NED Teaching and Learning Conference Schedule Now Available

This presentation highlights Equity by Design, a methodology to understand and address academic disparities in the classroom and move towards equity-minded practices, and its implementation at St. Cloud State University. During our workshops, Antiracism Institute for Teaching and Research council members provided SCSU faculty with the tools and skills to assess the academic equity gaps within their courses. Faculty members learned how to analyze their data to identify patterns and create effective visualizations to glean critical insights from the courses. Our primary focus during these workshops was to evaluate academic gaps using the “academic success rate” metric. We assisted faculty in navigating the process of calculating these gaps. With our locally developed app, the assessment process has been simplified. Faculty members no longer need to concern themselves with the technical aspects of the analysis; the software will automatically generate the necessary results for assessing academic gaps and much more.

Engage in dialogue and examine intersections of marginality and disrupt stereotypes about military/veteran students to help strengthen civil-military understanding on our campuses and beyond.

What is changing about our military/veteran scholars on campus? The estimated enrollment across the Minnesota State system ranges from 6,682 – 11,483 students (FY2008 – 2022). This panel will spark dialogue among participants an examine the military service of female, Black, American Indian, LGBT, and immigrant service members. Facilitated by Discussion Leaders (active service members or veterans), explore guiding questions framed by the humanities to examine and better understand how race, class, gender, sexuality, and religion have caused the military service of some individuals to be devalued or limited in some capacity. Discussion Leaders will also share practical strategies for supporting military and veteran students (including military family members). The main focus is to foster dialogue and strengthen civil-military understanding on our campuses, and beyond!

The panel will be a partnership between Minnesota State, Minnesota Humanities Center (MHC), and Minnesota Army National Guard.

Educators are recognizing the importance of designing individualized learning so students can engage in thriving environments and quality learning achievement is measured using multiple strategies.

This session will provide two aspects for student learning engagement. The first focuses on designing courses to provide the best learning for introverts, extraverts, and ambiverts. Faculty and instructional designers will have time to analyze a course of their own to apply the learning provided to deliver quality learning for all. This highly-rated session has been a very popular presentation at national conferences.

The second topic focuses on evaluative triangulation to better assess significant learning. Participants will analyze the use of a variety of learning activities and assessments to choose multiple means to assess outcomes to provide a broader and truer measurement of student achievement. Examples of evaluative triangulation will be provided for participants to consider as take-aways.

Committing to equitable grading practices sometimes means removing grades altogether. Let’s discuss the practical concerns and solutions for our courses.

Equitable grading practices can mean many things, but one of the most “extreme” is removing grades altogether (“Ungrading”) until the end of the semester. Theories abound, but practical concerns can stop instructors from utilizing Ungrading. Questions arise, such as, “How do we assure students are meeting course outcomes?”, “How do students stay motivated to learn?”, “How does this work for online courses?”, “How can we tell students are learning without points?”, and “Will students do the work if there aren’t grades attached?” It sometimes takes those who are using Ungrading to help those who have questions get the answers they need to feel comfortable moving forward with it. Presenters will share resources and processes they’ve used to implement Ungrading in both online and on-campus classes.

A panel discussion focusing on pedagogical teaching strategies used for developing racially conscious education leaders. This conversation will discuss crucial topics, including applying the Courageous Conversation protocol, the principles of Critical Race Theory, techniques for fostering an antiracist mindset, and ethical considerations for academic integrity. Attendees can engage with the panelists, exploring practical approaches and best practices for integrating these strategies into educational settings. This panel aims to empower educators with the tools necessary to nurture inclusive learning environments and cultivate future leaders committed to social justice and equity.

Good class design relies on determining authentic learning outcomes, building learning activities to help students learn the materials, and then assessments that measure how well the outcomes were achieved. Thus, a considerable amount of an instructor’s time is spent working on assessment and grading. Yet, many of us have done little to examine the grading schemes that we use. This past fall, a cohort of us read “Grading for Equity” and began to experiment with different ideas related to grading and schemes to grade. In this panel discussion, we will share some of our ideas and how we implemented them using D2L. We will then divide participants up in groups to discuss ideas that might work for them. Panel members will help answer questions and provide guidance throughout.

An overview of un-grading’s concepts, critiques, and techniques drawn from a pilot certificate developed by the presenters grounded in equity and an incremental approach.

This session will introduce an Un-Grading Certificate offered for faculty development at Minnesota State University, Mankato. The presenters developed the certificate as a way to introduce faculty across disciplines to alternative assessment methods for their classes through an equity lens. The certificate introduces un-grading incrementally so faculty can make small, medium, or large changes to their assessments based on their needs. Session attendees will be introduced to the concept of un-grading, learn about the context of the Un-Grading Certificate, explore various approaches to and techniques for un-grading, including labor-based grading contracts, specifications grading, and mastery grading; and discuss critiques of un-grading. The session will conclude with ample time for discussion so attendees might take away actionable un-grading techniques for use in their own classes.

Chances are, many of your course assignments aren’t equitable. They aren’t transparent, don’t offer choices, favor specific backgrounds, and end up in the garbage. Let’s fix that.

Many course assignments are presented to students in ways that may be experienced inequitably across groups, resulting in corresponding differences in performance. Assignment instructions may lack specificity and assume understanding. Students may be given only one option for demonstrating proficiency, access to which may be inequitable. Assignment assistance and support may not be distributed equitably. Such assignments need to be redesigned to address these issues. This session will engage participants in identifying and addressing sources of assignment inequity using evidence-based practices.