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Hannah Dise '12 |
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English Professor Michael Mudd '97 |
Randolph-Macon College students go to the head of the class.
Students minoring in
education practiced their teaching skills in a workshop, Promoting Student Engagement, which took place on January 10, 2012 in Andrews Hall. They put their audience, R-MC faculty, to the test during the hands-on workshop.
“The workshop promoted 21st-century learning goals—collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, communication—through sharing neuroscience research implications about the brain and learning, including active-learning strategies,” says Education Professor Leslie Roberson, who, along with Education Professor Michael Mudd ’97, created and facilitated the workshop.
Click on workshop to view a slideshow of photos from the event. The following members of the Class of 2012 participated in the workshop: Hannah Dise, Laura Briere, Cassie Morgan, Brittany Stone, Brittany Richardson, Heather Brazier, and Sarah Wager. Faculty representing the following departments were also in attendance:
Mathematics,
Religious Studies,
English,
Modern Languages,
Chemistry,
Biology, Fine Arts,
Communication Studies,
Psychology, and
Education.
Professor April Marchetti (chemistry) says the workshop was a great opportunity to see the education minors “in action” and to learn about some of the teaching strategies they will soon employ during their student teaching.
“It was great to get some good ideas about how to keep students engaged in the classroom, because chemistry isn’t always the most interesting subject to every student on campus,” says Marchetti. “I plan to take some of the techniques that I learned at the seminar into the classroom in the hope of increasing material retention, keeping students’ attention throughout class and generally making class more fun!”
One of the workshop activities centered on the communication process between facilitators and participants. Faculty were handed post-it notes throughout the workshop and were asked to anonymously write what they were learning. They could also write questions on the post-its. The slips of paper were put on a “parking lot”—a large bulletin board—for all to see. At the end of the workshop, participants were given materials to create “parking lot” posters for use in their own classes.
“This was a great active-learning exercise,” says Mudd, who majored in
international studies and minored in elementary education. Mudd currently serves as the principal of South Anna Elementary School.
Education Professor Brenda Davis is excited that students had the opportunity to share best practices in teaching and learning with faculty.
“The faculty response to the workshop invitation was even greater than expected,” says Davis. “The students were a bit nervous, but they did a fantastic job. I am especially pleased that Leslie Roberson and Michael Mudd collaborated with seven of our students to create this workshop. These students are among the 19 who will begin their student teaching in spring 2012.”