TYCAT 2021 Virtual conference schedule
Friday, November 5
All times are eastern, and all sessions will be delivered via zoom.
Please complete free registration to receive the link.
845-855 am, Welcome and Instructions
9-950 am, Session 1
TYCAT Talk A, “‘Allegory of the Cave’ - Piercing the ‘Cave of Shadows’ in ENGL 1010”
Steve Alcorn - Walters State
In our ENGL 1010 courses, we strive to examine with our students the nature of argument, both the arguments that they make and the arguments that they examine. I have had a certain amount of success using one of Western Civilization’s oldest texts – “The Allegory of the Cave” by Plato – fairly extensively in ENGL 1010. I use it to not only facilitate discussions of critical thinking in general and of logical fallacies in particular, but also as a kind of “connective tissue” for many other, seemingly disparate aspects of the class, and I welcome the opportunity to share my results and observations.
TYCAT Talk B, “It is Hard Out Here for a Propagandist: How ‘Woke’ Culture is Killing My Game”
Joan W. Jean-Francois - Volunteer State
The deep racial divisions in America teach me that if one wants to fight off propaganda, one must be a propagandist. Distorted information is easily accessed and is presented as absolute. A student who does not have the proper skills to decipher the differences between biased and unbiased information will accept anything. To empower my students, especially my Modern World Literature class, I encourage them to be part of the conversation instead of listening to it, no matter how uncomfortable the conversation is. Being a participant and a bystander are two different things. Providing students with historical/background information, designing homework assignments, and strategically choosing reading assignments are some of my approaches to fighting propaganda in my classroom.
TYCAT Talk C, “Using Mini-Literacy Narratives to Establish Reader/Writer Roles in Composition”
Anna Childs - Pellissippi State
In the theory of reading, Louise Rosenblatt emphasized the necessary connection between writers and readers when communication occurs. Rosenblatt held that individuals who wished to communicate needed to exist as both promoters and receptors of communication, or as writers and readers. As a writing professor working on a dissertation about using creative assignments in composition, I have considered how I might equip students to visualize themselves in the dual position Rosenblatt advocated. It is my belief that as students write, they need to become aware of their interpretations of life and experience as well as their engagement with others and with the world. In this way, I attempt to teach my students both writerly and readerly awareness, or an awareness of themselves as writers and readers. To promote such awareness, I’ve started relying on expressive, narrative assignments as my students and I begin each semester. One such assignment I use is a mini-literacy narrative, in which students recall and describe their earliest memories and associations with words. In a short presentation, I would like to share some of my experiences using this assignment and discuss how creative assignments enable composition instructors to foster the communicative awareness that Rosenblatt recommended.
10-1050 am, Session 2
Roundtable A, “Diversity in the ‘Classroom’ Online and (Remember?) On-Ground”
Sherri Mahoney Jacobs - Walters State
Diversity and inclusiveness are more than just catch-phrases; it is essential that best practices in our classrooms create a safe and purposeful atmosphere, whether online or on-ground, for students to grow both academically and socially. In an increasingly fragmented world that is at the same time becoming a more global community, encouraging students to feel included and valued motivates them to appreciate others also. Preparing our students to connect with peers, coworkers, and their larger community should be a focus for our classrooms, especially currently. Come and share the ways to accomplish this in our current online situations and ultimately in the on-ground classes that we may eventually be in…again…someday.
Roundtable B, “How to Get it Done Fast (and Well): Seven-Week-Class Tragedies Strategies”
Josh Johnson - Chattanooga State
In our academic lives, we have all been asked to do difficult things; however, we probably never imagined we would be asked to teach Composition courses to incoming community college freshman in seven weeks. Faced with this daunting task, how do we proceed? Is it even possible to cover all the material? Does this dramatic reduction in class time fundamentally change our delivery of the course, as well as how we assess student work? This roundtable will focus on the strategies involved in teaching such fast-paced courses, as well as the limits these courses may face. Bring your best ideas and let’s figure this thing out together.
Roundtable C, “‘Can I Submit My Paper 13 Weeks Late?’ - Determining Appropriate Flexibility in the Classroom Amidst a Pandemic”
Jamie Gorczyca, Arlo Hall, Jessie McKinney, and Kelly Ormsby - Volunteer State
If a student reappears in your class after missing two weeks due to COVID, would you help them get caught up? Hopefully. But what if a student misses another four weeks to take care of a family? What about the students who ask if they can complete a semester’s worth of work in just two weeks? At what point does instructor flexibility compromise a student’s education? As instructors, we want to show our students empathy, and we want them to succeed. We strive to teach students self-advocacy and personal responsibility, but sometimes it’s tough to determine the appropriate amount of flexibility when students fall behind. When is flexibility harmful? In this roundtable, we will examine possible class-based hidden expectations in a college classroom, define what it even means to be flexible, and discuss our most successful practices for treating students with empathy without lowering our standards.
