Symposium Schedule

Make sure to stop by our registration table on the 2nd floor of the Bone Student Center to sign in and pick up a name tag.

We will open the symposium with a keynote address from Dr. Laura Dumin, Professor in English and Technical Writing at the University of Central Oklahoma (OCU).

01. Keynote Address TBD

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Location: Prairie Rooms

 

02. Student Success Courses Introducing Students to the Major Department

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Location: Circus Room

Students who are introduced to departmental resources, opportunities, and personnel are more likely to feel a sense of belonging (Guzzardo et al., 2021). Departments or schools at ISU can provide students with these introductions through student success courses that introduce students to the major. Such courses can help students navigate the "hidden curriculum," the unwritten lessons, values, and perspectives that facilitate student success. These courses may increase student investment and retention in the major (Gonçalves et al., 2024).

In fall 2024 and spring 2025, ISU student researchers conducted faculty interviews and student focus groups to identify successful models (e.g., introducing research faculty and sharing department resources) and establish student expectations for major-focused student success courses.

The ISU student STEM Ambassadors recorded students' hopes for and reactions to these courses, which informed new student success components piloted in introductory biology courses in fall 2025. Feedback collected from students in that pilot project will be shared as part of this session alongside evidence of student success and retention in the school. Join us for an interactive presentation, followed by a Q&A session, to learn from a panel of student researchers and course faculty about what students need to thrive in their major.

Presenters:
Benjamin Sadd, School of Biological Sciences
Dominika Brzegowy, School of Biological Sciences
Rylie Swinford, Department of Geography/Geology
Mikayla Wilson, Department of Economics
Rob Rhykerd, Department of Agriculture
Matthew Hagaman, Department of Technology

03. AI in Creative Technologies: Fostering Critical Engagement through Teaching and Practice

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Location: Founders Suite

This panel will explore how educators can help students critically, creatively, and ethically engage with AI and related emergent systems from a creative technologies perspective. We begin by addressing common student concerns about AI and situating these anxieties within the broader history of technological change. Just as digital tools reshaped creative practice in the past, today's students must understand how to work alongside AI to support their learning and prepare for professional opportunities that are only now being defined.

Panelists will examine how students already use AI, often unknowingly, raising questions of awareness, ethics, and academic integrity. These concerns highlight the need for strategies that help students recognize when and why they use AI and distinguish responsible use from misuse. We will speak on ways to encourage intentional experimentation with AI to strengthen students' creative agency while decreasing their anxiety about new technologies.

To model how to leverage AI in creative works, panelists will share projects within game design, dance, coding, audio, and theater that use emerging technologies in innovative ways. We will highlight how AI can be more than an autonomous system and instead influence and enrich the brainstorming, design, and iteration process as a trusted, ethical collaborator.

Presenters:
Simone Downie, Wonsook Kim School of Art
Kristin Carlson, School of Theatre and Dance
Greg Corness, Wonsook Kim School of Art
Dan Cox, Wonsook Kim School of Art
Christopher Lackey, Wonsook Kim School of Art

04. Creating Inclusive Digital Third Spaces for Learning

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Location: Spotlight Room

Third spaces, or digital learning spaces that use new and emerging technologies (e.g., virtual classrooms or dedicated Discord servers) are growing, with little discussion on how to promote equity and enhance student learning. Across four brief talks, we discuss emojis and camera filters, how digital representation (e.g., skin tone diversity) changes learner outcomes, and how use of technology can impact learning environments differently for students of different backgrounds across new and emerging technologies, and actions instructors can take to build equity into the classroom when it comes to using these technologies. We offer concrete strategies that promote learning in spaces outside of a traditional classroom, including ways of developing third space learning guidelines and ways of allowing student creativity to shine while also balancing inclusive teaching strategies. We allot time for audience questions and interactive discussion.

Presenters:
Caitlin Mercier, Department of Psychology
Allison Nguyen, Department of Psychology
Kelly Clemens, Department of Psychology
John Matkovic, Department of Health Sciences
Burak Ozkum, Department of Psychology

05. Overdue & Obsolete: Rethinking Classroom Research Practices

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Location: Circus Room

The task of research is shaped by our assumptions. Amid the challenges of searching, learners lean on commonly preached "best practices" and structures. Yet the notions instructors hold fast to and present uncritically to students, fails to provide the flexibility that is required in today's information-rich environments. This presentation aims to identify and complicate oft-cited research principles to help attendees more openly approach assignment design and empower students' agency to question, interrogate evidence, and communicate understanding.  

