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Project DescriptionThe past year I have considered aspects of what makes a healthy music studio through fostering community and culture. How we engage with each other interpersonally informs our professional life and our musical understanding (rehearsal, performance, interpretation, etc). When the COVID-19 pandemic limited these activities, I applied these concepts to the large ensemble. 
Hunter's Reflection on Creating & Strengthening Collaborations in the Graduate Student CommunityRealizing the role that social, cultural, and emotional surroundings play in creating art, I seek to explore how one’s artistic community can shape performance. With support from the Graduate School’s Leadership Development Fellowship, I looked at the role creating community plays in fostering healthy culture in music studios. Acknowledging there is a correlation between social and interpersonal environment and musical performance, I work to consider how we can create an atmosphere more conducive to learning and ultimately sharing. As a conductor, I am especially aware of how culture informs ensemble performance. In chamber music, interpersonal relationship is essential and creating bonds between studios and their cultures allows more opportunity for fruitful chamber ensemble performances. 
This fellowship allowed me to connect with individuals from across campus in order to work together in a community that seeks to make MSU the best institution it can be for all of us. Through the networking, brainstorming, and access to resources provided by this fellowship, I was able to connect ideas across campus and get insight from a variety of perspectives. Academia is often siloed into our individual colleges and areas of research. This fellowship allows us to connect and share for the common good: improving ourselves while improving our colleges, all of which improves MSU.  
While the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted our modus operandi, the College of Music had to consider new ways to connect and engage with audiences, stakeholders, students, faculty, and within studios. If nothing else, it proved how valuable live, real-time music-making is. My goals of this fellowship: to explore and consider how to improve studio culture, have not changed. The past year, however, has allowed me to consider other ways that culture plays a role in musical ensembles and how we can build culture in a healthy and productive way.  
Unable to engage directly with our studios due to COVID limitations and protocols, I used the time and resources available to refocus research to culture in the large ensemble. Through the fellowship, I’ve been able to connect many of the perspectives I’ve gathered and ideas I’ve formed into ways to connect our curriculum (what we teach and perform), our community (studios, ensembles, schools, and region), and our creativity (unique application and expression of ideas) to building culture. This has led to two conference presentations and is currently being composed in an article format. The resources, opportunity, and support provided through this fellowship has been essential to the traction gained in these areas. I’m excited to see this continue in my personal exploration of studio and ensemble culture, and the work continuing through the College of Music being represented in this fellowship.  

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


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


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




Assessment 


Science Studies Content[Text Wrapping Break]Learning Goals 


Literacy & Writing Skills Learning Goals 




Part 1 - Cultures of Science 




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


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


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




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


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


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




Part 2 - Science in Culture 




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


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


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




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


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


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




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


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


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




Weekly Formative Assessments 




Discussion Activities Pre-meeting writing about the readings 


Reflect on prompted aspects of science and culture 


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




Curiosity Colloquium responses 
200 words reflecting on weekly speaker series 


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


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




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


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


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


89% reported planning to say in LBC. 


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

This poster outlines approximately 20 suggestions to help students navigate online courses more successfully. Even with careful planning and development, the normalization of remote learning has not been without challenges for the students enrolled in our courses. Besides worrying about a stable internet connection, students must confront a steep learning curve and considerable frustration when it comes to completing even the most basic coursework each week. Participation in the ASPIRE and SOIREE programs notwithstanding, and despite our carefully worded syllabi, weekly course modules, project packets, assignment prompts, and the like, students nevertheless experience significant confusion and anxiety when faced with the prospect of leaving the physical classroom behind for the brave new world of the virtual. The reduction of course material by instructors to bite-sized chunks and the opportunity for online collaboration with their classmates do not necessarily mean students greet online learning with open arms. Already entrenched attitudes and habits among many young adults do little to help them as they make the shift to online learning. But there are a number of fairly simple ways that instructors can smooth this rocky road over which students must now travel. The tips I share have emerged and been developed further as part of my own ongoing process to minimize confusion, frustration, and improve levels of engagement, while simultaneously imparting more agency to the students enrolled in my IAH courses here at Michigan State University.To access a PDF of the "Pandemic Pedagogy: Online Learning and Suggestions for Minimizing Student Storms in a Teacup" poster, click here.
Description of the Poster 
Pandemic Pedagogy: Online Learning and Suggestions for Minimizing Student Storms in a Teacup 
Stokes Schwartz, Center for Integrative Studies in the Arts and Humanities 
College of Arts and Letters, Michigan State University 
Abstract 
The normalization of remote learning during 2020-2021 has not been without challenges for the students enrolled in our courses.  Besides worrying about stable internet connections, they must also confront a steep learning curve and considerable frustration when it comes to completing even the most basic coursework each week. Even with instructor participation in the ASPIRE and SOIREE programs, carefully worded syllabi, weekly course modules, project packets, assignment prompts, and etc., students nevertheless experience significant confusion and anxiety when faced with the prospect of leaving the physical classroom behind for the virtual. Our reduction of course material to bite-sized chunks and the opportunity for online collaboration with their classmates via Zoom or Teams do not necessarily mean students greet online learning with open arms. Already entrenched attitudes and habits among many young adults do little to help them either in the shift to online learning.  But there are a few fairly simple ways that instructors can smooth the rocky road over which students must travel. The tips and suggestions I share in this poster presentation have emerged as part of my own ongoing process to minimize student confusion, frustration, and improve engagement, while simultaneously impart greater agency and opportunity for success to the young adults populating my asynchronous online IAH courses here at MSU during the 2020-2021 academic year. 
Background 

