The Storm Report

February 3, 2022 | Issue 4

Dealing with Cognitive Overload

Have you ever been reading a book or listening to someone explain something and your brain just felt like it stopped tracking the information? Like your memory became overwhelmed trying to remember all the bits of a story and how they fit together? One potential cause could have been cognitive overload. In simple terms, cognitive overload happens when our memory just can’t keep up with what it’s being presented.

Many things can cause cognitive overload, such as too many distractions—either internal to a text such as irrelevant details inside a narrative, or external such as getting too many text messages while trying to read—or having your attention split, like trying to focus on too many things at once.

This Why Cognitive Overload Happens graphic helps outline some key causes and how to overcome them:

If the task will take too long → Break it down with shorter deadlines
If the task is too difficult → Break it down into smaller chunks
If there are too many choices → Highlight a clear path
If there is too much information being presented at once → Prioritize the important info

Staying cognizant of the cognitive load we’re placing on learners can be a great way to ensure they’re able to successfully process the information we’re giving them.

For more info on this topic check out the article 4 Ways to Overcome Cognitive Overload in Your Students, and if you’d like assistance with anything related to instructional design don’t hesitate to contact us at learning_design@davidsondavie.edu!

Pet Pandemic Hero of the Week

Mystery Loves Differential Equations

A cat that loves differential equations could only belong to Gloria Johnson. "Mystery showed up on our porch, and my husband said he thought we should give her some food. I said if we fed her she would be our cat. John went right out and bought cat food the next day. So, I contacted the office to make sure we weren't stealing someone's cat. Mystery had been abandoned by another tenant who moved out and had been dumpster diving on the other side of the complex for almost two years. She has lived with us for several years now and is very spoiled. She likes to "help" with our work and thinks she owns the place. Her current favorite toys are lids off of water bottles."

International Education Events for February

Google Doc Passport Calendar

Center for Teaching and Learning

Hello, Davidson-Davie Colleagues!

Here are some free professional learning opportunities for your consideration.

2022 DDCC Faculty Symposium Call for Presentation Proposals

Do you have teaching practices you’d like to share with fellow faculty? On March 8th from 9AM to 11AM the CTL will be hosting the 2022 DDCC Faculty Symposium. If you would like to participate as a presenter, please submit a proposal (Google form). Priority will be given to proposals submitted by February 10th. The final proposal deadline is February 17th.

Free Engineering/Industrial Technology NSF Faculty Workshop Series

Northwest State Community College is offering a series of remote workshops with synchronous and asynchronous components focused on incorporating a competency-based hybrid model in advanced manufacturing courses. The workshop descriptions, dates, and times are included in the Scaling CBE Elements Faculty Workshop (PDF) flier.

For more information, or to register for these workshops contact Tom Wylie (Project PI) at Northwest State Community College, Archbold, Ohio. Email: twylie@northweststate.edu Or Sarah Stubblefield , Project Manager, at Northwest State, Email: sestubblefield@northweststate.edu. For additional information about this NSF ATE Project, go to the project website at: https://ate.is/Scaling_CBE.

Achieving the Dream Operationalizing Equity to Inform Teaching & Learning Webinars

All faculty and staff have the opportunity to register for a free webinar series advancing equitable and culturally responsive practices in higher education hosted by ATD. You can read about the details on the ATD webinar website and register to attend the webinars of your choice.

About a week after each webinar, DDCC faculty and staff will have the opportunity to join a learning community discussion about the topics addressed in the webinar. Please complete the Davidson-Davie Operationalizing Equity Google Form if you register for any of the webinar sessions so that we can send you an invitation to the learning community discussions.

Please reach out to Gloria Johnson or Cameron Shirley with any questions about the webinar series.

2021 - 2022 CTL Advisory Board

At Large: Michael Liu (FT), Arts, Science, Business, and Technology: Grant Jolliff (FT), and Aaron Prillaman (PT), Davie: Dee Edwards (FT), and Katrena Wells (PT), Health Sciences: Datra Delk-Patrick (FT), Teaching, Learning, and Global Engagement: Nathanael Gough (FT), Faculty Chair: Gloria Johnson (FT)

Share Your Thoughts!

In your online courses, do you send weekly reminders to your students?

Yes

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Learning Design: Quick Takes

Image by by Sebastiano Piazzi on Unsplash

The Results are In!: As follow-up to the previous week's poll on the question: "Since the pandemic started, have you gotten a pet?” It was an even split with 50% saying ‘Yes’ and 50% saying ‘No’

Free VLC Webinar on “Current Cases in Digital Accessibility” - On 2/16, Dr. Judith Risch, an Attorney Advisor at the Office for Civil Rights with the U.S. Department of Education, will share legal cases related to online instruction and digital accessibility. More details can be found on the VLC registration page

Free VLC Webinar on TDS STAT!Ref Webinar for Nursing Educators - On 2/23, Shannon Glandt from TDS Health will present on the various collections they make available through openNCCC such as Board Vitals, Primal Pictures and other popular collections. More details can be found on the VLC registration page.

OER Community of Practice Meeting - The next meeting of the openNCCC Open Educational Resources Community of Practice will happen on February 3 11am. Come and join the fun by going to the openNCCC Community of Practice website.

First Friday Lunch ‘n Learn - The North Carolina Community College Association of Distance Learning (NC3ADL) is offering free Lunch ‘n Learn sessions on the first Friday of every month. The next one is March 4. To participate, go to the NC3ADL registration page.

From the Editors: Do You Have a Story to Share?

We are looking for faculty stories! We want to keep the focus of your newsletter on you, the faculty. Would you please help us find those stories? Here are the kinds of things we are looking for:

Faculty who have globalized their courses.
Faculty who are doing something creative in class
Faculty who have received awards
Faculty reporting out on what they got from their professional development (could be written, video, podcast, etc.)
Faculty who have received a new degree
Faculty who are retiring
Faculty Division Chair / Program Director Bios
Faculty sharing their experiences of teaching in an active learning classroom
Faculty Senate initiatives
Faculty who have led overseas trips with students

Please contact one of the editors (Nathanael Gough, Phil Tietjen, Dori Lloyd or Amy Holmes.) if you have ideas or referrals for stories.

New and Improved TLG Website

Image by USA-Reiseblogger on Pixabay

We are excited to share with you our new and improved TLG website! We hope that you will bookmark our site which includes great resources to support teaching and learning.

Bookmark our Teaching, Learning & Global Engagement website

Visit our subpages to learn more about the program areas represented within our TLG team and how they can support you!

Newsletter Archives

Looking for a previously published article in The Storm Report? Access the archives to find an earlier Issue. Enjoy!

Teaching, Learning & Global Engagement