Half-way there and counting! As I look out the window at this beautiful autumn day, I hope most of you have survived all the midterm grading (or soon will!). This issue of the CTL newsletter is packed with tips to make your life in the bimodal, virtual or campus classroom a little bit easier with features focused on mental wellness for both you and your students. In addition, we have a round of tactical videos and articles under our "Tuned Up" section below, including step-by-step instructions for utilizing our new proctoring software, Respondus. Be sure to scroll all the way to the end of this issue to catch the great lineup of tea-n-talks still queued up for this semester. Please send your good news or an idea for a future newsletter article to CTL@hood.edu. Happy viewing and may your Halloween be filled with treats!!
Judith Anglin, PhD, RDN, LD, FAND is a nutritional scientist and a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) with approximately fifteen years of experience in higher education, clinical practice and research in the United States and internationally. Her areas of specification are nutritional biochemistry, nutritional status, clinical nutrition, and public health nutrition. Judith’s current research is on chronic kidney disease in African Americans, examining the impact of nutritional status on APOL 1 variants expression. She recently joined the Department of Nursing as a Visiting Associate Professor and will be developing graduate nutrition programs. Dr. Anglin is native of Jamaica and has earned degrees from the University of Technology, Jamaica in Dietetics and Marketing. A triple alum of Howard University where she earned a PhD in Nutritional Sciences with an emphasis on Experimental Nutrition – biochemistry. She’s a history buff and an avid traveler who enjoys experiencing different cultures. Judith can be reached at anglin@hood.edu.
Suzanne E. Hiller, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Education Department. Dr. Hiller has been involved in the education field for several decades as a practitioner, professor, researcher, and writer. She earned her doctorate in educational research and educational psychology from George Mason University, her master’s in curriculum and instruction in science from Loyola University, and a bachelor’s in history and teaching certificate from the University of Mary Washington. Notably, she was the Teacher Naturalist with the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History where she designed and taught programs with over 36,000 natural specimens. Her research interest centers on adolescent STEM career motivation and achievement, particularly in outdoor settings. Her main goal at Hood College is to provide teachers with a dynamic skill set that can be used throughout their professional educational careers to advance the capacities of their students. Suzanne can be reached at hiller@hood.edu.
Learn how to partner with our library team to support your students' and YOUR research needs. From classroom visits to virtual support sessions, our library staff are working hard to assist faculty and students with all of their research needs in and out of the classroom. View this video on accessing journal articles, recorded by reference librarian Kathryn Ryberg. Feel free to share it with your students via Blackboard or email as well.
If you are coping with parenting young kids in the time of COVID, juggling online school, childcare and work responsibilities, you are not alone! Please join this private Facebook group, Hood Pandemic Parenting, to share resources and ideas, or just to vent: https://www.facebook.com/groups/665453921051592/about. Drs. Shannon Kundey and Lisa Marcus are the group admins. The group’s goal is to create a safe supportive space for Hood employees who are parenting during the pandemic.
Check out the recent article published in Inside Higher Ed (Sept 11, 2020): "A mountain of troubling data about rising mental health problems has health advocates and providers worried about the need for additional support for struggling students and the ability of colleges to provide it." Read more here. You can also subscribe to their weekly or daily digests here with or without a filter for your specific discipline.
by
Tanya Williams
Assistant Director of Assessment
Assessment seems to be one of those topics no one wants to discuss right now. It is a later topic: I’m really busy right now--we will have time to think about assessment later. Our program is accredited with pre-defined standards, and we just finished our accreditation review--so we'll look at this later. I have to change my course for the modified semester, so I’ll look at this later when things calm down. I just don’t have time right now.
Actually, now is the time that assessment matters most. Recently, a Yale student filed a lawsuit against the university on the basis that online coursework is inferior to the previous courses delivered on campus. In essence, the student is asking the institution to prove that the online version of the curriculum is just as rigorous as the in-person version.
Like so many institutions, Hood spent considerable time over the summer ensuring a sound (and safe) learning experience for our students this fall. Staying open and continuing to provide a Hood education implies that, regardless of modality, course quality remains the same. Employers and alums, alike, know the skills and talents that come with a Hood degree. We continue to push forward, but we need to continue our assessment practices to Prove It.
I find some of these conversations oddly reassuring. All graduate and undergraduate programs and each area of the core curriculum have carefully thought out Program Goals, which consist of smaller skills or Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs). Key assignments are identified which will best demonstrate the skill represented in the SLO. Much of this is already in place. Now is the time for us to Prove It.
In addition, we have every reason to expect accrediting bodies to require colleges to demonstrate that standards were continuously met during COVID19. Programs will have to show how they adapted to ensure that the students still met the standards of the profession. Yes, internship formats changed, research projects had to adapt and so on--but demonstrated skills are still consistent and experiential hours earned.
