By Caroline Lynch, UConn ECE Graduate Assistant, Master’s Student, UConn, Higher Education and Student Affairs
It’s been a busy semester for our certified ECE instructors; as of today (November 8, 2024) we have already had the pleasure of hosting 15 professional development events, both on- and off-campus, 
in-person and virtual. Instructors from Philosophy, American Studies, Maritime Studies, U. S. History, Medieval Studies, Civil Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Biology, Chinese, Marine Sciences, Music, Economics, Physics, Sustainable Plant and Soil Systems, Sociology, and English, along with our ECE Library Media Specialists, have had the opportunity to connect with their colleagues, faculty coordinators, and the ECE program staff so far this school year! We would like to take the time to highlight some of these incredible events and thank all attendees and organizers for their efforts this semester.
September 27, 2024: AMST/MAST/U.S. History at Mystic Seaport
Late September marked the beginning of a new initiative for Early College Experience: interdisciplinary professional development experiences. Approximately 75 instructors from Maritime Studies, American Studies, and U.S. History convened at Mystic Seaport Museum, where they had the opportunity to explore the Seaport’s current featured exhibit, Entwined: Freedom, Sovereignty, and the Sea, following a discussion by the exhibit’s curator, Dr. Akeia de Barros Gomes. Additionally, instructors engaged in several hands-on sessions around the museum property. These included a rope-making activity, a tour of the oldest commercial ship still afloat in the U.S., as well as a visit to the museum’s library, where instructors engaged with primary sources which highlighted Connecticut’s rich whaling and maritime history.
October 4, 2024: Medieval Studies (HIST 1300) Workshop
To kick off our October events, instructors from Medieval Studies convened on the UConn Storrs campus, to engage in conversation surrounding the Mali Empire in Western Africa with guest speaker Professor Christine Cooper-Rompato, of Utah State University. Attendees were asked to grapple with their personal connections to the continent, and interacted with a variety of resources (maps, articles, historical documents, videos, etc.) to enhance understanding.
October 15, 2024: Environmental Sciences at CAES
Our Environmental Sciences instructors traveled to New Haven, CT for their professional development experience this year. Under the guidance of Associate Professor Morty Ortega, the group explored the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, and received several informative lectures from resident scientists, including Dr. Scott Williams and Dr. Megan Linske, who both received their Ph.D.’s from the University of Connecticut! Lecture topics included integrated tick management research from Dr. Williams, “Diversity and Disease: Assessing Backyards for Tick Bite Prevention and Awareness” from Dr. Linske, and Monarch butterfly biology and conservation courtesy of Dr. Kelsey Fisher.
October 18, 2024: Chinese via Webex
Our first virtual PD of the year. Chinese instructors met on Friday, 10/18, and thanks to the virtual modality, they were given the opportunity to hear from Professor Zhiying Qian out of Florida State University. Professor Qian delivered a fascinating lecture on the emerging relationship between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Chinese language instruction.
October 23, 2024: Economics Workshop
The UConn Storrs campus hosted our Economics instructors on Wednesday, 10/23, in collaboration with faculty coordinator Natalia Smirnova, Associate Professor in Residence. The event began 
with some exciting stories of ECE student successes (congratulations to Cheshire High School for placing 3rd in their Future Business Leaders of America competition!), and brainstorming classroom activities. Several guest speakers joined us in the afternoon, including Ariel Slonim, curriculum designer for Marginal RevolutionUniversity, a nonprofit dedicated to providing everyone with a “world-class economic education”, and Mary Claire Peate, a Senior Economic Education Specialist from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
October 29, 2024: SPSS Workshop with CIPWG
SPSS instructors were given the opportunity to attend the 12th biennial Symposium for the Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group (CIPWG), thanks to faculty coordinator Professor Julia Kuzovkina. CIPWG is an organization committed to mitigating the negative environmental impact of invasive plant species, through educating themselves and others on identification and management of invasive plants, as well as replacement of invasive with native species. The theme of the Symposium was “Real Talk: Making an Impact in Invasive Plant Management”, and attendees were treated to a variety of discussions emphasizing the critical role of education in conservation and rooting the discussion of eradicating invasive plant species in local case studies. The day even finished up with a raffle for a collection of potted plants native to the area!
October 30, 2024: Physics Workshop and Planetarium Visit
Our annual physics workshop offered a variety of enrichment opportunities for our attendees. First, instructors engaged in valuable discussion on exam format and grading techniques, followed by our main event: a demonstration in the newly renovated Cynthia Wyeth Peterson planetarium. Our workshop marked one of the first uses of the new facility, and we extend thanks to Dr. Matt Guthrie and PhD student Kelcey Davis for allowing us into the facility, and for providing a fantastic show! Beginning in 2025, regular public shows are set to begin, and several of our attendees left the event excited by the opportunity to bring their students back to campus for a show sometime soon.
