PD

Spring 2024 UConn ECE Library Media Specialists Training

Spring 2024 UConn ECE Library Media Specialists Training

On Wednesday, March 26th, UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Liaisons from the Babbidge Library met with participating ECE library media specialists for a professional development training. The group met virtually and heard from content specialists from the library.

After a brief welcome with ECE Staff and Kate Fuller, from the library, the group heard from different library staff members:

 Laura Smith : Finding Primary Sources.

 Terry Palacios : StAIying Informed: Quick Overview of Generative AI, Pitfalls of AI, and Exploring AI Tools

Rob Walsh Fundamentals of Strategic Searching 

 Greg Colati CT Digital Archives (CTDA)

Materials from the training are available to for reference at: https://guides.lib.uconn.edu/ECE.

Spring 2024 UConn ECE Spanish Workshop

Spring 2024 UConn ECE Spanish Workshop

On Monday, March 25th UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinators from Spanish,Profs. Gustavo Nanclares and Eduardo Urios-Aparisi met with a group of more than 60 UConn ECE certified Spanish Instructors for their annual professional development workshop.

Prof. Maria Acosta Cruz, Professor of Spanish in the Language, Literature & Culture Dept, Clark University shared her presentation "Ecocrítica, cultura y nación: La cultura puertorriqueña a través de cinco siglos" ("Ecocriticism, Culture, and Nation: Puerto Rican Culture Through Five Centuries") with the teachers. After lunch the instructors engaged in a group activity sharing their creativity and resources with one another. 

UConn Spanish courses offered through ECE.

Spring 2024 UConn ECE Allied Health Workshop

Spring 2024 UConn ECE Allied Health Workshop

On Thursday, March 12th UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator from Allied Health, Dr. Bruce Blanchard met with a group of more than 30 UConn ECE certified Allied Health Instructors for a virtual professional development workshop.

The group introduced themselves and took time to speak about each course: AH 1100: Introduction to Allied Health Professions, AH 2001: Medical Terminology and AH 4092: EMT Training  Veteran Instructors  shared insight with some of the newly certified ECE AH Instructors as well.  Time was spent sharing course resources and discussing possible improvements to the courses.

UConn Allied Health courses offered through ECE.

Spring 2024 UConn ECE German Workshop

Spring 2024 UConn ECE German Workshop

On Thursday, March 7th UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator from German, Prof. Anke Finger met with a group of 6 UConn ECE certified German Instructors for a professional development workshop.

The theme was "Blue Humanities, the Baltic Sea and Log Island Sound" which included some hands-on practice with ChatGPT.

UConn German courses offered through ECE.

Spring 2024 UConn ECE Educational Psychology Workshop

Spring 2024 UConn ECE Educational Psychology Workshop

On Wednesday, March 6th UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator from Educational Psychology, Prof. Joseph Madaus met with a group of 6 UConn ECE certified EPSY (Special Education) Instructors for a professional development workshop.

Instructors heard from author Terry Trueman, who spoke about his life and course text “Stuck in Neutral”. The book is about a teenage boy named Shawn who has cerebral palsy. Unable to communicate with the outside world and feeling trapped in his body, "Stuck in Neutral" explores Shawn's complicated relationship with his father.

After hearing from Terry the Instructors had a spirited discussion sharing ideas and resources that people are using in their courses.

UConn Education courses offered through ECE.

Spring 2024 UConn ECE French Workshop

Spring 2024 UConn ECE French Workshop

On Friday, March 1st UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator from French, Florence Marsal met with a group of 30 UConn ECE certified French Instructors for a professional development workshop.

Joëlle Vitiello, Professor of French and Francophone Studies, Macalester College shared her presentation “Enseigner les trésors d'Haïti” (Teaching the Treasures of Haiti).

Later Mary Catherine Decoteau, Career Consultant from UConn’s Career Services spoke to teachers about enhancing and highlighting career competencies in ECE French classes. Completing the morning, ECE Instructor from Avon High School Geneviève Brand discussed “L'eau dans la littérature”(Water in Literature). All Instructors who registered also received a free e-copy of  "Laquelle de nous était Eurydice".

UConn FREN courses offered through ECE.

Spring 2024 UConn ECE Political Science Workshop

Spring 2024 UConn ECE Political Science Workshop

On Wednesday, February 28th UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinators from Political Science, Oksan Bayulgen and Evan Perkoski met with a group of 14 UConn ECE certified Political Science Instructors for a professional development workshop.

