Teaching, Learning, &

Global Engagement

Weekly News & Updates

February 1, 2024 | Volume 10 | Issue 21

Using an Escape Room as a Review Activity

By Dr. Debra Ford

A while ago I learned about using an escape room design for pedagogy purposes. I even ordered a kit from Breakout EDU to use in my classes. But with the advent of Covid-19, the kit stayed in a corner of my office waiting to be used. In Fall 2023, I decided that I would finally put the kit to use, but how? I settled on designing an escape room to liven up a review for the final exam in my hybrid General Psychology courses. I also wanted this to be an inclusive activity in which all of my students contributed to solving part of the quest.

To accomplish these goals, I designed a master review guide that was then parsed into five different guides. Students would work in small groups of two to four, depending on the class size. Each group received a guide that contained the same questions and answers, but with different letters highlighted to spell out a different keyword or words. Groups were instructed to bring their completed guides to me so I could check their answers.

Then I gave the groups a clue that would help them unscramble their highlighted letters into keywords. The keywords would lead them to a location in the Gee building for the next part of the escape room quest. For example, one group’s keywords were “Aquarium Science”. The clue I gave this group was “A bulletin board for one of the unique programs at DDCC.” There’s a bulletin board for the Aquarium Science program on the second floor in Gee. On this board, I

pinned up a tiny piece of paper that had the combination to one of the locks on the escape room lockbox.

The excitement built over time as each group returned after finding the hidden lock combination and used it to open a lock. After all of the locks had been opened, the prizes contained inside were finally revealed! I filled the box with mini chocolate bars and candy.

Students were happy to select two pieces of chocolate/candy and greatly enjoyed the activity. The breakout kit was not very expensive and there are ways to make one yourself. If there is enough interest, maybe the CTL will consider purchasing a kit or two for shared use among faculty. Although I used my kit for an exam review, there are many other pedagogical uses for escape rooms. I highly recommend this activity as a way to creatively engage students in course content.

Upcoming Events

Imbolc/ St. Brigit’s Day - February 1 from 11:30 am-12:30 pm in Gee S124 or on Zoom
Setting the Stage for Group Autonomy in an In-Person Class - February 5 from 2:00-3:00 pm on Zoom. Register through the Piedmont Hub
World Music Monday - February 5 from 10:00-11:00 am in Davie Admin 110/111 or on Zoom
Gilman Scholarship Workshop - February 6 from 2:00-3:00 pm in Gee S124 or online
Ireland - February 7 from 11:00 am to noon in Davie Admin 110/111
Ireland - February 8 from 11:00 am to noon in Davie Admin 110/111
Axe-Con 2024 - February 20-22. Free, virtual digital accessibility conference!

Opportunities for Instructors

Setting the Stage for Group Autonomy in an In-Person Class

By Grant Jolliff

This event is for instructors looking to improve the group work dynamic of their in-person classes.

How many of us hear groans the minute we mention the words “group project”? One of the biggest complaints from both faculty and students centers around non-participating group members. Engaging students in group work can be both a blessing and a curse. How do you use group work successfully in your classes, and how do you guide your students through it? Better yet, how do you put the responsibility for the group dynamics on your students in a way that they can successfully self-govern what goes on in the groups? Finally, how do you assimilate an evaluation of what goes on in those groups into your course grade?

This session will provide the tool that one instructor has used within seated classes that has transformed group work into something to look forward to each term.

CTL Happenings

By Gloria Johnson

Do you have an experience to share with your colleagues?

The CTL Advisory Board is hard at work planning this Spring’s professional learning opportunities and we need your help. Overwhelmingly, DDCC faculty report that professional learning opportunities led by their peers are the most valuable. That means DDCC faculty want to hear from you! Please consider sharing with your colleagues by volunteering to lead a Spring professional learning activity. A request for proposals will be sent out soon!

Do you want to learn how to use data to enhance your teaching and support student success?

Come to this year’s 2024 Summer Institute all about using data to support teaching and learning. The Summer Institute will be held from July 22 to July 25, 2024. All full-time and part-time DDCC faculty are invited to apply. The application will arrive in your email next week.

