Connecticut high school teachers who are certified instructors with the UConn Early College Experience (ECE) – Economics program gathered (virtually) on October 26, 2022, for an annual professional development workshop. The Economics Department sees these instructors as colleagues and values their participation in the University mission.

For a detailed blog about the days events see:

https://econ.uconn.edu/2022/10/31/early-college-experience-economics-workshop-2022/

UConn Economics Courses offered through Early College Experience.

On Friday, October 21st , UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Physics, Dave Perry met with ECE certified Physics Instructors for their annual professional development conference.

The group discussed final exams and syllabi for the UConn Physics courses offered through ECE and later Associate Professor in-Residence and Director of Teaching Laboratories, Diego Valente spoke about virtual platforms and gave a presentation on Quantum Computing.

UConn Physics Courses offered through Early College Experience.

On Friday, October 28^th, UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Sustainable Plant and Soil Systems, Julia Kuzovkina met with ECE certified SPSS Instructors for their annual professional development conference.

The day included presentations by UConn Faculty Dr. Berkowitz: GMO’s: Plant Biotechnology; focused on genetic engineering of crop plants,  and Dr. Wong: BIofuels, Biomass and Plant Stem Cells. After lunch Neil Mattson (Cornell) discussed Controlled Environment Agriculture and Dr. Yi Ma led instructors through pGLO Bacterial Transformation.

UConn Sustainable Plant and Soil Systems Courses offered through Early College Experience.

On Friday, November 4th, UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Sociology, Ingird Semaan met with ECE certified Sociology Instructors for their annual professional development conference.

To start, the group introduced themselves and discussed the courses they are teaching and their successes and challenges. Later Dr. Semann provided an overview of teaching college-level sociology courses, teaching the sociological imagination, and a review of UConn’s library resources as they pertain to sociology.

UConn Sociology Courses offered through Early College Experience.

On Friday, October 28th , UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Marine Science, Claudia Koerting met with ECE certified MARN Instructors for their annual professional development conference.

Teachers were treated to a presentation by Dr. Zosia Baumann, assistant research professor with Marine Sciences on an oyster rehabilitation project on the Quinnipiac River. Dr. Baumann is seeking further funding to expand the program to Southeastern Connecticut and engage secondary school students. Her presentation demonstrated outreach and engagement with students from the Sound School and their teacher Chuck Mulligan.

Karen Moré Director of Research Compliance-Animal Research & Safety, UConn spoke about regulations on using animals in UConn courses. They discussed good practices that can be introduced to the high school students when working with vertebrates and were provided with CT NERRS information and what having a National Estuarine Research Reserve System (https://coast.noaa.gov/nerrs/) means for local educators.

Later the teachers were introduced to our newest marine sciences professor, Assistant Professor Cara Manning, who also teaches introduction to oceanography. They were invited to collaborate with Professor Manning and her graduate student on future projects. Professor Manning also directed teachers to her website where past publications and the data are available for students to work with.

Finally, Dr. Koerting shared some information from post doctoral fellow Dr. Jessie Turner who works with Professor Heidi Dierrsen on ocean optics. Dr. Turner has developed a low cost, DIY reflectance sensor that teachers and their students can construct themselves.

In between presentations the group chatted about several topics specific to high school students, administrations, expectations, grading, and more.

UConn Marine Science Courses offered through Early College Experience.

On Wednesday, October 19th , UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Human Rights, Sandra Sirota, Director, Human Rights Close to Home and Assistant Professor in Residence, Experiential Global Learning & Human Rights met with ECE certified Human Rights Instructors for their annual professional development conference.

The group discussed The Human Rights Framework in Social Movements and how to incorporate these ideas into their classrooms. Later, Guest Speaker, S. Garnett Russell, Associate Professor of International and Comparative Education at Teachers College, Columbia University shared a presentation and discussed her book, “Becoming Rwandan”, and lead a conversation focused on teaching about the aftermath of genocide.

UConn Human Rights Courses offered through Early College Experience.

On Wednesday, April 27^th, UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Art, Prof. Cora Lynn Deibler, met with ECE certified Art Instructors for their annual professional development conference.

The day began with introductions and a roundtable discussion about the critiquing process and innovative solutions for both remote and in person critiquing. Later instructors took turns sharing one piece of student work from their courses and collaborated on a group critique. After a short break the instructors discussed “Imagination and Play—How Sketchbooks Fit into Art 1030” and shared the sketchbook assignment that generated the best student responses.

UConn Art Courses offered through Early College Experience.

On Monday, May 9^th , UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Statistics, Prof. Nalini Ravishanker, met with ECE certified Statistics Instructors for their annual professional development conference.

Special guest speaker, Michael Saccucci, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in Residence, Department of Statistics, UConn Stamford (formerly at Consumer Reports) spoke to the group about his work at Consumer Reports and statistics and data science in practice.  After a short break, instructors shared with each other about the courses they are teaching this year.

UConn Statistics Courses offered through Early College Experience.

On Tuesday, May 24^th , UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Engineering, Ross Bagtzoglou, met with ECE certified CE Instructors for their annual professional development conference.

Professor Sarira Motaref, Assistant Director of Faculty Development shared HuskyCT updates and an overview with Instructors. Later, Professor Shinae Jang, Director of Undergraduate Studies, hosted a Neurodiverse Initiative Follow up Discussion: Allowing and Encouraging Creativity in the Statics course.  After a short break, the group met with Prof. Bagtzoglou to discuss their experiences teaching CE2110 in the high schools.

UConn Civil Engineering Courses offered through Early College Experience.

On Friday, October 14th , UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Philosophy, Mitch Green, met with ECE certified PHIL Instructors for their annual professional development conference.

Professor Green shared opportunities for ECE/Philosophy Instructors and students including details about the Ethics Bowl, online courses, APA membership, Squire Foundation, and journals. Later, the group shared their experiences leading philosophical discussions in their classrooms and participated in an exercise on paper grading. After lunch Prof. Green lead a discussion on Applied Philosophy of Language: slurs, dog whistles, gaslighting, and fig leaves and spoke on new directions in Epistemology: Knowledge, understanding and wisdom, with special reference to the epistemic value of fiction.

UConn Philosophy Courses offered through Early College Experience.