Matthew Lira, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological and Quantitative Foundations

Sam Clingan-Siverly, Graduate Student in the Department of Psychological and Quantitative Foundations 

Alyssa Castillo, Graduate Student in the Department of Psychological and Quantitative Foundations

Mahsa Rahmati Masouleh, Graduate Student in the Department of Psychological and Quantitative Foundations

Xiaoyu Tang, Graduate Student in the Department of Psychological and Quantitative Foundations

Faculty across many disciplines design instruction as if learning unfolds only inside students’ heads. We argue that this tacit stance neglects a central driver of learning: the body. Drawing on three ongoing projects from our research group, we position the body not as a peripheral “influence” on learning, but as a core psychological mechanism that limits and supports how students understand disciplinary content. We illustrate this claim across three STEM contexts where students reason about computational simulations, spatial relations, and mathematical rules. The first project examines haptic interfaces designed to support undergraduate learning about electrical potentials in physiology by coupling force-based feedback with dynamic simulations. The second project focuses on gesture-based instruction in organic chemistry where students’ hand movements support representational translation and spatial reasoning across molecular diagrams. The third project examines epistemic affect—students’ embodied emotional responses during moments of uncertainty—and how these affective displays relate to engagement with challenging, but seemingly simple, mathematical content. Across these projects, we illustrate a common theme: learning environments are improved when instructors attend to students’ bodily activity (e.g., sensory experiences, hand gestures, and affect). For faculty engaged in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, this work reframes students’ non-verbal behavior as a formative assessment. Non-verbal assessments are particularly critical for learners who are still developing disciplinary language and may first express understanding through embodied action not speech. Attending to the body offers an inexpensive and quick strategy for teaching, learning, and assessment that supports students understanding, sense-making, and persisting across disciplines.

Carrie Means, Graduate Student in the School of Social Work

Morgan Stangl, Graduate Student in the School of Social Work

The goal of Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy is to accept “Parts” within oneself (Schwartz, 2013). The IFS process is mindfulness-based and assists with fostering self-awareness by identifying, understanding, and managing internal processes, or Parts (Mojta et al., 2014). A client often comes with judgment towards themselves and their Parts, which can create conflict with emotions, feelings, bodily sensations, etc. (Schwartz, 2013). Therefore, we believe that an IFS framework to approach social work classroom discussions about topics without judgment can help students navigate feelings of confusion and shame.

The Council on Social Work Education requires programs to train students to understand how people’s identities, life experiences, and social conditions shape their opportunities and challenges. Social work classes engage in sensitive conversations that may evoke feelings of shame, uncertainty, fear, defensiveness, or confusion in students. Using an IFS framework, students can learn ways to check in with their Parts, embrace mindfulness, and recognize activation of a Part to improve engagement with each other and course content.  Instead, the goal of using IFS is to recognize, connect to, and communicate with these Parts, and to reduce stigma and feelings of shame. 

The first goal of this poster will cover content taught to students about Internal Family Systems (IFS) framework: a brief history, the Self, the types of Parts (Firefighters, Managers, and Exiles), and ways Parts can manifest with personal examples or case studies from instructors. 

The second goal will be a discussion on activated Parts, from Schwartz’s work. Lastly, the final part of the poster will include a discussion on student feedback, working to be sensitive to student needs in and out of the classroom, and resources to help instructors integrate concepts in their classes. Overall, this poster will show concrete readings, activities, an identity assignment, and discussion guidelines to assist social work educators in fostering mindful and curious dialogue with students. The presenters will use student feedback on IFS to demonstrate its usefulness for student learning.

Alexandra Nica*, Professor of Instruction and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Economics

What do Art and Economics have in common? Alfred Marshall, who was the first to develop the standard supply and demand diagram, called Economics the study of people “in the ordinary business of life”.  Artists make it their business to represent people in their everyday life through creative means. Both Art and Economics use patterns, models and visual elements to describe the world around them. 

The connection between Art and Economics has been explored in various studies, from links between paintings and emotional signals, to using specific paintings to illustrate various economics concepts, to employing drawing techniques, like upside-down drawing to enhance understanding of theoretical economics concepts.

The present study introduces the visual thinking strategy of close-looking, as well as other techniques from Art visualization into an Intermediate Macroeconomics class, to examine how the experience of studying various complex economics graphs changes once students employ these strategies both in the classroom, as well as in an art museum visit,  in order to improve their observational and critical thinking skills, as well as their written communication skills.