Instructors heard from a panel of two political science professor and two undergraduate students who  are active in student organizations on  how to address electoral issues and partisanship in political science courses and how to encourage in student civic engagement. After a short break, Sandra Sirota (Director of Human Rights and Close to Home program) shared her talk "The importance of civic action in order to strengthen democracy and respect for human rights in our Connecticut communities and beyond."

 

UConn POLS courses offered through ECE.

Spring 2024 UConn ECE Earth Science Workshop

Spring 2024 UConn ECE Earth Science Workshop

On Monday, February 26th UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator from Earth Science Prof. Thorson met with a group of three UConn ECE certified Earth Science Instructors for a professional development workshop. Instructors discussed Using Stone Walls for Teaching Earth Science ECE Courses.

Historic fieldstone walls are usually within easy reach of most schools and can be used for field trips or local visits enhancing ERTH 1051: Earth's Dynamic Environment and 1000E: The Human Epoch courses. The workshop provided instructors with a summary of the history of the general phenomenon and a description of the commonalities and differences of stone walls. The days discussion provided teachers with ways to enhance their teaching of ERTH 1051 and ERTH 1000E.

For more about stone walls and Thor's research please see "New England Stone Walls Deserve a Science of Their Own" from a recent UConn Today post and his work with theUConn's Stone Wall Initiative.

 

UConn ERTH courses offered through ECE.

Spring 2024 UConn ECE Environmental Science Workshop

Spring 2024 UConn ECE Environmental Science Workshop

On Thursday, February 22nd UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator from NRE Dr. Morty Ortega met with a group of 32 UConn ECE certified NRE 1000E Instructors for a professional development workshop. Instructors went on "A journey through Ecotoxicology" with Anika Agrawal, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, UConn.

 

Anika Agrawal (she/they) is a third year PhD Candidate in Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Connecticut. Prior to this she received a B.S. in Environmental Toxicology from UC Davis, and an M.S. in Marine Biology from Texas A&M at Galveston. Anika is currently studying mercury in oysters in the Long Island Sound. They are passionate about contaminants in coastal ecosystems and finding ways to make science more inclusive and fun in the classroom. 

 

 

UConn NRE courses offered through ECE.

Spring 2024 UConn ECE Digital Media & Design Workshop

Spring 2024 UConn ECE DMD Workshop

On Friday, January 19th UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator from DMD Assistant Professor in Residence, Ken Thompson met with a group of six UConn ECE certified DMD Instructors for their annual professional development workshop. Instructors learned about creativity in the classroom and examined current pedagogical methods and evaluation tools for creativity. Group discussion and tip-sharing were invaluable to the Instructors as they continue to enable students to think creatively in their classrooms. Instructors also used their creativity skills as they workshopped a card game of their own. This workshop was an abridged version of an industry-standard game design practice, and then they critiqued their games using Mechanics, Dynamics, and Aesthetics.

The Digital Media field  requires consistent technological funding for computers, cameras, and other materials. The Instructors  ended the day focusing on technology, STEAM, and opportunities to showcase student video games, films, and artwork in statewide festivals and competitions.

 

UConn Digital Media & Design courses offered through ECE.

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Math Workshop

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Math Workshop

On Tuesday, December 19th UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinators from Math, Profs. Rizzie and Jaramillo met with certified ECE Math Instructors for their annual professional development workshop. Prof. Rizzie shared an overview and updates with the group about the ECE Math program and then participants split into smaller breakout groups to discuss Math 1030Q and 1131Q and 1132Q. After a short break the group discussed the addition of Math 1070Q for 2024-2025 and the continuation of the MATH 2110Q pilot.

 

UConn Math courses offered through ECE.

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Chinese Workshop

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Chinese Workshop

On Friday, December 1stUConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator from Chinese, Dr. George Yang met with certified ECE Chinese Instructors for their annual professional development workshop. Dr. Yang spoke to the group updates to the current CHIN 1114 course and plans for adding UConn’s CHIN 3210 and 3211 to UConn ECE’s course offerings in the near future. ECE Instructor Feng Xia from Amity High School discussed Chinese program development, and later the Instructors heard from Prof. Yu Wu, Associate Professor of Chinese from University of Rhode Island on Proficiency Oriented L2 Chinese:  Assessment: Objectives, Instruction, and Assessment.

     

UConn Chinese courses offered through ECE.

