be “survival mode”, the ANS TLC has reached out to provide tips and tricks to its members for better classroom experiences, in whatever platform is being used. We look forward to hosting monthly “Chitter-chatter What’s the Matter” discussions alongside our continual scaffolding of the ANS curriculum for the Fall 2020 semester." said Tasia Taxis, co-facilitator of the Department of Animal Science Teaching and Learning Community (ANS TLC) Learning Community.
 

What inspired you to pursue this project?







Teaching challenges in design studios












Who was involved in the project or made a significant contribution?







Myself, but I invited my colleague to collaborate with me. We finished preparing the IRB protocol and will obtain approval to begin testing in interior design studio in Spring 2023












What are some of the successes that you have experienced on this project?



There was a learning curve at the beginning, however, I was able to get an intense two-day training with the vendors of the software that visited our campus. They have given me more ideas to use that could be beneficial. I also presented some of my work at the iMotions conference that occurred on MSU campus and was able to connect with other faculty on campus with similar interests.










What are some of the challenges that you have experienced on this project?







There was a delay in the order and shipping as the product came from Europe.












Describe some of the unexpected outcomes that occurred during this project?







I tested the products as a pilot on my colleagues from different programs. They all expressed interest in the product and saw its potentials for their own teaching.












What are the key lessons that you learned from the project?







I found the tool very promising in capturing eye gaze and emotions and can offer an objective analysis to students. Everyone who used it found it equally engaging which is also important to achieve in teaching



How would you describe the final status of the project?







I finished setting up the experiment and got it tested on faculty members. IT is ready to roll next semester.








 









What are the next steps for this project or research?







I anticipate recruiting up to 40 interior design students after IRB approvals and I anticipate publishing the results.








 











Checkout the following link for visuals: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YlTNst-JgfeRm7BSfuOsAOV5xlqymGke/view

In addition to pursuing a social event in his own college, Jacob was integral to the redesign of the overall fellows' application process. Jacob facilitated a group in defining a fellowship competency framework, and then using said framework to establish an application, referral form, and interview protocol.

If a student discloses that they have experienced discrimination or harassment, you must refer them to the Office of Institutional Equity. The Office of Institutional Equity (OIE) reviews concerns related to discrimination and harassment based on age, color, gender, gender identity, disability status, height, marital status, national origin, political persuasion, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status and weight under the University's Anti-Discrimination Policy (ADP) and concerns of sexual harassment, sexual assault, stalking, dating violence, domestic violence, and other forms of sexual misconduct under the Relationship Violence and Sexual Misconduct and Title IX (RVSM) Policy.  
A student can file a report here.  
 
Confidential reporting for students
There are a number of resources on campus that can provide a confidential space where students can explore their options, talk about what happened, and obtain support services. Individuals often find it difficult to speak about what happened. Talking with someone once, or receiving ongoing support, can aid in recovery and assist with safety planning. If students access these services, they will be directed to other needed resources.  These private and confidential resources are available at no cost. These services are not required to report incidents to the Office of Institutional Equity or campus police.  
A student can access confidential resources here.
 
Mandatory reporting for faculty and staff
All University “responsible employees” and volunteers who are not otherwise exempted by this policy and/or applicable law must promptly report incidents of relationship violence, sexual misconduct, stalking, and retaliation that they observe or learn about in their professional capacity or in the context of their work and that involve a member of the University community or which occurred at a University-sponsored event or on University property. Please review the University Reporting Protocol.
 

Graduate school is hard. It can be even harder when there are very few people in your program that look like you or come from a similar background as you. Studies show that not only does the diversity of a program contribute to student experiences, but feelings of inclusion and belonging play an equally important role. In fact, a study of MSU graduate students showed that students who did not feel supported or included due to gender, race, sexual identity, culture, or religion were significantly less satisfied with their graduate school programs. This research and our personal experiences suggested that an important project for us as Fellows of the Graduate School would be to focus on improving the experience of underrepresented minority graduate students in our college. Together we built a framework of a multi-tier support system that would provide resources at different levels (student, faculty, and college level). However, in brainstorming possible resources, we discovered that we had very different ideas of what would benefit students.
 
The experts in change management would suggest that you should first conduct a needs assessment before attempting to provide a solution, particularly in a big system. After already establishing that satisfaction with one’s graduate program depends on underrepresented minority graduate students feeling included, we next should figure out what they need to feel included and like they belong. This article is a step by step description of our journey planning a needs assessment to discover how we might best serve underrepresented graduate students.
 
Step 1: Do your research
As PhD students, research comes second nature! We dug into the academic literature to find studies or theories that offered solutions for improving feelings of belonging, engagement, happiness, success, or retention of underrepresented students in graduate school. The literature also provided a bonus: tips for how to successfully implement the solutions. The list of possibilities was further narrowed when we considered what could be done within the bounds of our college with the resources and time we had.
 
Next, we did some benchmarking studies where we looked at what other campuses implemented to address the same issue. Many were far past our ability to implement (giving fellowships for example), but we were really inspired by the student led efforts we found. A few more solutions were added to our list.
 
Step 2: Construct tools to capture voices
A needs assessment suggests that you must ASSESS NEEDS! It is extremely important to not just use your own experiences or examples of what others did to “create a solution”. Instead, the crux of creating sustainable change is to find out what the recipients of the solution need and think through how you might address those needs.
 