This project takes the students completely out of the contexts of the classroom and teaches them to slow down, and focus with great intention on a specific artwork or graph. Their task is not only to figure out the important details, but also find out whether things might be missing or might be contradictory tot their expectations, hence enhancing the way they critically evaluate a work, whether it is in art or economics.

Michael Sinnwell, Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Department of Chemistry

CHEM:4450 is a senior capstone course for B.A. chemistry majors focused on inorganic synthesis, analytical and physical measurement of materials. To better align assessment with authentic scientific work, we implemented two coordinated changes: a collaborative (ungraded) assessment system and a structured science-practices framework for feedback.

The grading model emphasizes revision, reflection, and demonstrated growth rather than point accumulation. Students receive formative feedback aligned with core scientific practices, including making defensible claims, using evidence effectively, reasoning from data, and communicating clearly. Final grades are determined through structured self-reflection supported by documented progress.

Student surveys were used to evaluate motivation, stress, engagement, and use of feedback. Results suggest reduced grade anxiety, increased engagement with feedback, and stronger focus on iterative skill development. This poster presents the course structure, assessment framework, and survey findings.

Kate Smith*, Associate Professor of Instruction in the College of Pharmacy

Kashelle Lockman, Clincial Associate Professor of Internal Medicine; Instructional Design Consultant within Office of Consultation and Research in Medical Education (OCRME) 

Stuart K. Pitman, Clinical Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice and Science and Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in the College of Pharmacy 

John Swegle, Clinical Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice and Science in the College of Pharmacy 

Objective: To evaluate the impact of Synthesis, a case-based learning experience, on student pharmacists learning and professional development.

Methods: During Synthesis, student pharmacists used the Pharmacists’ Patient Care Process to identify and prioritize medication therapy problems, and develop person-centered, evidence-based care plans. To evaluate Synthesis, data was collected via a post-course survey. Responses to the question “What have you learned as a result of Synthesis, and how do you think it will affect your future as a pharmacist?” were coded interpretively, with a codebook mapped to Fink’s Taxonomy of Significant Learning. Fink’s Taxonomy of Learning was cross walked with Synthesis goals and aspects of professional identity development.

Results: Post-Synthesis surveys were completed by 168 students. Student responses reflected all dimensions of Fink’s Taxonomy of Significant Learning (Foundational Knowledge, Application, Integration, Human Dimension, Caring, and Learning How to Learn).

Conclusion: These results lead us to believe that significant learning occurred as a result of Synthesis and it is serving as a high impact assessment within the curriculum. 

Jennifer Sterling, Associate Professor of Instruction in the Department of American Studies, and the School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Critical reflection is foundational to scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) – as a methodology and writing practice (e.g. Cruz, Grodziak, & Steiner, 2024). Implemented as a reflective teaching process and paired with critical conversations, a semester-long journaling project about classroom pedagogies and experiences provides a local, low-stakes SoTL opportunity. In particular, our adoption of ‘junk journaling’ allows for both written reflection and creative forms such as photography and the inclusion of day-in-the-life artifacts. This rich, layered, data then informs conversations between two faculty acting as ‘critical friends’ (e.g. Costa & Kallick, 1993; Moore & Carter-Hicks, 2014), where ‘critical’ refers to the ways in which colleagues, and collegiality, are vital to the development of individual teaching practice, program teaching culture, and student success in our shared curricular home.

An organic approach to journaling over the first four weeks of Spring 2026 accommodated a settling-in period for the authors; one associate professor of instruction and one visiting assistant professor, teaching eight different courses that constitute 50% of the program curriculum. Following a review of journal entries, a series of weekly summary prompts were added to engage with emerging themes such as small teaching (Lang, 2021), curricular connections, and pedagogies of kindness (Denial, 2024). In addition, a frequent conversational relationship between the two faculty was supplemented with more structured check-ins. While this ‘daily SoTL’ project focuses on improved teaching and learning, it also offers valuable mutual mentorship opportunities and a method for reclaiming joy while navigating the complexities of instruction in higher education.

June Tai*, Clinical Professor of Law in the College of Law

In law school, students are required to complete 6 units of experiential learning and one option for this requirement is an externship. The ABA further requires that externships include “a classroom instructional component, regularly scheduled tutorials, or other means of ongoing, contemporaneous, faculty-guided reflection.” As a result, I require students to write reflection essays describing their experiences. While the essays shed light on the students’ work, some essays exhibit deeper reflection while others skim the surface. I have been experimenting with creative writing exercises and prompts with the hope that this leads to a more systematic examination of the students’ responses to their experiences.

The poster will have three main sections.  

