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Fall 2024 UConn ECE Communication Workshop

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On Monday, November 18th, UConn ECE COMM instructors participated in an online professional development workshop organized by Dr. Svetlana Kalnova, ECE Faculty Coordinator for the Department of Communication. The workshop consisted of three parts. It started with the discussion of assessment strategies and speech evaluation ideas. Instructors were given the opportunity to share their classroom experiences, ask questions, and receive feedback from Dr. Thomas Meade, our Comm 1100 faculty supervisor.

Then instructors participated in a hands-on collaborative activity, coming up with acceptable/unacceptable uses of generative AI. The final document was shared with participants after the workshop.

After a short break, instructors were treated to a presentation on “Generative AI uses for creative minds” by Dr. Matthew Worwood, UConn, Digital Media & Design. Dr. Worwood’s research highlights teacher creativity and design thinking inside the context of teaching and learning. The talk focused on how generative AI impacts creativity and affects 21st century skills.

Many thanks to Drs. Meade and Worwood for creating an enriching experience and sharing their expertise with our workshop participants!

Fall 2024 UConn ECE Human Rights Workshop

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On Thursday, November 14th, certified ECE Human Rights Instructors met on the UConn Storrs Campus, thanks to the efforts of Dr. Sandra Sirota, our ECE Faculty coordinator for Human Rights. The day’s main event was a lecture entitled “Creating Change for Children in the U.S. and Around the World”, delivered by Professor Jo Becker of Columbia University. Becker serves as the advocacy director for the division for children’s rights at Human Rights Watch, an organization which bridges research and political action to expose human rights abuses around the world, and fight for policy change to prevent further harms. Additionally, she serves as a founding chairperson for the international Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, and helped negotiate a landmark 2011 treaty to ensure labor rights for domestic workers.

Her lecture on Thursday delved into the current state of children’s rights globally, including the fight to end child marriage and child labor both domestically and around the world. Becker ended her talk with several action items for students, including engaging with their local representatives and signing petitions or open letters. This left our instructors equipped with several strategies to encourage their students to join the fight for change.

To learn more about the organization, and Jo Becker’s work, please visit hrw.org, or check out the following UConn Today article detailing the lecture she shared with our ECE instructors!

Investigate, Expose, and Change – Jo Becker on Advocating for Children’s Rights

We are so grateful to Professor Becker for taking the time to share her incredible advocacy work with us. And, as always, thank you to all who joined us for an enriching experience!

UConn Human Rights courses offered through Early College Experience.

 

Fall 2024 UConn ECE Sociology Workshop

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On Friday, November 1st, UConn Early College Experience hosted a professional development experience for all certified ECE Sociology teachers, in collaboration with Dr. Ingrid Semaan, our ECE Faculty Coordinator for Sociology. Instructors connected virtually via Webex, and began the day with conversations surrounding their individual classroom experiences. The main event was a panel of three UConn faculty, who discussed their research in the realm of sociology. 

Thanks to all who joined us for an enriching experience!

Contributors:

1) Dr. Elizabeth Jacobs – “New Data Sources for Immigration Resources”

2) Dr. Simon Yamawaki Shachter – Analyzing “how the interrelationships between civil society and the state perpetuate and/or alleviate inequality”

3) Dr. Beatriz Aldana Marquez – “Her research currently focuses on Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) and challenges the frameworks of power that significantly and disproportionally affect Latin American immigrants. Additionally, she investigates the immigration law and courts.”

UConn Sociology Courses offered through Early College Experience.

Fall 2024 UConn ECE SPSS Workshop

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On Tuesday, October 29th, UConn Early College Experience Sustainable Plant & Soil Systems (SPSS) Instructors were treated to a unique professional development experience, in the form of the 12th biennial Symposium for the Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group (CIPWG). CIPWG is an organization committed to mitigating the negative environmental impact of invasive plant species, through educating themselves and others on identification and management of invasive plants, as well as replacement of invasive with native species. The topic of the most recent symposium was Real Talk: Making an Impact in Invasive Plant Management, and attendees were treated to a variety of discussions emphasizing the critical role of education in conservation, and rooting the discussion of eradicating invasive plant species in local case studies. Many thanks to ECE’s own SPSS faculty coordinator, Julia Kuzovkina, Ph.D., for her efforts in organizing such an enriching experience for our instructors.