We began by creating an open-ended survey that allows underrepresented minority students to freely tell us if they are satisfied with their experiences in graduate school and their suggestions on how to improve their experiences. The second part of the survey asks for feedback and opinions on the list of solutions that we came up with.
 
Next, we made a plan to conduct focus groups. We thought through recruitment, locations, the questions we would ask, and how to merge this information with our survey results. The two methods would allow us to capture the voices of underrepresented students and build our multi-tier support system from their needs and suggestions.
 
Step 3: Identify and engage with administrators
Institutional support is an essential part of creating sustainable change. Getting partners within administration to lead the change also increases the chance that you implement lasting change. To begin this process, we reached out to introduce ourselves and our role to the Dean and Assistant Dean of our college. After establishing a friendly connection, we identified the Assistant Dean as a person who could help champion this work and who had a personal interest in the topic.
 
We set up a meeting and prepared for it by outlining our project (including future steps), summarizing the benefits to the MSU community, and preparing a list of “asks”. The meeting went over successfully with the Assistant Dean agreeing to support and help with the project. She also recommended other administrators that we could consult with. We went about the same process for engaging those administrators.
 
Step 4: Execute Your Plan!
The next step in completing a needs assessment is to do it! Unfortunately, a global pandemic prevented us from being able to conduct our activities, but we can share our plan.
 
Our survey was to be administered from the Dean’s office directly to underrepresented minority students. We concurrently would begin to recruit and conduct focus groups.
 
The information would be consolidated, and we would make a decision about what type of changes, resources, solutions, etc. to provide in order to enhance the experience of underrepresented minority graduate students. Once we created a proposal, we would begin to engage the necessary stakeholders to make it come to life. For example, one of the solutions on our list was to create a page on the college website that featured all of the available resources for underrepresented students. We would have to compile a list of these resources, request permission to do so by administration, get assistance from the website owners, and establish an updating protocol so that the page stays current.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The best advice that we can offer when conducting a needs assessment is to stay flexible and stay encouraged. You have to be flexible enough to realize that what you thought people needed may not be exactly what they think they need or what can be provided. You will need to be innovative so that your solution satisfies the needs of your audience. Change leadership projects can also be very involved and take a long time. You must bring your patience and enjoy the ride! Stay encouraged throughout the journey and persevere to you goal.

The following is a list of the educators receiving the #iteachmsu Educator Award from Units that house educators beyond one college. For more information on these awards, check out the article entitled "#iteachmsu Educator Awards".
The Writing Center
Grace Pregent: Despite being new to MSU, Grace has already made a big difference at MSU. One of my advisees, a first-semester graduate student, worked under her supervision. Not only did he enjoy his work, but he got so much more than just a job and a pay check: he was welcomed into a positive, supportive, and encouraging community led by Grace and was mentored on much more than just how to do his job. Grace nudged him to present his work at a conference and gave him the confidence that he could actually do it. The student was experiencing a challenging phase of his life this semester, which could have easily sent him down into negativity land. But as he explained to me, it was Grace's ubiquitous and endless positivity, that became a bright light in his daily life at MSU, contributing to him successfully and confidently completing a difficult first semester. 
 
Colton Wasitler: Colton has worked for The Writing Center @ MSU for many years with increasing levels of responsibility and commitment over time. He is the coordinator of our home base in Bessey Hall as well as our online satellite. Because of his work training consultants to conduct online sessions, we were well prepared to move our whole center online in this time of crisis. In addition, he worked tirelessly those first few days to get us going online and to make sure every consultant had the guidelines and resources they would need to function in this new environment. I truly appreciate his leadership, his mentorship of other consultants, and his good will and humor during all of it.
 
Center for Language teaching Advancement (CeLTA)
Elizabeth Ablan: Elizabeth joined our team in Fall 2019. Her primary duty was to assist with the Community Language School's (CLS) programming. She was very quick to understand what her responsibilities entailed and dived right into them. She's a very detailed-oriented person and makes sure that she does every task thoroughly and to the best of her ability. Her passion for language teaching and infectious collaborative spirit is very evident in her interactions with our teachers and volunteers. She often goes out of her way and beyond her duties to inculcate a sense of community in our unit by helping our student workers or anyone else in our unit that might need help. For instance, she initiated a discussion on how to keep our office fridge clean and organized. She took it upon herself to type up a chart explaining what needs to be stored on every shelf in the fridge. When we were planning a book sale of used books, she meticulously sorted all the book donations by language and organized them in our storage space. She has assisted multiple times with re-organizing our office space. She also streamlined the process for our professional development series and was very adept at understanding what protocols to follow with our invited speakers each week. Personally for me, she has been an enormous beam of support in running the Language School and managing all the administrative tasks so efficiently. Elizabeth's contribution to my team is tremendous! I appreciate her positivity, her work ethic and her attitude as a graduate student all while maintaining a full course load. A big 'thank you' for everything that you do!
 
