10th Annual Pedagogy Day

Transformative Pedagogy

 

Click here to register!

 

Agenda

Morning Events: 1st Floor, Segal Theatre

8:45 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

Registration and Breakfast

9:30 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.

“A Beginner’s Guide to Expertly Teaching as an International”

Stefanie Gisler, Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi, and Soohyun (Ashley) Lee

10:15 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

“Game-Based Learning Experiences”

Robert Duncan & Carolyn Stallard

11:00 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.

“Project Syllabus: Pedagogy Day Edition”

Amy Hunter

*Attendees should bring their own syllabi

Afternoon Events: 6th Floor, Sylvia Scribner Conference Room (6304.01)

12:30 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Food and Refreshments Available to All Attendees

1:00 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.

Keynote Address: “Revolutionizing Learning”

Cathy Davidson

2:00 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.

“Psychology for the Workforce”

Natalie Ciarocco

2:45 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

“Flipping Your Class”

Jill Grose-Fifer

4:00 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.

Activity Blitz

5:30 pm.  – 6:00 p.m.

Wrap-up and Reception

 

Presentations and Speakers

Keynote Address: “Revolutionizing Learning”

By Cathy Davidson, Ph.D., Futures Initiative at the Graduate Center, CUNY

In this workshop, Professor Cathy N. Davidson looks at the origins of the modern research university and its current legacy presence. She addresses the changes we need to make now and then focuses on ways that each and every one of us can begin—right now–to make changes in our own classrooms that help our students to learn better and make teaching more satisfying for professors too.

Keynote Presentation: “Revolutionizing Learning”

Video of Keynote: https://youtu.be/R6vA0iZTFK0

 

“A Beginner’s Guide to Expertly Teaching as an International”

By Stefanie Gisler, Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi, and Soohyun (Ashley) Lee. Ph.D. Students in Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Baruch College, CUNY

This workshop is aimed at helping early-career international instructors, at the graduate student, adjunct faculty and the junior faculty levels, to navigate some of the unique experiences of teaching in the U.S. university system. Using a guided-discussion format, the presenters will facilitate conversations about some of the advantages that international instructors can bring to classroom,and some of the challenges that face international instructors in and out of the classroom. The presenters will also discuss a variety of strategies to mitigate the impact of the obstacles to teaching as a foreign national. We hope that this work will help international instructors to further sharpen their teaching toolkit and become increasingly more comfortable in navigating the classroom and university life in the U.S.

(There are no presentation slides.)

 

“Game-Based Learning Experiences”

By Robert Duncan, Ph.D., Professor of Behavioral Sciences at York College, & Carolyn Stallard Ph.D. Student in Music at the Graduate Center, CUNY

Disengagement and insufficient motivation are contributors to the distressingly high dropout rates in higher education, particularly among underrepresented groups. Poor perception of academic-self efficacy, defined as a student’s belief that they have the skills to achieve their academic goals, is known to quell motivation and hinder learning. When faced with new challenges during the first semesters of college, many students perform poorly, which has negative consequences for academic self-efficacy, motivation, and academic performance. While motivation and academic performance often rebound if a student stays enrolled beyond the first year, students who are frustrated or bored become unmotivated and disengaged. Pedagogy that encourages active learning is known to mitigate boredom, foster motivation, and improve learning outcomes. Compared to traditional lecture-based courses, active learning reduces course failure rate by 55% (Freeman et al., 2014). Game-based learning (GBL) is a form of active learning that sparks motivation by utilizing mechanics from tabletop and digital games. GBL shapes student behavior by providing a safe “sandbox” for students to explore and experiment, and these ecosystems encourage engagement using fun and playful activities. Despite rapid advances in the field, few instructors are acquainted with GBL, how to design GBL experiences, and how to measure learning that results from GBL interventions. In this workshop, we will review the rationale and methods of game-based learning. Participants will work in groups to design a game-based learning experience for higher education.

Workshop Presentation: “Game-Based Learning Experiences”

 

“Project Syllabus: Pedagogy Day Edition”

By Amy Hunter, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology at Seton Hall University

Students form opinions about the attitudes and effectiveness of their professors from the course syllabus alone. Using the empirically-based rubric from Project Syllabus, this workshop will share easy changes you can make to enhance your syllabus (and your course). Bring one of your own syllabi to work on!

Workshop Presentation: “Project Syllabus: Pedagogy Day Edition”

 

“Psychology for the Workforce”

By Natalie Ciarocco, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology at Monmouth University

Wrapped into the content of our courses is also the opportunity to help students build and market employable skills needed in their pursuits after graduation. This session will discuss the skills employers expect from psychology undergraduates. It will also give specific suggestions for how you can more intently integrate skill development without sacrificing content and increase students’ awareness of their developing skill set. Additionally, the session will include how to assess students’ self-efficacy for employable skills.

Workshop Presentation: “Psychology for the Workforce”

 

“Flipping Your Class”

By Jill Grose-Fifer, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Graduate Center, CUNY

In traditional classrooms, students spend most of class time listening to the instructor explain basic concepts, which they then apply in subsequent homework assignments designed to deepen and expand their knowledge. Flipped classes switch where and how these activities occur, with the idea that understanding basic concepts is something that students can easily learn on their own, but that higher-order thinking (such as applying concepts) benefits from support from peers and the instructor. In this workshop, I will share my experience of flipping my Psychology classes, and then we will work collaboratively to create flipped class activities that engage and motivate students, thus increasing the likelihood that transformative learning will occur.

Workshop Presentation: “Flipping Your Class”

 

Pedagogy Day Committee

GSTA Co-Chairs

Elizabeth Che, Educational Psychology at The Graduate Center, CUNY

Jessica Brodsky, Educational Psychology at The Graduate Center, CUNY

Organizers

Sarah Frantz, Psychology at The Graduate Center, CUNY

Ming Chen, Educational Psychology at The Graduate Center, CUNY

Members of the Graduate Student Teaching Association (GSTA)

 

Faculty Advisor

Dr. Patricia Brooks, College of Staten Island and the Graduate Center, CUNY

 

Special thanks to…

Dr. Richard Bodner, Executive Officer of the Doctoral Program in Psychology
Swe Swe Htay and Psychology Executive Office Staff
All the volunteers that helped us make this conference a success!

The Pedagogy Day committee would also like to thank the following parties for their financial support:
American Psychological Association Board of Educational Affairs (APA-BEA)
Doctoral and Graduate Students’ Council (DSC), CUNY
The Graduate Center, CUNY Provost’s Office
Graduate Students Teaching Association (GSTA)
Society for the Teaching of Psychology (APA Division 2)