The session will unpack several pernicious research frameworks, such as enshrining the peer review process in source selection, teaching citation compliance over ethical values, and emphasizing technology as a product rather than as a process. These common assignment-completion approaches are not without some level of merit, but they pose the risk of conveying a proscriptive, exclusive sense of intellectual conversation and community. Applying insights from evidence-informed library pedagogy, attendees may instead reframe methods of introducing research to better accommodate diverse interests and promote practice and reflection. By adopting empathetic attitudes and approaches, instructors can support students in this current moment of accelerated technological innovation, devoting needed attention to the curiosity and consciousness of learners. 

Presenters:
Joshua Altshuler, University Libraries
Kate Tallman, University Libraries

06. Beyond Borders: Teaching for Multiplicity in the L2 French Classroom

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Location: Founders Suite

This session shares strategies for developing border-crossing, inclusive pedagogies for the language classroom. Drawing on our published  chapter in the edited volume Narratives of Non-English L2 [Second Language] Language Teachers (Routledge, July 2025) and as non-native professors of French at ISU, our pedagogy reflects insider-outsider positions: our own, our students', and that of the language itself. Evolving disciplinary landscapes, institutional priorities, and student interests and needs compel us to question the linguistic, social, and ideological contours marking how French is often taught and imagined in the U.S., despite decades of postcolonial critique. This session charts how we have traverse-and trouble-numerous borders with our students. Such borders include: sociolinguistic borders, to combat discrimination and promote empathetic interculturality; textual borders, to surface curricular ideological underpinnings and expand canons; and spatial borders, to invite students into the community and francophones into the classroom. Throughout, we draw on our teaching experiences and subjectivities, as well as recent discourse on diversity and decolonization and strategies for helping language students navigate emerging technologies. Centering the plurality of L2 expressions and identities promotes linguistic development, empathy, inquisitiveness, personal agency, and social justice. Such discourse also  supports ISU's commitment to  equity-minded course design and inclusive classroom culture.

Presenters:
Sandra Keller, Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures
Erin Ponnou-Delaffon, Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures

07. Gamification/Video Gaming in Nursing Education

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Location: Prairie Room I

In fact, the National Council State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) has dramatically changed the NCLEX® exam to assess and ensure readiness to safely practice nursing. This requires a shift in nursing education from knowledge to development of clinical judgement and demands that nurse educators transform the delivery of nursing education to meet the needs of nursing students.  Gamification in nursing curriculum is a promising new learning tool offering students the opportunity to gain experience and clinical reasoning ability for nursing decision making. Yet, the use and impact gamification embedded in learning environments requires continued exploration. Our research team conducted an exploratory, descriptive qualitative design to explore nursing students' thoughts, feelings and perspectives following a 15-minute play session of a nursing video game. Participants shared positive feedback and revealed excitement in learning. Additionally, participants shared the nursing video game play fostered critical thinking during the scenario. Nurse educators across the nation continue to search for teaching strategies to enhance clinical judgement/critical thinking. Exploration of interactive activities and video games is becoming more frequent within current research and may be suited for other academic areas as well.

Presenters:
Michele Shropshire, Mennonite College of Nursing 
Cherrill Stockmann, Mennonite College of Nursing 
Annette M. Hubbell, Mennonite College of Nursing 
Emily Erickson, Mennonite College of Nursing 

08. Using Artificial Intelligence to Break Barriers in Teaching Language

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Location: Prairie Room II

This session explores how instructors teaching a language can apply the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to support students, including students with special needs and students in diverse classrooms. Participants will gain practical strategies for enhancing students' interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational skills while fostering inclusive, low-stress, and equitable learning environments. Using real classroom examples, the presentation will demonstrate how a variety of AI platforms can be utilized to create adaptive learning environments that allow students to practice language at their own pace, while receiving immediate feedback on their communication skills. The session offers insight on ow instructors can use AI while maintaining a culturally meaningful classroom. Participants will gain practical strategies and a deeper understanding of how to leverage AI in language instruction to strengthen teaching practice and student skills. 

