Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, Leonardo…. Until recently, it was established wisdom that any survey of art history was doing students a grave disservice if it did not include multiple works of art by these venerable Italian Renaissance artists. But if an instructor did not include, for example, the architecture of Mimar Sinan, the prolific architect responsible for more than three hundred buildings in the Ottoman Empire, no one would bat an eye.

This is not unique to art history; teaching in many disciplines, such as music history, literature, humanities, and philosophy among many others, is often structured around a canon. While the idea of a discipline having a common core of authors or texts that are considered pedagogically and culturally valuable is not inherently bad, the trouble with canons is that they were shaped via institutions that were entangled with imperialism, colonialism, racism, and other forms of oppression and exclusion.

This workshop is designed to help instructors in any discipline where their teaching is affected by the existence of some kind of canon.

This workshop had the following handout: Canon Fire! Critically Interrogating What We Teach and Why through an Antiracist Lens handout

The workshop will review various challenges experienced by a diverse university student body following a post-COVID transition back to in-person instruction. Nationally, students are experiencing increased difficulty with class attendance, engagement, sense of belonging, and overall mental health. These factors, and more, are negatively impacting student retention, progress to degree, and overall student success (Bulman & Fairlie, 2022).

University instructors are experiencing a rapidly changing classroom climate, have increased demands on their time, and are challenged by steep learning curves, as well as new and diverse student needs. Similar to healthcare professionals and K-12 teachers, university instructors are experiencing burnout and compassion fatigue at alarming rates, forcing many to leave fields they are passionate about (Pressley & Ha, 2021; Saladino, Auriemma, & Campinoti, 2022).

The workshop aims to not only recognize student needs and concerns, but also introduces practices that can encourage and promote student voices in the classroom, increase self-advocacy, and encourage students to re-engage in their success.

Using small and large group discussions and sample case studies, participants will identify various opportunities to practice increasing student engagement, inclusion, and success, while better managing their own risks for burnout. Attendees are encouraged to share individual challenges they have experienced in their courses.

This workshop had the following handout: Inclusive Teaching Practices in a Post-COVID Climate

A public exam takes study guides or sample exams one step further: instructors provide the actual exam ahead of time but redact strategic portions. Students take a non-redacted version in class, like a normal exam. This approach can reduce anxiety, promote deep learning, and eliminate barriers for students who may need more time to read and digest the instructions/question prompts on a test. In the workshop, we will include examples, tips for effectively using the technique, time to practice writing public exams, and an opportunity for feedback. We encourage you to bring an existing exam or questions you would like to try converting!

This workshop had the following handout: Public Exam Workshop

This workshop was designed to increase participant familiarity with Project-Based Learning (PBL) as an active learning pedagogy and is designed to encourage its adoption among Sacramento State faculty. PBL is a pedagogy based on non-routine problems where students: 1) develop their own strategies and techniques; 2) explore, conjecture, experiment, and evaluate; 3) are given substantial responsibilities; 4) are encouraged to generate questions themselves; and 5) generalize the results they obtain. PBL prepares students to take on open-ended real-world problems and apply skills and concepts from the classroom to real problems, leading to real-world experience and impact. In this workshop, attendees will get to experience PBL-style activities, learn about the ins and outs of implementing PBL, and will brainstorm small steps for implementing PBL projects in their courses. Some of the best practices suggested by Worcester Polytechnique Institute's PBL training will also be incorporated into this workshop.

This workshop had the following handout: Project-Based Learning (PBL) Handout

Hearing student voices and understanding their perspectives on the subjects we are teaching is an essential piece of culturally responsive teaching. Unfortunately, prior school experience for many students has placed them in largely passive roles, receiving information from and being evaluated by their instructors. Teaching practices that fall under the “active learning” umbrella can provide opportunities for students to voice their thinking as they engage with course content. However, simply incorporating small group work or whole class discussions will not always result in equitable benefits for students, as students may play passive roles during these activities. This workshop will provide instructors who use active learning practices with some tools to “up their game,” encouraging broader student participation and communicating respect for students’ thinking.

This workshop had the following handout: Tips & Tricks Workshop Handout

Neurodiversity is an umbrella term that encompasses a wide range of disorders including autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, and others. More recently, the term neurodiversity has been used to encompass individuals who identify as neurodivergent but who may or may not have a medial diagnosis, and who may or may not receive accommodations in their educational trajectory. Neurodivergent students report challenges in academic settings including (a) difficulty in transitioning to a new environment, (b) changes in structures, supports, and routines, (c) feelings of isolation, anxiety, and overwhelm, (d) fear of stigmatization if they disclose a diagnosis, (e) perceived need to conform to academic norms (Clouder et al., 2020). Educators can support neurodivergent students both in practical strategies in the classroom, by teaching the “hidden rules” and expectations of academic culture (Payne, 2018) and by intentionally fostering a sense of belonging and encouraging “brave spaces.” Specific equity-minded teaching practices that will be introduced through a neurodiversity lens include building intrapersonal awareness, developing transparently designed assignments, and critical discourse analysis of student-faculty interactions.

This workshop had the following handout: Supporting Neurodivergent Students