Suzanne Bessette, NMC Biology faculty member, recently attended the Association of College and University Biology Educators (ACUBE) Annual Meeting at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She also took Swoop with her. Check out the incredible Swoopy’s Conference in Milwaukee photo album she put together. Here’s what Suzanne had to say about the experience: 

What was the name of the conference/PD opportunity you attended?

Association of College and University Biology Educators Annual Meeting

When and where did the event take place?

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Oct. 18-19.

Please share details from a memorable keynote speaker, conference session, or something else notable from the event:

Keynote speaker Dr. Julia Metzger did not merely lecture on the merits of creating engaging and inclusive classes. Rather, she gave us practical and evidence-backed ideas for creating teaching goals in three areas (engagement, inclusiveness, and self-care,) emphasizing that it’s up to every teacher to determine their own goals instead of merely following what others are doing. She also focused on three teaching tools (not policies or institutional goals) that have been proven to support at-risk students and close the achievement gap: (1) highly structured class design, (2) targeted supports (providing resources in and out of the classroom to give students the tools/skills they need to succeed), and (3) educator mindset (the educator must BELIEVE students can do the work and succeed.)

How likely are you to recommend this opportunity to a colleague? 

Neutral

Do you have any big takeaways that you’ll be applying to your pedagogy in the near future?

The conference presentations supported my ongoing efforts to include active learning in every class session and my PASSION for highly-organized syllabi and course structure, so I’ll continue to do those things. I am going to think carefully about some better ways for me to link students directly to student services (NMC’s targeted supports), which I recently learned more about during NMC’s fall conference.

Is there anything else you’d like CIE or your colleagues at NMC to know about this experience? 

For biology educators interested in progressive ideas about course design and student-focused teaching, I’d recommend this conference with a couple cautions. I expected it to focus exclusively on teaching and student support. However, a number of sessions were on graduate student development and improving student access to higher education (interesting but not really relevant), and they also gave significant time to a couple educational services companies to make pitches.