Presenter:
Lin Lin, School of Teaching and Learning

09. Emergent AI, Engaged Minds: Teaching Connection to Prevent Brain Rot

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Location: Prairie Room III

Generative AI tools like ChatGPT are reshaping how students learn, write, and think. Yet growing evidence from Dr. Daniel Amen's research on "ChatGPT brain rot" suggests that over-reliance on AI can reduce critical thinking, focus, and creativity. This session, explores how educators can help students use AI responsibly while strengthening the human capacities that technology cannot replicate. Drawing from recent workplace and education research, the session highlights how social and communication skills serve as cognitive "protective factors" that sustain attention, empathy, and reasoning in an AI-saturated world. Participants will examine classroom strategies that combine transparency, reflection, and social engagement to encourage ethical and thoughtful AI use. The session also aligns with Illinois State University's Framework for Inclusive Teaching Excellence by emphasizing inclusive, relational, and evidence-based pedagogy that prepares students for success in a world where emergent technologies must coexist with enduring human values. Attendees will leave with actionable ideas for cultivating engaged minds and connected learners in an age increasingly defined by AI.

Presenters:
Tina Williams, Department of Management
Tim Clue, The Other STEM

10. Using Partnership and Assessment to Facilitate Meaningful Experiential Learning

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Location: Circus Room

Institutionally, we are being called upon to integrate experiential learning into our courses. This session seeks to explain how effective partnerships and robust assessment practices can maximize our impact in the classroom. In this session participants will: 1) Learn strategies for developing and sustaining effective partnerships that align with strategic priorities; 2) Use best practices in assessment to evaluate assignment/project effectiveness, enhance student learning outcomes, and refine partnerships, and 3) Describe practical tools and frameworks for integrating partnerships and assessment into practices.

Presenters:
Paige Buschman, Center for Civic Engagement
Rachel Waring-Sparks, Center for Civic Engagement

11. AI: A Technology Tool Addition to Who We Are

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Location: Founders Suite

Artificial intelligence-based (AI) based tools for enhancing our professional performance will become part of us, much like the mobile devices we carry everywhere (not only for two factor authentication requirements). An analogy will be used to exemplify a bigger picture of this transformative time, where "Homo sapience" (wise human) may transform to the "next level".

Specific uses of AI in Teaching and Learning will be presented. Along with critical consequences such as: what can be "dropped" from curriculum and methodology. With room for enhancing one's own skills and abilities how will AI emerge as a personal and personalized teacher-coach, an extension of who we will become; not a cyborg, but rather "Homo Universalis", correlated with Society and Humanity as a whole.

Presenter:
Lucian Ionescu, Department of Mathematics

12. Giving Voice to the Unhoused Community: A Photovoice Education Intervention

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Location: Prairie I

Unhoused individuals seeking healthcare often encounter bias from healthcare professionals. They report feeling less valued than other clients and believe they receive inferior, rushed care. Further, the unhoused are not treated like clients who have the means to pay, which discourages them from seeking future care. To educate nurses about homelessness, improve understanding, and increase empathy, we developed a photovoice intervention. Photovoice allows participants to tell their stories and gives voice to marginalized communities. Unhoused adults were asked to take pictures that illustrate what living homeless means to them. We made posters from the pictures and interviewed participants to obtain a fuller description of the experience of living homeless. Participants described living homeless as both a demoralizing experience in which they felt neglected and discarded, as well as a hopeful experience in which they were grateful for the companionship of others and motivated to achieve a better life. This session provides an overview of how the posters and narrative interviews will be used to develop a unique intervention aimed at teaching nursing students about homelessness.

Presenters:
Sheryl Henry, Mennonite College of Nursing
Jessica Sullivan, Mennonite College of Nursing

13. Intentional Messaging: How We Used our Learning Community in Our Class

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Location: Prairie Room II

As part of the Small Changes Learning Community, we read the book 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People by David Yeager, and one lesson we took from it was the need for intentional, consistent supports to help students succeed. As instructors of large lecture courses, we needed to develop a way to do this at scale rather than some of the ways suggested in the book for smaller classes or one-on-one mentoring moments. In this session, we will explain what we did to provide students with consistent messaging about the purpose of the course and reinforce effective learning strategies often in less than 5 minutes of class time each week. We will provide examples of slides used in class, brief metacognitive questions, and other small things we tried to be consistent throughout the semester to motivate our students to apply using effective learning strategies. We will provide initial analysis of student outcomes from survey data and student grades from Fall 2025, along with our anecdotal experience and lessons from the semester.

