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Spring 2026 UConn ECE Classics Workshop

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Our Classics instructors took a trip to the Storrs campus on Friday, May 1st, for an engaging professional development opportunity organized by faculty coordinator Sara Johnson, Ph.D. Attendees engaged in a workshop entitled Teaching in the Age of AI, followed by a faculty presentation facilitated by Kevin Feeney, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Roman History at UConn. You can read more about Dr. Feeney’s research interests at his university webpage linked above! Thank you to our faculty partners, as well as all event attendees, for their engagement with this event!

UConn CAMS (Classics & Ancient Mediterranean Studies) courses offered through Early College Experience.

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Spring 2026 UConn ECE Computer Science and Engineering Workshop

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We closed out the month of April with a virtual professional development experience for our certified ECE Computer Science & Engineering Workshop. The group convened on the 30th for a discussion with faculty coordinator David Strimple which included a recap of recent site visits, upcoming course and textbook changes, and an open forum for course feedback! Thanks to David and our attendees for their engagement at this event.

UConn CSE courses offered through Early College Experience.

Spring 2026 UConn ECE Statistics Workshop

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On April 21st, 2026, our team of ECE Statistics Instructors met virtually to share insights on useful classroom methods and programmatic updates. Additionally, they were able to engage in a keynote address which focused on Using Large Language Models (LLMs) on Opera Audience Survey Data. The speaker was Alan F. Karr, a Professor of Statistics, Operations, and Data Science in the Fox School of Business at Temple University. More information about Professor Karr’s address can be found below:

In audience survey data collected by Opera Philadelphia, there are open-ended questions, which must be summarized. How can we do this using Large Language Models (LLMs)? Our research describes a trajectory for doing this. We begin in naivete regarding variability in the model responses to the same or similar prompts. This gives us significant insights into that variability. We also gained insights into systematic workflows within the LLM development, and this enabled us to deliver useful, defensible insights to the client.

ECE extends our thanks to our guest, as well as faculty coordinator Nalini Ravishanker, Ph.D., for their efforts to make this event successful!

UConn STAT courses offered through Early College Experience.

Spring 2026 UConn ECE Italian Workshop

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This past Friday, April 24th, our community of ECE Italian Instructors enjoyed a morning on the UConn Hartford Campus for their annual professional development experience. The guest speaker for the event was Martina Di Florio, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer in Italian Studies at Trinity College. Dr. Di Florio’s work explores modern and contemporary Italian literature and cinema, with a strong focus on migration — from postcolonial and migrant writing in Italy to Italian diaspora narratives. She has published articles on Italian cultural and literary studies and is the co-editor of Longing for the Future: Mal d’Afrique and Afro Optimism in Perspectives on Somalia (Routledge, 2024) and co-author of Migrazioni Contemporanee: Testi e Contesti (Farinelli, 2017). The discussion topic for the event was Italian Identity and American Life in the Pages of La verità (Connecticut 1926-1946). 

ECE extends our sincere thanks to our guest, as well as faculty coordinator Tina Chiappetta-Miller, Ph.D., for their efforts to make this event successful!

UConn ILCS (Italian) courses offered through Early College Experience.

Spring 2026 UConn ECE EDLR/EDCI Workshop

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On Friday, April 10th, instructors certified to teach all three of our currently offered ECE Education Courses (EDCI 1100: If You Love It, Teach It, EDLR 1162: Health & Education in Urban Communities, and EDLR 2001: Contemporary Social Issues in Sport) convened on the UConn Storrs campus for a collaborative professional development experience! The keynote session, “Building Dialogic Classrooms: Strategies and Practice for Inclusive Dialogue”, was conducted by Tanya Williams, founder of Authentic Coaching and Consulting. We encourage you to learn more about Tanya’s transformative and vital work by visiting her website (https://tanyawilliams.org)!

We love when our instructors are given the opportunity to engage with peers from different disciplines, and we extend our sincere thanks to faculty coordinators Danielle DeRosa, Ed.D (EDLR), Michele Back, Ph.D. (EDCI), and Thomas Levine, Ph.D. (EDCI), for the incredible work they did to make this day possible!

UConn EDLR & EDCI (Education) courses offered through Early College Experience.