Reminder:

The application period is open for individual or small group (2 to 5) professional learning funds for Spring 2024. This money is for DDCC (full- and part-time) faculty professional learning activities, so please apply and spend it! You can read further details about funding requirements and apply today! The CTL Advisory Board will be evaluating applications biweekly. The next round of evaluations is February 9th.

International Intrigue

A weekly column brought to you by International Education

St. Brigid's Day

By Eibhlín NicCormaic

Last year, after many years of campaigning by the feminist group HerStory, St. Brigid’s day was recognized as a public holiday in Ireland. St. Brigid is one of Ireland’s three Patron saints: St. Patrick, whose celebration is already a public holiday, St. Colmcille, and St. Brigid. St. Brigid has been an important figure in Irish culture for many years, stretching all the way back to Pagan Ireland. At this time, Brigid was regarded as a very powerful goddess. She was thought to be the daughter of the Dagda, the oldest god of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Brigid was the goddess of fertility, blessings, poetry, crafts and prophecy. The people of Pagan Ireland celebrated Imbolc to honor Brigid. There are records of the celebration of Imbolc that date all the way back to the 10th century.

Many of the pre-Christian festivals in Ireland highlighted aspects of sunlight and of the changing seasons. Imbolc was also one of these festivals. The holiday was based on Celtic tradition meant to mark the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. Imbolc marks the first day of Spring in the Gaelic calendar, celebrating the beginning of the end of the cold and dark days of winter. The people started celebrating the holiday on the eve of February 1st, and celebrations lasted until sundown on the 2nd of February. On the evening before February 1st the people of Pagan Ireland would prepare for a visit from St. Brigid, creating effigies of her from oats and rushes, and dressing them in a dress.

When Ireland was being converted to Christianity, many of the pre- existing pagan traditions were altered to fit Christianity. The celebration of the pagan holiday Imbolc was adopted into Christianity and St. Brigid’s Day was created to replace it. She is the patron saint of Nuns, newborns, midwives, dairy maids and cattle. In Christianity it is believed that Brigid was born in Ireland around 453 AD, she was the daughter of a captive slave from Portugal and a Pagan chieftain. Brigid was sold back to her wealthy father to work as a servant. St. Brigid is renowned for her kindness and generosity to the poor, even once giving away her father’s riches to them. Her father, enraged by this, wanted to sell her to the King of Leinster. The King of Leinster was a Christian and ordered Brigid’s father to set her free. Brigid did not want to marry, and instead created a monastery in Kildare, where she became Ireland’s first nun.

There are many versions to the story of Brigid’s cross, but my favorite is that when Brigid’s father was on his deathbed, she received word and travelled to see him. He was very surprised to see her, and she explained that it was in her religion to forgive those who have wronged you. He asked that she bring him into her religion. There was nothing else but the rushes on the floor to use as an explanation, and so she gathered the rushes and created the St. Brigid’s cross, and used this to explain Christianity to her dying father.

In Ireland, we celebrate St. Brigid’s Day by creating her cross from pulled rushes. Effigies of Brigid are also created and washed in the ocean.

Expanded JSTOR Access

By Jason Setzer

Davidson-Davie Community College Library now provides access to JSTOR Archival Journal and Primary Source Collection, a set of databases with more than 2000 full-text journals and diverse primary sources in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences. With your StormTrac username and password, you can search journal articles via JSTOR. To search primary sources, it's recommended that you first access the collection of interest, JSTOR Global Plants Collection, JSTOR Sustainability Collection, or JSTOR 19th Century British Pamphlets Collection. Direct links to these and all the library’s databases are available on the library’s A-Z Databases web page.

Do You Have a Story to Share?

We want to promote faculty and staff stories! Please contact Amy Holmes (amy_holmes@davidsondavie.edu) if you have ideas or referrals for stories.

Teaching, Learning, & Global Engagement is:

Educational Technology

Piedmont Teaching & Learning Hub

Center for Teaching & Learning

Digital Accessibility & Learning Design

International Education

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