Center for Statistical Training and Consulting (CSTAT)
Andrew Dennhardt: Andrew is a phenomenal research assistant for the Center for Statistical Training and Consulting (CSTAT). He provides excellent statistical collaboration and consultation services to our clients. Multiple clients have sent me unsolicited emails to tell me how valuable his help was to them in completing their research. They have praised his knowledge, communication skills, responsiveness, commitment, and professionalism. My own observations validate their comments. Andrew has excellent oral and written communication and collaboration skills. He listens carefully to people and thinks about what they say and how to respond. He respects the knowledge, expertise, perspective, and contributions that others bring to the table. Andrew sees the value in having stakeholders with diverse backgrounds coming together to jointly plan how to solve problems. I regularly give him clients who need help with rather complex research design and statistical analysis problems. He proposes feasible methods for rigorously addressing those problems, then helps the clients learn how to implement his suggestions and address other issues that come up along the way (e.g., identifying important constraints or aspects to situations that the client had not yet recognized were relevant). When Andrew hits the boundaries of his own knowledge, he starts searching for new resources and trying to expand those boundaries.
 
Bailey Scholars Program
Lorelei Blackburn: Lorelei is a BSP faculty fellow this year. She has had a very difficult section of ANR 210, but has done an excellent job stretching herself as the course convener to push the students to take ownership of their learning. You have helped to design a learning environment where students are able to build community and challenge ways of knowing. Bravo to you Lorelei!
 
The Graduate School
Melissa McDaniels: Melissa McDaniels is the best kind of Spartan educator, one who leaves MSU with a remarkable legacy of impact, touching not only those who were fortunate to work with her or be taught by her, but also those who benefit from her efforts behind the scenes to improve how teaching, learning, and mentoring are done at MSU. MSU Is grateful for her decade of service to teaching and learning! Anyone who has worked with Melissa has felt her impact, whether it has been in one of the workshops she's taught, in the orientations she has led, or in meetings where she advocates always for excellent teaching, learning, and mentoring. She is a skilled teacher and an effective policy maker, whose legacy at MSU will help ensure that future Spartans will benefit from teaching that is supported, valued, and celebrated. She is a national leader in supporting mentoring practices that honor people for their unique experiences, contributions, and aspirations and she leads with her beliefs: That everyone on our campus is capable of doing great things and that our individual uniqueness, put together, makes MSU an extraordinary place to learn, work, and grow. Thank you, Melissa, for your passion and dedication to learning. We are so grateful to have had you for as long as we did!
 
IT Services
Kevin Holtz: Kevin has provided in person support for some of most challenging teaching methods. He stepped up and configured and created guides for faculty to use classroom equipment in their offices and has provided critical in person support for lab courses. 
 
Technology at MSU - Client Services 
When MSU moved to remote teaching on March 11, the idea of "classroom support" changed instantly. Client Services staff helped faculty transition from the physical classroom to the virtual one through things like live lecture capture classrooms, providing streaming infrastructure for important information events, answering ever increasing numbers of service desk support calls and helping triage technical support across not only IT departments but campus as a whole. At every new challenge, they asked "how can we help?" By not only connecting faculty and students to the technology they needed to complete their work, but also supporting them as they learned an entirely new way of doing things.
 
Andrew Dennhardt, Aaron Algrim, Michael Sweet, Amin Elrashid, Ronald Southwick, Donald Morgan, Thong Hoang, Ronald Pranica, Dale Wegienka, John Hulbert, Linda Barrows, Kirk Bartling, Cindy Taphouse, Jeremy Jestila, Susan Dunn, Stephan Andre, Darius Bradley, Paul Phipps, Paul Sweitzer, Robin Ellsworth, Leo Sell, Sharron Wells, Angela Knauf, Cynthia Wallace, Joseph Murray, Mark Szymczak, Hao Quoc Lu, Dean Olson III, Blake House, Jeffrey Herrmann, William Balluff, Steven Jowett, Otty Turrentine, Jillene Pohl, Adell Flourry Jr., Victor Doe, Morene Dickman, Linda Beck, Wilson Ndovie, Stephen Asman, Shirl Rowley, Kimberly Davis, Laura Stevens, Terry Gillespie Jr., Lauri Stephens, Michael Walters, Stefan Ozminski, James Willson, Brandt Detmers, Timothy Skutt, Christopher Doerr, Robert Sisson II, Jonathan Schulz, Daniel Layne, Angela Kimmel, Charles Spagnuolo Jr, Chase Guzinski, Dustin Bacon, Renata Thompson, Angela Clum, Navidad Cassaday, Kathleen McGlynn, Melanie Phillips, Daniel Wyrembelski, Justin Baker, Aaron Richmond, Theodore Manko, Michael Snyder, Joseph Fromm, Chad Randall, Casey Jo Brassington, Elizabeth Hood, Bradley Williams, Scott Foreman, Jennifer Phillips, Michael Reed, Sean Will, Gordon Kiewiet, Erica Nedziwe, Jeniffer Robinson, Jeremy Gentges, Mark Seyka, Alexander Goff, Christopher Jones, Tonya Govereh, Kelly Wilcox, Michael Warner, Sean Collins, Matthew Evans, Brian Fraley, Erik Williams, John Sfreddo, Jacqueline Wilson, George Harris, Gabriel Cantu, Suporn Teng, Jane Carl, Sue Clark, Whitney Patterson, Paul Short, Thomas Marra, John Scott, David Sheppard, Karen Bailey, Jordan Stine, Gregory Forman, Ethan Begalka, Mohamed Abou Elseoud, Gregory Koerner, Chad Corkwell, Heather Atkinson, Alison Virag-McCann, Ronald Njau, Vinessa Webster, Kathryn Harger, Foster Whipple, Ryan Laorr, Claire Cowan, Bailee Droste, Jake Crandell, Madeline Smith, Benjamen Nienhouse, Lindsay Knuth, Anne Phillips, Joshua Hakes, John Nguyen-Tran, Amy Bransch, Allen Scheck, Mallory Crowner, Kyle Banks, Carlie Richardson, Dominic Colosimo, Jinny Bernotas, Hanna Foreman, Jeffrey Cunningham, Makenzie McDowell, Nicholas Hartman, Gregory Battley, Haley Rathkamp, Elsa Gallegos, Ryan Freemire, Tyler Michael, Rachel Macauley, Denzel Smith, Danie Gorentz, Jami Baker, Justin Walser, Jacob Tenney, Anslee Norris, Ryan Roberts, Wyatt Oistad, Anthony Rogers, Aaron Mundale, Eric Zhang, Jacob Garner, Daimon Emerick, Nickolas Battley, Jaison Balluff, Rachel Rumsey, Stephen Elmer, Kevin Holtz, Thomas Ruffley, David Littleton, Ian Walker, Robert McDonnell, Christopher Sibley, Elijah Corbin, Craig Smith, Madalyn Allen, David Palme, Joshua May, John Goodwin, Andrew Stine, Daniel Grusczynski, Brandon Mcsawby, Jared Utsunomiya, Devin Wilcox, John Senger, Sandros Rivera-Letcher, Brian Mitchell, Andrew Barnikow, Terrance Singleton, Clabe Hunt, Alaina Scheidel, Jacob Kingsley, Trent Keyton, Allem Mekonen, Eun Kyo Chung, Mary Catherine Canavan, Jolene Alto, Jillian Davis, Gabrielle-louise White Italia, Hillary Hemry, Dante Delorenzo, Randy Carnahan, Zoran Tomic-Bobas, Perry Truscon, Margaret Northcutt, Adithya Rao, Caitlin Parton, Lauren Gudritz, Tyler Coleman, Jeremy Balluff, Tyreece Banks, Sue Hurd, Dylan Mccarroll, Noah Luikart, Seth Swartout, Rostyslav Chen, Mary Magnotta, Jessica Knott, Devyn Boettcher, Dylan Hawthorne, Jonathan Miller, William Park, Braeden Berg, Derek Hamp, Joseph Roy, Quinn Sheppard, Alanna Bortle, Isaiah Orsborn, Brant Salinaz & Tabitha Hudson
 
