CAPS Conference

                        Opening Friday, June 8, 2012 at 6PM
                      Ending Sunday, June 10, 2012 at noon
                             Embassy Suites, Seaside, CA

For registration information click here

For concurrent session descriptions click here

Conference Overview

“We are in the middle of an extraordinary social experiment: the attempt to provide education for all members of a vast pluralistic democracy. To have any prayer of success, we’ll need…a pedagogy that encourages us to step back and consider the threat of the standard classroom and that shows us, having stepped back, how to step forward to invite a student across the boundaries of that powerful room.”

                                          Mike Rose, Lives on the Boundary, 1989

In the new millennium, we continue to search for invitational moves that provide for supportive, if not easy, access. And beyond access, we are increasingly turning our attention to retention and completion.

This conference takes as its guiding questions:

• Who are the learners of the 21st century—and how should we be teaching, given who our students are?
• How can we best provide students with the developmental experiences that will enable them to thrive in college?
• How do we develop successful interdisciplinary and cross-institutional collaborations?
• How do we share our lessons with legislators and policymakers who determine where and how to use resources to educate our students?

These were the central questions when a group of faculty from three campuses (California State University Monterey Bay, Cabrillo College, and Hartnell College) came together with funding from Lumina Foundation Minority-Serving Institutions Models of Success program. With a focus on developmental courses in mathematics and writing, what we are finding is that, in addition to teaching our disciplinary content, we also need to pull back the curtain on the behind the scenes processes that go into academic brainwork. In other words, we need to teach habits of mind—qualities like curiosity, persistence, creativity and metacognition—that are crucial to our students’ academic success. The June 2012 conference is an opportunity to share what we’ve been doing and to learn from others’ experiences.
 

Call for Proposals

 The deadline for proposals has passed. Presenters are required to register for the conference. If you have any questions, you may contact tla+caps@csumb.edu.
 

Conference Themes:

Sessions will address ways to enhance the success of 21st century students, including:

• Fostering habits of mind
• High school to college transition programs (e.g., AP courses, developmental education, first- year seminars, Expository Reading and Writing Course and Early Assessment Programs, AVID, bridge and stretch programs)
• Serving returning students, veterans, and students seeking workforce retraining
• Connecting multicultural and multilingual students to the learning community (e.g. Puente Project)
• Using data in program design and assessment
• Engaging students by incorporating technology, collaborative learning, and high impact practices
• Collaborations within and across institutions
• Using assessment to guide our work
• Engaging students in assessment
• Sharing our stories to advocate for change in attitudes and policies
• The Basic Skills Initiative

Session Formats

There are four session formats available: 1.Hands on Workshop, 2. Interactive Presentation, 3. Facilitated Discussion, 4. Poster Session. We are looking for sessions that model engaging and interactive styles. (See our Proposal Evaluation Form ). Please select the format that will best convey your work.

Format 1: Hands on Workshop (90 minutes)

In the Hands on Workshop, facilitators will have the opportunity to engage participants in active learning about their topic and participants will leave with concrete steps they can implement when they return to their campuses. Workshops should include an introduction and overview of intended activities and learning outcomes for the session. Successful workshop proposals will include strategies that are interactive and engaging. If proposers conclude that the workshop requires more time, they may propose two 90-minute sequential sessions.

Format 2: Interactive Presentation (90 minutes, 2-3 facilitators/ presenters)

Interactive Presentation format allows for 2-3 presentations: 1) to share expertise on research and data findings; 2) allow for activities to work with attendees on practical examples on how to apply this work; and 3) question and answer period. Successful proposals should include examples of interactive activities and exercises that may be used during the presentation. (If you would like to propose a single presentation, we will pair you with another presenter.)

Format 3: Facilitated Discussion (60 minutes)

This session allows for an in-depth discussion of a focused topic. Facilitators are to provide information on their topic and invite discussants to pose questions, ideas or solutions to the issues. They are responsible for moderating a discussion and encouraging participants to share their own expertise and strategies on the topic.

Format 4: Poster Sessions

Poster sessions are an opportunity to share one engaging thing that you are doing or developing on your campus to enhance student success. Through a poster session you will be able to share your knowledge and network with all conference participants. Posters may include: images, graphs, charts, samples of student work, and findings. A summary hand-out should accompany the poster.
 

To submit proposal, please click the following link:

Session Proposal

This conference is made possible with funding from Lumina Foundation.