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Chemistry Workshop

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Chemistry Workshop

On Thursday, November 16thUConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator Chemistry, Dr. Fatma Selampinar met with certified ECE Chemistry Instructors for their annual professional development workshop. After a brief welcome and introductions Assistant Professor and Lawrence E. Posner and Amy E. Newburger Fellow, Dr. Kerry Gilmore spoke to the group about his research on Green Chemistry.  For more information about Dr. Gilmore and his lab see: https://gilmore.lab.uconn.edu/.

UConn Chemistry courses offered through ECE.

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Music Workshop

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Music Workshop

On Thursday, November 16thUConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Music, Shannon McAlister met with certified ECE Music Instructors for their annual professional development workshop. After introductions, where the group shared their teaching history, the UConn music courses they teach, and their favorite part of being a teacher they discussed their goals for the day. Next the group engaged  in conversation with Assistant Professor of Music Theory, Dr. Stefanie Acevedo on popular music. After a short break, the group reconvened and Shannon shared updates and new resources with the Instructors and highlighted the UConn ECE HuskyCT site for Music Instructors.

UConn Music courses offered through ECE.

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Animal Science Workshop

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Animal Science Workshop

On Tuesday, November 14th, UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinators for Animal Science, Drs. Amy Safran and Jen Nadeau met with certified ECE Animal Science Instructors for their annual professional development workshop. After introductions, Dr. Safran went over guidelines for all ECE Instructors including sample syllabi with course descriptions, philosophy, required texts, and grading policies. Later the group participated in a discussion about their courses and ideas for future professional development meetings. After lunch, they were able to get hands on experience in a Horse Science lab on equine myofascial release therapy with Cathleen Peabody, a professional equine therapist.

UConn Animal Science courses offered through ECE.

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Library Media Specialists Training

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Library Media Specialists Training Workshop

On Wednesday, November 8th, UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Liaison from the Babbidge Library, Zach Claybaugh met with participating ECE library media specialists for a professional development training. The group met virtually and heard from content specialists from the library.

  • Literature Resources and Tools for Research: Collections & Humanities Librarian, Richard Bleiler, will walk participants through a variety of UConn Library resources that support literature-focused research. The session will highlight resources available for locating primary texts and secondary (critical) materials, starting with the databases and concluding the LibGuide(s).
  • Information Literacy Tools: An Introduction: This session, led by UConn Health Science Library’s Associate Systems and Technology Administrator Jason Nicosia, will provide an overview of the many guides, tutorials, modules, and other learning objects the UConn Library offers. These objects have been developed to support the information literacy and critical thinking skills of your students. A select group of these tools will be demonstrated live during the session. Helpful tips for integrating these valuable resources into your instructional sessions will also be shared.
  • Intro to STEM Resources and Databases at UConn Library: In this workshop, STEM Librarian Renee Walsh will focus on literacies needed for the successful searching of science topical databases. For example, what is the difference between searching for information in Google versus a database with a controlled vocabulary? Finally, I will introduce the most important topical databases at UConn Library for research in science, engineering, and mathematics disciplines.
  • Intro to History Resources: In this workshop, history liaison David Avery will familiarize participants with the range of resources available from UConn Library to support historical research and inquiry.

The training has been recorded and will be available to for reference at: https://guides.lib.uconn.edu/ECE.

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Sociology Workshop

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Sociology Workshop

On Friday, November 3rd, UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Sociology, Ingrid Semann met with certified Sociology Instructors for their annual professional development workshop. After some general introductions and a discussion of the successes and challenges instructors have in their UConn courses the group heard from a panel of UConn faculty. Fumilayo Showers, Kim Price-Glynn, and Noël A. Cazenave comprised the panel.

Dr. Showers' research focuses on the social organization of health and long-term care; health professions; care work; and immigrant workers. Her book, Migrants Who Care: West Africans Working and Building Lives in US Health Care, documents the experiences of recent West African immigrants in a range of health care occupations in the US. In another project, Post-Mortem of a Pandemic: A Temporal Frame of Work, Life, and Death in COVID-19, she is conducting interviews among frontline health care workers to trace a history of loss, vulnerability, stress and burnout, moral injury, occupational inequality, racism, coping strategies, and unanticipated opportunity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Professor Price-Glynn’s research interests center on gender, labor and carework. She is co-editor of the volume, From Crisis to Catastrophe: Care, COVID and Pathways to Change. Her current study (under contract with Rutgers University Press) explores the direct and indirect care of parenting groups that demonstrate both barriers and solutions to more equitable and transformative care practices. Professor Price-Glynn's past research addresses diverse settings including strip clubs, nursing homes, and home health care. Her book, Strip Club: Gender, Power, and Sex Work, examined the processes through which men and women wield, negotiate, and contest power in a gendered organization.

