Presentations

College students in the U.S. face a growing mental health crisis, with rising rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidality. The Healthy Minds Survey shows a continued decline in student mental health, and a Lumina Foundation report found that two-thirds of students have considered leaving higher education due to mental health concerns.

While counseling services are essential, instructors can also support student well-being. Rooted in my work in EDLD 631: Human Relations Skills for Educational Leaders, this session explores how emotional regulation techniques—such as mindfulness, box breathing, and progressive muscle relaxation—can be integrated into teaching practices.

By incorporating these strategies, instructors help students build nervous system resilience, manage stress, and stay engaged. This approach creates a supportive learning environment where students feel seen, valued, and empowered, ultimately enhancing their academic success and sense of belonging.

This presentation describes an approach to incorporating career readiness assignments in lower division philosophy classes. Some historical data is presented in an effort to show what might motivate the incorporation of career readiness activities. Several questions are raised regarding the risks to the discipline of philosophy, to the academic integrity of philosophers, and the responsibility higher education institutions have to students.

Students often struggle to access help outside traditional office hours. Generative AI tools like ChatGPT offer a solution, acting as 24/7 virtual teaching assistants. This workshop introduces "ChatGPT Engineering," demonstrating how to customize AI tools for specific course needs. Participants will learn prompt design for interactive problem-solving, explore ethical issues like academic integrity, and see a live demo of AI in action. Attendees will leave equipped to integrate ChatGPT into teaching workflows, boosting accessibility and learning outcomes.

When considering wellness, too often we think of physical wellness (which includes nutrition, physical activity, and sleep) and emotional wellness (mental health, feelings, and personal boundaries) which are certainly important, but that leaves six other dimensions of wellness to consider. In this session, we’ll define and explore the Eight Dimensions of Wellness: physical, emotional, social, occupational, environmental, spiritual, financial, and intellectual. Then, using the dimensions of wellness, we’ll brainstorm possible mini-grant ideas to support student wellness. 

The EMU Greenhouse is an invaluable campus resource. The extraordinary plant collection represents diversity from around the world, supports courses across the Biology curriculum and the space further sustains various research programs. The greenhouse is also a beautiful and peaceful place. It is not surprising then that the greenhouse is a gathering place to read, relax, and socialize. Peer reviewed publications suggest that cognitive control, memory, creativity, and problem solving ability increase in plant-based learning environments (compared with completing activities while not looking at green plants), while stress levels are lowered. Data collected last semester found that before spending class time in our greenhouse, only 8-16% of students reported feeling 1) refreshed, or relaxed in 2) body or 3) mind regularly in the past week. After one continuous hour in the greenhouse 100% of students strongly agreed or agreed that they felt 1) refreshed and relaxed in 2) body and 3) mind. Let's brainstorm how you could use the space for your courses! We’ll also let you know how to find us so you can come in and breathe some fresh air on your next lunch break.

Disabled students are often glanced over within the educational system. Despite having resources for students with disabilities, there’s often not enough for faculty teaching those students. Faculty are often under-informed about what they can do for those students to help them succeed in the classroom environment. The main focus to consider is the accessibility of the educational setting. Are the desks far apart for a wheelchair to get through? Where is the location of the wheelchair accessible height table? Are the slides easy to read for students with visual disabilities? This presentation will dive deeper on how faculty can enhance the learning environment for disabled students by considering accessibility and disability knowledge.

The clinic classroom in 135 Porter is used in speech, hearing and counseling programs. As such students must spend a lot of time in that space while training to be helpers. We began to think about ways in which we could support student learning and wellness through the learning environment. We decided that one way to do this would be to create a green space. We have received the Faculty Development Center Mini-Grant to Support Student Wellness. We will be using this mini-grant to turn the clinic classroom into a green space. Our hope is that by investing in a green space we can bring wellness in at the foundational level. In this presentation we will explore the possible impacts of green spaces in classrooms, our plans to turn the clinic classroom into a green space and our plans to conduct research to measure the impact of changing the space on student’s concentration and focus. 

As in so much of our lives (think social media), we tend to only share successes - most of us carefully cultivate images of achievement in our public personae.  But, if we teach, for example, twenty courses over a four-year period, the law of averages (and a simple normal distribution) suggest that many of these will end up below our norm. and one or two of them might go quite poorly.  How do we recover when this happens?  How do we properly assess what is in our control, which we can change for next time, versus what we cannot control? Join us for a discussion of how we can use failure in teaching as a catalyst for improvement. 

