Our Fall 2023 Faculty Development Day took place both in person and virtually on Thursday, August 24, 2023.
Find your FDD Resources below.
Fall 2023 Faculty Development Day Title:
Finding Balance, Focus, and Connections: Practical Partnerships with Gen Z and the Multifaceted Library
Description:
The U.S. Census designates “Gen Z” to include persons born 1997-2013, which includes many of the students in our courses. Gen Z students are digital natives, diverse, and are said to be pragmatic, entrepreneurial, motivated by security, career goals and a desire to contribute to the world. They also tend to be more anxious, perhaps because they also share the climate crisis, increasingly harsh confrontations with systemic oppression, and the dramatic increase in mass shootings. Their adolescence was heavily impacted by the pandemic and shapes their skills, preparation, needs and expectations for higher education.
One of our greatest resources for engaging with our students and these conditions is the library. Our library encompasses collections of information that are nurtured and cultivated by our talented faculty colleagues. It also represents the organization of scholarship, creativity, and practices that we use to support learning and the creation of new knowledge.
We invite you to review our program below to find session recordings and resources.
9:00AM – 10:00AM Zoom Breakout Sessions
Track: Liberating Pedagogies: Opening Communities and Resources for Students
The People’s Scholarship: Cultivating Relevance and Investment to Psychology in the Classroom and Beyond
Presenter(s): Emese Ilyés
Description: This presentation, demonstration, and dialogue invites faculty to imagine structuring their classroom in a way that centers the needs of and serves communities. After hearing about a particular case study of how a psychology research methods course was taught to allow students to gather relevant research to be meaningfully applied by incarcerated activists, faculty will be invited to imagine how their courses could serve communities. This pedagogic approach draws on liberation psychologists like Freire and Martín-Baro and increases the sense of relevance for the students, deepens their engagement with the materials, and results in improved learning outcomes such as consistent attendance and individual investment in the course.
Please find the recording of this session here!
Track: From False to True: Facts, Evidence, and Constructing Arguments (Two Part Series)
Quantitative Literacy in the Classroom, No Matter What You Teach (Part 1)
Presenter(s): Andrew Sidman
Description: Quantitative literacy and reasoning are essential skills in academics and the workforce. Over the last decade, their importance has only grown with our society’s reliance on data to drive decision-making in both the public and private spheres. This year, we are transforming the way QL and QR are taught at John Jay. This session will be a conversation about QL and QR in our curricula and the services available to students and faculty through the Library, MSRC, and other offices.
Please find the recording of this session here!
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Track: Evolving and Emerging: New Ways to Identify, New Needs to Express
Get the Tea on Gen Z: Who Are They, What They Know, and What They Need
Presenter(s): Marta Bladek and Nancy Yang
Description: The first generation ever not to know the world without the internet, Gen Z has been all too readily reduced to stereotypes and generalizations. Gen Z’s critics assert that these young people are addicted to their smartphones, obsessed with social media, cringe at the thought of public speaking, and lack the work ethic of previous generations. Gen Z’s defenders, on the other hand, point to the group’s embrace of diversity and inclusion, activism addressing social justice and climate issues, ability to collaborate with others, and prioritization of their mental health.
Please find a recording of this session here!
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Through key findings from Gen Z research and a conversation with our own John Jay Gen Z students, we will invite the audience to look beyond the generic generational portrait. Additionally, we will rely on the College’s institutional data, informal surveys of 2023 Summer Bridge students, and our own experience of interacting with students in the First Year Programs and in the Library to challenge some Gen Z myths.
Track: Same Tune, New Modulations: Online Teaching & Learning plus Academic Integrity
Supporting Online Teaching and Learning: Where instructional design, the learning management system, student support and library resources converge
Panelist(s): Holly Davenport, Ritu Boswell, Kate Cauley, Helen Keier
Description: In recent years, online teaching and learning has gained significant traction across educational institutions worldwide. With the rapid evolution of technology and the ongoing global pandemic, educators and institutions are continually exploring innovative approaches to foster effective online learning environments. With the launch of the online CJBS transfer program, this topic is timelier than ever. This session aims to explore the multifaceted nature of online teaching and learning, focusing on the vital roles of instructional design, the learning management system, student support and library resources. Through collaborative discussions, a look at past successes, and practical demonstrations, participants will gain valuable insights into reinventing learning collaborations and communities in the online realm.