In mid-March 2020, school pupils, university students, and educators everywhere were thrown into disarray by the mass onset of the Covid-19 virus, related lockdowns, and interruptions to normal student-instructor interactions. 
At Michigan State University, we scrambled throughout the summer to prepare for the 2020-2021AY and reconfigure existing courses for online delivery.  
Yet reasonably well developed and presented online courses alone have not enough for students to succeed.  Even in the face of MSU’s push for empathy and understanding, students have demonstrated that they require additional help making the leap from traditional face-to-face to online learning. 
Instructors are well-placed to assist students in an ongoing way as they make this challenging transition.   
Without much additional work, we can support and encourage our students with weekly reminders that exhibit kind words, cues, prompts, signposts pointing the way forward, and calls to action. 
We can foster improved student engagement, learning, and success despite the challenging, new environment in which we operate. 
We can guide students through their many weekly activities with roadmaps to help them navigate course intricacies more easily 
We can provide students with ample opportunity for new ways of learning, thinking, knowing, and the acquisition of 21st century skills. 
In short, faculty teaching online courses occupy an ideal position to prepare students to operate more efficiently and productively in the real world after graduation since remote work and collaboration online is expected to increase markedly as society speeds further along into the 21st century. 

Develop Supporting Communications 

Beside online syllabi, course modules with seem to be clear directions, etc. students need reminders to keep an asynchronous online general education course in mind, on the rails, and moving forward.   
Routine, consistent supporting communications to students from the instructor help to minimize student confusion. 
Send reminders on the same day each week for the coming week. 
Include headers in all course documents, and email signatures, listing a few ‘how to succeed in this course’ tips. 
Share same supporting communication to weekly modules in LMS.  
Students benefit from supporting communication that guide them through the activities for a given week during the semester. 
When students see supporting communications routinely and predictably, they are more likely to remember and act on it. 

Provide Weekly Guidelines 

Through supporting communication, provide additional prompts, directions, clarifications, and reminders to students.  Let’s call these weekly reminders “guidelines.”. 
Emphasize steps students can take to achieve success in the course.  
Keep guidelines fairly short and to the point to avoid information overload. 
Include the week, your name, course name, and number at top of guidelines as both an advance organizer and to help guidelines standout in students’ email inboxes. 
Provide students with concise ‘roadmaps’ in these guidelines making it easy to plan and carry out their coursework each week. 
Conclude guidelines with a call to action for students to complete course-related activities, much like a TV or online commercial, or an old fashioned print ad. 
Think of weekly guidelines as marketing communications that have a higher purpose than just promotion however.  
Share same guidelines at top of weekly online modules in LMS, so students can access them in more than one place.  

Include Key Course Policy Reminders 

Students will not remember all course policies, and expectations outlined in our syllabi.  Some might conveniently “forget.”   
Provide gentle reminders from week to week.  
Assist students by including important course information as part of the guidelines sent each week.  
Remind students of key course policies, expectations, and their responsibilities as members of the course. 
One possible segue way might be,  “For students who have chosen to remain in this course, the expectation is. . .” 
Remind students that we are in a university setting, they are adults, and to avoid letting themselves fall through the cracks. 
Invite students to seek help or clarification from the instructor if they or their student learning team need it. 