Be sure to check out UConn’s student newspaper, the Daily Campus, for an illuminating article on this event. Linked HERE!

 

UConn SPSS Courses offered through Early College Experience.

Fall 2024 UConn ECE Physics Workshop

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On Wednesday, October 30th, UConn Early College Experience hosted a professional development experience for all certified ECE Physics teachers, in collaboration with Dr. David Perry, our ECE Faculty Coordinator for Physics. Wednesday’s event was twofold, with instructors first given the opportunity to commune with one another and discuss the ever-important topic of exam design and performance. Then, they were treated to one of the first shows hosted in the newly renovated Cynthia Wyeth Peterson planetarium. Our instructors left excited to potentially bring students back to the facility in the spring, once it opens up for regular displays. Many thanks to the UConn Physics faculty and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for opening up their space to us for this event. We extend even more gratitude to Dr. Matt Guthrie and PhD student Kelcey Davis, for their expertise and creativity in putting on an incredible planetarium show for our instructors!

To learn more about the Peterson Planetarium, we urge you to check out this article from UConn Today:

UConn’s Planetarium Dedication Honors a Physics Pioneer

Thanks to all who joined us for an enriching experience!

 

UConn Physics Courses offered through Early College Experience.

Fall 2024 UConn ECE English Workshop

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Friday, November 1st marked the annual UConn ECE English conference, organized in collaboration with Professor Scott Campbell, our ECE Faculty Coordinator for English. This year’s conference theme was Collaborative Circulation: A Recursive Roadmap, and attendees engaged in a variety of small group discussion sections on several topics (listed below):

  1. Circulation for Brainstorming and Ideation
  2. Circulation of Feedback
  3. Circulation as a Rhetorical Device/Context
  4. Interconnected Circulation: an Activity

The day ended with a panel discussion led by several representatives from the UConn English department.

Thanks to all who joined us for an enriching experience!

UConn English courses offered through Early College Experience.

 

Fall 2024 UConn ECE Economics Workshop

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On Wednesday, October 23rd, UConn Early College Experience hosted a professional development workshop for certified ECE Economics teachers, under the guidance of Dr. Natalia Smirnova, our ECE Faculty Coordinator for Economics. This workshop was held on the UConn Storrs Campus, and instructors spent the morning sharing some exciting student success stories (congratulations to Cheshire High School for placing 3rd in their Future Business Leaders of America competition!) and some in-class activities that have worked well in their respective ECE classrooms. Several guest speakers joined us, including Ariel Slonim, curriculum designer for Marginal Revolution University, a nonprofit dedicated to providing everyone and everyone with a “world-class economic education”, and Mary Claire Peate, a Senior Economic Education Specialist from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Thank you to all who joined us for an enriching experience!

Please visit the UConn Economics Website for additional information regarding this event: Linked HERE!

UConn Economics Courses offered through Early College Experience.

Fall 2024 UConn ECE Music Workshop

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On Monday, October 21st, UConn Early College Experience hosted a professional development workshop for certified ECE Music teachers, under the guidance of Shannon McAlister, our ECE Faculty Coordinator for Music. Instructors convened on the UConn Storrs campus, and spent the morning sharing stories from their own classrooms and teaching philosophies, followed by a guest lecture from visiting UConn professor Dr. Elizabeth Sallinger.  Dr Sallinger’s research interests are focused around orchestration and storytelling in musical theatre, and she treated our instructors to an informative lecture entitled, “Facing the Future: Exploring Education in Popular Music.” Goals for the day included disseminating resources for instructors to utilize in their classrooms, and providing opportunities to compare and discuss classroom experiences, allowing instructors to learn with and from one another.