Please find the recording of this session here!
Track: Facilitating Diverse, Inclusive, Open Explorations
The Experience of Bilingual Students at John Jay
Presenter(s): Cristina Lozano-Argüelles, Rafael Benavides, Valentina Hurtado, Chrisin Jacob, Alissa McCurchin, Breanna Mullins, Bridget Navas, Nicholas Peralta, Fernanda Reyes Vazquez, Kianni Ynoa, Anthony Zhapan
Description: Bilingualism is a complex and dynamic experience affecting the academic life of John Jay students. Through research on the intersection of bilingualism and code-switching, education, emotions, and psycholinguistics, we show how bilingualism benefits the overall common good of our school. This presentation showcases the survey results (n=41) exploring how bilingualism is perceived by John Jay students, indicating that students do not receive enough support in their heritage languages and could benefit from well-informed pedagogical practices that foster bilingualism. Finally, we offer recommendations on how the library can be a resource for bilingual students to further develop their biliteracy skills through both materials and bilingual staff.
Please find the recording of this session here!
Track: Multimodal Encounters: Reinventing Learning Collaborations and Communities
Making a Movie to Learn about Sexism in the USA SA
Presenter(s): M. Victoria Pérez-Ríos, Montserrat Contreras, Lisselot de la Cruz-Brito, Ashley Flores, and Katherine Quezada
Description: Students from my SOC 101: Introduction to Sociology in Spanish class and myself created a short film on Sexism in the USA: Reality and Solutions that has been sent to the First Madrid EducaCiencia Film Festival (Brief synopsis available at their catalogue, https://mecfilmfestival.com/catalogo/#, page 79). The film combined one-take shots in the classroom and at the entrance of John Jay, student presentations, student interviews and relevant quotes. Data for the content was partially obtained in the Library. Although it does not appear in this movie, the library is present throughout any research. The library is the first stop and then a recurring stop to verify information.
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10:30AM- 11:00 AM First Look: CUNY Brightspace
D2L offered a remote overview of Brightspace, CUNY’s new learning management system.
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11:15AM- 12:00 PM Collegewide Discussion (Moot Court 6th Floor) (in person)
Student Mental Health Plenary
“To be heard I must yell:” Complex trauma, Misconduct, De-escalation and Discipline in the John Jay context
Presenter(s): Rachel Brown, Serena Thomas
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1:00 PM- 1:30 PM Accessibility as Wellness and Engagement in Brightspace (in person)
Evan Silberman from CUNY Online and Natalie Zarisfi from CUNY Central shared information about our new learning management system, Brightspace. John Jay will be one of the first colleges to make the transition from Blackboard in January 2024: this conversation will be timely and helpful.
Here are their slides:
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2:00PM – 3:00PM Zoom Breakout Sessions
Track: Liberating Pedagogies: Opening Communities and Resources for Students
Open Educational Resources (OER): More Than Just Free Stuff, A Tool for Opening Up Student Inquiry
Presenter(s): Michael Schoch, Bruce Shenitz
Description: Open Educational Resources are often touted as a way for students to get textbooks for free. That’s true as far as it goes, and reducing textbook expenses for students is an important social justice goal. But the approach is fundamentally about altering the creation, dissemination, and sharing of knowledge. In this presentation, we will very briefly review the major components of OER and discuss how OER conversion, when paired with Open Pedagogy principles, can help create a learning experience that prompts students to feel accountable and engaged.
Please find the recording of this session here!
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Track: From False to True: Facts, Evidence, and Constructing Arguments (Two Part Series)
Quantitative Literacy in the Classroom, No Matter What You Teach (Part 2)
Presenter(s): Andrew Sidman
Description: This session will introduce some best practices for bringing quantitative literacy and reasoning into your coursework. We will talk about QL and QR learning outcomes, lessons that teach these skills, and designing assignments and activities that develop these skills in the context of your course. Feel free to bring an existing assignment to talk about ways of turning it into a QL/QR assignment.
Please find the recording of this session here!
