Winthrop Conference on Teaching and Learning

With the growth of online learning on the horizon at Winthrop University, faculty members can be best served in learning strategies for teaching online by participating in a dialogue with colleagues who are currently teaching in this modality.

This panel session will provide strategies for teaching online from the perspective of Winthrop University faculty currently teaching online across a variety of disciplines. Panelists will share their experiences with respect to common pitfalls and lessons learned; skills needed to be a successful online facilitator; roles and responsibilities; cognitive, social, and teaching presence; engagement; accessible online content; and providing the Winthrop experience.

Participants, both new and experienced with online instruction, will gain insight on a variety of approaches to teaching online, tool recommendations, and time-saving strategies. Participants will be able to ask panelists questions using an online chat tool during the live session.

Perhaps the most influential current mindset strategy is the one developed by Carol Dweck; growth mindset. At the core of Dweck’s ideology is the notion that challenges are what help to change mindsets and that students can learn more effectively when they let go of the idea that their capabilities are fixed. A challenge for both the Professor and the librarian is how to help First Year English composition students who have a ‘fixed mind” about their abilities to do research and also synthesize that research into a research paper. Additionally, other elements of the paper (high quality writing, avoiding plagiarism, and citation concerns) can create a type of ‘stagnation” for students who have pre-conceived notions about their abilities. In this presentation, a Professor and a librarian relay their work together and separately, to help students leapfrog barriers. Using strategies that help them bypass their own fixed mindsets towards the students, the two accepted the challenges they faced and attempted to confront the trials students faced in the classroom. The website mindsetonline.com states, “Mindsets are beliefs—beliefs about yourself and your most basic qualities. Think about your intelligence, your talents, your personality. Are these qualities simply fixed traits, carved in stone and that’s that, or are they things you can cultivate throughout your life?” The idea that there is a choice in how personal capabilities are perceived is highly influential for teaching and learning. What makes for additional impact here is the work towards the nurturing of certain mindsets for students, professors, and librarians.

Service dogs, emotional support animals, therapy animals, animals as accommodations - they're everywhere! Is that ok? Should or can I say anything about them? What are the expectations? Faculty and staff across the country are asking these questions as more animals appear on campuses and lawsuits abound when students are denied access to animals. How do we maintain compliance and sanity? This session will provide an easy to understand overview of the different types of animals we may find on our campuses, how to discern between the types, how and why they may be approved, appropriate and legal interactions, and when we can say, "no;" as well as sharing testimonials from students who have benefited from these creatures.