Presenters:
Sarah Boesdorfer, Department of Chemistry
Liesel Mitchell, Department of Accounting

Take a break and enjoy a boxed lunch while connecting with colleagues. Use this time to share insights, exchange ideas, and build valuable connections.

14. Keynote Workshop, TBD

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Location: Circus Room

 

15. Reimagining General Education: Exploring Experiential and Civic Learning Pedagogies 

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Location: Circus Room

This session explores innovative pedagogical strategies that integrate experiential and civic learning into general education courses, with a focus on leveraging emergent technologies to deepen student engagement. Drawing on evidence-informed best practices in civic engagement and experiential learning, the presentation will share models that faculty can utilize to design assignments with real-world applications that build students civic knowledge and problem-solving skills through structured reflection. Participants will explore examples from ISU courses that have implemented civic learning projects such as community-based research, digital storytelling, and asset-mapping using tools such as ARC GIS, Omeka, ChatGPT, and other forms of emergent technology. We will also discuss how these approaches align with high-impact practices and could be adapted to create courses in the Experiential Learning and Civic Engagement category that is part of the new General Education curriculum. Attendees will leave with a toolkit of strategies for embedding civic engagement and experiential learning into their curriculum, along with ideas on how to integrate technology.

Presenter:
Katy Strzepek, Center for Civic Engagement

16. A Telehealth and Substance Use Disorder Practice Simulation with Undergraduate Nursing Students

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Location: Founders Suite

Simulation-based education is an evidence-based pedagogical method that is utilized at to engage learners in low frequency and high impact client encounters while simultaneously allowing faculty to evaluate student competence levels. Due to the rapid advancements in healthcare technology and ongoing opioid overdose crisis, undergraduate nursing students must be prepared to provide inclusive and equitable care for clients experiencing substance use disorders (SUDs) utilizing telehealth technology. The purpose of this Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) project was to pilot a telehealth and SUD Rapid Cycle Deliberate Practice (RCDP) simulation-based education intervention with undergraduate nursing students and evaluate the impact on pre/post self-efficacy and perceptions in telehealth and SUD healthcare provisions. The SOTL methods inform nursing faculty that utilizing innovative simulation-based education may increase student knowledge and self-efficacy in telehealth and SUD care delivery while improving perceptions related to the provision of person-centered care to clients with disorders using substances.

Presenters:
Susan Watkins, Mennonite College of Nursing
Kirsten Clerkin, Mennonite College of Nursing

17. What Do We Know about AI's Relationship to Learning?

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Location: Prairie Room I

Does artificial intelligence (AI) help or hinder learning? When is it helpful and when is it harmful? This session interrogates AI's impact on learning through concepts from cognitive and learning theories, providing a foundation for informed classroom policy and practice. It will provide an overview of concepts such as cognitive load (and offloading), desirable difficulty, and the illusion of competence, providing a picture of how AI could either facilitate, supplement, or replace learning. These concepts will be used to explore sample AI classroom policies and practices with an eye to maximizing learning.

Presenter:
Derek O'Connell, Department of Philosophy

18. The Gamification of Grant Writing

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Location: Prairie II

Grant writing is essential; yet the process of writing grants is not exactly exciting. Using gamification as an essential frame, an asynchronous, Canvas course was designed for the Masters of Public Health program to equip students with skills and support needed to write successful grants. The course was launched in Fall 2025 during the second 8-weeks of the semester. Students self-selected, based on their own research and personal reflection, into one of two pathways to learn the material: a) new to grants or b) experienced with grants. While the deliverables for the course were the same, the activities and assignments were different as students scaffolded their learning and utilized prior learning. The design utilized self-directed learning, and connectivism. The session will include student feedback from course structure and logistics, details about course pathways and design, and general takeaways when implementing courses in a non-traditional format.

