2023 Posters, Videos,  and Podcasts

Story Telling: Empowering Professors, Inspiring Learners 

Stories create an emotional response and inspire images in the mind. Memorizing a list of items does not put real-life context into the curriculum. Real-life stories allow students to make connections to their own professional or personal experiences. Storytelling is not just a simple example. You need to consider your audience and their interests to connect with them. Talking in a language they do not understand is detrimental to their education and a measurement of your ability to reach the student population. You must be cautious in sharing your generational experiences to ensure a positive connection with your students of different ages and backgrounds. "When you're in higher education, you know perfectly well there's a big difference between dumping data on students and having them walk away with the fire of curiosity to learn more. The first trick to storytelling is to want to help someone that day. That means you care deeply about what they walk away with. A story isn't worth telling if someone doesn't learn anything" (Bauch, 2023). This presentation will boost faculty engagement in the seminar. Storytelling tips such as empathy, framing the story, being concise and authentic, recognizing the objective, and, most importantly, making the story about them, not you, will be shared by subject matter experts. "The quickest path between yourself and another person is a story" (Turner, 2023).

Moving Beyond the Struggle: Practical Approaches to Nurturing Student Success in the Classroom

Implementing ACUE Best Practices: Examples from the English and Rhetoric Classroom 

Microlectures: Enhancing Student Success 

Often, there is not enough time in seminars to review everything that can help students succeed. You may not be able to go over assignments in as much detail as is ideal, or key topics may not be covered. Microlectures can help fill in these holes and support student success. Microlectures are short (less than 15 minutes) instructor-produced videos (Scagnoli, 2012). They are designed to review a single key concept or specific skill set (Nilson & Goodson, 2018). In this presentation, multiple scenarios where microlectures can be used will be reviewed. Best practices for creating microlectures will be shared. Finally, a microlecture prepared by the presenter will be viewed. 

Utilizing Seminar Polls to Foster Student Learning 

The polling feature in Seminar provides an excellent tool for student engagement and instructor reflection. An important consideration is the nature and structure of the question posed to students in the poll. Setting up polls and sending them out throughout the course of an hour long seminar helps keep students focused on the material. Examples of different types of polls will be shared in the presentation. For example, beginning seminar with a reflection poll is a good way to check baseline knowledge. Polls in the middle part of seminar can be used to check comprehension. A pole at the end of seminar can be used to determine students comfort level with upcoming assignments. Instructors can then use the results of polls to determine where re-teaching is necessary. 

The 3 R’s of Assessment – Relevant, Relateable, and Real-World – Authentic Assessments 

To best measure student knowledge and enhance motivation and engagement - relevant, relatable, real-world-based authentic assessments are the way to go. Authentic assessments are based on relevant skills and career-related activities. Authentic assessments require students to apply their newly gained knowledge to relevant contexts, leading to self-discovery and building work-related skills. Students who understand the relevance of an assessment will be more engaged, motivated, and self-directed. Authentic assessments are relatable for students here and now and in their future. Authentic assessments allow students to demonstrate actionable, meaningful learning, which leads to self-discovery and their chosen career path skills. Authentic assessments are real-world-based and encourage students to creatively resolve complex concerns, issues, demands, and problems, both societal and work-based. Finally, purposeful, authentic assessments can meet the needs of a diverse student body while also focusing on addressing societal issues such as diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. 

Purdue Global Ambassadors – the Avengers of Engagement: Uniting Departments, Fostering Recognition, and Building a Heroic Employee Community 

How to "Virtually Make a Difference"

Higher education for military personnel: The Administrator, Professor, and Student Perspectives

This poster aims to present information from the point of view of a college administrator, professor, and military student. Military students have been a critical subpopulation of adult students for college campuses, especially in the online environment. “Each year, the federal government’s Department of Defense (DoD) pays almost $500 million in tuition assistance for service members to attend qualifying institutions” (Kelliher, 2021). Military students seek higher education to develop meaningful careers during or after military service. The typical military student faces several challenges during their academic endeavors and needs much support to succeed academically. This support can come from offering transition courses, facilitating a peer mentorship program, and hosting virtual events tailored to veteran/military students. Administrators, professors, and students can help military veterans/students achieve their academic goals by working together. 

Poetry, Film, and Getting Your Homework Done: Creative Arts as Motivation and Inspiration 

Making Excellence Accessible: Supporting Student Success Through Modeling 

In pursuit of excellence, everyone experiences challenges. The determining factor in achieving excellence is how someone deals with obstacles. Adult, first generation college students may suffer from Perfection Syndrome, the belief that they must perform perfectly. They need to see how professionals cope with challenges. Kreuter (2011) explains that faculty have stories about epic failures that students need to hear because successes happen through persistence and stand on the shoulders of failure. Burns (2022) notes when faculty communicate their struggles, it humanizes them. Sharing failures makes excellence accessible through vulnerability. This ultimately leads to a shared learning experience and an increase in empathy and understanding. 

In this poster session, the creators will examine the value of sharing with their students the professional and personal challenges they have faced. The poster explores background research on the concept, best practices, concrete examples from actual teaching, and concerns and challenges. 

Trauma-Informed Pedagogy: Strategies to Combat the Impact of Trauma on Adult Learners 

As educational leaders, it is vital to recognize trauma's role in our student's lives and how they learn. Student success is guided by faculty efforts which is why it is essential for Faculty to have knowledge of trauma-informed pedagogy. Students who have experienced trauma may have difficulty focusing, attending, retaining, and recalling information, tend to miss many classes, have emotional regulation challenges, and fear taking risks (Stephens, 2020). Additionally, students impacted by trauma may have anxiety about deadlines, exams, group work, public speaking, anger, helplessness, or dissociation when stressed; they may also withdraw and isolate themselves and are more likely to be involved in unhealthy relationships. Trauma-informed pedagogy is an approach that requires commitment and action implemented by five core values: safety, trust, voice, collaboration, and empowerment. This session examines strategies to guide faculty members to contribute to a community of trauma-informed learning environments conducive to positive learning outcomes for students. 

Multipotentialites: Student Success in an Interconnected World

Multipotentialites have diverse interests, passions, and talents, making them versatile professionals who can overcome challenges in the workforce and beyond (Rhodes, 2021). “Multipotentialites: Student Success in an Interconnected World” presents a student-centered educational approach celebrating adult learners’ distinctive interests and skill sets. Through individualized learning experiences, this approach promotes transferable skills and interdisciplinary exploration of students' talents, passions, and aspirations. Inspired by Emily Wapnick’s concept of "multipotentiality," presenters will provide reasons why educators should leverage the innovative spirit of multipotentiality and how to create an inclusive learning environment that values and encourages multipotentialite superpowers (2015). By adopting the multipotential approach, online educators can fuel a paradigm shift in higher education, focusing on fostering creativity, adaptability, and a deep appreciation for the richness of diversity in student abilities and interests, thus helping them succeed in an interconnected world. 

Arriving in the Mentor Role

Facilitating the Comeback: Encouraging Student Motivation 

As students are returning to school for further education, one critical consideration of online adult educators is the adult learner’s motivation (Fensie, 2023). Why do the students persist, despite the various barriers faced by adult learners (Bellare et al., 2023)? Knowing learner’s need in returning to school can help an educator facilitate and create a more conducive environment. According to one study, autonomy, self-directed learning, and faculty interactions can all be connected to learning outcomes and perceptions of success (Kim, 2015). This presentation, “Facilitating the Comeback: Encouraging Student Motivation,” will examine the role of instructors in the online classroom as guides for learning as well as sources of inspiration, encouragement, and positivity.