 
Anyone can recognize a fellow Spartan for their contributions to MSU's teaching and learning mission or for how they made a lasting impression on your experience. All you have to do is click "Thank an Educator" in the left panel of iteach.msu.edu. From there you'll be directed to a form where you can enter the name, netID, and a short story of the educator you'd like to recognize.

AppendixThis is the ninth and final article in our iTeach.MSU playlist for the Spartan Studios Playkit.This appendix includes categories related to different elements of interdisciplinary, experiential teaching and course design, and includes what we hope are useful annotations.
Research from the Spartan Studios project

Heinrich, W. F., Louson, E., Blommel, C., & Green, A. R. (2021). Who Coaches the Coaches? The Development of a Coaching Model for Experiential Learning. Innov High Educ 46, 357–375. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-020-09537-3 

This paper is an overview of the Spartan Studios project and our results for students and faculty who ran prototype courses. It outlines the GORP model as well as the benefits and challenges of this approach to teaching and course planning.

Heinrich, W. F., Lauren, B., & Logan, S. (2020). Interdisciplinary teaching, learning and power in an experiential classroom. Submitted to Experiential Learning & Teaching in Higher Education.

This paper [under review] describes the first iteration of what became the Studios pattern at MSU and introduces the GORP framework.

Research from the James Madison University X-Labs, our colleagues in Virginia working in a similar course model

McCarthy, S., Barnes, A., Briggs, F., Giovanetti, K., Ludwig, P., Robinson, K., & Swayne, N. (Fall 2016). Undergraduate Social Entrepreneurship Education and Communication Design. SIGDOC 2015 Conference Proceedings. https://doi.org/10.1145/2987592.2987625 

This report describes some communication strategies within the X-Labs’ drones course, how students documented and presented their works and how faculty plan to iterate the course.

Ludwig, P. M., Lewis, E. J., Nagel, J. K. (2017). Student learning outcomes from a pilot medical innovations course with nursing, engineering and biology undergraduate students. International Journal of STEM Education, 4(33) https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-017-0095-y 

Describes an X-Labs multidisciplinary course on medical innovations and its assessment using qualitative content analysis about students’ attitudes and perceptions of different occupations.

McCarthy, S., Barnes, A., Holland, S. K., Lewis, E., Ludwig, P., & Swayne, N. (2018). Making It: Institutionalizing Collaborative Innovation in Public Higher Education. Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd’18) 1,549–1,557. http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/HEAD18.2018.8560  

A descriptive case study of the academic maker space in the JMU X-Labs, both describing specific courses and how X-Labs is administered. Offers this model as applicable elsewhere in higher ed.

Kishbaugh, A. (2018). An Exploratory Case Study of Cross-Disciplinary Project-Based (i.e. Maker) Curricula as a Catalyst for Entrepreneurship. International Symposium on Academic Makerspaces. https://jmuxlabs.org/app/uploads/2018/10/ISAM_2018_akish_v6.pdf 

Describes cross-disciplinary courses as promoting entrepreneurship and innovation, by looking at startups coming from these courses. Offers a framework based on multidisciplinary problem-solving, Design Thinking approaches, and a lean startup methodology.

