Collaborations

Introduction to Data Science (shared course)

LACOL

In Summer 2019 …

Introduction to Data Science (co-taught course, shared digitally)

Syllabus and FAQ: See course gateway

Learning Objectives:

  1. Familiarity and expertise in basic coding (R/RStudio).
  2. Understanding of theory and application of basic concepts in statistics.
  3. Ability to write and present technical material to diverse audiences.

Course Sequence:

  • Intensive 8-week course with data lab component (fully digital)
  • Student centered learning design including pre-recorded lectures, real-time lectures, and laboratory/supported work time
  • Course co-taught by instructors from LACOL schools 
  • Delivery is fully online with some scheduled and some asynchronous events.

Course Team: see course gateway

Lightning Talk – Learn about this project in just 6.5 minutes!


Presented May 22, 2019 at the Bryn Mawr Blended Learning Conference

Course Topics Include: (more…)

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Cultivating Student Leadership in a More Inclusive Liberal Arts Classroom

LACOL

Mini-Conference: Cultivating Student Leadership to Foster a More Inclusive Liberal Arts Classroom
Location: Amherst College Center for Teaching and Learning (Frost Library)
Date: April 5, 2019
Agenda: Student Leadership – April 5 Agenda
Invited Speaker: Bryan Dewsbury, University of Rhode Island
amherst CTLHost: Amherst College Center for Teaching and Learning in partnership with Being Human in STEM and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (more…)

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Sensemaker Team Data Review – April 4 at Amherst College

LACOL

Event: Exploring Complexity through Student Micro-Narratives with Sensemaker
Host: Sensemaker Team Leads (Kristen Eshleman, Brent Maher, Annie Sadler, Paul Youngman)
Date: April 4
Time: 1:00pm-5:00pm (optional group lunch at 12:00pm; details tba)
Location: The Powerhouse, Amherst College
Attendees: Sensemaker Teams (Davidson, Hamilton, Haverford, Washington & Lee)
Sensemaker: http://lacol.net/category/collaborations/projects/inclusive-pedagogies
Project Website: http://emergentedu.org

(more…)

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Language Instruction Jam 2019

LACOL

BMC JamEvent: Language Instruction Jam
Location: Bryn Mawr College, Canaday Library
Date: March 23-24
Agenda: Language Jam Agenda
Attendees: Language Instruction working group and project teams

Full agenda & highlights:

  • CHIANTI: Ample time devoted to collaborative workshopping on CHIANTI, the shared teaching resource for college-level language instruction; participants will explore the resources that have been gathered so far (including student and faculty reflection videos on liberal arts language learning), brainstorm on ideas for the emerging platform, and work on building additional content.
  • SKILLS DASHBOARD: Demonstration and brainstorming on the language skills question bank and dashboard prototype – initially developed for French last year, with future possibilities for other languages.
  • DIGITAL TOOLS for LANGUAGE LEARNING: Colleagues across LACOL shared experiences with digital pedagogies and tools for language instruction. 

(more…)

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Bayesian Statistics – Shared Course Opportunity, Fall 2019

LACOL
Jingchen (Monika) Hu, Assistant Professor of Statistics at Vassar College
Prof. Monika Hu, Vassar College

Shared LACOL Course: Bayesian Statistics
Instructor: Professor Jingchen (Monika) Hu, Vassar College
Syllabus & Enrollment Info: http://bit.ly/bayesian-stats
Course Flyer: Bayesian Statistics PDF
Topics and Objectives:

  1. Understanding of basic concepts in Bayesian statistics and ability to apply Bayesian inference approaches to solve scientific research problems and real-word problems.
  2. Ability and skills to use statistical programming software (R/RStudio and JAGS) to realize Bayesian analysis.
  3. Practice of reading, discussing, and critiquing statistics research journal papers.

