Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards: A Texas Professor Focused on Artificial Intelligence, Health, and Education

Monday, February 29, 2016

Applied Social Media Graduate Course at Tarleton State University - The Course Syllabus and Course Navigation Video

This semester, I am so excited about teaching the Applied Social Media course at Tarleton. To help others in their syllabus creation journey, I decided to embed my syllabus (and course navigation video) on the blog. :)

Adapting the Course from Undergraduate Students to Graduate Students
I taught this course at the undergraduate level and I always enjoyed helping the students on their research projects. Anytime that I can help students build their resume and also integrate their learning in high-impact educational practices (undergraduate research, etc.), I always strive to do so. Now, as I teach graduate students, research assignments have become more important because it seems that these students are searching for ways to help their resumes stand out from the rest of the applicants for positions.

Utilizing E-Books for Course Preparation and for Course Texts
This semester (to my surprise), I found the textbook for the course at our university's library, the Dick Smith Library as an e-book. This means that the students could potentially only have to purchase one book for the semester. Last semester, I utilized e-books to prepare for the Computer-Mediated Communication course and it was MUCH easier to bookmark key concepts and less cumbersome than dragging books from campus to the house.

Please let me know if you have any questions and I will be happy to help!

Sincerely,

Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards
- Twitter/Instagram - @drjtedwards
- http://www.facebook.com/millennialprofessor/
- drjtedwards at gmail.com

Monday, February 22, 2016

Linking the Texas Core Objectives with the AACU High-Impact Educational Practices as a #LEAPTX Fellow

Since I was selected to join LEAP TX (Liberal Education and America's Promise) initiative (sponsored by the American Association of Colleges and Universities and the Lumina Foundation), I created a goal focused on learning MORE about academic and student affairs assessment practices and processes than ever before.

So, I signed to present a session about social media and to present the recap focused on the Texas LEAP initiative sustainability plan (after the grant ends). I am always excited to present about social media and higher education and this audience seemed eager to learn something new (or a new way of addressing a learning outcome through social media technologies).

Here's the presentation from that session.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1efvMhzo2ZEVtSg1h84Qw9hVWJmsMs2YIGD8UGY20l5s/edit?usp=docslist_api

Here is one of our pictures from the LEAP working meeting. Thanks for the opportunity - Loraine! :)

We created plans, assigned action items, and determined how we would spread our messages about the Texas Core Objectives (teamwork, social responsibility, critical thinking, personal responsibility, communication, and empirical and quantitative skills) with a LEAP emphasis (infusing high impact educational practices, GEMS, signature assignments (signature work), and MUCH MORE! I must emphasize that I have a slight bias toward high impact educational practices.

So, for the next few months, follow the #LEAPTX hashtag. Engage with us by sending resources and look forward to a "Call for Submissions" focused on the Texas Core Objectives. You will be able to submit your assignments, have them peer-reviewed, and then they will serve as a resource for the rest of the state of Texas (and other states - LEAP states and non-LEAP states).

This conference served as the SPRINGBOARD for helping me work toward my assessment goals. I am PUMPED about upcoming initiatives focused on the Texas Core Objectives and the High-Impact Educational Practices!

If you would like a refresher on the High-Impacted Educational Practices, here's a graphic I made for the #LEAPTX blog.

For more information about LEAPTX, check out this site - http://leaptx.org. If you have any questions about the presentation or LEAP Texas, please let me know! I serve as a LEAPTX fellow with FIVE individuals.

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Monday, November 16, 2015

Free Webinar for Higher Education Professionals - Easy Predictors: Quickly Explore Your Data to Find Trends, Relationships, and Predictors (Sponsored by AALHE)

If you are interested in higher education assessment, this is a great resource for you. This webinar is sponsored by Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher Education (AAHLE).

December 11, 2015

Easy Predictors: Quickly Explore Your Data to Find Trends, Relationships, and Predictors

at 10:00 AM EST - To register, go to:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/669880027553370369

Presented by David Eubanks, Ph.D. Furman University

Abstract: There are many software packages you can use to analyze data, but it can be very time consuming to master the arcane commands required, and even then it may take a while to get what you want. The intent of the webinar is to demonstrate a free online tool that can't solve all your data problems, but is very quick at letting you find out what-predicts-what within structured data. Instead of spending time looking up commands or clicking through menus, you can just ask questions and get answers. This Q&A is of a particular type that mimics the institutional effectiveness loop: first we identify something we care about, and then we find out what predicts it. If we care about student retention, what other variables predict retention and how are they related to each other? Once you master the simple interface, it is fast enough to use on the spot in committee meetings, to answer the inevitable "what if" questions.

The webinar will start with a brief overview of predictors and how we measure their effectiveness, and then use a public database of Titanic passengers to demonstrate the system by finding out what characteristics would have predicted survival of the tragedy. Then we will look at some survey data to see what elements predict student academic success.

(Information Shared from the AALHE Listserv)

Sincerely,

Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards

- Twitter/Instagram - @drjtedwards

- http://www.facebook.com/millennialprofessor/

- drjtedwards at gmail.com

Monday, October 19, 2015

My Recap from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board - Student Success Summit (Summer 2015)

This summer, I attended the Student Success Summit in Austin, TX (July 14-15). This event was sponsored by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board at the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa. This event served as a great brainstorming session for our team before entering the fall semester.

Disclosure - The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board covered the room and registration for this event for all participants.

This event featured Dean Vasti Torres from the College of Education at the University of South Florida in Tampa, FL. She was an amazing speaker and my notes filled several pages. In addition to Dean Torres, the sessions were wonderful as well - peer-to-peer instructional support models and interventions, minority student success strategies, course transformation and student engagement practices, and guided pathways. Here is the agenda for the event - http://txccrn.uh.edu/events/sss-2015/2015%20Student%20Success%20Summit%20Agenda%20Final.pdf

I attended the following sessions:
"How to Help People Remember What They Learn"
"How to Transform Learning...With Teaching"
"Implementing an Integrated, Comprehensive Academic Support for First-Year Students (TSU)
"Supplemental Instruction at UTSA - Promoting Student Success Through Peer Facilitated Study Groups"
"Supplemental Instruction - A Model for Course Success"

A few weeks ago, I was pleased to see the materials from the conference posted on the Texas College and Career Readiness Network. All of the presentations from these sessions are available on this link - Session Materials)