This presentation explores the advantages and challenges of teaching public management through case studies and role plays in a hybrid format. It is crucial for future public administrators to understand the perspectives of various stakeholders, advocate for residents, and make informed, well-rounded policy decisions. By analyzing real-world case studies, students gain valuable insights into the complexities of public sector decision-making. When combined with role plays, students can engage with practical scenarios, consider diverse viewpoints, and develop empathy for the challenges faced by public managers. The hybrid format further enhances learning by offering flexibility and accessibility, blending in-person and online components. This structure allows for both asynchronous learning and virtual collaboration, while still providing opportunities for real-time interaction and discussion. Together, these methods create a dynamic, interactive learning experience that equips students with the skills necessary for effective public management.

Creating an inclusive learning environment requires intentional strategies that acknowledge and support the diverse identities, experiences, and needs of all students. This interactive workshop will equip instructors with practical tools and reflective exercises to foster Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in their classrooms. Participants will explore evidence-based practices for designing inclusive curricula, implementing equitable assessment methods, and creating an environment that fosters belonging and respect. Through collaborative activities, case studies, and reflection exercises, instructors will gain a deeper understanding of how biases and systemic barriers impact student learning and engagement. By the end of the session, participants will leave with concrete strategies to create an inclusive and empowering classroom environment that supports the success and wellbeing of our students.

Are you looking to move towards alternative grading approaches but aren't sure how to start? If so, then this workshop is for you! Together, we will discuss the barriers, challenges, and fears that prevent us from shifting gears and then discuss ways to tackle these. In the final portion, we will specific ways to incorporate alternative strategies. If you have a specific syllabus or assignment in mind, please bring it with you, but don't worry if you don't! The intent is to develop a collaborative space to help each other begin the move towards alternative grading and begin to develop a network of alternative graders to support each other as we continue our ungrading journey.

In order for our students to be caring professional educators for a diverse and democratic society, we have to model just practices in our college classrooms. This session will focus on how members of the RAIJE committee are currently creating inclusive learning environments in their classrooms to equip students with the critical thinking and advocacy skills needed to thrive in their future careers. 

Intrigued by multiple presentations about “ungrading” through the FDC as well as at SoTL conferences, I decided to take a deeper dive.  Although I’d unknowingly already been engaging a bit with ungrading (there are quite a few different models!), I decided to go full steam ahead in one upper-level undergraduate class for Fall 2024.  Learn about the approach I used, what students shared with me, and my own reflection on the experience.  (Spoiler alert: It’s definitely something I want to continue, albeit with some tweaks—I’m even using it in a different class this semester!) 

Which is most important for you to know, as you begin to set up a new course — or, perhaps, as you progress through it?

1. Your stuff (subject matter content in and around the course)

2. Your students (their backgrounds, majors / minors, learning preferences)

3. Your structure (flow / layout of lessons and assignments, grading rubrics)

4. Your self (personal calendar, general health, personality type, teaching style)

Naturally, all four are important, but this sandbox session invites any or all of several reflections / discussion points for attendees:

1. How does each person rank these categories?

2. How important is this quadrilemma, really?

3. Is there any value sharing this quadrilemma with students, or colleagues?

4. What felt needs do attendees experience in these areas, and what support (FDC and otherwise) might help to address them?

This proposal discusses a research study conducted in 2024 as part of the Collaborative Course (Re)Design Learning Community. The research aimed to explore participants' abilities to involve students and families in the assessment process after experiencing such involvement themselves in an undergraduate assessment course. The course entailed the completion of a pre- and post-case study analysis at the beginning and end of the course, participation in co-constructing assessment guidelines and expectations for four major pre-designed assignments throughout the course. Each assignment was allotted approximately 60 minutes, with 30 minutes focused on the assignment requirements and 30 minutes on the evaluation/grading rubric. A case study was used to allow participants to demonstrate the skills they had imitated based on their experiences in the assessment course. The presentation will cover the study design, key findings, challenges faced, and outline of the next steps. 

Being neurodiversity affirming means that you recognize and value the different ways people think and learn. This session focuses on practical strategies for supporting neurodivergent students inside and outside of the classroom. 

What will our students need to know about using AI in their jobs once they graduate? If other universities are teaching them that now, then EMU doesn't want to lag behind. In this session we'll explore the needs and some ideas for how to teach these topics.