(more…)

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Local and Global Decisions: Digital Competency Initiatives, Development and Assessment

LACOL

Event: Pre-Conference Liberal Arts Workshop at ELI (Session)
Title: Local and Global Decisions: Digital Competency Initiatives, Development and Assessment
Date: February 19, 2019
Venue: EDUCAUSE ELI Annual Conference
Location: Anaheim, California
Registration: Opens Nov 5
Time: 8am-11am PT
Facilitators:

  • Donnie Sendelbach, Director of Educational Technology Services, Denison University
  • Jennifer Spohrer, Director of Educational Technology, Bryn Mawr College
  • Mo Pelzel, Director of Academic Technology, Grinnell College
  • Ted Wilder, Associate Director of Information Technology, Macalester College
  • Liz Evans, Director of Liberal Arts Collaborative for Digital Innovation (LACOL)
  • Ed Finn, Liaison for Innovation and Collaboration in Teaching and Learning, Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM)

Abstract: Digital competency initiatives begin from shared global objectives but must adapt to local culture and structures to succeed. Collaboration helps define needs and goals, but how can we collaboratively assess programs that adopt intensely local variations? In this pre-conference workshop, we will present multiple examples of program development with overlapping goals. After examining existing efforts on attendees’ campuses, they will develop plans for their own initiatives, considering local circumstances. We will then brainstorm with participants about how to collaboratively assess the impact of digital competency initiatives. Moreover, we will determine what evidence of impact would be meaningful to different stakeholders.

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Digital Competencies Working Group

LACOL

The LACOL Digital Competencies Working Group has formed to build on prior work related to Digital Competencies, Digital Studies, Digital Fluency, and Digital Literacy.  These terms cover a group of related concepts, all of which reflect concepts and skills that are vital to the 21st Century learner and citizen … what we might call Digital Agility.

New Publication:
Digital Agility: Embracing a Holistic Approach to Digital Literacy in the Liberal Arts
by Beth Bohstedt and Sundi Richard (Jan 8, 2020, EDUCAUSEreview, Transforming Higher Ed.)   This post, co-authored by Sundi and Beth, developed out of ongoing working group discussions in 2019.

The goals of the working group are to make concrete progress on ideas develop at the 2017 Think Tank and 2018 discussions.  LACOL members are invited to join the group; reach out for more information!

  • Group members include faculty, librarians, technologists, instructional designers.
  • A top priority is adjusting the language of the Bryn Mawr Framework to fit individual/collective needs of our schools. Major elements of the Bryn Mawr framework are:
    • Digital Survival Skills
    • Digital Communication
    • Data Management and Preservation
    • Data Analysis and Presentation
    • Critical Making, Design and Development
  • Another priority is developing a shared survey of recent grads on their acquisition, use, and needs for digital competencies.
  • Some in the group will engage with liberal arts research around competencies that are critical to the future of work – what fits and what are the disconnects?
  • These ingredients will be used to engage with faculty more deeply in student-centered digital competency conversations and collaborations.

Roadmap:

JANUARY 2019 – Create a statement about using the Bryn Mawr Digital Competencies Framework as the starting point for developing institution specific frameworks. (more…)

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Webinar: Data Science on ramps and scaffolds (Nov 9)

LACOL

Event: Data Science: On ramps and scaffolds
Location: ZOOM web conference
Date: Friday, November 9
Time: 1:00-2:00pm Eastern
Discussion Leads: 
⇒ Ming-Wen An, Assoc. Professor of Statistics, Vassar College
⇒ Ella Foster-Molina, Teaching Associate, Quantitative Skills Laboratory, Swarthmore College

Prework:

Related Event: Envisioning a “What is data science?” webinar for students (Oct 1, 2018)

Description: Following on from the lively July webinar focused on the NAS Data Science for Undergraduates report (nap.edu/25104), LACOL DS+ members are invited to join a follow up webinar .

