Join us for a continental breakfast and time to chat with colleagues before our keynote speaker.

What motivates student learning? In 2013, Tim created a new undergraduate assignment called Pink Time where students are asked to “skip class, do whatever you want, and grade yourself.” The assignment has since been adopted by dozens of faculty in the US and abroad, and experienced by thousands of students.

“ . . . despite the fact instructors provide feedback that would, if used, move the paper forward, students frequently do not use that feedback, which is frustrating given the time spent in providing it” (Baker et al. 389).

Join us for an interactive workshop on using Question-Based Pedagogy, an approach to providing feedback for students that gives students the reins. Nina Ringer will provide an overview of the approach, where students begin the feedback conversation by submitting three questions with the draft that they submit for each assignment. Instructors answer only those three questions. Of course, we train students on how to ask substantive questions, have students gather the questions in a shared question bank, and watch as the questions become more focused as the semester progresses. Samantha Atzeni will regale us with stories of her experience of using Question-Based Pedagogy over the last year, with an emphasis on self-assessment. Students are asked to complete the draft before finalizing the three questions, allowing them to review their work and create “the next step” as they ask for feedback. She will include a look at how students’ questions evolved, and how the questions revealed the students’ writing process and individual learning styles. Robyn Gold will demonstrate how a question-based approach can help students exchange ideas on texts to create a true Socratic seminar. She will show that ideas that are exchanged during these seminars help students develop analytical writing skills. Encouraging students to ask questions keeps the composition process student-centered throughout drafting, conferencing, receiving feedback from the instructor, and peer review.

Baker, Shannon, Dawn M. Formo, Cynthia Headley, and Lauren M. Mecucci Springer. “Transforming the Feedback Paradigm: A Qualitative Study Examining a Student-Centered, Question-Based Pedagogy in College Composition and Literature Courses. TETYC, May 2021.

Virtual Reality (VR) has transformed from a niche market to an integral part of creative expression and technical innovation. Virtual Reality provides individuals with immersive and genuine experiences that could otherwise be impractical or unimaginable. Utilizing existing techniques and experiences VR can provide your students with rich and memorable learning experiences. In this session you’ll see how VR is being used in Higher Ed, discover how TCNJ is complementing instruction with VR and learn about opportunities to bring VR into your course.

When classes went remote at the beginning of the pandemic, I wanted to make some lemonade with the sudden surplus of lemons and experiment with different ways of workshopping student writing. My goal was to combine synchronous and asynchronous modalities: a small group of students would workshop with me over Zoom while the rest of the class workshopped the same piece of writing on an asynchronous discussion board. Canvas was the only discussion board I was familiar with, so that’s what I used. The synch/asynchronous combination was a terrific success, but the Canvas discussion boards, not so much. IOD’s Ellen Farr looked high and low for a better option she could recommend, and eventually suggested I try using Google Docs. She showed me how I could use the comment feature and color-coded responses to create a user-friendly place for students to share feedback with one another. The results have been so impressive that I will incorporate Google Doc Workshops into my courses whether they are online, blended, or face to face.

The Office of Instructional Design’s Escape Room tests your knowledge of TCNJ history but more importantly showcases how you can use Thinglink paired with Canvas as an innovative interactive method for engaging students in content learning. Join us in this session to discuss how to use escape rooms, and other interactive learning environments, to gamify content and motivate student learning. Escape room testers are encouraged to join us to expand the discussion. Didn’t get a chance to try the escape room? You can still explore it by signing up today (work at your own pace; the adventure should take no more than 30 minutes!).

*New to Thinglink? Thinglink is an educational technology tool that allows instructors to quickly add hyperlinks to images that can be embedded into Canvas (or used in a web browser). Create image maps, interactive learning environments (e.g., an escape room), and even virtual reality spaces with this simple to use intuitive technology tool.

In an active learning environment, students typically get frequent practice with a variety of important process skills (e.g., problem solving, critical thinking, information processing, teamwork). However, these are not frequently included as explicit course learning goals, and as such they are generally not directly assessed. This session will explore how to design assignments and assessments that provide students with more intentional opportunities for process skills development, rather than strictly focusing on content knowledge. A variety of rubrics for assessing student work will also be presented.

Pear Deck is a Google Slides add-on that allows instructors to add interactive features to any Google Slides presentation. I discovered Pear Deck during a low point in Spring, 2021 when students in my basic language classes were reluctant to engage online. Over the past year, Pear Deck has helped keep students engaged online and face-to-face, in both basic language and advanced content-based classes. Pear Deck has also provided unexpected benefits, such as opportunities for anonymous mental health check-ins and anonymous comprehension checks, and error correction during class. The presentation will provide an overview of Pear Deck’s features, some sample slides and activities, and suggestions for how instructors from other disciplines may also benefit from this tool. We’ll have time at the end of the presentation for questions and discussion.

Drew and Ellen will recap the Office of Instructional Design’s year of progress and introduce projects on the horizon. Be sure to stick around for closing so you can win one of our great raffle prizes including an Oculus Quest VR headset, doc cams, presenter remotes, stream decks, and more!