Teaching and Learning at Vol State

I had never been speechless and embarrassed in my professional life until that Thursday evening.  After class, one of my students said something to me that I never forgot: “Ms. Jean-Francois, I don’t mind reading about technology and all, but who wants to hear the same topic over and over again for three and a half months.” Translation—my class was boring. Yes, at some points, talking about the same thing repeatedly could become repetitive and mundane. His honest statement stung because he said it in front of other students. Some others probably felt the same way, too. With my wounded ego, I tried to defend myself. I told him that we were examining the topic from different angles. My explanation did not work. I went home wounded because I did a lot of leg work to prepare for the semester. I was five years deep teaching in higher education, so I thought I was on top of my game. Who wanted to be called “boring”?  After stressing over it for a few days, I realized that my student...

Welcome to August 2022!  As I write, convocation is less than two weeks away. Classes start in less than three weeks on August 22. Many of you are creating new learning resources, assignments, and assessments. Some of you are preparing to teach courses you've never taught before or are preparing to teach a familiar course in a new way. Certainly, our work lives are quickening to the increasing rhythms of the academic year as Fall Semester approaches. When it comes to your eLearn sections, hit the "Don't Panic" button if you find yourself feeling a little stressed. Help is at your fingertips. The Department of Distributed Education will help you solve any technical problems you have with eLearn or help you brainstorm creative ways to improve your online classes (well, the brainstorming may need to wait until beginning-of-semester chores are done). The best way to request eLearn support during this busy season is to email:           elearn@volstate.edu Y...

I’m lucky. My job as an instructional designer gives me a bird’s eye view of how VSCC faculty turn their diverse teaching philosophies into high quality, high impact learning opportunities on eLearn. Many of our faculty tie classroom learning to work-based learning . Mel Matthews, Sleep Diagnostics, provides students with opportunities to conduct clinical work at locations throughout Tennessee. In Veterinary Technology, Dr. Hope Wright and D.J. Smith lead students through the program by employing a cohort model, creating learning communities of students who grow together. Recently awarded a grant from the Tennessee Board of Regents, Dr. Jeremy Shipley and Dr. Matthew Williams-Wyant are writing a “ technology-enhanced learning “ textbook for PHIL 1030. They’ll host their textbook on Perusall , a technology that promotes peer-to-peer learning and accountability in completing coursework by turning homework into a social experience. HIPs All of these great learning opportunities—wo...

Affordable educational resources for students take various forms. Faculty may link to library subscription resources or refer students to credible websites. Free is good, but copyright restrictions and licensing may limit their use. Using open access journals and books prevents the door from being closed in the future. Or for a wide-open door with no lock, consider open educational resources (OER). The concept of open is not new. The public domain , works that are not protected by intellectual property laws and are free to use without permission, is a familiar source to many.  Works enter the public domain in a variety of ways. A public domain work may initially come with a public domain license or it may be based on the age of the work. Open access (OA) is a publishing model for scholarly communications that removes financial, legal, and technical barriers to accessing research articles. According to the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition  (SPARC) “open...

Differentiated Instruction in an Online College Classroom Differentiated Instruction: Providing students opportunities to learn content using different resources, employing varied strategies, and/or allowing students to demonstrate their learning in different ways based on their individual learning needs and interests. --Natalie Milman, Differentiating Instruction in Online Environments Are we still thinking about differentiated instruction now that we're online? It's a core instructional principle that we all believe in, but in an overwhelming race to digital learning, it can easily be pushed to the side in a to-do-later-pile by even the very best and the brightest. How can we make an online learning environment engaging for our students while maintaining the integrity of the academic content and without further complicating the process? Creating an engaging course is as easy as focusing on the 3 main principles: Course Clarity, Student Communication, and Timely Student Feedba...

Hello, campus community!  In October 2021, I had the opportunity to participate in an online nursing mastery series focused on enhancing online instruction utilizing interactive activities and an understanding of learning theories to optimize student learning in the online environment. The program lasted through December 2021, with meetings one week each month and supplemental assignments, discussion, and collaboration in the remaining three weeks. Overall, the opportunity provided me with an improved understanding of online learning while providing me the opportunity to recognize areas of improvement in my current course delivery. For many of you, I am sure the concepts I learned are “old news”; however, as a new instructor, I found the discussion engaging and enjoyed the opportunity to explore ways to improve the classroom experience for my students (especially in this virtual environment). As you all know, the pandemic has changed the way in which we teach and learning occurs; t...

That’s right, I said it! Teaching via Zoom CAN be as engaging as teaching in the classroom! Additionally, online synchronous classes provide an opportunity to teach students digital technology and teamwork skills they will need in their careers, while having a little bit of FUN! Admittedly, educational technology (ed-tech) can feel overwhelming if you do not know where to begin. At first, I was worried students would struggle or feel more overwhelmed. I was honest upfront by telling students we were trying something new and I wanted their feedback after we tried it. Most students were excited to try something new. One student even commented it was nice that to see a faculty member trying new things and asking for feedback, it demonstrated that faculty members do care about student learning.   One student literally said, “I’m understanding the material and learning a skill I could use at a job.” Yes, that is my goal! We want students to learn the material to meet course learning o...