Thank you to all who joined us for an enriching experience!

 

UConn Music Courses offered through Early College Experience.

Fall 2024 UConn ECE Marine Sciences Workshop

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On Friday, October 18th, UConn Early College Experience hosted a professional development workshop for certified ECE Marine Sciences teachers, under the guidance of Professor Claudia Koerting, our ECE Faculty Coordinator for Marine Sciences. Instructors connected via a hybrid modality; some joined us in-person on the UConn Avery Point campus, while others participated virtually. The morning consisted of updates regarding “what’s new” in the UConn Marine Sciences program, followed by some discussions of ECE course syllabi and university technologies and resources. Professor Craig Tobias, director for the CT National Estuarine Research Reserve (CTNERR) then provided some updates surrounding his research, and included information regarding teacher resources available through the Reserve. The Reserve includes 50,000 acres of land in and around Long Island Sound, Fishers Island Sound, the Thames River and the Connecticut River; the Reserves program works to preserve the land around their many sites, and provides education, training, and research opportunities, working with the rich biodiversity of the area to accomplish these goals.

Before lunch, instructors received a brief presentation on how to obtain funding (from ECE and other sources) to support their students’ learning in and out of the classroom. The final hybrid session delved into UConn’s current research activity surrounding “the relationship between offshore wind farms and marine life”. Finally, in-person attendees were treated to a tour of the Avery Point campus’s research facilities, and a trip to nearby Bluff Point led by Professor Tobias.

 

Thank you to all who joined us for an enriching experience!

 

UConn Marine Sciences Courses offered through Early College Experience.

Fall 2024 UConn ECE LMS Training

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On Thursday, October 17th, UConn Early College Experience hosted a virtual professional development training for certified ECE Library Media Specialists. The group connected via Webex and enjoyed discussions led by several representatives from the UConn Library. Student Success & Engagement Librarian Anna Twiddy kicked things off with a presentation on the library’s electronic resources, which was then followed by a thorough explanation of the library website and all of its search functions, courtesy of Electronic Resources Librarian Kristina Edwards. Ery Caswell, another Student Success & Engagement librarian, then offered an informative introduction into the Interlibrary Services available to ECE students and instructors. Terry Palacios, an Associate in Interlibrary Services, then provided an overview of using Google Scholar with UConn Library credentials. Finally, Roslyn Kohlbrecher, a Pharmacy Librarian, offered some useful tips regarding the use of AI as a research partner.

Many important resources were shared! If you were unable to join us, we are happy to report that all information will be available on the ECE LibGuide (linked HERE) very soon.

 

Thank you to all who joined us for an enriching experience!

 

UConn Library services offered through Early College Experience.

Fall 2024 UConn ECE Chinese Workshop

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On Friday, October 18th, UConn Early College Experience hosted a virtual professional development workshop for certified ECE Chinese teachers, under the guidance of Professor Chunsheng Yang, our ECE Faculty Coordinator for Chinese. Instructors connected via Webex and enjoyed a discussion on program development from Ms. Chunmei Guan of Logan High School in Indiana. Later on, Professor Zhiying Qian joined us from Florida State University, and led a fascinating talk about the emerging relationship between AI and Chinese language teaching.

Thank you to all who joined us for an enriching experience!

 

UConn Chinese Courses offered through Early College Experience.

Fall 2024 UConn ECE Biology Workshop

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On Tuesday, October 15th, UConn Early College Experience hosted a professional development workshop for certified ECE Biology teachers, under the guidance of Professor Thomas Abbott, our ECE Faculty Coordinator for Biology. Instructors convened on the UConn Storrs Campus and enjoyed an invigorating field walk through campus, and the surrounding forests. 

Thank you to all who joined us for an enriching experience!

 

UConn Biology Courses offered through Early College Experience.

