Presentation 1
Undergraduate Teaching Workshop
Holly Kruse(1), Emily van der Nagel(2), Kelly Boudreau(3)
1: Rogers State University, United States of America; 2: Monash University, Australia; 3: Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, United States of America
Building on the momentum of three successful workshops – one online in 2021, and then two in person – this year we offer our fourth half-day undergraduate-teaching-focused workshop.
Teaching is central to many of our academic lives, whether we are graduate teaching assistants or junior or senior faculty members; tenure-track, tenured, or contingent; experienced educators or instructors relatively new to teaching. In the classroom (on campus or virtual), our students’ understandings of social media and internet use don’t always align with broader press or research narratives. Moreover, and in response to this year’s conference topic, as the mission of universities becomes ever more vocation-focused, our roles as educators often include preparing students for careers in "industry." University marketing material highlights the career opportunities for which undergraduates will be prepared, and there is a push to include ‘industry experiences’ within degrees.
This workshop brings educators together to discuss the difficulties and joys of teaching in, on, and around the internet. What do we learn from our students about the internet, how are we using the internet to teach, and what’s the best way of bringing AoIR research into our classrooms? How do we use the internet in teaching when our students don’t have broadband access, aren’t digitally-savvy, and when our institutions do not offer robust technical infrastructures or support? For what kinds of creative, information, or other industries are our students really prepared?
As professors with teaching experience that spans types of institutions, student populations, and institutional support, we understand that there are no one-size-fits-all solutions to teaching in ever-changing technological and social contexts. Also, and building on the last three years of workshops, this year’s workshop attends to our growing knowledge of the roles that teaching loads, expectations of service to students and administration, and institutional terminologies, and more differ around the world. For that reason, the workshop is discussion-based so we can all learn from, and with, one another.
This year's workshop will be held in-person in Sheffield, and registered participants are able to contribute their thoughts via a shared Google Doc. We will also allow a limited number of auditors to view the proceedings via Zoom or Teams.
We know from previous workshops that a minimum of 10 participants and a maximum of 25 is ideal for making the workshop both productive for participants and manageable for organizers. Prior to the workshop, participants fill out a questionnaire so that we have a sense of the teaching contexts and expectations of participants. We use the shared Google document as a resource that participants can refer to after the event.
We tailor the workshop to focus on experiences and resources brought forth in responses to the questionnaire and expand on them through discussion. The first hour focuses on introductions, and on outlining the key concerns, questions, and issues resulting from questionnaire responses. The second hour focuses on sharing strategies, assignments or techniques employed in teaching that center around digital media and internet research in a pedagogical setting. During the third hour, participants work in smaller groups, the topics of which are determined by workshop participants. Each participant joins the group that best addresses their needs and expectations. The fourth hour includes the summation of the group work and discussion of plans for documenting and sharing of strategies and materials that were discussed throughout the workshop.
The organizers intend to adhere strictly to the structure described above and to give participants substantive takeaways at the end of the workshop. One off-site organizer is managing the auditors and will enable their participation as time allows.
This workshop adheres to AoIR’s Statement of Principles and Statement of Inclusivity (https://aoir.org/diversity-and-inclusivity), which is a commitment to academic freedom, equality of opportunity, and human dignity, and which supports at its conferences “A civil and collegial environment rooted in a belief of equal respect for all persons. Such an environment, among other things, should encourage active listening and awareness of inappropriate or offensive language.”