Assessment does not have to be dramatic. We do not have to catch and kill the bear, skin it, frame it and hang it on the wall to prove we have data. At this point, we need to be consistent for the Prove It. Programs will have to show how they made changes during COVID19 to ensure that students still met standards of the discipline. We will be expected to demonstrate that we did not stop assessing our curriculum, regardless of the delivery method. While the methods or assignments may have changed, we need to show that our students are learning the core and program outcomes. That is the Prove It.
I cannot maintain assessment alone, but I can provide support where it is needed. Grades do not equal knowledge of skill, only assessment can do that. Demonstrating proficiency in a given skill is more important than ever, which shows Hood's resiliency and consistency, despite a global pandemic. Let me help you Prove It.
As we hit the halfway mark of the semester, I am ready to help you (and your students) finish strong. If you have any questions about SLOs or creative ways to measure them, please send me an email at williams@hood.edu. There is also information on our web page for linking Bb assignments to Chalk & Wire. If your students have any issues with the assessment software, they can contact us at chalkandwire@hood.edu. I look forward to helping you Prove It.
Learn more about the power of Blackboard's blogs and journals, which allow your students to engage with course material asynchronously. You can opt to share student input with their peers or keep the feedback flowing and private. Learn more in this brief video, which is also one of the featured sessions in the October 9th FLIPPED tea-n-talk.
Learn how to leverage hyperlinks in your Blackboard classroom and beyond with a brief tutorial from our very own Online Skywalker. Click here to view this brief video, which is also one of the featured sessions in the October 9th FLIPPED tea-n-talk.
Many of you have asked to learn more about the Respondus LockDown Browser and Online Proctoring options through Respondus Monitor. To deploy this tool, you must FIRST follow these key steps:
1. Inventory your students computing options to make sure they have a compatible device and a webcam if you plan on using the Monitor tool option. Windows and Mac computing devices are compatible and are the preferred devices for students to use during testing. Most smart phones, tablets and Chromebooks are not good testing devices and are incompatible with the Respondus software at this time.
- For Students that have a compatible computing device, please direct them to the following URL or to the main page on Blackboard where they can download the latest version on the LockDown Browser: https://download.respondus.com/lockdown/download.php?id=104123393
- For students that do not have a compatible device and who are able to come to campus, please direct them to one of the following on-campus locations where the Respondus LockDown Browser is available for them to use: Hodson 113, 237 & 308G, Tatem 107, Apple Lab, Commuter Lounge in Whitaker, Rosenstock 19 & 310B and sundry resident halls (Coblentz, Memorial, Meyran, New Residence Hall, Shriner & Smith)
3. Review these resources: https://web.respondus.com/rapid-rollout-instructors/
4. Create a practice test that will allow you to learn the options available through the Respondus software and give your students an opportunity to test their browser and webcam installations before the real test you plan to give them.
Blackboard Tricks for Basic to Advanced Users
VIEW FIRST | ZOOM SECOND
What do we mean by FLIPPED?
FIRST: view one or more of the pre-recorded sessions below (based on your skill level):
>Login to the CTL Blackboard course
>Click Tea-N-Talks on the left-side menu
>Click "October 9: Tea-N-Talk FLIPPED"
THEN: attend the associated LIVE Zoom meeting on October 9th to ask questions. To access, use the Zoom link on the CTL Blackboard site or email CTL@hood.edu for the unique link.
Pick one or more sessions geared toward your skill level:
Introductory Level
1) Ideas for structuring online participation w/Bari
2) Leveraging hyperlinks in Bb w/Torres-Crespo
Intermediate Level
3) Course Organization Tricks w/Gricus
4) Grading Shortcuts in Bb w/Boulton
Advanced Level
5) From Usage to Grading: Blogs & Journals w/Mitchell-Buck
~ALL SESSIONS WILL BE RECORDED FOR LATER ACCESS~
Supporting Students of Color at PWIs*
Unpacking Their Backpacks and Helping to Lighten the Load
~featuring~
Atiya R. Smith, '03, Ph.D., LCPC, NCC, CATP
Assistant Professor of Counseling
Are you unsure of the experiences of students of color in higher education? Do you wonder how these experiences shape their academic performance and overall well-being? Are you wondering how to support students of color in your classes and across campus? If so, attend this virtual Tea-N-Talk led by Dr. Atiya Smith!
By the conclusion of this introductory-level Tea & Talk, attendees will be able to (1) describe various experiences of students of color enrolled in predominantly white institutions (PWIs), (2) articulate how student experiences can shape their overall well-being and academic performance, (3) identify and describe systemic factors that can shape the experiences of students of color, and (4) state strategies that can be implemented to support students of color at the undergraduate and graduate level.
The last 15 minutes of the Tea & Talk will be reserved for questions, discussion, and to provide space for attendees to develop the beginning stages of an action plan to support students of color in their classrooms, in various learning spaces (e.g. labs, research teams, etc.), and across campus.
*Predominantly White Institutions
The Center for Teaching & Learning
Email: ctl@hood.edu
Website: www.hood.edu/CTL
Location: Hood College, Rosemont Avenue, Frederick, MD, USA