Foster Civil Interaction 

We have asked students to make a huge leap into uncharted waters.  They are frustrated and possibly fearful. 
Many are not used to online learning, self-reflection, thinking on their feet, problem solving, or working cohesively with others.  
Many already exhibit an entitled, customer service mindset. 
Make expectations for civil interaction clear with a concise statement in online syllabi, modules, and weekly guidelines.   
Model civility with polite decorum and kindness to reduce potential problems with disgruntled students. 
Be respectful and civil in your synchronous, asynchronous, or email interaction with students.  Listen without interrupting. 
Avoid terse replies, even to naïve questions! 
Use the student’s name in verbal or email replies. 
Reduce the potential for unpleasant episodes by opening all email replies with “Thank you for your email,” and conclude them with “Best/Kind Regards. . .”   
Be the adult in the room and show patience, patience, patience! 
Here are vital teachable moments that allow us to help shape students for collegial and productive working lives following graduation. 
Civil interaction is challenging given the various pressures and constraints under which all of us, faculty and students, must operate, but it is an important part of facilitating continued student engagement and success in our online courses.  

Remind Students of the Skills They Cultivate 

Besides the specific subject matter of the course, remind students in weekly guidelines that they are also cultivating real world expertise.   
‘21st century skills, ’ a term used by Christopher J. Dede, John Richards  and others in The 60-Year Curriculum: New Models for Lifelong Learning in the Digital Economy (2020), enable a smooth transition into the globalized digital economy after graduation.   
Remind students that they are refining relevant skills in:  
Deeper (critical) thinking  
Collaboration and collegiality  
Personal and agency and proactive engagement.  
Effective planning and organization  
Time management.   
Intellectually openness and mental agility.   
Learning from mistakes.   
Accountability and ownership 
Self-Awareness  
Attention to detail  
Timely and Frequent Communication with Your Team  
Creative problem-solving  
Development of high quality work 
Consistency  
On-time delivery of assignments and projects. 
Self-regulation 
Frequent practice of skills like these during weekly course-related activities better prepares students for long term employability through an anticipated six decades of working life in a rapidly changing world. 

Establish Consistent Guideline Format 
Below is a possible format for the weekly guidelines I propose: 

A recurring header in your weekly that lists easy steps students can take to ensure their own success in course.  
Begin with an advance organizer that identifies right away the week, semester, and dates the guidelines are for. 
Follow with a friendly greeting and focusing statement in a brief paragraph. 
Highlight any due dates in yellow below the greeting below greeting and focusing statement. 
Include two-three concise paragraphs that enumerate and outline individual assignments or team projects for the week. 
Provide brief directions for how (and when) to ask questions or seek clarification. 
Furnish technical assistance contact information for students who experience challenges uploading assignments or team projects. 
Remind students gently about the collaborative course design and expectations for students enrolled in the course. 
Mention to students of the need to keep course policies and expectations in mind as they complete their work. 
Highlight the big picture skills students practice each week besides the specific subject matter of the course, and how those skills are relevant to their lives after graduation. 
Finish with a closing salutation that is a bit less formal and includes good wishes for students’ continued safety and well-being. 

Conclusion 

The approach outlined here has emerged, crystalized, and evolved over two semesters in the interest of ensuring student success in asynchronous online IAH courses. 
While these observations are preliminary at this point, most students in the six courses taught during 2020-2021 have met the challenges facing them, completed their individual and collaborative coursework, and met or exceeded rubric expectations.  
 Anticipated student problems and drama either have not materialized, or have been minimal. 
Early impressions suggest that supporting communications like these are helpful to students when it comes to navigating online courses more easily and completing related tasks. 
Weekly supporting communications, presented as brief guidelines, might also be useful in the context in synchronous online, hybrid, and hy-flex as well as traditional face-to-face courses when it comes to helping students navigate and complete coursework in less confused, more systematic way. 
Future plans include refining the weekly guidelines further and possibly assessing their effectiveness through a small study. 

