I recently attended the NCRE annual conference, held once again in beautiful San Antonio, TX. I found this experience to be valuable for several reasons. This is the "academic" conference for rehabilitation counseling, meaning that all of the attendees are faculty members from all of the programs nationwide, including select international programs (this year, representatives were present from Puerto Rico, South Korea, and Mauritius). This is a great change of pace from the typical rehabilitation counseling conferences, which are more clinical in nature. Discussions are focused on rehabilitation counseling education trends, counselor training, program accreditation issues, and rehabilitation research initiatives. So, although I am always refining my counseling techniques and current understanding of the disability perspective by attending clinical conferences, NCRE truly is useful for becoming a better educator.
I attended several great discussions, including one addressing the pros and cons of implementing a spirituality course into rehabilitation counseling; the utilization of the EEOC disability discrimination data into current psychosocial aspects of disability curriculum; the value of using distance learning supervision models for praticum and internship students; the development and utility of asynchronous and synchronous modalities for collective research networking, and several more. As you can see, the content was vast and touched on multiple areas of rehabilitation counselor education. I feel that I walked away from the conference with many ideas to consider here at WSSU, both involving my instructional design and delivery.
I also presented my own research at this conference. My presentation was titled, "Work Comp and Weight Gain: A Growing Problem in the Workers' Compensation Rehabilitation System." Although my research was more clinical in nature, I had a great turn out for an audience. Most of the individuals informed me that they find it difficult to train their counselors in areas of private rehabilitation, as there are not many researchers out there focusing on the current trends of this specialization. I shared my clinical findings, and then opened the floor for a free discussion regarding how we as educators can keep our counselors-in-training informed on such a critical concern. The conversation was very insightful, and even I walked away with great ideas on how to deliver my own research to my students.
Overall, NCRE was and always is a success. It's always great to reconnect with colleagues across the country and, let's face it, I was in San Antonio on the riverwalk. But NCRE is a "must do" conference for rehabilitation counselor educators. I appreciated CETL's involvement in my attendance of this valuable experience.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Millenials
My very favorite session from the 2009 Lilly Conference in Greensboro was titled: Active Learning, Constructivism and the Millennial Student: A Comfortable Marriage. The presenter began by handing out a worksheet for each participant to self-reflect on the classroom strategies they used. Mine indicated I use a mix of constructivist as well as more traditional methods. I found the parallels between this presentation, my own teaching philosophy, and my profession of occupational therapy are all pretty much in alignment with constructivism. What I had not anticipated (nor experienced) was that there were similar parallels to the Millennial Learners. On paper, I can follow the discussion that Millenial Leraners exhibit simiarities with constructivist tendancies , but in my practice I have not experienced the synchrony. This has, however, sparked an interest that I will begin journaling my beliefs and experiences in the classroom.
The Planary session during lunch on Friday presented "Student Issues" at local campuses. For the most part, I concurred with the various panelists that my experience here at WSSU was similar. One thing is clear: our students today have a tremendous amount going on in their lives. As our program deals with graduate students and adult learners it is very important to remember the context of our students learning and "living" and to approach them as individuals. One of the panelists presented more from a legal standpoint which I found very interesting and feel as faculty we need to know more about.
The Planary session during lunch on Friday presented "Student Issues" at local campuses. For the most part, I concurred with the various panelists that my experience here at WSSU was similar. One thing is clear: our students today have a tremendous amount going on in their lives. As our program deals with graduate students and adult learners it is very important to remember the context of our students learning and "living" and to approach them as individuals. One of the panelists presented more from a legal standpoint which I found very interesting and feel as faculty we need to know more about.
SoTL
The 2009 Lilly Greensboro conference presented a wealth of information about the Millenial Learners, as the conference title suggested it would (Millennial Learning: Teaching in the 21st Century). On Thursday Feb 19th I attended a pre-conference institute on Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). The workshop confirmed the process I had followed during my "action research" project last fall. When one of my WSSU colleagues asked to describe the difference between Action Research and SoTL, the presenters replied that SoTL includes the "dissemination" aspect and often times AR does not....... We were given a copy of a book titled "Inquiry into the College Classroom: A Journey Toward Scholarly Teaching" by Savory, Burnett, Goodburn. From glancing through the book it gives goes through a very structured 9-Step process to classroom inquiry and then provides a checklist as well as wealth of samples (over a 100 pages of actual exhibits of all kinds from sample inquiry questions, to sample survey items etc). It also provides "commentary" throughout for the classroom research to compare their experience to. I am looking forward to using this as a guide for my next AR/SoTL project. The workshop also allowed for each participant to write up their own inqiry question/project and then we did a "gallery walk" and posted feedback to one-another's. This part was less helpful to me as the feedback was very "surface" and not as deep as I would have liked. Overall I felt is was a good session to confirm where I want to go next and how to proceed with a bit more rigor and efficiency.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
ASTE in Hartfort, CT
I attended the ASTE (Association for Science Teacher Education) Annual Meeting in frosty Hartford, Connecticut, January 7th- 10th, 2009. You can find the conference program at: http://theaste.org/meetings/2009conference/ASTE%20Program%20Final.pdf
ASTE Mission Statement
The Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE) promotes leadership and support for professionals involved in the education and development of teachers of science at all levels. ASTE advances practice and policy through scholarship, collaboration and innovation in science teacher education across the world.