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Track: Evolving and Emerging: New Ways to Identify, New Needs to Express
Use and Abuse? of AI: Faculty Adventures with ChatGPT
Panelist(s): Guido Giordano (moderator), Ariana Caragliano, Maria Cipriani, Shweta Jain, S. Michele Echols, Adam Wandt
Description: In December 2022, concerns about AI – specifically ChatGPT – started to emerge in higher education. It has since exploded as a source of international concern, consternation and even fear. Yet, as with many other technological advances, faculty are seeking to find means of harnessing the power of the technology to facilitate our goal of teaching students critical skills for their future success. This panel explores ways in which faculty members have experimented with using AI in their teaching and mentorship and lessons they learned in the process, as well as their experiences with the abuse of AI/ChatGPT. Participants can learn about novel approaches to using this technology, in conjunction with our library resources, that is changing, yet again, students’ academic experiences in ways that will hopefully enhance and ensure student learning.
Please find the recording of this session here!
Track: Same Tune, New Modulations: Online Teaching & Learning plus Academic Integrity
Why It Matters: Academic Integrity in the Education for Justice
Panelist(s): Marta Bladek, Kathleen Collins, and Jennifer Dobbins
Description: We would like to facilitate a conversation about academic integrity. Aligned with our mission and commitment to educate for justice, the topic of academic integrity concerns the whole academic community at John Jay: faculty, staff, and students. As the concept is being challenged by a turn towards online learning, the popularity of AI tools, and the shifting understanding of authorship and authenticity, it is critical that we investigate why and how academic integrity continues to matter. Facilitators will share vignettes to illustrate where they see shortfalls in the process and understanding of academic integrity, from how and why to cite properly, to the very definition and impact of plagiarism. While we share our takes on academic integrity issues from the perspective of the Library and Academic Integrity Office, we will propose that breaches of academic integrity are not a stand-alone problem but rather a symptom that requires attention from all of us.
Please find the recording of this session here!
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Track: Facilitating Diverse, Inclusive, Open Explorations
Gen Z Career Success, Critical Thinking, and the Library
Workshop: Enrique Chávez-Arvizo, Denise Thompson, and Joy Dunkley
Description: The purpose of our interactive workshop is to discuss and help faculty develop skills to implement effective methods for guiding Gen Z student inquiry on the relationship between classroom learning, the library, and career success that can be adapted to every field. Although our workshop will focus on two high impact practical areas, namely (1) critical thinking and (2) mapping library resources, course requirements, and learning outcomes to applied career readiness competencies, it will do so within the key framework of pedagogies of care, inclusion, anti-racism, and cross-cultural skills. Members of Gen Z are disillusioned and anxious about how their academics and all those hours spent in the library actually prepare them for their careers. One of the main reasons Gen Z students fail to complete college is that they do not know why they are in college—and are not sure how their classroom learning and library experiences connect to their future. By taking the time to tap into the career interests and explicitly developing the career success skill sets of Gen Z students—while also offering clear direction for professional growth and self-development—faculty and librarians can alleviate some of that anxiety that comes from Gen Z students feeling hopeless and not knowing whether they are on track for career success.
Please find the recording of this session here!
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Track: Multimodal Encounters: Reinventing Learning Collabortions and Communities
Dr. Strangelove: Developing Student Visual Literacies in the Digital Age by Using Films, and How the Library Can Help
Presenter(s): Paul Narkunas, Ellen Sexton
Description: People learn by watching videos – on YouTube, on TikTok, and other social media platforms. We can build on the innate appeal of video to engage students, develop visual literacy skills and build attention capacities. By highlighting the visual language of films–namely how camera angles, shot selection, editing, and sound affect the meaning of films–through specific short film clips, students hone their literacy abilities to read and analyze films. Building on these visual skills of seeing and looking, faculty can use films to jump start discussions of such real-world concerns as artificial intelligence, immigration, eugenics, social hierarchies and access to legal protections, structural racism, and environmental degradation. As visual media saturates our lives, films help diagnose how the flows of images affect reality, even constructing alternative and false realities. Professor Paul Narkunas will discuss teaching with classic & contemporary feature films. Librarian Ellen Sexton addresses acquiring films and documentaries for institutional streaming.
Please find the recording of this session here!
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