With COVID19 pandemic most, if not all, research activities placed on hold in 2020. The need for remote teaching and working was obvious. The increase number of older adults in the US and world wide place geriatric medicine as a priority in addressing health need in the near future. According to Association of American Medical Colleges [AAMC] there is increasing number of medical graduates who do not match to any residency program in the US. We started a virtual research fellowship in geriatric medicine as a tool to empower some of those unmatched medical graduates in Michigan state and other areas using funds provided by The Pearl J. Aldrich Endowment in Gerontology/Michigan State University. One of the goals of this fellowship is to train these graduates to know the basic steps of any research work and how to use the tools available in any research environment. We hope that these students understand the methodology of identifying a problem that faces older adults, and then carry the required steps to address and solve such problem in a systematic way. Currently we have four teams, who are involved in different research projects. We have submitted 10 abstracts to 2 different meetings, and so far 6 were accepted for oral presentation. We targeted The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) and AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. Some of the topics address include COVID19 and its impact on the elderly. During this session our team will share our experience.
To access a PDF of the "Virtual Research Geriatric Fellowship for Unmatched Medical Graduates" poster, click here.Description of the PosterTitle: Virtual Geriatric Research Fellowship 
Author: Nadir Abdelrahman, MD, CMD 
Geriatric Division,  Dept of Family Medicine, MSU 
Introduction:
Between 2020 and 2030, the number of older adults is projected to increase by almost 18 million 1. 
The Association of American Medical Colleges expects that an additional 42,600 to 121,300 doctors will be needed by 2030 2.  
There is a huge need for geriatric-trained health care providers 3. 
Each year, there are more than 8 thousand Unmatched medical graduates [UMGs] in the US. Most of them are international medical graduates.  
Aim: 
The aim of this fellowship is to empower UMGs by improving their knowledge, skills, and experiences in geriatric medicine.  
Curriculum Development: 
This curriculum was developed based on Entering Research course.  
The primary goals of this fellowship are to create a supportive learning environment to introduce UMGs to the culture of research and to teach them valuable skills needed to become effective researchers. 
The fellowship was designed to help medical graduates find a research mentor, explore the culture of research, write a research project proposal, and begin doing research.  
They informally share their research experiences and learn about the diversity of experiences available through their peers. 
Through virtual meetings, research basics, communication skills and common geriatric principles were reviewed.  
Early discussions included current pandemic topics ranging from COVID19 incidence, hospitalization and mortality to prevention and vaccination. 
The content of these discussions came from the students, and their engagement in the weekly, 2-hour-long meetings.  
The course facilitator provided a framework for the discussions, relevant background reading materials, and structured assignments designed to help students develop positive relationships with their research mentors, define themselves as a member of the research community, and understand and communicate their research.  
Description of Curriculum 
The following tasks were identified for this program 

Recognize the research ethics principles.
Select a research topic.
Identify research question(s).
Describe various types of study designs.
Select appropriate study design.
Define study population.
Take an appropriate study sample.
Enumerate various study variables.
Discern various types of errors, including bias.
Identify confounding factors.
Select and use appropriate measurement tools.
Prepare for data management.
Set a work plan with time, budget, and a plan for dissemination. 

Results of Implementation 
A total of 6 Virtual posters were accepted in 2 national conferences:  American Medical Director Association/The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care (PALTC21: 2 virtual posters) and American Geriatrics Society (AGS21: 4 virtual posters). 
Eight of the fellows were matched into residency programs starting July 2021. 
Discussion 
This virtual research fellowship in geriatric medicine is considered unique and innovative as there is an immediate need for geriatric-trained health care providers.  
The conceptual framework allows training program directors to identify and select appropriate activities to use with their trainees based on need and career stage. 
Activities were designed to teach UMGs principles of research, research design, and critical evaluation of results while also giving them practice with the real-world experience of creating and presenting posters in virtual environment.  
This fellowship achieved its goals using online tools. 
In the coming year, we hope to expand this concept, and establish it as a model for implementation at other institutions. 
 Figure 1. 
The four-box model 
 Disclosure 
The author has no conflict of interest to disclose. 
This fellowship is supported by:  
The Pearl J. Aldrich Endowment in Aging  
Demographic Changes and Aging Population – RHIhub Aging https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/toolkits/aging/1/demographics 
Healthcare Suers When Medical School Graduates Don’t Match https://www.insightintodiversity.com/healthcare-suffers-when-medical-school-graduates-dont-match/  
Record number of unmatched medical graduates. CMAJ 2017 May 29;189:E758-9. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.1095432 
Hersey, P., & Blanchard, K. (1969). Management of organizational behaviour: Utilizing human resources. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. 
 Tasks and Team approach 
Fellows were grouped into teams. 
Different tasks were assigned to each fellow. 
Teams leaders encouraged individual fellows 
Projects identified and project leaders assured completion of each Poster.  
 Fellows learned the basics of literature review, statistical analysis (using SPSS) and reference management (e.g EndNote) 
 Situational leadership skills and teams were incorporated using the four-box model 4 (See Figure 1) 
 References 
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&context=nursingposters 
https://slideplayer.com/slide/6319238/ 
https://www.mghihp.edu/poster-presentations-age-zoom 

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. 

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.
 

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

This week, we are featuring 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!