Montgomery County Community College’s Liberal Arts Division faculty recently hosted a conference, “Building on Momentum in Teaching and Learning: Effective Pedagogy for the Decentered Classroom,” addressing emerging trends and pedagogical changes that are transforming teaching and learning.

The keynote speaker was Dr. Melissa McCartney, who is the Associate Provost for Digital Learning and Dean of the Graduate School at Queens University of Charlotte, North Carolina. Dr. McCartney’s presentation, “Seamless Modalities: Supporting Students from the Classroom to the Cloud,”  chronicled the evolution of teaching, identified best practices for online engagement, and forecasted future innovations in teaching. 

Two panel discussions followed the keynote address. The first panel highlighted Liberal Arts faculty who discussed their innovative approaches to promote participation and collaborative learning. The panelists included Sanket Desai (History), Jeslin Mathew (Communication Studies), and Jennifer Mullen (Strategies for College Success/First Year Experience).  The second panel addressed the future of teaching and learning. The panelists included Dr. David Lindenmuth (Rowan University), Dr. Melissa McCartney (Queens University of Charlotte), Dr. Mary-Kate Najarian (MCCC), and Dr. Patti Vorndran (Delaware County Community College). 

Faculty in attendance found the conference intellectually stimulating and a great way to re-engage with colleagues.  

“I am grateful to have been able to be part of the conference,” said Farida Ferradji, French instructor. “It was a great reunification with my colleagues after almost two years of being off campus. I enjoyed the discussions surrounding students’ success in the online environment and all the panels. I am looking forward to more of these gatherings.” 

The conference also provided an opportunity for faculty to discuss how to use their experience in planning for the future.

“Now that we all have a few semesters of exclusively web-based teaching under our collective belts, taking a moment to reflect on what worked, what didn’t work, and, most importantly, how to foster a sense of community among our students and to preserve the mentoring relationship so many of them seek is essential,” said Dr. Hal Halbert, English Professor and President of the MCCC Faculty Federation. “Hearing from experts looking at these issues and from my colleagues offered me a number of ideas on how to move forward in a more blended approach to online and in-person teaching that will make a better learning experience for my students.”

For more  information on this topic, please contact MCCC Dean of Liberal Arts Division Dr. Timothy J. Brown at tbrown1@mc3.edu.