A SOTL Conversation in the Classroom

Sarah Ginsberg\u27s contribution to this volume explores critical lessons that Sarah learned while teaching using a hybrid model in an introductory special education class. Sarah began the project with an interest in how students perceive hybrid teaching models (part in-class and part online). Given significant movement within the academy toward online and hybrid models, Sarah\u27s insights into how students view this type of learning are important for all of us to examine. Students may not have embraced this model of education as much as they are purported to have done; they identify many of the same challenges (including lack of personal connection) that faculty members do. What stands out in this chapter is the discussion Sarah engaged in with her students about reflection. As future teachers, Sarah\u27s students no doubt benefited from her example of how teachers need to pay attention to what is happening in their classes, making mid-course corrections as needed. In actively reflecting on issues of big picture versus little picture learning with her students, Sarah brought students into the teaching and learning conversation

Increasing African American Student Success in Speech-Language Pathology Programs

At this time just under 8% of the speech-language pathologists in the United States identify themselves as minorities (ASHA, 2016a) despite the efforts of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association to increase diversity. African Americans are poorly represented in the field at 3% of the membership (ASHA, 2016a). In order to identify potential mechanisms for increasing the diversity of the field, 11 African American Speech-Language Pathologists were asked to provide recommendations for improving African American student retention in speech-language pathology undergraduate and graduate educational programs. Participants offered recommendations for how to increase the success rate of African American students in speech-language pathology programs, including providing culturally competent and caring mentorship, co-mentoring opportunities in educational programs, and connections to critical resources

Stories of Success: African American Speech-Language Pathologists’ Academic Resilience

Approximately 7.7% of the membership of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association identifies itself as being a minority in contrast with 23% of the United States population (ASHA, 2016; U.S. Census Bureau, 2014). In order to address this gap, undergraduate and graduate preparation programs need to be able to effectively attract, retain, and graduate clinicians that represent greater diversity. The academic resilience framework suggests that by learning about how students who are at-risk for failure were able to succeed, we can learn about how to improve the outcome for similar students. In this qualitative study, 11 African American speech-language pathologists were interviewed to identify barriers and keys to their academic success on route to becoming speech-language pathologists. Experiencing microaggressions during their educations, including being isolated and stereotyped, were commonly described barriers that needed to be managed. Participants identified caring mentors, a strong sense of determination, and the development of communities outside of their academic programs as keys to their academic success

The Impact of Faculty Feedback on Student Perceptions of Faculty-Student Relationships

This qualitive study examined four communication sciences and disorders (CSD) graduate students’ experiences with feedback from CSD faculty members to understand how it affected their relationships with faculty. Review of the literature revealed the importance and impact of feedback; however, it offered little research examining feedback within the field of CSD. Graduate CSD students who completed their undergraduate degrees in CSD were interviewed to reflect on feedback experiences they received from faculty during their undergraduate and graduate education. The students were also presented with two mock papers with differing feedback styles and were asked their reactions to the feedback. It was discovered that feedback received directly contributed to faculty’s overall perceived approachability, with more imbalanced critical feedback increasing the perception of unapproachability towards faculty members. Additionally, the feedback modality, language used, and balance of positive and negative comments strongly influenced participant’s perception of the feedback being given as an inherently pleasant or unpleasant

Toward an Integrated Model of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and Faculty Development

The authors explore the intersection of models of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and faculty development. They propose a new model that integrates the processes of faculty development with the methodologies and the culture of SoTL and suggests ways to enhance the work done by teaching faculty and by faculty developers. They recommend that faculty development centers use a model of a continuous circle wherein novices can learn to become experts and then use their knowledge and expertise to improve the work done by the center. This continuous circle model will help create a culture of inquiry and investigation where questions about teaching and learning are investigated and studied so that they build knowledge and feed back into the teaching others are doing

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences and Disorders: Past, Present, and Future

https://commons.emich.edu/sped_books/1000/thumbnail.jp

On the Culture of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

This article welcomes you to the first issue of TLCSD. In this brief paper, the members of the Editorial Board introduce you to the key concepts that include the value of evidence-based education in our field, the nature of SoTL research, and the corresponding framework for the submission categories that you will find within TLCSD. Particular emphasis is placed on describing the peer-review process, specifically the need for peer-reviews that provide constructive feedback that facilitates improvements in the manuscripts

Deer management generally reduces densities of nymphal Ixodes scapularis, but not prevalence of infection with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto

Human Lyme disease–primarily caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto (s.s.) in North America–is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States. Research on risk mitigation strategies during the last three decades has emphasized methods to reduce densities of the primary vector in eastern North America, the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis). Controlling white-tailed deer populations has been considered a potential method for reducing tick densities, as white-tailed deer are important hosts for blacklegged tick reproduction. However, the feasibility and efficacy of white-tailed deer management to impact acarological risk of encountering infected ticks (namely, density of host-seeking infected nymphs; DIN) is unclear. We investigated the effect of white-tailed deer density and management on the density of host-seeking nymphs and B. burgdorferi s.s. infection prevalence using surveillance data from eight national parks and park regions in the eastern United States from 2014–2022. We found that deer density was significantly positively correlated with the density of nymphs (nymph density increased by 49% with a 1 standard deviation increase in deer density) but was not strongly correlated with the prevalence of B. burgdorferi s.s. infection in nymphal ticks. Further, while white-tailed deer reduction efforts were followed by a decrease in the density of I. scapularis nymphs in parks, deer removal had variable effects on B. burgdorferi s.s. infection prevalence, with some parks experiencing slight declines and others slight increases in prevalence. Our findings suggest that managing white-tailed deer densities alone may not be effective in reducing DIN in all situations but may be a useful tool when implemented in integrated management regimes