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Spring 2026 UConn ECE Biology Workshop

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On Tuesday, March 24th, UConn ECE hosted three professional development experiences for our instructors, including an event which welcomed nearly 50 ECE Biology instructors to the UConn Storrs Campus! The keynote address for the day was entitled “Same as it Ever was, prior to Biomineralization”. Additionally, instructors got to experience a presentation from third year Biomedical Engineering undergraduate student Tyrone Kennedy, who has conducted fascinating research while at UConn! We thank faculty coordinator Tom Abbott, Ph.D. for his efforts to make this event happen, and for his continued support of our ECE Biology community!

UConn BIOL courses offered through Early College Experience.

Spring 2026 UConn ECE German Workshop

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On Tuesday, March 24th, UConn ECE hosted three professional development experiences for our instructors, including an event geared towards supporting our German instructors. Faculty coordinator Anke Finger, Ph.D. developed an engaging session for attendees, which included a discussion surrounding the ongoing process in the CT State Senate to enact SB 132, a bill intended to establish the Connecticut-Germany Trade Commission. As a component of this discussion, instructors were informed of a number of German companies based in CT that would benefit from such legislation. Additionally, attendees were given the opportunity to learn more about the Seal of Bilingualism, through discussion and a Q&A session. Thank you, Anke, for your continued work to support our ECE German community, and thanks to all instructors for your thoughtful engagement with this event!

UConn GERM courses offered through Early College Experience.

Spring 2026 UConn ECE Digital Media & Design Workshop

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On Tuesday, March 24th, UConn ECE hosted three professional development experiences for our instructors, including a virtual session for our Digital Media and Design (DMD) group. Thanks to the work of faculty coordinator Kenneth Thompson, M.S., our instructors were given the opportunity to engage with two exciting sessions! First, a workshop surrounding generative AI literacy was facilitated by Zhenzhen Qi, EdD, where instructors engaged in the process of building a “Tamagotchi”-style virtual pet through AI Large Language Models; next, Kelly Dennis, Ph.D. from UConn’s DMD & American Studies departments conducted a session surrounding Cinematic Storytelling, a history of film through filmmaking techniques like editing, cinematography, and mise-en-scène. We extend our sincere thanks to both guest contributors, as well as our attendees, for their willingness to learn and engage with one another during this event! We look forward to next year’s session.

UConn DMD courses offered through Early College Experience.

Spring 2026 UConn ECE Educational Psychology Workshop

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Thursday, March 19th was an exciting day for our ECE Educational Psychology instructors, who met virtually for their annual professional development experience. Attendees of the event got to hear from Patricia Wood, author of Lottery (2008) and Cupidity (2014). Wood’s Ph.D. research delved into diversity and access for disabled individuals, themes which also emerge in her fictional work. Following her presentation, instructors were given time to engage in open discussion with one another, about their own classroom experiences as well as Wood’s work. This was an incredibly meaningful opportunity for our ECE EPSY community, and we sincerely thank faculty coordinator Joseph Madaus, Ph.D. for his work to support this group of instructors.

UConn EPSY and other education courses offered through Early College Experience.

Spring 2026 UConn ECE Allied Health Workshop

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Our ECE Allied Health Instructors met for their annual professional development conference on Monday, March 16th. Attendees were welcomed by the Department Head for UConn Allied Health Sciences, Justin Nash, Ph.D., before engaging in a discussion surrounding key challenges in their ECE courses, sharing teaching strategies and favorite classroom activities to foster a culture of collaboration and peer support. Many thanks to faculty coordinator Bruce Blanchard, Ph.D. for his commitment to creating valuable professional development opportunities for our Allied Health Instructors.

UConn AH courses offered through Early College Experience.

Spring 2026 UConn ECE Animal Sciences Workshop

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ECE Animal Science Instructors convened on the Storrs campus on Thursday, March 12th. Instructors heard a presentation entitled “Artificial Intelligence, not Augmented Intelligence”, from UConn Engineering professor Arash Zaghi, Ph.D., then engaged in discussions surrounding the role of AI in their own teaching environments, before ending the day with a trip to the UConn Dairy Bar! Many thanks to ECE Faculty Coordinators Amy Safran, Ph.D., and Jenifer Nadeau, Ph.D., for their continued support for this group of ECE instructors!

