How can we improve outcomes in gateway courses?
This was one of the guiding questions of the Equity and Digital Learning Research-Practice Partnership (RPP), a nationwide initiative between five colleges and universities and the organizations Achieving the Dream, APLU, Digital Promise, and Every Learner Everywhere. The RPP began in Spring 2021 and primarily focused on changes in the 2021-22 academic year. Harper College was chosen as one of the institutional partners and focused on English 101 and 102 (Composition 1 and 2), Harper’s courses with the highest enrollments.
Through the RPP, Harper English faculty Andre Berchiolly, Simona Bonica, Ana Contreras, and Stephanie Whalen reflected on their courses to identify ways to improve class climate and improve success rates and share equitable teaching practices with others at Harper and other partner institutions.
This poster provides further details about the program and findings from the RPP. You can also check out the poster in the back hallway of the Academy (Building F, Room F317).
|
|
Utilizing the Blackboard Retention Center in Our Courses
As course facilitators it is imperative to ensure that students are successfully meeting the learning goals in our courses. Thankfully, Blackboard has made it easy to gather insight into our students’ performance via the Retention Center tool. The Retention Center can use default rules, or rules that we create according to the areas we prioritize the highest, to visually show us students’ engagement and participation.
Please feel free to reference this 5 minute video providing directions on how to set up and use the Retention Center today.
|
|
International Education Week and Summit, October 31-November 4
International Education Week, October 31-November 4, includes a lineup of interactive and informative events. Speakers, presenters, and performers from across campus and around the world (including Costa Rica, Japan, and Zimbabwe) will join us for this weeklong event. Learn more and see the full schedule.
12th Annual International Education Summit
8:30 a.m.-12:20 p.m., November 4, Wojcik Conference Center
The summit is an opportunity to discuss and explore ideas, approaches, methodologies and pedagogies that help our students critically examine our world. The theme of this year's summit is Sustainability and Conservation, and the keynote speaker is Dr. Debra Rowe, president of the U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development. Learn more and register.
|
|
Digital Teaching Symposium: November 10
Digital teaching today requires resilience, creativity, and the ability to keep helping your learners succeed no matter what. Join Blackboard/Anthology on November 10 for a full day of peer-led sessions on digital teaching strategies for the unique needs of 2022. View the agenda and register here for this free symposium that will further your familiarity and understanding of learning technologies.
|
|
Seeking Applications for the Glenn A. Reich Memorial Faculty Award
Shared by the Faculty Development Committee
The Faculty Development Committee would like to invite you to nominate yourself or a colleague for this year’s Glenn Reich Award. To be considered for the $1,000 award, applicants must submit:
- a description of the instructional technology or technologies they have used or are using
- an explanation of how it has enhanced the teaching and learning process
- a description of how they envision its future use
Applications will be evaluated based upon innovation, creativity, teaching/learning evolution, shared knowledge, and future teaching/learning application.
|
|
Academy & Blackboard Support: How to Get Help
The Academy team is available on campus for drop-in support in Building F, Room F317, as well as available for remote support.
Not sure what to ask or where to start? We’re here for you! Just fill out the Academy Request Form, and an Academy team member will follow-up with you.
|
|
The Faculty Retreat will be held on Friday, April 14. Watch the Academy News for details and registration information. For now, please save the date on your calendar.
The Share-ousel is an opportunity for Communities of Practice to showcase their work for the year. Watch the Academy News for more details and information.
The Cultural Arts Committee at Harper presents The Jack Kerouac Centenary Conference. This conference is in honor of the writer Jack Kerouac and will feature lectures from multiple scholars about his continuing relevance as well as panels in which instructors and graduate students will deliver academic papers. Admission is free for the Harper community. Learn more using the link above or contact Dr. Kurt Hemmer for more information.