Presenters:
Alicia Wodika, Department of Health Sciences
Stephanie Wilson,Center for Integrated Professional Development

19. AI Literacy Project

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Location: Prairie Room III

 

Presenters:
Jennifer Sharkey, Milner Library

20. Teaching Students How to Access the World: Information Fluency Modules in World CJS Courses

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Location: Circus Room

This session discusses a long-term collaboration between Milner Library and the Department of Criminal Justices Sciences (CJS) to bring information fluency training to students in CJS 369: World Criminal Justice Systems. Beginning as a more traditional, in-person, information fluency session, changes needed to be made in response to COVID, moving the instruction online along with the rest of the course. The solution that emerged was a series of online modules, testing students' understanding of information fluency skills and teaching best practices in an asynchronous environment. Each year that this course was taught, revisions to the modules were implemented to improve user experience. As Illinois State University transitioned from ReggieNet to Canvas, updates and improvements were advanced, better integrating library instruction into the overall course. The current iteration represents a collaboration between librarian and instructor almost a decade in the making, and has produced an asynchronous space for students to learn an explore various aspects of information fluency, including finding relevant information on a chosen topic, evaluating information for credibility, and incorporating correctly referenced sources into a project. The online modules shared in this session offer a unique and valuable opportunity for librarians to assess student learning in these areas.

Presenters:
Chad Kahl, Milner Library
Dawn Beichner-Thomas, Department of Criminal Justice Sciences
Grace Allbaugh, Milner Library

21. Teaching from the Margins: Humanizing Technology through Relational Pedagogy

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Location: Founders Suite

bell hooks describes the margin as "a space of radical openness," a site where transformation and connection become possible. This session reimagines that vision in the context of technology-enhanced teaching, proposing relational pedagogy as a framework for balancing innovation with empathy. As artificial intelligence (AI) and digital platforms reshape higher education, the challenge is not only how we use technology but how we remain human within it. Drawing from experiences teaching first-year composition in transnational contexts, I illustrate how teaching from the margins - through practices of care, reciprocity, and humility - can humanize AI-assisted learning environments. Classroom examples highlight how multimodal composition, collaborative reflection, and mindful use of AI tools foster agency, inclusion, and curiosity. Rather than treating technology as a solution, this approach positions it as a site of ethical relation, an opportunity to co-create meaning across linguistic, cultural, and digital divides. Ultimately, the session will invite educators to cultivate classrooms where technological innovation sustains, rather than replaces, the enduring values of connection and care.

Presenter:
Ridita Mizan, Department of English

22. Exploring Learning Environments for Student Use of Artificial Intelligence: Student Organizations

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Location: Prairie Room I

As artificial intelligence (AI) tools become increasingly available to students, higher education has raised concerns about students' use of AI in the classroom and potential plagiarism issues. The mixed messages of AI could cause students to avoid learning about AI applications. This study proposes a framework for integrating AI use within Registered Student Organizations (RSOs), enabling students to explore AI applications beyond traditional coursework. This study emphasizes experiential learning-leveraging AI in project troubleshooting, planning, conceptual explanation, creative idea generation, graphic and video design, and more.

This session will outline how the proposed study would use Registered Student Organizations (RSOs), student-led groups with faculty advisors, as an ideal environment to introduce students to the practical applications and uses of AI without the concerns of breaking course policies or being reported for academic dishonesty. Organizations such as the on-campus ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) RSO could host workshops and demonstrations highlighting AI applications. The outreach would extend beyond IT RSOs and strive to include all disciplines. This initiative's key outcome would be assessing student interests and perceptions of AI engagement in informal settings, providing valuable insights into how students adopt and adapt to AI technologies in creative, collaborative environments.

Presenters:
Daniel Freburg, School of Information Technology
Mangolika Bhattacharya, School of Information Technology

23. AI Applications in Mathematics Learning for Diverse Secondary Students

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Location: Prairie Room II

As a global phenomenon, technology has changed practices related to teaching and learning mathematics in schools. Specifically, it helps teachers focus on mathematical problem solving and directly assists students by providing them with opportunities for their active engagement in mathematics learning (Young, 2017). More recently, with the development artificial intelligence (AI), there has been a widespread expansion of the use of technology in education, which requires the ongoing validation of the usefulness and efficacy of technology-mediated mathematics interventions. The proposed research supports innovative approaches to designing the current educational environment through the application of AI-powered technology and effective instructional practices for teaching mathematics to diverse secondary school students. Several researchers have developed conversational AI and evaluated its efficacy and usability as a mathematical learning tool in the area of arithmetic sequences (Grossman et al., 2019), algebra (Li et al., 2024), and measurement, volume, and multi-digit arithmetic (Ruan et al., 2020). Thus, this session will offer insight to how we explored students' perceptions of conversational AI as a mathematical learning tool and how they perceive the design features and social validity in using self-regulated learning within this math exploration.

