Student mental health is an increasing concern. According to the Healthy Minds Survey, 44 percent of college students report experiencing depression, 37 % report anxiety, and 15% say they have considered suicide in the last year. These difficulties with mental health show up in the classroom either in disruptive student behaviors or in a student’s reduced ability to follow course materials and learn what the class has to teach. 

FLC Goals

• Identify a set of best practices both in general and specific to each discipline attending to promote student mental health and well-being
• Pick out at least one of these practices to implement in at least one of their classes either immediately or in the next semester and design how to implement it
• Consider how they might bring these best practices back to their home departments

The goal is for faculty to come away with 5-7 best practices, including at least one that they can implement either right away or in the upcoming semester.

Session Schedule

Facilitator(s)

Person item component: isabellebauman@missouristate.edu

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FCTL Teaching & Learning Fellow

The FLC "Aging Across the Disciplines" will bring together faculty from across campus who appreciate the relevance of aging in all aspects of society and who wish to consider adding age-related content into their existing courses. Aging is everybody's business, from cell and molecular biology to technology and construction management.

FLC Goals

Participants will...

• Establish a community of faculty who wish to learn and teach in an interdisciplinary fashion about aging.
• Identify which aspects of aging are most relevant to their specific field, and connect them with resources to stay informed.
• Design at least one age-related module that can be added to an existing course.

Session Schedule

Facilitator(s)

Person item component: lchall@missouristate.edu

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This FLC provides a space for faculty and researchers to learn about and apply critical and inclusive methodologies. Participants receive a copy of  "Understanding Critical Race Research Methods and Methodologies:  Lessons from the Field" (DeCuir-Gunby, Chapman, & Schutz, 2019).

Critical and inclusive research methods are powerful tools that can be used to better understand the lived experiences of marginalized peoples.  While these research methods are certainly employed by researchers, they represents a minority of published work in the social, behavioral, and health sciences.  Part of the underrepresentation in published research may be due to a lack of exposure to these methods as well as a bias toward value-free, positivist approaches to research. 

The experience begins with surveying critical and inclusive methods.  The community will explore best practices and consider the viability of implementing critical and inclusive methods when conducting rigorous research.  Throughout Fall 2024, the community will  support each other in workshopping independent prospective research projects.

FLC Goals

Particpants will...

• Be exposed to a wide variety of critical and inclusive research methods that serve to challenge conventional, positive approaches. 
• Learn how critical and inclusive research approaches are a viable way to conduct rigorous science. 
• Have the opportunity to workshop prospective research projects that utilize critical and inclusive methods. 
• Join a vibrant community of researchers who currently use or are seeking to use critical and inclusive methods in their research.  

Session Schedule

Facilitator(s)

Person item component: KShermanWilkins@MissouriState.edu

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FLC Facilitator

This FLC is an inclusive platform that welcomes new and experienced faculty members keen on embracing and enriching active learning techniques through the strategic use of technology.  It offers a collaborative space where faculty, new to active learning, can discover and learn from the experiences of their peers while seasoned practitioners can share their insights and successes.

Participants will work towards defining and exemplifying what active learning, enhanced by technology, looks like at Missouri State University.

By combining expertise, sharing best practices, and co-creating resources, the FLC aims to build a robust framework for active learning that leverages technology to elevate student engagement, participation, and learning outcomes across disciplines.

FLC Goals

• Collaborative Enhancement of Technology Integration Skills: Participants enhance their skills in integrating educational technologies into their teaching and gain insights into how their colleagues across disciplines successfully incorporate these tools into active learning environments.
• Development of a Collaborative Active Learning Framework: Through collective exploration and sharing of experiences, the FLC will work towards the development of a comprehensive* framework that outlines effective active learning practices enhanced by technology. This framework will guide current and future faculty at Missouri State University, promoting a consistent and high-quality educational experience for students across various disciplines.
• Improved Student Engagement and Learning Outcomes: Integrating active learning strategies with technology significantly enhances student engagement, participation, and success. Faculty members will implement innovative teaching practices that foster a more interactive and inclusive classroom environment, leading to measurable improvements in student learning outcomes, such as increased retention, higher grades, and more meaningful participation in class activities.

Session Schedule

Facilitator(s)

Person item component: helenametzker@missouristate.edu

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Teaching & Learning Fellow

As society evolves and changes, our teaching methods must also evolve. In general, university students are less engaged with the typical PowerPoint lecture mode of teaching and are yearning for more connection and interaction with the material. Experiential learning is a growing method of teaching that creates more student engagement, interest, and connection to the learning process.

FLC Goals

Participants will...

• Share information about experiential teaching
• Brainstorm ways each participant can use experiential teaching
• Share the successes and challenges of using experiential teaching

Session Schedule

Facilitator(s)

Person item component: jlaprade@missouristate.edu

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FCTL Teaching & Learning Fellow

Session Schedule 

Facilitator(s)

Person item component: Michellemorgan@missouristate.edu

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The sessions will first investigate the reasons behind – and the societal harm inflicted by – the lack of knowledge of applied civic engagement on college campuses. From there, participants will gather as a team to raise awareness of this challenging issue on campus, working collaboratively to explore solutions that fit with MSU and its mission. Participants will help to advance a foundational curriculum of civic engagement, strategize solutions, and contribute ideas to bolster grassroots efforts of building an interdisciplinary institute of civic engagement. Appearances by current and former students will showcase the impact of civic engagement and demonstrate how their involvement has influenced their college experience and their subsequent professional trajectories.

FLC Goals

• Raise awareness about the educational gaps regarding applied civic engagement as well as the logistical and perceived barriers to engagement in the democratic process and to explore how these result in widespread disengagement and apparent apathy among students.
• Explore ideas that build upon the existing foundation of voter education at Missouri State University established by the broad scope of the Paws to the Polls initiative as well as advocating for the establishment of a newly introduced course on foundational public affairs and civic engagement as a graduation requirement.
• Develop an action plan for building a civic engagement institute that will involve ideas and actions from all disciplines across campus. At least one certificate program will be planned related to civic engagement, and additional ones may be proposed. This allows participants to reflect on how their existing classes may fit with the idea of civic engagement or policy enactment. This effort will result in positive effects for not only the campus community at all levels but also the community at large due to forming a greater sense of interconnectedness between campus and community.

This FLC will encourage participant action beyond the FLC meetings in the form of taking ideas back to their departments and students to raise awareness of issues more broadly on campus and requesting feedback and responses from colleagues and students (in the form of focus groups, surveys, or discussions).

Schedule

Facilitator(s)

Person item component: SuzanneWalker@MissouriState.edu

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This FCL is for anyone interested in infusing their scholarly, pedagogical, or research pursuits with critical arts methodologies and praxis. Yes! You will learn to facilitate engaging, radically inclusive classrooms and forge new, innovative pathways through collaborative research and/or teaching. No! You don't have to be artist to participate.

FLC Goals

Participants will...

• Receive a robust introduction to the research, methods, and successful models of arts-integrated teaching and research.
• Learn about the responsiveness, effectiveness, and liberatory potentialities of art in a rapidly-changing world.
• Form a community of academics who are excited about actioning towards a creative campus.
• Dream-up and workshop arts-infused courses, projects, modules, etc. and connect with potential cross-disciplinary collaborators.

Schedule