(more…)

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Inclusive Pedagogies – Assessment Design Jam at Davidson College

LACOL

Event: Inclusive Pedagogies – Sensemaker Assessment Design Jamwork with stories
Location: Davidson College
Date: October 18, 2018
Leads: 

  • Kristen Eshleman, Director of Digital Innovation, Davidson College
  • Brent Maher, Director of Academic Assessment, Davidson College
  • Annie Sadler, Digital Design Fellow, Davidson College
  • Paul Youngman, Associate Provost and Professor of German, Washington & Lee University

Agenda: https://emergentedu.org

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Envisioning a “What is data science?” webinar (Oct 1)

LACOL

Event: Envisioning a “What is data science?” webinar for students
Location: ZOOM web conference (rsvp to eevans@haverford.edu for a meeting invite)
Date: Monday, October 1
Time: 12:00 – 1:00 pm Eastern
Discussion Leads: 
⇒ Deborah Gross, Professor of Chemistry, Carleton College
⇒ Helen White, Assoc. Professor of Chemistry and Environmental Studies, Haverford College

Prework: add your topic ideas HERE

Related Event: Data Science on ramps and scaffolds (Nov 9, 2018)

Description: Following on from the lively July webinar focused on the NAS Data Science for Undergraduates report (nap.edu/25104), LACOL DS+ members are invited to join a follow up webinar.
(more…)

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After MERLOT? CHIANTI.

LACOL

Update on the shared grammar resource, summer 2018.

Convened by Chico Zimmerman and Clara Hardy (Carleton College), about a dozen faculty and technologists met at the workshop to make progress on ideas that emerged from several separate Zoom meetings in the two months preceding the conference. Eventually, the discussions centered on three main elements to focus on moving forward in the near term:

  • A set of videos featuring LACOL language instructors and students reflecting on the college-level language-learning experience. These videos will be available for sharing with all LACOL institutions by the end of the summer (see next bullet).
  • A self-curated online digital library of shareable resources for LACOL language instructors, for which a proof-of-concept site has been created and tentatively named CHIANTI (as a more appealing version of MERLOT). The (currently WordPress) site would allow for submissions from LACOL language instructors and would be searchable by category and tags. The initial categories will be in the area of:
    • General tips for college-level language learning, including research on adult L2 acquisition
    • English grammar for L2 learners, including models or maps that integrate all aspects of language
    • Phonology
  • An interactive glossary of grammatical and linguistic terms from which instructors can draw for their own pedagogical purposes and to which they can contribute their own definitions and examples.

The CHIANTI site will continue to be built through the summer and populated with some initial resources for testing. A prototype submission form has been drafted and will be tested and finalized through the summer as well.  The group will be soliciting contributions once these elements are finalized.
(more…)

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Data Science for Undergraduates: Opportunities and Options … a liberal arts conversation

LACOL

Event: Discussion of the NAS Data Science for Undergraduates Report
Location: ZOOM web conference
Date: Thursday, July 12
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM Eastern
Discussion Leader: Professor Nicholas Horton, Amherst College

Following on from the lively Data Science meets Environmental Studies meet up at the 2018 LACOL summer workshop, LACOL members are invited to join an online conversation to discuss faculty perspectives on the newly released Data Science for Undergraduates: Opportunities and Options report from the National Academies of Science. (More about the NAS report is here: http://nap.edu/25104)

Discussion of the report through a liberal arts lens will be lead by Dr. Nick Horton, Professor of Statistics at Amherst College.  Nick served as contributor to the report on the Committee on Envisioning the Data Science Discipline: the Undergraduate Perspective.   As he and colleagues at the summer workshop note, there is considerable potential to engage with each other as liberal arts colleges around curriculum development (see ASA Guideline, developed with AALAC) and other ways to support students learning to work with data.

Faculty and academic support specialists interested in data science education across the curriculum are encouraged to join this conversation!

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Welcome to the Data Science+ Group Page

LACOL

Based on conversations at the 2018 LACOL Summer Workshop, an active working group has emerged for Data Science, with a special interest in intersections with Environmental Studies as a data-intensive discipline.

Group Resource Page: Shared by/for Group Members  (submit resources here.)

Areas of collaboration:

  • A webinar series (see below) and study group on data science in the liberal arts.
  • Identifying key data science skills and information falling between curricular cracks at LACOL schools and provide existing resources to begin addressing them.
  • Developing a repository to share software tutorials, commentary, wrappers, assignments, etc., that help teach students to use important tools.
  • Developing a consortium-wide “Intro to Critical Data Collection and Analysis” course.
  • Exploring options for managing research data collections from sensors or data generated collaboratively with other researchers; design requirements or existing database solutions for data sharing, and analysis.