• First, I will provide an overview of Tim Casey’s Stages of Reflection as an example of the higher levels of reflection. See Timothy Casey, Reflective Practice in Legal Education: The Stages of Reflection, 20 CLINICAL L. REV. 317, 321 (2014).
• Second, an overview of why this method is suited to legal education and should not be overlooked. Essentially, lawyers use storytelling in their advocacy and must also be attuned to their client’s stories and how decisionmakers interpret stories.
• Finally, I will provide an overview of the study that I plan to conduct.

I hope to receive feedback on this methodology and hear from faculty in other disciplines on how they implement storytelling or reflection (or both) in their courses.

Colleen Theisen, Assistant Professor of Instruction in the School of Library and Information Science

The School of Library and Information Science's Graduate Certificate in Special Collections and Archives has classes in four formats: Fully in-person (the most rare), synchronous hybrid (with online and in-person students meeting together at the same time), synchronous online (all students in the Zoom session at the same time), and online asynchronous courses. With roughly half of our students living in Iowa City area, and half living across the United States, designing hands-on learning experiences that meet students needs across course formats is vital for preparing for the future careers, yet they may not be located geographically near any collections they can access on their own. Utilizing partnerships on campus and around the IC/CR Corridor I have developed models for incorporating field trips across the four modalities, and I will be sharing tips and best practices for setting expectations with our heritage professionals we partner with in advance, advice for technology requirements, designing visit flow and structure, engagement and moderation techniques, and how to effectively use the session and livestream recordings after the live session. While each modality has unique challenges, every format can successfully engage with our colleagues, collections, and professional practices in the field.

P.J. Zaborowski, Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Department of English

Jamie Chen, Graduate Student in the Department of English

For two years, my co-teacher Jamie Chen and I taught two service-learning sections of Interpretation of Literature in which predominantly first-year and Honors students served as “reading buddies” for 4th- and 5th-grade students at Kirkwood Elementary School. Over the semester, undergraduate students[j1.1] traveled to the elementary school for shared reading sessions, and the partnership culminated in a campus visit that introduced younger students to university life. While the program was initially designed to strengthen connections between campus and community, it became especially potent for examining how interpretive practices develop through relational learning.

Drawing on developmental learning theory and community-engaged pedagogy, this project explores literary interpretation as a social practice shaped through dialogue, empathy, and shared inquiry. The service-learning component was intentionally aligned with course goals emphasizing close reading, reflective writing, and collaborative meaning-making. Students completed reflection essays, classroom discussions, and narrative responses designed to assess how teaching reading strategies to younger students deepened their own interpretive awareness and sense of intellectual responsibility.

The transformative potential of this approach became particularly evident after a 2023 tornado in Coralville displaced several elementary students, revealing how shared stories fostered connection, resilience, and mutual care. Student reflections demonstrate increased attention to audience, rhetorical purpose, and the social responsibilities of interpretation. This project demonstrates how  [j3.1]community-engaged literature classrooms can deepen analytical skills while cultivating habits of empathy that extend beyond the university, showing how students learn most effectively both as a community and in the community.

Whitney Zahnd, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Management and Policy

Tom Vaughn, PhD, Associate Professor Emeritus in the Department of Health Management and Policy

Supriya Shinde, MPH, MS, Research Support Specialist in the Department of Emergency Medicine

Kristin Wilson, PhD, MHA, Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Health Management and Policy 

Background: Engaging faculty and alumni in competency model revision is aligned with accreditation requirements for health administration programs, but broader engagement of stakeholders may help inform a robust competency model to best prepare students for health administration careers. Our objective was to engage multiple stakeholders, including community leaders, to inform the revision of our  master of health administration competency model. 

Methods: We engaged in a five-phased process inclusive of a literature review, surveys and a modified Delphi with alumni, internship preceptors, and key informant interviews with rural community leaders to support the revision of a competency model for a health administration graduate program. Survey responses were analyzed using descriptive analyses, and key informant interviews were analyzed for themes. Revisions to the competency model were made iteratively through the process.

Results: The iterative process indicated that alumni and preceptors found that the initial competencies were relevant. Key informant interviews identified key qualities necessary for a healthcare leader (e.g., collaboration, community engagement, effective communication skills). As a result of the process, the competency model was reduced from 31 to 24 competencies with greater consideration of leading in communities and more comprehensive inclusion of communities in competencies within the “improving population health” domain. 

Discussion: Programmatic competencies that consider communities are crucial for ensuring high-quality, comprehensive health professions education; capable, well-prepared graduates; and, subsequently, improved health care service delivery and outcomes regardless of geography. Subsequent revision of course topics, curriculum, and programmatic student experiences are key to integrate these competencies.