UConn ANSC courses offered through Early College Experience.

Spring 2026 UConn ECE Earth Sciences Workshop

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Wednesday, March 11 was a busy day in ECE! We hosted three professional development conferences, including a virtual session for our Earth Sciences instructors. Hosted by ECE faculty coordinator Robert Thorson, Ph.D., the event gave instructors the opportunity to discuss geoscience communications, through engagement with three recent nationally published articles that illustrate how Earth Science Education topics are communicated in the media. The articles are linked below, along with some context from Dr. Thorson, for those interested in reading them for yourselves!

Determinism – The Atlantic. November 2025. Invited essay Why Concord? by Robert A Gross and Robert M. Thorson for the Special Edition, The Unfinished Revolution. The key idea for discussion is environmental determinism; the extent to which the landscape controls outcomes that become history.

Language – The Washington Post. February 9, 2026. Column by Andrew Van Dam titled What separates a lake from a pond? What about creeks and rivers? He quotes me as an expert and links to my work. The key idea for discussion is that the words we use for the same thing depend on our mélange of vernacular cultures, in this case bodies of water that are flowing (fluvial) and stationary or slowly moving (lentic) water.

Spirit – The Wall Street Journal. January 16, 2026. Mineral Wisdom, an essay-review of the book The Whispers of Rock: The Stories that Stone Tells About Our World and Our Lives by Anjana Khatwa. The key ideas for earth science educators are to engage the non-cognitive feelings students have about rocks and fossils in order to enhance the cognitive learning of Earth Science.

Thank you to all who attended, and to Dr. Thorson for his continued support of our ECE instructors! We are excited for the next event!

UConn ERTH courses offered through Early College Experience.

Spring 2026 UConn ECE Spanish Workshop

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Wednesday, March 11 was a busy day in ECE! We hosted three professional development conferences, including one for our Spanish instructors. A group of 75 instructors convened in the Student Union, for a keynote address from Dolores Juan-Moreno, Associate Teaching Professor of Spanish at Clark University. The talk centered around an intergenerational story of community engagement and experiential learning. This was a welcome opportunity to bring many of our Spanish instructors together to learn and talk together, and we extend our thanks to faculty coordinators Eduardo Urios-Aparisi, Ph.D. and Celines Villalba Rosado, Ph.D., for the work they did to make this experience a memorable one! We look forward to next year’s event.

UConn SPAN courses offered through Early College Experience.

Spring 2026 UConn ECE American Sign Language Workshop

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Wednesday, March 11 was a busy day in ECE! We hosted three professional development conferences, including one for our American Sign Language instructors. The day was jam-packed with content, beginning with an overview of UConn’s ASL opportunities and resources. Additionally, instructors had the opportunity to engage in a Teacher Talk hosted by Mike Schlang from the UConn ASL faculty, and a student panel surrounding former ASL experiences in their high schools. Finally, Kristine Hall from Los Angeles’ Pierce College delivered a keynote address surrounding the Signing Naturally curriculum.

Thank you, as always, to faculty coordinator Linda Pelletier, Ph.D., as well as all guest contributors, for making this session a day to remember! We look forward to next year’s event already.

UConn ASLN courses offered through Early College Experience.

Spring 2026 UConn ECE French Workshop

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On March 9th, 2026, ECE held its annual professional development conference for certified French instructors. The event included discussions on Kettly Mars’ “Laquelle de nous était Eurydice”. Additionally, attendees conversed about the role of artificial intelligence in the service of education. A full day’s agenda is available in French below:

9h Mohamedou Moustapha: L’éducation en Mauritanie.

9h30 Fadi A. Elsaid: L’héritage visuel de l’Encyclopédie : La représentation des arts et métiers dans la Description de l’Égypte entre empirisme et impérialisme

10h10 Emmanuel Buzay: L’IA au service de l’enseignement : outils, pratiques et retours d’expérience

11h30 Ambassadeurs husky, updates and feedback.

Many thanks to Faculty Coordinator Florence Marsal, Ph. D. for her continued support for our ECE French community, and to all attendees for their engagement at the event. We look forward to connecting with many of you at the next event as well!

UConn FREN courses offered through Early College Experience.