Harper is hosting the Upper Midwest Regional Ethics Bowl competition on November 12, and volunteers are needed to serve as judges or moderators for the day (training will be provided before the event). The Ethics Bowl is an event created 25 years ago as a way to foster collegiate deliberation of ethical issues among students. While it looks a bit like debate, teams are evaluated based on the quality or depth of their thinking as well as the ability to show that they can appreciate arguments on multiple sides of an issue. If you are interested in volunteering, please fill out this form.
With the rise in requests from students to take their Honorlock-proctored exam somewhere on campus, the Testing Center is now equipped to handle those requests. Students need to schedule these exams in advance, which they can do online at this site by choosing “Honorlock Testing” or in their Student Portal under “Registration and Records”, in the “Testing Center” channel.
Use the links below to view important deadline and due dates from the Registrar's Office:
The Institutional Effectiveness Measures (IEM) dashboard is now available for faculty and staff to review and explore. The IEM dashboard provides data on the college’s 16 measures, including overall targets, gap targets, and peer data where available. Learn more using the link above.
|
|
Can Harper Students Effectively Examine Diverse Perspectives and Cultures?
Shared by the Learning Assessment Committee
Our General Education Learning Outcomes state that students should be able to “Examine diverse perspectives and cultures as they relate to the individual, the community, and the global society” at the time they graduate from Harper.
During the spring semester, the Learning Assessment Committee and its Diverse Perspectives and Cultures Work Group led an assessment of this outcome.
|
|
Congratulations to Jeff Przybylo and Bill Lucio!
Harper faculty members Jeff Przybylo and Bill Lucio were recently honored at the Illinois Communication and Theatre Association's (ICTA) annual conference. Jeff received the W.P. Sanford Award for his contributions to the field of speech and theatre as well as his service to the ICTA. Bill received the Jerry Mathis New Teacher Award, presented to educators who have taught for five or fewer years in communications fields and demonstrate outstanding potential. Congratulations to Jeff and Bill!
|
|
The Harper Anthology
The Harper Anthology, published by the English department, is an annual, faculty-judged collection of the best academic writing, campus-wide, by Harper students.
Volume 29 of the Anthology will be in print sometime next month, but faculty submissions of excellent student papers are needed for Volume 30. The English department encourages regular submission of papers throughout the fall, spring, and summer semesters. Faculty can use this link to submit a paper for possible publication.
The Anthology publishes student essays, reports, research papers, studies, interviews, letters, journal entries, speeches, and other written responses to assignments. Please submit your students’ excellent work this semester! If you have questions, contact Kris Piepenburg of the English Department, at kpiepenb@harpercollege.edu.
|
|
"4 Classroom Lessons from Haunted Houses"
As Halloween may be on our minds as October is quickly coming to an end, the article linked below, by Sarah Rose Cavanagh, associate professor and senior associate director for teaching and learning at Simmons University, may be of particular interest. This quick read covers the characteristics behind recreational fear that also support learning and engagement in the college classroom. Although the face-to-face setting is discussed, the concepts are easily applicable to online classrooms as well.
(Please note that you are required to log into The Chronicle of Higher Education website in order to gain access to this article.)
|
|
Upcoming Professional Development Credit Opportunities |
|
November 4, 8:30 a.m. (CEUs: 0.35)
On-demand (CEUs: 1.0)
On-demand (CEUs: 0.15)
|
|
What's Happening @ Harper? |
|
Academy for Teaching Excellence | 847.925.6174 | Building F, Room F317
Monday - Thursday, 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. and Friday, 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
|
|
The mission of the Academy for Teaching Excellence is to create a vibrant teaching and learning culture for full-time and adjunct faculty that cultivates professional development in support of student success. |
|
Accessibility: Individuals with disabilities who would like to request an accommodation or who have questions about physical access may contact the event host or Access and Disability Services at ads@harpercollege.edu, 847.925.6266, at least two weeks in advance of the event date.
|
|
Harper College enriches its diverse communities by providing quality, affordable, and accessible education. Harper College, in collaboration with its partners, inspires the transformation of individual lives, the workforce, and society. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