November 1, 2024: Annual English Conference
Marking our largest event so far this year, we welcomed just over 100 ECE English instructors to the UConn Storrs campus on Friday, November 1, for a conference entitled “Collaborative Circulation: A Recursive Roadmap”. Attendees attended four breakout sessions in small groups, followed by a panel discussion hosted by UConn English Department faculty and guests. Session 
descriptions were as follows:
- Circulation for Brainstorming and Ideation
- Circulation of Feedback
- Circulation as a Rhetorical Device/Context
- Interconnected Circulation: an Activity
What an exciting few months we’ve had! Not to mention, we still have events for Communication, Chemistry, Human Rights, Anthropology, and Math to look forward to before the Fall Semester comes to a close. To find more information and photographs from these and the rest of our professional development events, please feel free to visit the “ECE PD Blog” on our website. Planning for Spring 2025 workshops is well underway, and we plan to post details and dates on the ECE website’s “Dates to Remember” page as soon as possible. Thank you again to all who have attended an ECE event so far this year; it is always a pleasure to connect with our instructors across Connecticut. And to those we haven’t seen yet this year, keep an eye on your email inbox! We look forward to connecting with you and your colleagues very soon. n
Conversation: Cultural Topics, since 2012. His unique gift to ECE classrooms was bringing alive the language, culture, and history through his storytelling based on his extensive travel experiences in the Hispanic and Portuguese worlds, and his Chilean heritage. In his retirement, Mr. Lewis will move on to his third career teaching Buddhist philosophy and practice, and eventually living part time in the White Mountains and in Chile.
International Studies Association Annual Conference in San Francisco, CA in April, where he presented a research paper on Nationalism and identities in South Asia, an article version of his dissertation. He also co-presented on forming national identities, mass culture, and land rights. Dr. Rafiq was able to attend several sessions, including foreign policies, using role theory and Arab Spring 2.0, and civil war research.
UConn ECE Faculty Coordinators from Spanish, Profs. Gustavo Nanclares and Eduardo Urios-Aparisi met with more than 60 Spanish Instructors to listen to Prof. Maria Acosta Cruz, Professor of Spanish in the Language, Literature & Culture Dept at Clark University. Prof. Acosta shared her talk “Ecocrítica, cultura y nación: La cultura puertorriqueña a través de cinco siglos” (“Ecocriticism, Culture, and Nation: Puerto Rican Culture Through Five Centuries”) with the teachers.
UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator from French, Prof. Florence Marsal met with 30 UConn ECE certified French Instructors to hear from Joëlle Vitiello, Professor of French and Francophone Studies at Macalester College for her talk “Enseigner les trésors d’Haïti” (“Teaching the Treasures of Haiti”). In addition, Mary Catherine Decoteau, Career Consultant from UConn’s Career Services, spoke to teachers about enhancing and highlighting career competencies in UConn French courses.
activities including a field practicum on analyzing soil for specific purposes, a discussion and update on plant diseases, and learning about new trends in the landscape industry. The group also discussed students’ preparation for future careers in the Green Industry and took part in a hands-on floral workshop where teachers were introduced to beautiful fall arrangements which can be introduced in their Floral Art classes.
Wolla, Economic Education Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and Ariel Solomon, Curriculum Designer, Marginal Revolution University. Ian Tiedemann highlighted his students’ who created a podcast script for the 2023 issue of the Journal of Future Economists. The theme was “Economics of Globalization”. Ian’s students submitted their podcast script titled “It’s a (s)Mall World: Globalization, E-Commerce, and Shopping Malls” which can be reviewed in the Journal of Future Economists. Scott A. Wolla’s shared a teaching activity “Teaching Market Structures with Gum” and discussed “Monetary Policy has Changed. Has Your Teaching?” Ariel Slonim, Curriculum Designer, Marginal Revolution University presented on: “Supply, Demand, Action! Harnessing interactive tools to teach supply and demand” and “Cracking the Code: Understanding GDP and Inflation through interactive tools.” ECE Faculty Coordinator for Economics, Natalia V. Smirnova discussed “Teaching Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Topics in Economics”.
Faculty Coordinator, Dr. Claudia Koerting during their professional development workshop. The group of 13 teachers conducted water testing by taking readings using instruments that measure salinity, oxygen, and temperature. They deployed a water sampler to retrieve water samples near the bottom of the river and gathered surface water samples as well. Instructors performed two plankton tows and brought samples back for microscopic evaluation. An additional two sample sites were chosen, and all samples returned with the group to the seaport sailing center where they tested for chlorophyll content using a fluorometer and performed a light/dark experiment with water from two sites. At the sailing center the group ran their analysis, looked at the plankton tow and compared oxygen uptake in the light/dark bottle experiment. Conversations were held about how these samples could inform scientists and regulators about policy guiding water use in the river. By the end of the day Instructors learned a new method, a new instrument, and made new connections and shared ideas to implement in their UConn Marine Science courses.