Introduction Volunteer State Community College held its annual Cybersecurity Awareness Month Seminar on October 21, 2020.  Cybersecurity Awareness Month is held in October each year.  It is meant to improve awareness about the importance of cybersecurity across the United States. Bringing awareness to cybersecurity issues helps guarantee that everyone across our Nation has the resources they need to be safe and secure online.  This year’s theme was “If You Connect It, Protect It”. Due to the COVID-19 concerns, the Seminar was held for the first time as a virtual event. Presenters spoke on several topics regarding this year’s theme.  Topics ranged from Securing Devices at Home and Work, Internet of Things, to the Future of Connected Devices.  The participants were from various segments of Cyber Defense expertise: Special Agent, Kevin Varpness (Law Enforcement (FBI)), Stephen Penn (Healthcare (AdventHealth)), Dr. Manaak Gupta (Higher Education (TTU)), and Kevin Bl...

By Star Boe, Senior Instructional Design Specialist  Objectives can go by many names. Learning Objectives, Outcomes, Learning Outcomes, Student Learning Objectives (SLO), Student Learning Outcomes (also SLO) are just some of the terms you will hear. While some educators feel strongly about one term over another, I am going to just proceed with the generic term "objectives." Let me explain what I mean when I use the term objective. Dictionary.com defines objective as "something that one's efforts or actions are intended to attain or accomplish; purpose; goal; target." The connection to effort and intention go well with the expectations we have for students as they engage with our material. However, I don't like the connection that is drawn to "goal." Instructors often start with a goal. Goals are broad and often aspirational, such as:  Students will appreciate art from a wide variety of time periods, styles, and techniques. Students will acquire an ...

Almost all disciplines have long-standing traditions within their field that are the most widely accepted methods of conveying information to students. In a few specific traditional lecture courses, particularly Art History lectures, there is usually little room for discussion. Instead, there is one room, one projector, and an onslaught of slides and images all shown in the dark which only helps to create a comfortable environment for students to drift off and wake up suddenly when the light switch is abruptly flipped at the end of class. In addition to this issue, there have been many concerns as to how those images are chosen, how the information is presented, and which parts of the art history timeline are given more attention than others. This seems to be of importance for many areas of study, however these issues came to light for me through teaching Art History. Hip Pendant Representing an Iyoba Queen (‘Queen Mother’). 16th century. Nigeria, Court of Benin, Edo culture. (Metrop...

This past August faculty members from VSCC attended the University of Wisconsin’s Distance Education Teaching and Learning Conference. Like so many other conferences being held during the time of the pandemic, this four-day teleconference offered a large variety of online sessions, interactive and streaming, focused on the how to best meet college students’ needs to help them be successful during these challenging times. One of the most refreshing and valuable aspects of this year’s conference was the focus on how online higher education and educators are working hard to meet the moment of our current national situation. Not only did keynote addresses and session discussions center on the challenges of distance education during the pandemic, but also many discussed the ways to create antiracist curriculum as we address concerns voiced by the Black Lives Matters Movement. The keynote speaker, Dr. Newton Miller, focused on how faculty can connect real-world issues to our teaching, remin...

The year 2020 has been an extraordinary and challenging year, to say the least.  However, as educators teaching chemistry, a subject that requires problem-solving and critical thinking, we were abruptly forced to solve the problem of delivering course content for lecture and lab amid the pandemonium of a pandemic, COVID-19.  A year ago, neither of us would have thought it was possible to deliver an online version of chemistry that was equivalent to our on-ground course.  However, the silver lining of the pandemic was the innovation, collaboration, and modification as we agreed we will not do our students a disservice in the continuation of a quality education. March 2020, as we departed campus for our annual spring-break we never imagined what was to come; NO ONE CAN RETURN TO CAMPUS?  We had a week to get our courses ready to be completely online. But did online have to mean the traditional format that so many of our students refer to as “teaching themselves” (asynchronou...

In a time of immense uncertainty, worry, and fear, we can all lean into the long lasting power of the Creative Arts as many of us transition from face-to-face to online learning. The power of learning through the arts is associated with a deeper understanding of concepts through multi-layered dimensional learning. Visual Art, Music, Dance, and Drama have preserved our histories, cultures, and stories throughout the ages. In addition to preservation of our ancestral roots, the Arts have allowed us to connect to a deeper sense of understanding regarding community and self. Have you all seen the recent viral video of hundreds of Italians singing from their apartment windows in various melodies creating a sense of calmness through music during social isolation? The power of the Arts for much of history has allowed communities to come together and create a cohesion that can be felt in a deeper level. When we create with our mind, body, and heart we are able to learn with multiple senses f...

Volunteer State Community College began the Work Based Learning (WBL) Program in Fall Semester 2017 and has expanded to sixteen courses representing all academic divisions including Business and Technology, Health Sciences, Humanities, Math and Science, Nursing, and Social Science and Education. Work Based Learning is a course based, credit bearing, experiential education opportunity offering students “real world” experience in an off-campus business setting in the student’s career/academic program preference. Eligible students to participate in a WBL course must possess a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0/4.0 scale, a minimum grade point average in their academic program of 2.5/4.0 scale, be approximately 50% (30 credit hours) completed in their degree program, and work with Dr. Rick Parrent to be approved for course registration. Students register for a WBL course and work off-campus during a semester gaining valuable industry experience/awareness as well as career readi...

It’s no big secret that you as a professor you are most likely passionate about the subject that you teach. That’s why you dedicated countless amounts of hours and money to your content area. However, despite how passionate you may be about your topic area, your students may not share your same enthusiasm. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Marcus Lucas, II, and I teach Spanish. Although the need for being bilingual continues to grow in our nation, the desires of people to make that change have not grown. Each year I am presented with students rolling their eyes, attitudes, and trying to convince me why my course was irrelevant to their lives. I quickly learned that if students were going to learn my language then I must first speak theirs. My first step in speaking their language was to change the name of my course from a Spanish course to a money course. Throughout the year, I showed my students how to use what they were learning to increase their income. I noticed that the o...