On Friday, November 18, 2022 our UConn ECE Faculty Coordinators for Spanish Eduardo Urios-Aparisi and Gustavo Nanclares ran the workshop “Cinema in the Spanish classroom.” This is their first online workshop out of the four that they will conduct this year (three will be held online and a fourth one in person). The goal of these online workshops is to discuss a single topic and present some practical ideas and resources for the classes and to offer a space for everyone to interact, discuss, and share experiences related to the teaching and learning of Spanish.

In this first workshop the group explored the topic of Spanish and Latin-American short film and its use in the classroom. They discussed the importance and peculiarities of the short film as a genre, shared a number of online resources for Hispanic short films. They then proceeded to discuss and analyze the animation short Niebla by the Mexican director Emilio Ramos. After this analysis, participants worked in groups analyzing visual, technical, narrative, and thematic aspects of the short films Amor, Nuestra Prisión (Carolina Corral Paredes, 2016) and Una Carrerita, Doctor (Julio Ramos, 2015). The workshop ended with a general discussion of the advantages of using this type of cinematic genre in the ECE Spanish classroom followed by participants sharing their own experiences and ideas using film in their classes.

UConn Spanish courses offered through Early College Experience.

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 Tuesday, October 18th , UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for English, Associate Professor, Scott Campbell, met with ECE certified English Instructors for their annual fall professional development conference.

The group discussed Studio Pedagogy: Creative Experimentation and Making Contact with the World: Field Research/Documentary in First Year Writing Courses.  

UConn English Courses offered through Early College Experience.

On Wednesday, October 19th , UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinators for American Studies, Laurie Wolfley and Prof. Matt McKenzie met with ECE certified American Studies and U.S. History Instructors for their annual professional development conference.

Chris Vials, Professor, English, and Director of American Studies at UConn presented to the group about “Fascism and American Studies”provided resources to help facilitate teaching the topic in the ECE AMST and U.S. History classrooms. Later, Aya Marczyk, Curriculum Development Fellow from Yale University’s Fortunoff Video Archive For Holocaust Testimony engaged with Instructors on the topic of Race and Citizenship and provided a Curriculum Overview.

A recording of the workshop and additional resources can be referenced by certified AMST and HIST Instructors on the ECE HuskyCT sites for American Studies and U.S. History.

UConn American Studies and History 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.