UW-Led Learning Communities Meet to Share Teaching Practices and Build Relationships

Nearly 25 educators representing the University of Wyoming, some of the state's community colleges and one Wyoming high school recently attended a symposium in Cheyenne to further nurture relationships through a UW-led program.

The Wyoming Inclusive Excellence Initiative aims to strengthen relationships between community colleges and UW to create STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) learning environments that remove barriers to student success. UW's Top-Tier Science Initiative and a grant to UW from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Science Education Program support the initiative.

Attending the symposium were educators from Northwest College (NWC); Laramie County Community College (LCCC); Western Wyoming Community College (Western); Eastern Wyoming College (EWC); Casper College; UW; and Rock Springs High School.

Among the highlights of the program was sharing how educators have integrated inclusive practices into their teaching and leadership, says Rachel Watson, co-program director of the Wyoming Inclusive Excellence Initiative.

Watson discussed "The Wyoming Inclusive Excellence Initiative: A Tale of Building Relationships." Eric Atkinson, an NWC biology instructor, followed, melding poetry and pedagogy in a session that epitomized inclusive teaching practices recommended by Sarah Bunnell, Sheila Jaswal and Megan Lyster in their book, "Being Human in STEM: Partnering With Students to Shape Inclusive Practices and Communities."

Deepthi Amarasuriya, an NWC physics instructor, presented her "Layered Approach"-- a pedagogy that highlights universal design for learning. Lisa Smith, institutional researcher at NWC, discussed nuances in retention data across NWC STEM courses.

"The NWC presentations were followed by reflective dialogue during which all attendees made connections between the morning presentations and together synthesized themes," Watson says. "The dialogues centered on the importance of authenticity, vulnerability and storytelling in inclusive teaching as well as the power of relationships and community in fighting feelings of isolation for both faculty and students."

Heather Talbott, an LCCC instructor, presented the integration of inclusive pedagogies in her biology courses. She discussed the power of place-based experiential approaches that enable students who focus on agriculture to realize that their lived experiences are a foundation for building biology knowledge.

Vicky Mayfield, an EWC retired math instructor and an initiative lead, presented a proposal for a community college summer institute. Wyoming community college students would learn the science of learning and engage in authentic interdisciplinary problem-solving during the weeklong institute. The program would involve real research and would be mentored by UW students who had transferred from community colleges.

Atkinson; Austin Conklin, an NWC biology educator; Allan Childs, an NWC professor emeritus of chemistry; Dacia DeBock, an NWC nursing instructor; Aubrey Edwards, from UW's Wyoming Inclusive Excellence Initiative and an LCCC adjunct instructor; Tim Glatzer, an NWC mathematics instructor; Sunnie Lew, from the UW Foundation; Erin Nitschke, LCCC sciences program director; Jasmine Varos, an LCCC information technology instructor; and Sherri Warren, an EWC mathematics instructor, shared posters or multimodal exhibitions.

Christi Boggs, associate director of online and digital learning in UW's Ellbogen Center for Teaching and Learning, and Sabrina White, a UW zoology and physiology doctoral student; Peggy Cheney, Josh Holmes, Katrina Marcos and Sarah Pauley, all educators from Western; and Deb Jensen, a Rock Springs High School science educator, engaged in a "fishbowl" session.

Watson moderated the program and asked questions about their dreams for inclusive excellence work.

"They discussed those topics while members of other learning communities listened and considered how best to share back what they were hearing," Watson says. "Some of these educators spoke about their dreams for Western and UW educators to support Rock Springs High School students in endeavors such as the Wyoming State Science Fair."

Sandy Goheen-Smith, an assistant lecturer in UW's Division of Kinesiology and Health, closed the program by discussing how educators can recognize the implementation of evidence-based practices in their classrooms that would form and shape the futures of students.

Norberto Orellana, a Gillette health care leader who has overcome many barriers in his journey, was the program's luncheon speaker.

"He reminded us of the difference a single educator can make by simply noticing the potential that a student has and, by contrast, how a mentor can deter a dedicated student by failing to appreciate that student's work," Watson says. "He encouraged us to become meteoric through persistence and grit."

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.