In addition to numerous journal articles, book chapters, and other publications, Professor Cazenave coauthored Welfare Racism: Playing the Race Card against America’s Poor, which won five book awards; and has since then published Impossible Democracy: The Unlikely Success of the War on Poverty Community Action Programs; The Urban Racial State: Managing Race Relations in American Cities; Conceptualizing Racism: Breaking the Chains of Racially Accommodative Language; and Killing African Americans: Police and Vigilante Violence as a Racial Control Mechanism. His most recent book is Kindness Wars: The History and Political Economy of Human Caring.

To end the meeting the group shared helpful resources with each other and mentioned possible topics for future workshops.

 

UConn Sociology courses offered through ECE.

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Human Rights and Genocide Studies Workshop

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Human Rights and Genocide Studies Workshop

On Thursday, October 26th, UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Human Rights and Genocide Studies, Sandra Sirota, EdD met with certified HRTS Instructors for their annual professional development workshop. The ECE meeting was held in conjunction with UConn’s Human Rights Summit. Details about the summit can be referenced at: https://summit.humanrights.uconn.edu/2023-summit/. Instructors listened to the Keynote Address by Oleksandra Matviichuk a Ukrainian human rights and civil society leader based in Kyiv. They also heard from a panel of speakers as they discussed "Legacies of Babyn Yar: Preserving Memory and Identity in Ukraine" among other sessions

UConn Human Rights courses offered through ECE.

Fall 2023 UConn ECE European History (HIST 1400) Workshop

Fall 2023 UConn ECE European History (HIST 1400) Workshop

On Thursday, October 26th, UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for European History (HIST 1400), Prof. Tom Maulucci met with certified HIST 1400 Instructors for their annual professional development workshop. Prof. Elizabeth Della Zazzera (UConn History Department), shared her talk “How to be Modern in Post-Napoleonic France,” followed by questions and comments from the Instructors. Later, the Instructors shared their insights from the assigned readings and videos on the 1848 Revolutions by Christopher Clark and Jonathan Sperber with Prof. Maulucci. Zach Claybaugh (UConn Library) also joined the group to share resources for the 1848 Revolution available through the UConn Libraries. To end the day everyone participated in a conversation about AI and it’s implications in the history classroom.

UConn History courses offered through ECE.

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Economics Workshop

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Economics Workshop

On Wednesday, October 25th, UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Economics, Prof. Natalia Smirnova met with certified ECON Instructors for their annual professional development workshop. Presentations by a UConn ECE Instructor Ian Tiedemann (Greenwich High School), Scott A. Wolla, Economic Education Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and Ariel Slonim, Curriculum Designer, Marginal Revolution University (MRU) made up the day. Presentation topics are below:

  • Success Sharing: Journal of Future Economists -- 2023 -- Greenwich HS (page 78) Teacher: Ian Tiedemann, Greenwich HS.
  • Teaching Market Structures with Gum (Active Learning), Scott A. Wolla, Economic Education Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Bio: https://research.stlouisfed.org/staff/wolla
  • Supply, Demand, Action! Harnessing interactive tools to teach supply and demand. (Active Learning), Ariel Slonim, Curriculum Designer, Marginal Revolution University (MRU).  Aiel Slonim is sharing her passion for economics literacy by helping to improve resources for economics education in the US. Prior to joining MRU, Ariel taught economics to 8th grade students in Brooklyn and taught as an adjunct at the King's College, NYC. Ariel has a Masters in Economics from GMU.
  • Monetary Policy has Changed. Has Your Teaching? (Active Learning), Scott A. Wolla, Economic Education Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
  • Cracking the Code: Understanding GDP and Inflation through interactive tools. (Active Learning) Ariel Slonim, Curriculum Designer, Marginal Revolution University (MRU).
  • Teaching Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Topics in Economics, Natalia V. Smirnova, UConn

For more information see the Department of Economics post about the event at ECE Economics Workshop 2023 | Department of Economics (uconn.edu)

 

UConn Economics courses offered through ECE.

