Monday, May 9, 2016

Using Infographics in Class

Have you thought about having students develop infographics in your classes?

Having students create infographics supports the skills identified in Bloom's Taxonomy and can be used to develop and assess the abilities of MCNY students:
  • Ability 2 - to communicate effectively through reading, writing, listening, speaking and other modes of expression.
  • Ability 3 -To develop an appreciation of art and aesthetic awareness.
  • Ability 6 - to describe social, natural and technological systems, using methods specific to the humanities and the social and natural sciences.
  • Ability 8: - to use mathematical reasoning to analyze the world.
What's an infographic?

What is an Infographic?Created by Customer Magnetism.

You might begin with using infographics to display information to students (check out the Daily Infographic or the New York Times for infographics you might use in class).

An assignment that has the students design their own infographics and present them in class (in-person or online) can help develop analytical, communication, technological and visualization skills. Projects can be created by individuals or groups and can be an interactive component in a hybrid or web enhanced course. For example you might ask students to develop an infographic on a social problem, the history of their agency or to display their research findings in their CA. These can be presented in class or posted online for discussion.

Check out Vennage a free resource for making infographics, which I have used for student assignments and have gotten outstanding results.

You fight find the following resources useful:
Infographic: Capabilities Created by Infographics in Education | Venngage
 

Friday, February 12, 2016

Life a an Adjunct Series at MCNY

As higher education's heavy dependence on adjunct labor to educate students seems to have no end in sight, I believe we as educators (& administrators) have a duty to help foster our adjuncts both in the classroom and professionally.  In the spirit of providing training, support, and career growth for adjuncts, my colleagues and I created a series that would give training in pedagogy to help improve the classroom experience but also provide professional development as our adjuncts move on, hopefully, to full-time appointments.

“Life of an Adjunct” is a new series of workshops designed and facilitated by the Directors and Dean of the Audrey Cohen School for Human Services at Metropolitan College of New York to promote professional development, share best practices in teaching, develop training and resources for academic and professional success, and foster collegiality.  Workshops are open to all faculty members at MCNY, and we encourage participation and suggestions for future sessions.  Registration is free, but RSVP is required. 

Spring 2016 Semester

2/19/16:  Going Beyond the Scantron:  Creating an Exam with Purpose
In this workshop, participants will learn how to write creative exams that not only test but challenge student learning.  Topics to be covered will include best practices in exam design and designing assessment tools.

4/1/16:  Professional Development:  Designing a Winning CV & Cover Letter
In this hands-on workshop, participants will be exposed to multiple CV formats that can be tailored to their particular career needs or goals as well as how to write effective cover letters in response to a job post.  Bring an electronic copy of your most recent CV and a sample cover letter.

Summer 2016 Semester

6/17/16:  Professional Development:  Developing Online Presence & Portfolios
Topics to be covered in this workshop include using social media for professional purposes and how to develop an online academic portfolio using blogs, Vitae, Google Drive, and other sources. 

Fall 2016 Semester

9/16/16:  Master Your Moodle:  Developing Engaging & Interactive Moodle Shells
In this hands-on workshop, participants will demonstrate creative ways to engage students via Moodle.  Topics to be included will include how to use sidebars to tailor, embedding versus hyperlinking, and using alternative formatting options to make your Moodle shell engaging and informative.