Presenters:
Mikyung Shin, Department of Special Education
Kristi Sutter, Thomas Metcalf School

24. From STEM to Studio: Faculty Experiences with Alternative Assessment

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Location: Circus Room

Alternative assessment models-such as ungrading (e.g., Blum, 2020), specification grading (e.g., Nilson, 2015), standards-based grading (e.g., Marsh, 2023), contract grading (e.g., Taylor, 1980), and labor-based grading (e.g., Inoue, 2019) offer powerful frameworks for advancing equity and centering students in the evaluation of learning. This panel brings together faculty from diverse disciplines to share practical strategies for implementing these methods in diverse classroom contexts. By decentering grades as judgment and instead foregrounding reflection, labor, and growth, these approaches foster intrinsic motivation, reduce anxiety, and offer students greater ownership over their learning. Panelists from multiple disciplines will discuss how they have adapted alternative grading frameworks to match course objectives, managed student expectations, and assessed learning outcomes. They will provide concrete examples of course structures, instructional materials, feedback strategies, and communication tools that support transparency and accountability, without relying on transactional point-based grading systems. Attendees will gain insight into the philosophical foundations of these models, as well as actionable techniques for integrating them incrementally or wholesale into their own teaching practices. The session invites critical dialogue about how reimagining assessment can improve classroom climate by creating more humane classrooms and utilize feedback and assessment to increase student learning across the university.

Presenters:
Julien Corven, Department of Mathematics
Katie Krcmarik, Wonsook Kim School of Art
Bert Stabler, Wonsook Kim School of Art
Camille Cole, Department of History

25. It Takes a Village: Partnering for Student Well-being in the Classroom

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Location: Founders Suite

Student success is a shared responsibility-and when faculty and student support professionals collaborate intentionally, the impact on student well-being can be transformative. This interactive workshop explores practical strategies for building partnerships between instructors and campus support services to create a more caring, connected classroom environment. Participants will engage in reflective activities, share experiences, and leave with actionable ideas to foster student success through holistic, team-based approaches. Whether you're teaching, advising, or mentoring, come discover how small shifts in collaboration can lead to big gains in student thriving.

Presenters:
Lisa Lawless, University College
Janet Tulley, Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts
Amy Hurd, Office of the Provost
Mary O'Mahoney, Student Affairs

26. Supporting Students through Successful Life Transitions in the Classroom & Beyond

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Location: Spotlight Room

Students face many transitions during their academic careers-high school to college, undergraduates to graduates, and college to the workforce-as well as transitions within those roles. Many faculty already know the impact they can have as students transition into student researchers, but evidence shows that faculty support throughout all transitions is critical in promoting a sense of belonging, increasing confidence levels, and aiding students' overall ability to thrive in college and in their careers (Christe, 2013; Reid et al., 2025).

Since Fall 2023, ISU student researchers have been collecting data about students' experiences throughout their college careers. ISU's student STEM Ambassadors will share recommendations gathered from their student-to-student interviews, focus groups, and surveys. They will also share insights from the literature on the many ways faculty can support students as they navigate life transitions. Join us for an interactive presentation and Q&A panel to hear about innovative ways that faculty can help students thrive no matter where they are in their latest transition.

Presenters:
Matthew Hagaman, Center for Mathematics, Science, & Technology
Rylie Swinford, Department of Geography/Geology
Mikayla Wilson, Department of Economics
Dominika Brzegowy, School of Biological Sciences

Outstanding University Teaching Awards

Presentation of the 2025 Outstanding University Teaching Awards followed by 2026 Williams Outstanding Technology Service Award. Awards Start at 4:45 p.m.