Spring 2026 UConn ECE Communication Workshop

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Our first April workshop of the year was an in-person workshop for our certified ECE Communication instructors. Designed and facilitated by faculty coordinator Svetlana Kalnova, Ph.D., this event allowed instructors the opportunity to discuss best teaching practices for COMM 1100 with Associate Professor-in-Residence Dr. Thomas Meade, and to engage in a hands-on activity surrounding dialogic classroom principles. Additionally, they were able to discuss recent general education curriculum changes and their impacts on COMM 1000 instruction with Associate Professor-in-Residence Dr. Stephen Stifano. It was a meaningful day for all involved, and we area already looking forward to the next workshop! Thank you to all guest contributors and attendees.

UConn COMM courses offered through Early College Experience.

Spring 2026 UConn ECE Political Science Workshop

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On Monday, March 30th, our current cohort of Political Science instructors connected virtually for their annual professional development experience! Attendees were given the opportunity to hear about newly emerging research in the field from four junior Political Science faculty members, and later got to engage in a tutorial for utilizing UConn Library resources to support their ECE students with a representative from the UConn Library staff. We extend our thanks to co-faculty coordinators Oksan Bayulgen, Ph.D. and Evan Perkoski, Ph.D., for their continued collaboration with ECE, and their hard work to provide such engaging professional development experiences for our instructors!

UConn POLS courses offered through Early College Experience.

Spring 2026 UConn ECE English Workshop

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On Friday, March 27th, ECE welcomed our English instructors to the UConn Stamford campus for our second professional development conference for the discipline this school year! Around 40 instructors convened for a packed day which included three workshops: a syllabus renovation session, a text lab, and a student work diagnostic. This allowed them ample opportunity to work collaboratively with one another, as well as to coordinate with our ECE English faculty coordinators, to share teaching strategies and discuss challenges and opportunities for future success! Many thanks as always to our ECE English team, Scott Campbell, Ph.D., Tom Doran, Ph.D., and Jackie Donaldson, for their tireless work to support one of our largest ECE disciplines! We can’t wait for our next English event.

UConn ENGL courses offered through Early College Experience.

Spring 2026 UConn ECE Library Media Specialists Training

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On Thursday, March 26th, UConn ECE and our partners from the UConn Library welcomed our ECE library media specialists for their annual spring training session. A team of UConn librarians joined us for a variety of engaging sessions, a summary of which can be found below!

Accessing Newspapers and News Resources through the UConn Library John Rendeiro, Student Success and Engagement Librarian
Engaged by Design: Thoughts on Creating High-Impact Library Instruction Erica Charis-Molling, Instructional Design and Learning Librarian
Research and Subject Specialists at the UConn Library: an Overview Richard Bleiler, Collections and Humanities Librarian
Open Forum for ECE Library Media Specialists Anna Twiddy, Student Success and Engagement Librarian, and Kate Fuller, Head of Reference and Student Success Services

For those who missed this semester’s event, all training resources and recordings will be uploaded to the ECE LibGuide on the UConn Library website (which we have linked below for your easy access). These trainings are always meaningful and successful thanks to the tireless efforts of Student Success and Engagement Librarian Anna Twiddy. Thank you, Anna, for your continued support for our program and its members. We look forward to our in-person LMS retreat coming up this summer!

UConn Library resources offered through Early College Experience.

Spring 2026 UConn ECE American Studies & Maritime Studies Workshop

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On Thursday, March 26th, a group of our ECE American Studies and Maritime Studies instructors joined together at the New Britain Museum of American Art for an exciting and collaborative professional development experience! Through a variety of group activities, a guided tour of the museum, and organic conversations, instructors were asked to ponder the ways that they might integrate the exploration of art into their existing teaching strategies. How does the construction of an image reflect an artist’s social environment? How do maps reflect politics and social conditions, depicting the complex journey an individual undergoes to find a place to call home?

All in all, this was a transformative and hands-on day for all involved, and we extend our sincerest thanks to the staff at the NBMAA, as well as faculty coordinators Karon McGovern (AMST) and Matthew Cieslowski (MAST) for their efforts to create this experience! We are happy to share some photos from Thursday in this post as well.

UConn AMST & MAST courses offered through Early College Experience.