Selznick, B. S., Mayhew, M. J., & Swayne, N. (2018, November 20). Stop Blaming Innovation. (Correspondence from Chronicle readers). The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/letters/stop-blaming-innovation/ 

A rebuttal to an argument that higher ed’s emphasis on innovation is misguided. Argues that innovation has positive student outcomes, is different from entrepreneurship, and that their interventions are effective.

Swayne, N., McCarthy, S., Selznick, B. S., & Fisher, K. A. (2019). Breaking up I/E: Consciously Uncoupling Innovation and Entrepreneurship to Improve Undergraduate Learning. Innovation and Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. https://doi.org/10.24251/HICSS.2019.651  

Describes the X-Labs as evidence for uncoupling entrepreneurship and innovation, and argues that conceptually they are separate; teaching innovation needs to precede teaching entrepreneurship

Lewis, E. J., Ludwig, P. M., Nagel, J., & Ames, A. (2019). Student ethical reasoning confidence pre/post an innovative makerspace course: A survey of ethical reasoning. Nurse Education Today, 75, 75-79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2019.01.011 

Describes gains to ethical reasoning after the Medical Innovations X-Labs course.

El-Tawab, S., Sprague, N. & Stewart, M. (2020). Teaching Innovation in Higher Education: A Multidisciplinary Class. In D. Schmidt-Crawford (Ed.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 8-13). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/215725/. 

Describes a case of the X-Labs autonomous vehicles course, its support of students’ technical and soft skills, and its reproducibility.

McMurtrie, B. (2019) No Textbooks, No Lectures, and No Right Answers. Is This What Higher Education Needs? Chronicle of Higher Education 10 Feb.  https://www.chronicle.com/article/no-textbooks-no-lectures-and-no-right-answers-is-this-what-higher-education-needs/  

Chronicle of Higher Education story about the JMU X-Labs course model.
Interdisciplinarity

Harden, R. M. (2000) The integration ladder: A tool for curriculum planning and evaluation. Medical Education, 34(7), 551–557. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2923.2000.00697.x 

Offers a framework for thinking about different disciplinary connections, from disciplines being isolated/siloed from each other through transdisciplinarity.

Carmicheal, T. & LaPierre, Y. (2014). Interdisciplinary Learning Works: The Results of a Comprehensive Assessment of Students and Student Learning Outcomes in an Integrative Learning Community. Issues in Interdisciplinary Studies, 32(3), 53–78. http://hdl.handle.net/10323/6647 

Evidence-based assessment of student learning outcomes and academic growth metrics as a result of participation in a first-year integrative learning community. The author outlines the interdisciplinary learning goals and processes of the program, and shows that students that participated in the program consistently outperformed students outside of the program in both short term and long term learning and academic growth benchmarks. 

Ivanitskaya, L., Clark, D., Montgomery, G., & Primeau, R. (2002). Interdisciplinary Learning: Process and Outcomes. Innovative Higher Education, 27, 95–111. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021105309984 

A review of expected benefits, learning outcomes, and processes (and potential roadblocks) of interdisciplinary education. Review applied to an interdisciplinary discussion based course. The authors claim that interdisciplinary learning can significantly contribute to intellectual maturity and cognitive development of students, and provide a framework of milestones that students may hit in the process of cognitive development through interdisciplinary ed. 

Kezar, A. & Elrod, S. (2012). Facilitating Interdisciplinary Learning: Lessons from Project Kaleidoscope. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 44(1), 16–25, https://doi.org/10.1080/00091383.2012.635999 

This magazine article argues for the benefits of interdisciplinary education for both students and institutions, and provides ways to encourage interdisciplinary education on a systemic level. The authors give key strategies and tips for facilitating interdisciplinary learning and creating student experiences. The barriers to interdisciplinary learning/education are recognized (specifically institutional) and potential solutions are given as well. 

Stentoft D. (2017) From saying to doing interdisciplinary learning: Is problem-based learning the answer? Active Learning in Higher Education, 18(1). 51–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787417693510

Author argues that PBL is an effective strategy to facilitate interdisciplinary learning and vice versa. The author also acknowledges three barriers to effective interdisciplinary education: curriculum organization, student competencies to navigate interdisciplinary problems, and instructor competency - and proposes how to address these barriers.  

Imafuku, R., Kataoka, R., Mayahara, M., Suzuki, H., & Saiki, T. (2014). Students’ Experiences in Interdisciplinary Problem-based Learning: A Discourse Analysis of Group Interaction. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1388 
Kruck, S. E. and Teer, Faye P. (2009). Interdisciplinary Student Teams Projects: A Case Study. Journal of Information Systems Education, 20(3), 325–330. https://aisel.aisnet.org/jise/vol20/iss3/7  


Problem-Based Learning/Project-Based Learning 

Ertmer, P. A., & Simons, K. D. (2006). Jumping the PBL Implementation Hurdle: Supporting the Efforts of K–12 Teachers. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1005

While focused on problem based learning at the K-12 level, this paper covers topics relevant to higher education instruction, including implementation challenges, creating collaborative classroom culture, teachers adjusting to changing roles, scaffolding student learning, initiating student inquiry, maintaining student engagement, aiding conceptual integration, and promoting reflective thinking

Fukuzawa, S., Boyd, C., & Cahn, J. (2017). Student motivation in response to problem-based learning. Collected Essays on Learning and Teaching, 10, 175-188. https://doi.org/10.22329/celt.v10i0.4748

Study of student perceptions of problem-based learning in an anthropology course found that students with more subject matter experience didn’t necessarily have greater intrinsic motivation about the course. Also includes strategies for transitioning students to PBL when they are used to traditional lectures.

