“Seek & Find: Connections”, LAND Conference, Liberal Arts Network for Development, Muskegon MI.– February 2017
Abstract: As Educators we are always looking for tangible ways to connect what we are teaching in the classroom to the world outside the college walls. We want our students to understand how our topics in the classroom are actually relevant to their “real life” and yet, they struggle to make such connections. For example in art history the artworks can seem very far removed from our students’ daily experiences, thus students struggle to find a personal connection. So, how can we get our students excited as we are about our course topics and at the same time stress relevancy? One active way to connect students’ everyday experiences, with the added bonus of encouraging our students to observe the communities within which they live/work is through the use of “scavenger hunts.” In this short talk, I will share several ways the format of scavenger hunts can deepen student engagement with the topics/concepts being discussed in class, as well as stimulate excitement about connections they discover. I will share examples of assignments that range from low-tech pencil-and-paper to those that exploit the use of social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook and LMS platforms such as Blackboard and Canvas.
Abstract: As Educators we are always looking for tangible ways to connect what we are teaching in the classroom to the world outside the college walls. We want our students to understand how our topics in the classroom are actually relevant to their “real life” and yet, they struggle to make such connections. For example in art history the artworks can seem very far removed from our students’ daily experiences, thus students struggle to find a personal connection. So, how can we get our students excited as we are about our course topics and at the same time stress relevancy? One active way to connect students’ everyday experiences, with the added bonus of encouraging our students to observe the communities within which they live/work is through the use of “scavenger hunts.” In this short talk, I will share several ways the format of scavenger hunts can deepen student engagement with the topics/concepts being discussed in class, as well as stimulate excitement about connections they discover. I will share examples of assignments that range from low-tech pencil-and-paper to those that exploit the use of social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook and LMS platforms such as Blackboard and Canvas.
