Campus & Community

Nineteen Palm Beach State College faculty ― a record number ― are presenting this week at the Association of Florida Colleges International Conference on Teaching and Learning that is underway in Orlando.

The three-day conference, which ends Friday, brings together leading academic professors, researchers, and instructors to exchange and share their experiences and research results about all aspects of college teaching and learning.  It also provides the premier interdisciplinary forum for researchers, practitioners and educators to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends and concerns, practical challenges encountered and the solutions adopted in the field of college teaching and learning.

The conference was initially established by Florida State College at Jacksonville in 1990, but it was revamped and taken over by AFC, which is presenting its inaugural event this year. The theme is “Excel, Empower, Teach: Rethinking Pedagogy and Rigor in the 21st Century College.”  Keynote speaker Jeffrey Selingo kicked off the conference in a plenary session.  He is a best-selling author, award-winning columnist, former top editor of the Chronicle of Higher Education and regular contributor to the Washington Post.  He is also a special advisor and professor of practice at Arizona State University and a visiting scholar at Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities.

“We are excited that AFC has broadened its scope and created a forum to engage both academic and students affairs leaders in vigorous conversation about teaching and learning,” said Dr. Tunjarnika Coleman-Ferrell, dean of academic affairs at the PBSC Boca Raton campus and AFC president. “The conference theme is a reminder to us all of the commitment we make daily to our students and to the profession of higher education.”

PBSC’s administration has made faculty development a priority and received overwhelming response from faculty interested in sharing their expertise at the conference.  PBSC President Ava Parker, J.D., said she is impressed by the number of College faculty who will be presenting at AFC.  “This demonstrates the quality of teaching and instruction taking place at our institution. We encourage our faculty to take advantage of opportunities for growth, as well as opportunities to share their best practices and expertise to enhance the learning experiences for students everywhere.”

The faculty and their sessions are:

• IA: It’s Not What You Think – Michele Milano, Candace Walker
• Computer Programming is More Than Programming Computers – Virginia Carneiro de Paula
• The Value of a Life Story: Bringing Home Discourses to the Composition Classroom – Melissa Carr
• Master Online Teaching and Technology and Run a Rockin’ Course – Tracy Ciucci
• Closing the Perception Gap between Students and their Professors – Suzanne Duff
• Consistency in Composition: Focus on Student Success – Africa Fine
• Giving Back to the Community through Environment based Service Learning Project – Dr. Gokarna Gharti-Chhetri
• Integrating the Fight Against Human Trafficking into Service Learning Initiatives – Kanathy Haney
• Integrating Technology into Innovative Learning Spaces in STEM Courses – Dr. Chasity O’Malley and Carolyn Allen
• Happiness and the Academy; Improve Student Outcomes through Non-Cognitive Domains – Dr. Jeannette Sullivan
• In It to Win It: Service Learning Argumentation – Carrie Thompson
• It’s All About Reading, Thinking Questioning (and Humor) – Patrick Tierney
• From Backpack to Graduation Cap “The Impact of Guided Pathways” – Juliett Tracey
• Equity Pedagogy in the College Classroom – Kalisha Waldon
• Understanding the Needs of the Nontraditional First Year College Student so as to Better Serve Them – Alison Collman

Follow the conference on the AFC Facebook and Twitter pages.