Guo, P., Saab, N., Post, L. S., & Admiraal, W. (2020). A review of project-based learning in higher education: Student outcomes and measures. International Journal of Educational Research, 102, 101586. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2020.101586

A review of literature around project based learning that includes 76 papers. Topics covered in the review include cognitive outcomes of PjBL including knowledge and cognitive strategies, affective outcomes including perceptions of the benefits of PjBL and perceptions of the experience of PBL, and behavior outcomes including skills and engagement

Lee, J. S., Blackwell, S., Drake, J., & Moran, K. A. (2014). Taking a leap of faith: redefining teaching and learning in higher education through project-based learning. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1426

Study of instructors who implemented PjBL that focused around their challenges and successes with community partnerships, student engagement, and assessment

Moro, C., & McLean, M. (2017). Supporting students’ transition to university and problem-based learning. Medical Science Educator, 27(2), 353-361. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-017-0384-6   

15 strategies for scaffolding learning and supporting students in PBL programs includes using a phased approach to PBL, getting student feedback in the first few weeks of the program, and develop learner’s reflective skills before self-assessment

Pepper C. (2010). ‘There’s a lot of learning going on but NOT much teaching!’: Student perceptions of problem‐based learning in science. Higher Education Research & Development, 29(6), 693-707. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2010.501073 

Overview of student responses to problem based learning at an Australian university. Developed a continuum of how students react to problem based learning that includes missing the point, working in groups, splitting the workload, completing the task, assessing the task, learning new information, sharing ideas, and being self directed learners

Perrault, E. K., & Albert, C. A. (2018). Utilizing project-based learning to increase sustainability attitudes among students. Applied Environmental Education & Communication, 17(2), 96-105. https://doi.org/10.1080/1533015X.2017.1366882 

While PjBL is often concerned with knowledge gain, this study suggests that PBL can also shift student attitudes around the topic. For this study, students designed a communications campaign for an office of sustainability. The students themselves were found to have more favorable views around sustainability by the end of the course

Boston University Center for Teaching & Learning. (n.d.). Project-based learning: teaching guide. http://www.bu.edu/ctl/guides/project-based-learning/

Brief overview of what project based learning is and four key steps to implementing it (defining the problem, generating ideas, prototyping solutions, and testing)

Strobel, J., & van Barneveld, A. (2009). When is PBL more effective? A meta-synthesis of meta-analyses comparing PBL to conventional classrooms. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1046  

Combines the results of many meta-analyses around PBL over the last few decades to compare PBL to traditional classroom learning. The study finds that PBL results in more satisfaction among students and faculty, leads to better long term retention of knowledge (traditional was better for short-term), and better skill development

Vogler, J. S., Thompson, P., Davis, D. W., Mayfield, B. E., Finley, P. M., & Yasseri, D. (2018). The hard work of soft skills: augmenting the project-based learning experience with interdisciplinary teamwork. Instructional Science, 46(3), 457-488. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-017-9438-9 

Two-year study of an interdisciplinary problem based learning task and student outcomes. Study used student feedback during each year to understand how students were feeling about the course. The instructors learned that students felt the instructors had inconsistent and unclear expectations and hence, experienced anxiety about grades. The instructors took this to mean that they needed to do a better job of articulating the learning outcomes and end of course goal. The instructors also learned that students often do not know how to collaborate interdisciplinary and decided to add scaffolding to the course

Learning Objectives and Bloom’s Taxonomy 

Armstrong, P. (2010). Bloom’s taxonomy. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/

Overview of the original 6 levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy and the 6 levels of the Revised Taxonomy: remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create. Includes the four types of knowledge: factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive.

Carnegie Mellon University Eberly Center. (n.d.). Design & Teach a Course. https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/design/learningobjectives.html

Strategies and tips for articulating and writing learning objectives including that learning objectives should be student-centered, break down the task and focus on specific cognitive processes, use action verbs, and be measurable.

Ferguson, C. (2002). Using the revised taxonomy to plan and deliver team-taught, integrated, thematic units. Theory Into Practice, 41(4), 238-243. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4104_6 

Example of an interdisciplinary high school course (English & social studies) where the two instructors used a taxonomy table to map their learning objectives onto the 6 levels of the Revised Taxonomy and 4 types of knowledge. Such a table may be useful for thinking about the learning objectives in your course

Kidwell, L. A., Fisher, D. G., Braun, R. L., & Swanson, D. L. (2013). Developing learning objectives for accounting ethics using Bloom's taxonomy. Accounting Education, 22(1), 44-65. https://doi.org/10.1080/09639284.2012.698478 

An example of using Bloom’s Taxonomy in accounting ethics to create learning objectives. For each larger course theme, the authors list examples how learning objectives could be created from each level of the Taxonomy.