Fall 2024 UConn ECE Environmental Science (NRE) Workshop

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On Tuesday, October 15th, UConn Early College Experience hosted a professional development workshop for certified ECE Environmental Science (NRE) teachers, under the guidance of Professor Morty Ortega, our ECE Faculty Coordinator for NRE. This was an exciting opportunity for our NRE community to meet offsite, at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) in New Haven, CT. Instructors were treated to several informative talks, beginning with a discussion on integrated tick management research at the CAES led by wildlife biologist Dr. Scott Williams. Entomologist Dr. Megan Linske then delivered a fascinating lecture entitled “Diversity and Disease: Assessing Backyards for Tick Bite Prevention and Awareness”, all before lunch! The afternoon concluded with a final talk by entomologist Dr. Kelsey Fisher, which discussed Monarch butterfly biology and conservation needs. 

And, fun fact! Both Dr. Williams and Dr. Linske received their Ph.D.s from the University of Connecticut.

Thank you to all who joined us for an enriching experience!

 

UConn Natural Resources and the Environment (NRE) Courses offered through Early College Experience.

Fall 2024 UConn ECE CE (Engineering) Workshop

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On Tuesday, October 8th, UConn Early College Experience hosted a professional development workshop for certified ECE Engineering teachers, under the guidance of Professor Sarira Motaref, our ECE Faculty Coordinator for Engineering. The event included a variety of enrichment opportunities, including a discussion on Neuroinclusive teaching strategies, and an opportunity to engage with the teaching resources that UConn makes available to its ECE instructors. Instructors were also given the chance to interact with representatives from UConn’s undergraduate chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), all before lunch! The afternoon was devoted to presentations from our own ECE Engineering instructors, who were given the chance to share strategies and student work from their own classrooms. 

Thank you to all who joined us for an enriching experience!

 

UConn Civil Engineering Courses offered through Early College Experience.

Fall 2024 UConn ECE HIST 1300 (Medieval Studies) Workshop

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On Friday, October 4th, UConn Early College Experience hosted a professional development workshop for certified ECE Medieval Studies teachers, under the guidance of Professor Thomas Maulucci, our ECE Faculty Coordinator for Medieval Studies. The event focused on the Mali Empire in Western Africa, and tasked attendees with discussing their own personal connections to the continent of Africa, as well as engaging with a variety of resources (maps, articles, video, historical documents, etc.) to enhance understanding.

Thank you to all who joined us for an enriching afternoon!

 

UConn History Courses offered through Early College Experience.

Fall 2024 UConn ECE Philosophy Workshop

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On Wednesday, September 25th, UConn Early College Experience hosted a professional development workshop for certified ECE Philosophy teachers, under the guidance of Professor Mitch Green, our ECE Faculty Coordinator for Philosophy. The event included an exercise on paper grading, an illuminating discussion on artificial intelligence in the classroom, and a guest lecture from Professor Yarran Hominh from Bard College focusing on political philosophy and its relation to human agency.

 

Thank you to all who joined us for an enriching afternoon!

 

UConn Philosophy Courses offered through Early College Experience.

Fall 2024 UConn ECE U.S. Hist/MAST/AMST Workshop

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Fall 2024 UConn ECE U.S. Hist/MAST/AMST Workshop

On Friday, September 27th, UConn Early College Experience hosted a professional development workshop for approximately 75 certified ECE U.S. History, Maritime Studies, and American Studies teachers, under the guidance of Professors Mary K. Bercaw Edwards (MAST), Laurie Wolfley (MAST/AMST), and Matt McKenzie (AMST/HIST) our ECE Faculty Coordinators.

The event kicked off with an illuminating discussion led by Dr. Akeia de Barros Gomes, Mystic Seaport's Senior Curator of Maritime Social Histories, which focused on the origins and sources of the museum's current Entwined: Freedom, Sovereignty, and the Sea exhibit.

