Educators Across Kentucky Gather for the Pedagogicon
Since 1986, Kentucky educators have come together in the interest of enhancing teaching practices. With the goal of continuing in the pursuit of excellent teaching, Drs. Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe, and Russell Carpenter organized the annual Pedagogicon Conference for Practicing Scholarly and Creative Teaching, utilizing the resources of the Noel Studio for Academic Creativity and EKU Libraries.
A group of 175 educators from across Kentucky gathered in the Crabbe Library’s Grand Reading Room for the opening plenary by Dr. Robert L. King, the president of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, and Eastern’s Provost, Dr. Janna Vice. Following an insightful message regarding the need for ongoing professional development, participants disbursed for the first of six sessions.
Among the topics of discussion was the prospect of developing more creative methods of teaching. In his session, “A Creative Campus: Developing Creative Problem Solving in All Students,” Ryan Hargrove detailed his strategy for encouraging students to explore metacognition. One of the many assignments he has developed involves students creating a physical representation of their thought processes. Providing students with the mechanisms to think about the manner in which they comprehend new material, he explained, enables them to more consciously and productively interact with their own education.
Presenters also elaborated on issues of technology integration in the classroom. Drs. Taylor Thompson, Andrea Peach, and Harold Peach facilitated a session entitled “How We Use Technology to Enhance and Transform Teaching.” Among their suggestions were: asking students to film and edit a video, create a wiki, participate in group blogging, and orchestrate Google hangouts. Like Hargrove, the three emphasized the importance of student creativity, and discussed assignments designed to promote the highest level of cognition.
The sessions themselves were not the only successful element of the conference, however. A leisurely lunch allowed faculty to interact with one another, sharing their responses to the information, the space, and their goals as educators. By gathering myriad Kentucky instructors together in the Studio, a place which, itself, promotes academic creativity, Pedagogicon encouraged growth in both post-secondary institutions across the state. An atmosphere of collaboration and fellowship contributed to the open sharing of ideas. Following the final session, attendees gathered once more in the Grand Reading Room of Crabbe Library for a closing plenary, and concluded the conference united in the common goal of improving the education of Kentucky’s students. Those interested in participating in next year’s Pedagogicon can contact Russell Carpenter at (859)-622-7403 or russell.carpenter@eku.edu.
By: Rachel Winter, Noel Studio Graduate Consultant
Published on June 05, 2014