Mayer, R. E. (2002). Rote versus meaningful learning. Theory Into Practice, 41(4), 226-232. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4104_4 

Includes 19 processes/action verbs, how they map to the 6 levels of the Revised Taxonomy, and simple examples of what a task for students to do might look like. Examples of included verbs are “compare,” “implement,” “organize,” “critique,” and “generate”

Tyran, C. K. (2010). Designing the spreadsheet-based decision support systems course: an application of Bloom's taxonomy. Journal of Business Research, 63(2), 207-216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2009.03.009 

An example of using Bloom’s taxonomy to map course activities to ensure students have the prerequisite knowledge to complete the assignments 

Reflection; Reflection as Assessment

Ash, S. L., & Clayton, P. H. (2009). Learning through critical reflection: A tutorial for service-learning students. Ash, Clayton & Moses.

Introduces characteristics of critical reflection and the DEAL model.

Eyler, J., Eyler, J., Giles, D. E., & Schmeide, A. (1996). A practitioner's guide to reflection in service-learning: Student voices & reflections. Vanderbilt University.

Argues that successful reflection is continuous, challenging, connected, and contextualized.

Earl, L. M. (2012). Assessment as learning: Using classroom assessment to maximize student learning (2nd edition). Corwin Press.

Especially chapter 10, Using Assessment for Reflection and Self-Regulation

Ash, S. L., Clayton, P. H., & Atkinson, M. P. (2005). Integrating reflection and assessment to capture and improve student learning. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 11(2), 49-60. http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.3239521.0011.204 

Sees coupled reflection and assessment as mutually informing and reinforcing for students in service learning. Describes tools to guide reflective writing processes. Focus on both individual student learning and reflection as part of program-wide approaches to reflection.

Assessment of Experiential Education & Interdisciplinary Learning 

Conrad, D., & Hedin, D. (1981). National assessment of experiential education: Summary and implications. Journal of Experiential Education, 4(2), 6–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/105382598100400202  

A summary of the research of the Evaluation of Experiential Learning project which sought to (1) assess the impact of experiential learning on secondary school students and (2) use that data to identify the elements of the EE programs that contributed the most to such student development.

Field, M., Lee, R., & Field, M. L. (1994). Assessing interdisciplinary learning. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 1994(58), 69–84. https://doi.org/10.1002/tl.37219945806 

In-depth discussion of assessment techniques for interdisciplinary study in higher education

Heinrich, W. F., Habron, G. B., Johnson, H. L., & Goralnik, L. (2015). Critical thinking assessment across four sustainability-related experiential learning settings. Journal of Experiential Education, 38(4), 373–393. https://doi.org/10.1177/1053825915592890  

Implications of critical thinking coupled with engaged citizenry within experiential education courses.

Mansilla, V. B., & Duraising, E. D. (2007). Target assessment of students’ interdisciplinary work: An empirically grounded framework proposed. The Journal of Higher Education, 78(2), 215-237. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2007.11780874  

Introduction of a framework for targeted assessment of interdisciplinary student work. Also a good review of relevant literature of assessment and interdisciplinary learning in higher education.

Yates, T., Wilson, J., & Purton, K. (2015). Surveying assessment in experiential learning: A single campus study. The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 6(3). https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2015.3.4  

Exploration of experiential assessment within a Canadian University. Exploration intended for the use in identifying common methods and facilitating development of best assessment practices for higher education, specifically experiential higher education.

You, H. S., Marshall, J. A., & Delgado, C. (2019). Toward interdisciplinary learning: Development and validation of an assessment for interdisciplinary understanding of global carbon cycling. Research in Science Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-019-9836-x  

Development and validation of an assessment which measured the understanding of the carbon cycle for high school and undergraduate students.
Building and Managing Student Teams & Team Dynamics 

Burke, A. (2011) Group Work:  How to Use Groups Effectively. Journal of Effective Teaching, 11(2), 87-95. https://uncw.edu/jet/articles/vol11_2/burke.pdf 
Cano, J. L., Lidon, I., Rebollar, R., Roman, P., & Saenz, M. J. (2006). Student groups solving real-life projects. A case study of experiential learning. International Journal of Engineering Education, 22(6), 1252-1260. https://www.ijee.ie/articles/Vol22-6/16_IJEE1811.pdf 
Fearon, C., McLaughlin, H., & Yoke Eng, T. (2012). Using student group work in higher education to emulate professional communities of practice. Education + Training, 54(2/3), 114–125. https://doi.org/10.1108/00400911211210233  
Fellenz, M. R. (2006). Toward fairness in assessing student groupwork: A protocol for peer evaluation of individual contributions. Journal of Management Education, 30(4), 570–591. https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562906286713   
Furman, R., Bender, K., & Rowan, D. (2014). An experiential approach to group work. Oxford University Press.
Smith, G. G., Sorensen, C., Gump, A., Heindel, A. J., Caris, M., & Martinez, C. D. (2011). Overcoming student resistance to group work: Online versus face-to-face. The Internet and Higher Education, 14(2), 121–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2010.09.005  
Hassanien, A. (2006). Student Experience of Group Work and Group Assessment in Higher Education. Journal of Teaching in Travel & Tourism, 6(1), 17–39. https://doi.org/10.1300/j172v06n01_02  
Kayes, A. B., Kayes, D. C., & Kolb, D. A. (2005). Experiential learning in teams. Simulation & Gaming, 36(3), 330–354. https://doi.org/10.1177/1046878105279012  
Napier, N. P. & Johnson, R. D. (2007). Technical Projects: Understanding Teamwork Satisfaction In an Introductory IS Course. Journal of Information Systems Education. 18(1), 39-48. http://www.jise.org/volume18/n1/JISEv18n1p39.html 
Winsett, C., Foster, C., Dearing, J., & Burch, G. (2016). The impact of group experiential learning on student engagement. Academy of Business Research Journal. 3, 7-17. 