Reception

Enjoy drinks and hors d'oeuvres in the Prairie Room and interact with colleagues presenting posters.

Posters

P01. Reinventing Agricultural Policy Education: Integrating Diverse Perspectives and Inclusive Assessment

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This poster focuses on the process and product of course revision. Ouctomes include updated course content and restructured feedback approaches and modified assessments. The course revision process stemmed from participating in two workshops during the summer of 2024: "Indigenous Illinois 101" and "Reinvent Your Course for EDIA."

Presenter:
Michael Barrowclough, Department of Agriculture

P02. Wikipedia and Archival Internships: Preparing Memory Workers for Inclusive Practice

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Archival internships are opportunities for future archivists, public historians, and other memory workers to gain experience working in cultural heritage. This poster will examine the development of the Rayfield Archives Wikipedia internship and explore successes, failures, and how the internship prepares students for inclusive practice in memory work.

Presenter:
April Anderson-Zorn, University Libraries

P03. Waste to Taste: A High-Impact Model for Sustainable Student Innovation

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This poster presents an actionable, high-impact teaching model where students, in partnership with a local brewery, upcycle spent grain into food products. Students apply food science to develop a product, explore trademark law to create a brand, and articulate the business case for their innovation.

Presenter:
Erol Sozen, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

P04. Strengthening Civic Engagement in STEM Students through Poster Presentations

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Civic engagement among STEM professionals is essential to integration of scientific knowledge with societal needs. Presenting one's civic action plan potentially influences civic intentions and identity. This poster investigates how STEM students' civic action plans change after presenting them at a symposium, highlighting roles of experiential learning in fostering civic engagement.

Presenters:
Paula Steilmann, School of Biological Sciences
Blessing Soyebi, School of Biological Sciences
Katherine G. Evans, Center for Mathematics, Science & Technology
Rebekka Darner, Mennonite College of Nursing

P05. Embedding Sustainability into Construction Materials Course

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This case study highlights the integration of sustainability into an undergraduate Construction Materials Technology course. Through redesigned curriculum, life cycle assessment, and a Sustainable Concrete project, students explored recycled materials and sustainable practices. Results show enhanced learning, stronger engagement, and deeper commitment to sustainability in construction education.

Presenter:
Pranshoo Solanki, Department of Technology

P06. Exploring Nursing Challenges Through Social Media: An NLP Analysis of Reddit Discussions

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Nursing faces burnout, shortages, and changing demands. Analyzing Reddit discussions with NLP will reveal nurses' experiences, themes, sentiments, and trends, informing support initiatives, policy recommendations, and education strategies to address workforce challenges.

Presenter:
MyoungJin Kim, Mennonite College of Nursing

P07. Fostering Scientific Civic Engagement: A Sequential Exploratory Mixed Methods Design

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This mixed-methods study examines IDS 119: The Civically Engaged Scientist, a core course within the Science IS-U Scholars Program, using pre- and post-surveys and qualitative data methodology, to explore how the course fosters STEM civic engagement and prepares STEM majors to address socio-scientific issues.

Presenters:
Blessing Soyebi, School of Biological Sciences
Sori Lim, Mennonite College of Nursing
Paula Steilmann, School of Biological Sciences
Katherine G. Evans, Center for Mathematics, Science & Technology
Rebekka Darner, Mennonite College of Nursing

P08. Long-Term Investigation of Student Difficulties Interpreting Electric Field Diagrams

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A nine-semester study of student correctness to questions about electric field properties based on traditional and modified E-field diagrams was conducted. Diagrams were modified with variations in line thickness, line continuity, and arrow shape indicating field magnitude and direction and a comparison was made with student responses interpreting traditional diagrams. This poster provides and overview of the study and outcomes of the longitudinal evaluation of student learning.

Presenters:
Raymond Zich, Department of Physics

P09. Exploring AI Adoption in Special Education Teachers' IEP Development Practices

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This session examines how special education teacher candidates enrolled in SED 206 navigated the opportunities and challenges of AI adoption in terms of perceptions of usefulness and ease of use when developing Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). The poster will highlight strategies to strengthen AI literacy, promote human-centered decision-making, and support the responsible integration of AI into special education teacher preparation.

Presenters:
Jeongae Kang, Department of Special Education
Soo Won Shim, School of Teaching and Learning