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Physics Workshop

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Physics Workshop

On Monday, October 23rd, UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Physics, Dave Perry met with certified PHYS Instructors for their annual professional development workshop. Dr. Perry shared a program overview and discussed labs and exams with the Instructors. Later the group heard from ECE Instructor Alina Britchi (Daniel Hand High School) about her CERN experience this summer and from Keynote  speaker Heather Osborne, Lab Technician/Curator from Wesleyan University regarding “Playing Science”.

    

UConn PHYS courses offered through ECE.

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Philosophy Workshop

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Philosophy Workshop

On Wednesday, October 18th, UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Philosophy, Prof. Mitch Green met with certified PHIL Instructors for their annual professional development workshop. Prof. Green spoke with instructors about grading student essays. Each instructor provided three anonymized graded samples of student essays for the conversation.

Later, Prof. Green led a discussion on “post-truth” epistemology after instructors watched, a Ted Talk by UConn Professor Michael Lynch(below): “How to See Past Your Own Perspective and Find Truth.”.

UConn PHIL courses offered through ECE.

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Marine Science Workshop

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Marine Science Workshop

On Friday, October 13th, UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Marine Science, Prof. Claudia Koerting met with certified MARN Instructors for their annual professional development workshop. The purpose of the day’s workshop was to familiarize teachers with both old and new equipment used to sample and analyze water quality and to make connections among faculty new to the ECE program and veteran Instructors.

The group of 13 ECE Instructors set out on a boat and enjoyed the scenery while becoming acquainted. They gathered at the Sabino dock to board the “Mystic Seaport Express” captained by Liz Sistare (UConn ’13), Waterfront Operations Supervisor. Participating instructors represented 5 of Connecticut’s counties.

The breezy but sunny day began with a trip through the Mystic Drawbridge. After passing the railroad bridge they found a site by channel marker 30 in the Mystic River to make their first set of measurements using instruments that measure salinity, oxygen, and temperature. They deployed a water sampler to retrieve water samples near the bottom and used a simple bucket for surface water samples. They performed two plankton tows and brought those samples back for microscopic evaluation. Two more sites were chosen: one nearer to the mouth of the river and the other closer to the outflow for the treatment plant. Water samples were returned with the group to the seaport sailing center where they tested for chlorophyll content using a fluorometer and performed a light/dark experiment with water from two sites. Conversations were held about how these samples could inform scientists and regulators about policy guiding water use in the river. Comparisons were drawn with boat trips teachers have made all along the Connecticut shoreline.

After lunch at the sailing center the group ran their analysis, looked at the plankton tow and compared oxygen uptake in the light/dark bottle experiment. The day ended with Instructors learning a new method, learning a new instrument, or walking away with new connections and ideas.

UConn MARN courses offered through ECE.

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Environmental Science Workshop

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Environmental Science (NRE) Workshop

On Thursday, October 12th, UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Natural Resources & the Environment, Prof. Morty Ortega met with certified NRE Instructors for their annual professional development workshop. The workshop was held at Sessions Woods Wildlife Management Area in Burlington, CT. Presentations by the Sessions Woods staff included:

  • The private life of bears – Melissa Ruszczyk (DEEP)
  • The private life of bobcats – Jason Hawley (DEEP)
  • Habitat – Peter Picone (DEEP)

The presentations were well received by the teachers, and they had many questions for each of the presenters.

UConn NRE courses offered through ECE.

Fall 2023 UConn ECE Sustainable Plant and Soil Systems (SPSS) Workshop

Fall 2023 UConn ECE SPSS Workshop

On Wednesday, October 11th, UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for SPSS, Julia Kuzovkina met with certified ECE SPSS Instructors at this professional development workshop at Southington High school.  This year the group implemented a different approach: instead of UConn faculty developing a program, the teachers designed their own workshop to provide them with relevant experiences.

The workshop included diverse activities: during a field practicum Brian Bostrom explained how to analyze the soil for specific purposes (photo 1); a representative from academia Nick Goltz provided a recent update on plant diseases; an owner of a landscape company Nicole Ali described new trends in the landscape industry;  a presentation by Dustyn Nelson, past president of the Connecticut Nursery and Landscape Industry, discussed  students preparation for future careers in the Green Industry (photo 3). In addition, there was a Hands-On Floral Workshop, run by a practitioner Paul Lumia from Nyren's of New England, where teachers were introduced to beautiful fall arrangements which can be introduced in the ECE Floral Art courses at schools (photo 2).

Photo 1  

Photo 2

Photo 3

UConn SPSS courses offered through ECE.