USM Faculty Teaching Symposium

Room 213

Common Program Elements: Foundations for Online Program Success

by Jill Olausson PhD, MSN, BSN & Damien Michaud, PhD

This session will discuss the process Jill Olausson went through to transition an in person program to an online program. It will demonstrate how common program elements can be integrated into Brightspace templates, course syllabi, and EZ blueprint to improve both student and faculty experience.

Room 214/215

Promoting Active Learning Through Strategic Role-Playing: Applications Across College Disciplines

by Dan Jenkins, PhD

This interactive half-session will explore how intentionally designed role-playing activities can enhance student engagement and learning outcomes across various college disciplines. Drawing from research and practical classroom applications, I will demonstrate how role-playing allows students to apply theoretical concepts to simulated real-world situations, fostering deeper understanding and skill development regardless of subject matter.

Enhancing Learning Through Structured Debriefing: A Six-Phase Approach

This interactive half-session will explore the critical role of structured debriefing in experiential learning and active teaching practices. Drawing from research-backed frameworks and practical classroom applications, I will demonstrate how the six-phase debriefing model can transform student learning experiences by fostering deeper reflection, meaningful connections, and actionable insights.The presentation will introduce participants to a comprehensive debriefing framework adapted from established models that includes six sequential phases:

1. What next? – Developing action plans for future application
2. How do you feel? – Creating space for emotional processing
3. What happened? – Establishing shared understanding of events
4. What did you learn? – Extracting key insights and principles
5. How can you apply this elsewhere? – Connecting to real-world contexts
6. What if? – Exploring alternative scenarios and outcomes

Room 216

Using Sticky Learning Scenarios to Help Students Learn to Fail Forward and Become More Resilient

by Brenda Zollitsch, PhD & Chris Parelius, Graduate Assistant

In this session, we will present key lessons learned from the use of scenarios to create what are called “sticky learning experiences” for students who will be entering the workforce into leadership positions where they will need to make difficult decisions with incomplete information in complex systems and circumstances. Over the last two years, we have developed interactive, online practice scenarios and assessments that help students work through complex decision making in realistic, yet safe learning environments. This style of what education and training literature calls “sticky learning” has been shown both in the literature and in the classroom to leave students with lasting knowledge recall and experiential skill building that is essential for students in public policy and management arenas. This session will share the foundational theories underpinning this approach and share examples of this approach in action.

How Open Source Digital Repositories Increased Visibility of Coursework Worldwide

by Ashanthi Maxworth, PhD

I started teaching ELE 452 Antennas course for engineering undergraduates in the spring of 2022. As a strong advocate of active learning techniques, I was incorporating antenna simulations using a software called ANSYS-HFSS. HFSS has a lot of moving parts hence I needed a method to make sure the students follow the steps correctly, so I created worksheets with step-by-step instructions. Since I put a lot of time and effort into creating these worksheets, I published those as an open source digital collection via the USM Libraries. Currently, the readership of these worksheets is almost 4000 worldwide.

Backed by this demand, I am creating another digital collection of lightboard videos and few more worksheets for the ELE 351 Electromagnetic Fields course I am teaching. This collection will feature seven light board videos I created introducing the Maxwell’s Equations and their examples and an accompanied Ansys- Maxwell worksheet. The students can watch the lightboard video, download the worksheet and practice the virtual experiment.

Room 213

Navigating the AI Frontier: Challenges and Opportunities for Academic Libraries

by Zach Newell, PhD & Christine I. Dulac, JD, MLIS, University of Maine School of Law

Academic libraries stand at a pivotal juncture, grappling with the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence. Our presentation will address the practical, ethical, and social implications caused by the integration of AI into the work of academic libraries. Ethical considerations are paramount. Algorithmic bias threatens equitable access, while privacy and data security demand robust safeguards. The rise of AI-generated content necessitates a reevaluation of academic integrity and copyright law. Practical challenges include data quality and system integration. AI implementation requires substantial investment and specialized expertise, necessitating staff upskilling and training. Socially, building user trust through transparent communication is crucial. Libraries must address the digital divide, ensuring equitable access and digital literacy. Organizational resistance to change requires proactive management.

This presentation will explore strategies for mitigating these challenges, emphasizing ethical frameworks, robust data governance, and user-centered design. We will discuss best practices for staff development, fostering a culture of innovation, and navigating the evolving legal landscape. By addressing these critical considerations, libraries can harness AI’s potential to enhance research, learning, and information access, while safeguarding core values.

Room 214/215

From Interest to Impact: Engaging Students Through Hands-On Learning and Mentorship

by Aimee Vlachos, MS, EdD, CPRP, University of New England

This lightning talk will focus on my collaboration with Oxford Hills High School and entailed students in my Sports Leadership course creating activities on campus designed to inspire the high school students who would be the first generation in their family to go to college. The collaboration was rewarding for both the college and high school students.

Recognizing and Responding to Student Stress

by Christina Lowery

 In this session, faculty will learn how to identify common signs of stress in students, such as changes in behavior, disengagement, missed assignments, or emotional distress. The session will provide simple, effective strategies for responding with empathy, validating student concerns, and guiding them toward appropriate resources.