Following this conversation, instructors broke into small groups and engaged in four activities across the museum. Beginning with a tour of the Charles W. Morgan, the oldest commercial ship still afloat in the US, our group then got some hands-on experience with rope-making, followed by an opportunity to observe primary sources from the Morgan's heyday at the museum library. Finally, we explored the Entwined exhibit, which centers Black and Indigenous voices and histories and their interconnectedness, and unravels dominant, white-centric narratives of maritime history in Turtle Island, or North America.

This event was a new foray into offering interdisciplinary professional development experiences for instructors, allowing them to connect with faculty and instructors from several academic disciplines.

UConn U.S. History, American Studies, and Maritime Studies courses offered through Early College Experience.

Spring 2024 UConn ECE Classics Workshop

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Spring 2024 UConn ECE Classics Workshop

On Wednesday, June 5th, UConn Early College Experience hosted a professional development workshop for approximately 20 certified ECE Classics teachers, under the guidance of Professor Sara Johnson, our  ECE Faculty Coordinator for Classics.

Following a collegial conversation and opening remarks from Professor Johnson, the group delved into a discussion concerning the current climate surrounding UConn Classics courses at the university.

Later participants engaged in an insightful exploration of "Cloud Cuckoo Land" by Anthony Doerr, a text distributed to all attendees prior to the workshop which fostered an enriching dialogue among the group.

UConn Classics courses offered through Early College Experience.

Spring 2024 UConn ECE Art Workshop

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Spring 2024 UConn ECE Art Workshop

On Tuesday, June 4th UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator from Art, Professor Emerita of Illustration, Department of Art & Art History, Cora Lynn Deibler met with a group of 16 UConn ECE certified Art Instructors for a professional development workshop.

After welcoming comments from Prof. Deibler, the teachers joined for a roundtable discussion regarding the fundamentals of drawing. They acknowledged the fundamentals of drawing can initially be "boring" for today's young student artists as their usual visual world is fast, colorful, and immediate. While educators recognize the value of foundational work, they also know they are competing with TikTok, anime, and drawing apps. They shared strategies and insights into captivating Drawing I students, discussing impactful assignments and classroom activities that yielded enthusiastic responses from their students.

Later in the day, the group was privileged to gain insights from Professor Deibler and guest speakers Kathryn Myers, Professor of Art at UConn, and Jeanne Ciravolo, a distinguished faculty member of UConn's Department of Art and Art History, who also serves as the Director of the Alexey von Schlippe Gallery. Together, they explored portfolio preparation and admission criteria, providing valuable guidance to support students contemplating applications to collegiate-level art programs.

UConn Art courses offered through ECE

Spring 2024 UConn ECE Statistics Workshop

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Spring 2024 UConn ECE Statistics Workshop

On Monday, May 20th UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator from Statistics, Prof. Nalini Ravishanker met with a group of 44 UConn ECE certified Statistics teachers for their annual professional development workshop. The day included a presentation by James O’Donnell, Prof. Marine Sciences Department, UConn, and Director of Connecticut Institute for Resilience & Climate Adaptation (CIRCA): “Analyzing Coastal Flooding in CT and Climate Resilience”. Prof. O’Donnell spoke about the impacts of sea level rise, and more technically about the changing risk of flooding at the shoreline.

Later Elizabeth Schifano, Prof. and UG Program Director, Statistics spoke about data science programs at UConn. After a short break, the group reconvened to discuss a variety of topics including:

  • Homework assigning and grading at UConn (Amie O’Brien).
  • Mixture of traditional lecture & working problems in class vs. doing more hands-on investigations and labs, experiments where students use inference procedures (Amy Bigelow).
  • Switching from traditional textbook problems to one more involved free response problem set each week (Amy Bigelow).
  • Combined AP/ECE classes - finishing the entire curriculum by the beginning of May (before AP exam), what do the ECE students do in May-June? (Marcjanna Lungarini).

UConn Statistics courses offered through ECE.

