PKAL MA Winter Conference 2023

The College of Engineering and the Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL) are hosting the 2023 Massachusetts Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) Virtual Winter Conference Inspiring Joy for Teaching and Learning in a World of Disruption on January 11, 2023. Register Now (General Registration: $35, free for graduate students and non-tenure track faculty who attend a focus listening session). This all-day fully online event will feature 13 workshops and 30 lightning talks across three strands: Course Design to Empower Joy for Learning, Teaching with Joy, Advancing Equity with Student Centric Practices. See the full program online here.

Conference Description

Inspiring Joy for Teaching and Learning in a World of Disruption
How do we bring joy back into our teaching as a way to support faculty and student learning in a world that is increasingly marked by disruption and uncertainties in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, economic upheavals, the future of U.S. politics, and more? How can we engage the difficult issues of our times and turn them into opportunities for innovative transformation? The purpose of this meeting is to share and celebrate how higher education professionals are creatively addressing challenges posed by the student mental health crisis, shifting expectations about higher education, continued racial and gender disparities across fields of study, and faculty burnout. How are you incorporating new techniques and ideas to inspire and activate the next generation of STEM professionals, particularly diverse students, and maintain your joy of teaching? Click for More Information

Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) is AAC&U’s (American Association of Colleges and Universities) center of STEM higher education reform dedicated to empowering STEM faculty, including those from underrepresented groups, to graduate more students in STEM fields who are competitively trained and liberally educated.

If you have questions, please contact Kirsten Helmer (khelmer@umass.edu) or Paula Rees (rees@umass.edu)

Meeting Registration Info

• Registration cost for the meeting- $35
• Meeting is free to graduate students and community college faculty/administration
• Meeting is free for Non-Tenure Track Faculty that attend the focus listening session

Sampling of Conference Sessions (full schedule available soon through the conference website)

The conference will feature 13 workshops and 30 talks across three strands: Course Design to Empower Joy for Learning, Teaching with Joy, Advancing Equity with Student Centric Practices. Talk and workshop highlights include:

• JEDI and the Joy of STEM Storytelling
• Engineering New Worlds Through Afro-Futurism
• Keeping It Real in College: Building Case Studies for STEM Courses Based on Real-World Problems
• Intentional, Joyful, and Affirming Course Beginnings and Endings
• Teaching for Social Justice: Facilitating Posttraumatic Growth in the STEM Classroom
• Transforming Non-Traditional Teaching Pedagogy Utilizing Social Emotional Learning Techniques
• Engaging Neurodiverse Students in Online Learning
• Beyond Scrolling: Students Creating Social Media and Podcast Content as Learning Tools

Conference Organizers

This event is being co-sponsored by the UMass College of Engineering and the UMass Center for Teaching & Learning.

Paula Sturdevant Rees is the Assistant Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the College of Engineering and Kristen Helmer is the Director of Programming for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion with the Center for Teaching & Learning, both at UMass.

The PKAL MA team supporting UMass includes Catherine Dignam, Framingham State University, Thomas Kling, Bridgewater University, and Ashley Smith, PKAL National.

Conference Themes

Practices and reform efforts that:

• Acknowledge and integrate a mix of learning modalities.
• Celebrate the richness different perspectives and approaches can bring to the classroom.
• Explore the complexities and challenges of real-world issues in a format that inspires and activates the next generation
• Appreciate students as individuals, promoting equitable outcomes for differing social identities (race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, ability, language, or other).
• Recognize the student mental health crisis and support student well-being.

Bring personal satisfaction and sense of achievement, combating factors that contribute to faculty burnout and loss of well-being.