Writing Maine – A Collaborative Approach to First-Year Writing at USM

by Jessica Ouellette, PhD

The Writing Program at USM is embarking on an innovative initiative: the development of Writing Maine: College Composition and Research at USM, a textbook designed for first-year writing courses (WRI 1 & WRI 2). This project is a response to the need for a student-centered curriculum, increased accessibility and affordability, and enhanced engagement with Maine-related scholarship.

Room 216

The USM Environmental Resilience Project (UERP): A Team Approach to Promoting Student Agency and Belonging through Cross-disciplinary Interaction and Engagement

by Michelle Vazquez Jacobus  JD, MSW & Jono Anzalone, PhD

The USM Environmental Resilience Project (UERP) is a cross-disciplinary initiative, supported by a Maine Economic and Innovation Fund (MEIF) that aims to build agency and community in support of addressing climate change in Maine. In the first stages of the project, Drs Anzalone & Vazquez Jacobus, working with a team of undergraduate and graduate students, have developed a series of interactive activities for our classes that afford our students opportunities to build community among themselves, enhance their understanding of the impacts of climate change on their communities, as well as foster leadership and constructive action.  Through these activities, students in Sociology and Economics classes assess a complex social problem (human-caused climate change) through a cross-disciplinary lens; as well as approach the challenge of addressing a complex problem through diverse perspectives with a multi-disciplinary team. 

Room 213

Building Relationships in the Online Classroom – A Roundtable Discussion

with Melinda S. Butler EdD

Teaching online courses, both asynchronous and synchronous, can be quite impersonal-even lonely. In this session, we will share strategies of how we work to build relationships with students and how we support students’ sense of belonging with each other.

Student AI Literacy in the Writing Classroom

by Jessica Ouellette, PhD & Carrie Kancilia, PhD

As generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) becomes increasingly integrated into education (and the writing classroom specifically), developing AI literacy is essential for students to use these tools ethically and effectively. This workshop will provide faculty with strategies to incorporate AI literacy into their classrooms, ensuring students develop critical thinking skills alongside their engagement with GenAI. Participants will explore foundational AI literacy concepts and discuss strategies for guiding students in using AI responsibly.

Room 214/215

Using AI Simulations to Enhance Learning and Assessment

by Garry Wickerd, PhD, NCSP, BCBA & Aaron Pomeranz, PsyD

This session explores the instructional potential of AI-powered simulations. The session will begin with an overview of simulations in education, transitioning to the unique opportunities offered by AI-driven simulations. Participants will witness a live demonstration of an existing AI simulation designed to teach counseling skills, showcasing its effectiveness in providing realistic practice. Furthermore, the session will engage the audience in a collaborative activity, co-creating a new AI simulation using a participant-generated topic, demonstrating the versatility and accessibility of this technology. Finally, we will describe a framework based on the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) model, adapted for use with AI simulations, to assess simulation performance and provide user feedback.

Room 213

Dynamic ZOOM and Online Learning Tools

by Cassandra Dove, PhD

Creative Dynamic Online activities on ZOOM and remote learning.

Video Exam Feedback

by David Champlin, PhD

Video answer keys to save time and improve feedback. A grading strategy will be shared that involves the instructor creating an answer key video for exam feedback to the entire class just after grading all the exams. When grading, the same feedback is often needed for multiple students on a specific answer and it is often true that the entire class would benefit from the feedback. The videos can be tied to assignments and in-class follow up. Examples of the hardware and apps that can be used will be described.

GoReact Video Assessment Demo

by the Center for Academic Innovation

Videos are ideal for skill-based assessment, presentations, and other authentic assessment in online classes. This lightning talk will demonstrate GoReact, an interactive platform that makes it easy to assign, assess, and give time-stamped feedback on student videos. Learn how to streamline grading, engage students, and integrate results directly into Brightspace.

 Room 214/215

Cards Against Pedagogy

with Center of Academic Innovation Learning Designers

Join Center of Academic Innovation Learning Designers for a fun, interactive game aimed at helping participants connect and reflect on their teaching practices. Based upon the popular game, Cards Against Humanity, this game is designed as a fun and interactive way of getting faculty to know each other while reflecting on different elements of their teaching.

Room 216

Classroom Tested Strategies to get Students to Work Collaboratively

by Margaret Moore, MS

During this interactive session, Peggy Moore will highlight “tips and tricks” to get students to work collaboratively in class.

Doors to Open Doors

by Sara Needleman, MS

“Doors” is a strategy to build community, activate prior knowledge, review information, or check for understanding. Sara Needleman developed this very simple game several years ago and the feedback she gets from students is consistently positive. Using a slide-deck she created, it gets everyone involved.

Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique (IF-AT) for Reading Comprehension and Class Camaraderie

by Kim Theriault, PhD

Kim Theriault will demonstrate how to use Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique (IF-AT) for low-risk group reading comprehension.