Spring 2024 UConn ECE Latino and Latin American Studies Workshop

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Spring 2024 UConn ECE Latino and Latin American Studies Workshop

On Monday, May 20th. UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator from Latino and Latin American Studies, Prof. Anne Gebelein, met with a group of 20 UConn ECE certified LLAS 1190: Introduction to Latin America and the Caribbean Instructors for a professional development workshop on the Hartford campus. The day included a presentation and discussion with special guest Lorenzo Martinez Ruiz about challenges to indigenous sovereignty in Nicaragua.

Lorenzo Martinez Ruiz is an indigenous leader of the Rama-Kriol peoples in southeastern Nicaragua, Lorenzo Martinez Ruiz, who helped unpack the two biggest issues for indigenous today: sovereignty and land rights. Lorenzo has been an activist for indigenous rights, whose community was involved in an InterAmerican Court case in which the Nicaraguan government was required to give the indigenous of the zone land titles. However, the government has ignored the many illegal settlers that have been encroaching and clearcutting the land to create cattle ranches; the indigenous have been documenting these breaches to prepare for a future return to the courts. In the meantime, Nicaraguan politician, Daniel Ortega banned Lorenzo from the country and stripped him of his citizenship. Lorenzo currently resides in Manchester, CT and he has applied for asylum.

After lunch the group discussed teaching indigenous studies today and later ECE Instructor Elise Weisenbach (Branford High School) led a discussion on college teaching challenges in the high school setting.

UConn LLAS courses offered through ECE.

Spring 2024 UConn ECE EDLR1162 and EDCI Workshop

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Spring 2024 UConn ECE Education Workshop

On Friday, May 17th UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinators from Education, Dr’s DeRosa and Levine met with a group of 20 UConn ECE certified Educational Leadership and Educational Curriculum and Instruction teachers for a joint professional development workshop.

After welcoming remarks from leadership in Neag, the teachers took time to introduce themselves and discussed Making College Level Reading Accessible. Later they broke into small groups to discuss problems of practice.

 

UConn Education courses offered through ECE.

Spring 2024 UConn ECE U.S. History Workshop

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Spring 2024 UConn ECE U.S. History Workshop

On Monday, May 13th UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator from U.S. History, Prof. Matt McKenzie met with a group of 50 UConn ECE certified U.S. History Instructors for a professional development workshop.

After welcoming comments from Prof. Mckenzie the teachers took time to introduce themselves and listened to Prof. McKenzie’s talk titled “Using Experience as an Archive for Historical Research: Methods and Examples".

After a short break the group broke into a large discussion about the differences between AP and UConn courses through ECE and what kinds of support and resources they would like more of to help promote UConn courses in their high schools.

UConn U.S. History courses offered through ECE

Spring 2024 UConn ECE HDFS Workshop

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Spring 2024 UConn ECE HDFS Workshop

On Tuesday, May 7th UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator from Human Development and Family Sciences, Shannon Weaver met with a group of 32 UConn ECE certified HDFS Instructors for a professional development workshop.

The day began with introductions and welcoming remarks and ECE program updates. Later, Dr. Weaver spoke about “The New Reality of Aging: Impact on Families” and the teachers broke into small groups to discuss course objectives for Later Adulthood

After a short break there was an open instructor forum and more group conversations and later a student showcase. The group broke for lunch and later heard from Student Success and Engagement Librarian, Ery Caswell, who provided teachers with an overview of resources available to instructors and students. The teachers also reviewed Microsoft Teams & HuskyCT.

UConn HDFS courses offered through ECE

Spring 2024 UConn ECE Biology Workshop

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Spring 2024 UConn ECE Biology Workshop

On Tuesday, April 30th UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator from Biology, Dr. Tom Abbott met with a group of 34 UConn ECE certified Biology Instructors for their annual professional development workshop.

After opening remarks the teachers embarked on a campus trail walk led by Dr. Abbott. The theme for the day was “In the “Heat” of the Moment, Forests Move Center Stage” and the group took a campus field walk through small forest stands. After the walk, teachers reconvened for lunch and additional conversation about their UConn BIOL 1107 and 1108 courses with Dr. Abbott.

UConn Biology courses offered through ECE