Online Experiential Education and Innovative Online Teaching & Course Structures

Bolan, C. M. (2003). Incorporating the experiential learning theory into the instructional design of online courses. Nurse Educator, 28(1), 10–14. https://doi.org/10.1097/00006223-200301000-00006  

Provides insights on how to implement an experiential learning framework into an already developed online course.

Christian, D. D., McCarty, D. L., & Brown, C. L. (2020). Experiential education during the COVID-19 pandemic: A reflective process. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/10720537.2020.1813666  

Provides insight on how experiential learning can occur in an online format which acknowledges the new normal due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes case studies.  

Sharoff, L. (2019). Creative and innovative online teaching strategies: Facilitation for active participation. The Journal of Educators Online, 16. https://doi.org/10.9743/jeo.2019.16.2.9  

Piece on how to keep students thoughtfully engaged with online courses.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Bricklemyer, J. (2019, April 29). DEI online course supplemental checklist. https://codl.ku.edu/sites/codl.ku.edu/files/docs/DEI%20Online%20Course%20Supplemental%20Checklist%2029Apr19.pdf

A set of five principles around designing a course for inclusion geared specifically toward online courses. Also includes links to other resources for more in-depth resources 

Canning, E. A., Muenks, K., Green, D. J., & Murphy, M. C. (2019). STEM faculty who believe ability is fixed have larger racial achievement gaps and inspire less student motivation in their classes. Science Advances, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aau4734  

Students in classes where the instructor believed that student potential was fixed earned lower grades than in courses where the instructor believed student potential changed over time. In addition, the difference in grades between students from underrepresented racial groups and white/Asian students was larger in the classes with instructors who thought mindset was fixed. 

CAST (2018). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.2. http://udlguidelines.cast.org

A set of broad guidelines for ensuring that all learners can engage in learning, regardless of culture, language, or disability status. Each guideline includes practical examples of how it could be implemented in a course and the research supporting the guideline. 

Dewsbury, B., & Brame, C. J. (2019). Inclusive teaching. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 18(2). https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.19-01-0021  

Guide that covers why instructors need to develop self-awareness and empathy for students and consider classroom climate before pedagogical choices for inclusivity. Also includes an interactive webpage about inclusive teaching with literature citations and a checklist for instructors. 

MyPronouns.org Resources on Personal Pronouns. (n.d.). https://www.mypronouns.org/ 

A guide about personal pronouns and best practices for using them: include your pronouns when introducing yourself, avoid using “preferred” in front of pronouns, and using “go by” instead of “uses” when introducing pronouns. E.g. My name is Sparty and I go by him/his pronouns. 

University of Michigan Center for Research on Learning and Teaching. Inclusive Strategies Reflection. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UK3HFQv-3qMDNjvt0fFPbts38ApOL7ghpPE0iSYJ1Z8/edit?usp=sharing

A self-reflection tool for instructors about their teaching practices measured along five dimensions: critical engagement of difference, academic belonging, transparency, structured interactions, and flexibility. Each dimension includes ideas for instructors to add to their own courses 

Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning.(n.d.) Inclusive Teaching Strategies. https://poorvucenter.yale.edu/InclusiveTeachingStrategies 

Includes 9 recommendations instructors can take to create a more inclusive classroom including incorporating diversity into the curriculum, examining implicit biases, adding a diversity statement to the syllabus, and soliciting student feedback 

Guide for Inclusive Teaching at Columbia https://ctl.columbia.edu/resources-and-technology/resources/inclusive-teaching-guide/

Photo from LubosHouska from Pixabay

 

 
Image from insidehighered.com
 
How do MSU faculty view their strengths and weaknesses as educators?
What resources do they need to continue to grow?
In 2018, our Learning Community of Adams Academy graduates surveyed 215 faculty to find out.
 
Here are some of our results:
 
Strengths: We see ourselves as having more strengths than challenges, especially:

Teaching with enthusiasm
Fostering active learning
Female respondents: mentoring, teaching teachers, facilitating connections and creating community.

 
Challenges:

Student assessment was the most commonly cited challenge
Fostering active learning (again!)
Fostering dialogue

 
Familiarity with evidence-based teaching practices: much variation!

Broad Business College and the College of Music, no respondents familiar with the concept (or at least the term).
James Madison, the College of Law, the College of Veterinary Med. and the College of Osteopathic Med.: all respondents familiar with it.
Labor categories: a plurality of “no” responses only from tenure-track and “other”: tenured, fixed-term and academic specialists had plurality of “yes” answers.

 
Barriers to developing teaching practice:

“More time” is no. 1 response.

 
Most frequently used resources for developing teaching practice:

Brown Bag or Learn at Lunch presentations
Departmental workshops
Academic Advancement Network
MSU Learning Communities

 
Following our survey, in 2019 we developed a peer-observation protocol.
If you’re interested in trying it out, either in your own department or with one of our group, please contact Mike or Cheryl.
 
Dr. Cheryl Caesar, caesarc@msu.edu
Dr. Michael Ristich, ristich@msu.edu