11-1150 am, session 3
TYCAT Talk A, “When Words and Numbers Collide: How to Develop a Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration between English and Math Students”
Krysten Anderson - Roane State
At Roane State, our current QEP topic is focused on collaborative learning and project-based learning, both of which are high-impact practices that encourage student engagement. For the past year, a math professor and I have been using the topic of food insecurity as we worked to create a cross-disciplinary project between students in her Probability and Statistics course and students in my Composition I course. After a test-run with our online classes this past spring, we’re trying the project again this semester, but this time, our classes are on-campus and are meeting at the same time. Over the past several months, we’ve discovered that a flexible approach works best when it comes to executing a cross-disciplinary project, so we plan to use this semester’s experience to further develop and refine our methods for future collaborations.
TYCAT Talk B, “Peer Review in Freshman Composition: Implementing ELI Review in 7-Week Hybrid Composition Courses”
Kimberly Carter and Thomas Drake Farmer - Chattanooga State
In writing courses, revision is a central component of writing, and targeted feedback is key to the revision process. We will present a pilot of Eli Review, a peer editing software program, in a 7-week hybrid English 1010 course at Chattanooga State Community College. In this pilot, we are gathering information about Eli Review implementation issues, student implementation of peer feedback, and the feasibility and usefulness of peer review in a fast-track course. We expect that Eli Review’s structured format and Write, Review, Revise cycle will prove useful to the students, especially those who struggle with writing.
TYCAT Talk C, “Adventures in Ungrading: An Exploration of Successes and Disasters”
Vicki Davis - Volunteer State
“Ungrading” is gaining popularity in Composition Studies circles. While there are many different forms ungrading can take, they all share an underlying philosophy: grades often impede student learning by encouraging students to focus on obtaining points rather than strong writing skills. I took the calls for flexibility during the Covid-19 pandemic as an opportunity to experiment with specifications grading, one type of ungrading. In my experience, this method has shifted conversations with students from haggling over rubric points to asking questions that privilege deeper understanding of course content. However, due to their unfamiliarity with the process, students can experience anxiety and uncertainty about their grades. I have reworked my system three times over the past three semesters with differing levels of success. I am eager to share what’s working, what didn’t, and what I’m still figuring out to prompt a conversation about feedback and assessment practices that can best support student learning.
12-1250 pm, Brown bag luncheon and virtual trivia
Thanks to our colleague Laura Black (Volunteer State) for putting together the lunchtime virtual trivia event.
1-150 pm, session 4
Roundtable A, “Easy as ABC, 123 - Making the Most of Writing Prompts”
Andrea Franckowiak, Janet Adair, and Becky Bobbitt - Dyersburg State
Zoom, Hybrid, 7 week classes, masked face-to-face, or the newest software/trend/approach . . . faculty have faced a “new normal” since March 2020. This roundtable presentation addresses how we make the most of writing prompts in our classrooms. This session also allows participants to share pedagogical successes/challenges, learn new techniques for the classroom, and offer exciting approaches to teaching. Be prepared to explore and share!
Roundtable B, “Shifting Modalities and 7-Weeks Classes: A Discussion of the Deep Impact of the Pandemic on Our Classroom Practices”
Laura Matravers and Mindy Griffin - Chattanooga State
The last 18 months and counting have forced faculty and students to adapt to ever-changing (and often shocking) circumstances in both our personal and professional lives, and the global pandemic that continues to march on has significantly impacted how we teach and our students learn. The sudden shift to 7-week classes at Chattanooga State has forced further change, adaptation, and resilience. In this roundtable, we will engage participants in a discussion of how the events of 2020-2021 have shaped our classroom practices and approaches to teaching first-year composition. Topics covered will include the following: the impacts of shifting modalities (teaching online synchronous /asynchronous classes and in-person classes), working with student populations that are disproportionately impacted by the rippling social and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and unique college initiatives that took flight during/despite the pandemic. The goals of this roundtable are to not only discuss how significantly both faculty and students have been impacted, but also to celebrate successes and share visions for the future of our classrooms, whatever the surprises are that lie ahead.
Roundtable C, “Course Level Assessment of ENGL 1010: Creating a Robust Tool for Measuring Student Success”
Moira Connelly and Geoff Fogleman - Pellissippi State
All ENGL 1010 courses in the TBR system are assessed based on the same seven TBR Communications Learning Outcomes. Because we are all trying to assess the same Learning Outcomes, we would like to host a roundtable about course-level assessment of ENGL 1010. We will start by presenting our own recent experience revising our current 1010 assessment as a case study. In the English Department at Pellissippi, we have just completed an assessment cycle for ENGL 1010. As a result, this semester we had the opportunity to revisit our assessment tool. To begin this session, we would like to share our process for creating a new assessment tool for ENGL 1010. This process involved tackling the following issues: understanding the assessment cycle, critiquing and revising our current assessment tool, getting faculty feedback on the proposal for a new tool, weighing the time the new assessment tool will take to score, revising the tool used to score the assessment, deciding between embedded assessment or summative assessment, and considering how to assess the writing process.