 

(more…)

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Measuring Complex Domains for the Liberal Arts

LACOL

Session: Measuring Complex Domains for the Liberal Arts (Inclusive Pedagogies) with Sensemaker
Resources:
⇒ Project site: https://emergentedu.org
⇒ About Sensemaker: http://cognitive-edge.com/sensemaker/#sensemaker-about
Leads:
⇒ Kristen Eshleman, Director of Digital Innovation, Davidson College
⇒ Brent Maher, Director of Academic Assessment, Davidson College
⇒ Annie Sadler, Instructional Design Fellow, Davidson College
⇒ Paul Youngman, Prof. of German, Chair, Digital Humanities, Washington & Lee University

WATCH!  Intro video (15 min)

Innovations in assessment can directly address a key challenge for our institutions – demonstrating our value in a time of increasing skepticism about the liberal arts.

On April 27, Davidson College and Washington & Lee University hosted a LACOL workshop to explore an assessment tool and method called  Sensemaker that has the potential to manage and account for the complex domains of learning.  Pursuing a research design as a network of allied liberal arts institutions provides evidence at scale while building capacity for experimentation and innovation at each of our institutions.  (more…)

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Data Science meets Environmental Studies at LACOL 2018

LACOL

Workshop Track: Data Science meets Environmental Studies – Exploration
Facilitators:

  • Cailin Huyck Orr, Assistant Director, Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College
  • Kristin O’Connell, Evaluation and Education Specialist, SERC

Program: Session Agendas
Part 1: May 31, 9:30am, Weitz 136
Part 2: June 1, 10:30am, Weitz 230
OLI Discussion: May 31, 3:30pm, Weitz 136

ds diagramThe intersection between Data Science and Environmental Studies is emerging as an area of focus for LACOL as we explore opportunities for collaboration around digitally engaged modes of teaching and learning for the liberal arts.

Several colleges are currently developing programming under the umbrella of Data Science, including critical algorithm studies, big data, data visualization, and data privacy/security. Meanwhile, most LACOL schools have a data-intensive Environmental Studies concentration or major. Interdisciplinary by nature, these areas of study challenge students to understand and work with data from many angles. Students engage in analysis, problem solving, critical thinking, and modes of argument that are deeply connected to social, cultural, political, and aesthetic ideas. Considering such programs, LACOL is thinking about ways that digital collaboration might enrich teaching and learning in this arena.

(more…)

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Digital Competencies and Digital Studies – LACOL 2018

LACOL

Session: Digital Competencies and Digital Studies
Discussion Leaders:

  • Gina Siesing, Chief Information Officer and Constance A. Jones Director of Libraries, Bryn Mawr College
  • Austin Mason, Assistant Director of the Humanities Center for the Digital Humanities and Lecturer in History, Carleton College

Date/Time: Thursday, May 31, 9:30am-10:30am
Location: Weitz 236
Pre-workshop activity/instructions: Group annotation of the BMC Framework

 

A. Mason, Carleton College
G. Siesing, Bryn Mawr College

To build upon foundations laid at the Think Tank on Digital Competencies at Davidson College last fall, an interactive session exploring digital competencies and digital studies across the curriculum will be featured at the the 2018 Summer Workshop.

This discussion will focus on how digital competencies and digital studies programs connect with faculty priorities and practices for teaching and learning in the physical and virtual classroom and how digital competencies support and relate to other learning goals.

To approach these questions, Siesing and Mason will guide:

  • An overview of Bryn Mawr College’s digital competencies framework as one model to stimulate exploration of campus-wide digital literacy programs in the liberal arts, integrating faculty, staff and student comments from the pre-workshop annotation activity.
  • A look at Carleton College’s visioning around curricular pathways for Digital Studies.
  • Discussion of related initiatives across liberal arts colleges, to be continued beyond the session.

As input into this discussion, all workshop attendees are invited and encouraged to share reflections in advance by joining in the Group annotation of the BMC Framework.

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