Past Event: College of Engineering Technology Workshop | Early Spring 2019
The AdvanceRIT team conducts workshops with faculty and staff at RIT as part of an ongoing series of unconscious bias education and professional development to expand the capacity of RIT to meet the goals of the 2018 - 2025 Strategic Plan (found here). AdvanceRIT hosted a 3-hour Creating Vibrant Learning Environments workshop, which was created and facilitated by Dr. Linda Manning, for the faculty and staff in the College of Engineering Technology on January 10, 2019.
Dr. Manning uses a developmental, experiential approach to learning. The premise of this workshop was that faculty and staff members want students to succeed, but they face many challenges, in particular those related to an increasingly diverse student population, in a context of increasing research expectations. Approaches and methods that were reliable in the past do not seem to work as well today. Students are also facing increasing pressures to adapt to the shifting focus of education, employment and life choices. Everyone is doing their best with the resources they think they have, with good intentions. This session was about recognizing that there are strategic shifts in worldview and behavior at the individual level that can build on strengths to create life-long learning in vibrant learning environments. This is not an intellectual exercise; it is all about safe, effective behavioral shifts.
Over 80% of the survey respondents found the session to be a valuable use of their time, thought the session enhanced the way they think about student interactions, and thought that the session enhanced understanding of how norms can affect learning and communication. Also, over 95% found the presenter knowledgeable on the topic and plan to take action to create a positive learning experience in all student interactions. When asked what small changes you would immediately make when interacting with students, participants responded “Be aware of how something I say is interpreted,” “Try to be a better listener. Learn more about students,” and “Set ground rules for the classroom.”