I have served this organization in various capacities for well over a decade and presently serve on its board of directors. One of my responsibilities as a board member is to attend as many presentations as possible, to ensure that a broad range of science education pedagogy and practice is being equitably represented at the conference.
Unlike the larger education organizations like AERA (American Education Research Association), which boast a ten thousand-member attendance rate at its annual meeting, ASTE has only several hundred members attend its meetings. This serves to make the conference much more intimate and allows for a great deal of collegial interaction. In addition to the fare you would typically expect from a professional conference, ASTE holds a number of pre-conference, hands-on workshops for science teacher educators. This year, science teacher educators were engaged in learning about such topics as responsible chemical management in K-12 schools, integrating environmental education in preservice science courses, the use of geometric principles in teaching and understanding scientific phenomena, developing leadership abilities and translating student questions into student-designed investigations.
One of the features that I most enjoy about this conference is the emphasis placed on collegial interaction. Interactive sessions are included throughout the program. At these sessions, several presenters provide a brief overview of their work around a particular theme. Then, the audience is asked to speak for the remainder of the session with the presenters directly and informally about their work. This allows for rich conversation and development of professional collaborations. Many graduate students attend and present these sessions and they are mentored by senior researchers and practitioners in science education. This helps to prepare them for the more formal presentations expected at NARST (National Association for Research in Science Teaching).
I also had the opportunity to meet with the other members of WISE (Women in Science Education). WISE is a group of female science educators who began their own organization in support of ASTE. At the annual dinner, WISE members shared their stories and celebrated their accomplishments since the founding of the organization. I was particularly gratified to see the increase of women of color represented. As you might suspect, the number of female science educators of color is extremely small but is steadily growing.
Of particular interest to HBCU faculty is the ASTE’s interest in the inclusion of scholarly research and practice emanating from HBCUs and Tribal Colleges and Universities. This conference attracts a broad range of people associated with science education. I had the opportunity to speak extensively with NSF (National Science Foundation) officers about securing funds for HBCU science education research. They seemed genuinely interested in making funding more accessible to HBCUs and in assisting faculty in seeking that funding. If you are interested in studying either your students or your own K-16 science teaching practice, I invite you to attend this conference. The strategies, tips and collegial spirit are invaluable in furthering your own professional practice.
ASTE Mission Statement
The Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE) promotes leadership and support for professionals involved in the education and development of teachers of science at all levels. ASTE advances practice and policy through scholarship, collaboration and innovation in science teacher education across the world.
I have served this organization in various capacities for well over a decade and presently serve on its board of directors. One of my responsibilities as a board member is to attend as many presentations as possible, to ensure that a broad range of science education pedagogy and practice is being equitably represented at the conference.
Unlike the larger education organizations like AERA (American Education Research Association), which boast a ten thousand-member attendance rate at its annual meeting, ASTE has only several hundred members attend its meetings. This serves to make the conference much more intimate and allows for a great deal of collegial interaction. In addition to the fare you would typically expect from a professional conference, ASTE holds a number of pre-conference, hands-on workshops for science teacher educators. This year, science teacher educators were engaged in learning about such topics as responsible chemical management in K-12 schools, integrating environmental education in preservice science courses, the use of geometric principles in teaching and understanding scientific phenomena, developing leadership abilities and translating student questions into student-designed investigations.
One of the features that I most enjoy about this conference is the emphasis placed on collegial interaction. Interactive sessions are included throughout the program. At these sessions, several presenters provide a brief overview of their work around a particular theme. Then, the audience is asked to speak for the remainder of the session with the presenters directly and informally about their work. This allows for rich conversation and development of professional collaborations. Many graduate students attend and present these sessions and they are mentored by senior researchers and practitioners in science education. This helps to prepare them for the more formal presentations expected at NARST (National Association for Research in Science Teaching).
I also had the opportunity to meet with the other members of WISE (Women in Science Education). WISE is a group of female science educators who began their own organization in support of ASTE. At the annual dinner, WISE members shared their stories and celebrated their accomplishments since the founding of the organization. I was particularly gratified to see the increase of women of color represented. As you might suspect, the number of female science educators of color is extremely small but is steadily growing.
Of particular interest to HBCU faculty is the ASTE’s interest in the inclusion of scholarly research and practice emanating from HBCUs and Tribal Colleges and Universities. This conference attracts a broad range of people associated with science education. I had the opportunity to speak extensively with NSF (National Science Foundation) officers about securing funds for HBCU science education research. They seemed genuinely interested in making funding more accessible to HBCUs and in assisting faculty in seeking that funding. If you are interested in studying either your students or your own K-16 science teaching practice, I invite you to attend this conference. The strategies, tips and collegial spirit are invaluable in furthering your own professional practice.
Monday, February 2, 2009
IDI Qualifying Seminar
I attended a three-day seminar (10/23/08-10/25/08) in Minneapolis, MN to prepare me to administer and interpret the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI). This 50-question inventory is the most widely used quantitative instrument for measuring cultural competence. The IDI is a scientifically valid and reliable psychometric instrument. It measures how a person feels and thinks about, and thus reacts to, cultural difference. Unlike many other instruments, it does not compare a person to typical behaviors and it does not analyze behavioral reactions. The IDI operates at the worldview level of how a person feels and thinks about cultural difference. This deeper level of one’s cognitive experience is what guides and limits behavior. As an IDI Qualified Administrator, I plan to use the IDI as a research instrument to measure the cultural competence of students who participate in the Global Understanding Program.
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