WELCOME and THANK YOU for reading! This newsletter covers what happened in November and will give you a heads up on what to look for in the months following.

In this issue (please note the links below will only work when viewing this newsletter in a browser):

Upcoming Events

This is our regular monthly board meeting.

All board members and directors are welcome!
December 4 at 6:30 – 8:00 pm Eastern.

Zoom information is available on the Member’s site

Our Annual Winter Meeting (open to all Academy members) will be held online Saturday, January 4th. This gathering will serve as our official January Board Meeting. During the meeting we will set the calendar for the spring boatd meeting dates and times. The main activities will focus on the 2025 PE Conference and strategic planning for the Academy. Ideas about internationalizing the organization, developing new programs to increase participation, and supporting growth opportunities across the wide spectrum of learning will all be discussed.

The meeting will begin at 5pm UTC (11:00am Eastern, 10:00am Central, 9:00am Mountain, 8:00am Pacific). The final agenda will be posted on the Member Site prior to the meeting date. This meeting, while informal, will make use of collaborative Process Education-style collaboration. The tentative agenda now includes:

1. A very brief update of the Academy status.
2. An open round table discussion of Academy member experiences and the expectations members have AS members.
3. A sharing of the current plans for our 2025 PE Conference.
4. A discussion of ideas for the Internationalization of the Academy.
5. A final brainstorming session focused on our current and future Strategic Goals.

We hope that as a committed member of the Academy you will find time to join us and participate!

Registration for the Winter Meeting is available NOW!

EVERYONE is welcome and it's FREE.
We simply need to know who will be attending so we can plan!)

Once you register, you will automatically receive
the Zoom information for attending the meeting.

I have very exciting news to share with all past, current, and future Academy members. As I have mentioned in previous messages, after much discussion and investigation, your Board members have voted to formally expand the focus of the Academy to reach beyond the boundaries of the United States! While we have had members living and working in other countries before, this year will mark the first time we deliberately reach out to our international brothers and sisters engaged in education. This outreach will seek to include educators and educational institutions around the globe. We seek to share the concepts and processes that we have collectively embraced within the context of own experiences with Process Education.

In our PE in a Nutshell document (created by Dr Tris Utschig, Academy Director for Professional Development, with assistance from many Academy members) we identify the specific tenets of PE including: our beliefs, our performance aims, our focus on assessment and reflection, life-long growth and development, and on self-growth. This document will help us communicate the aims of PE as well as the connection with current practices and innovations educators across the globe can share via participation in the Academy.

The committee currently consists of Chaya Jain (President Elect), Peter Smith (Academy Historian), Durel Crosby (Project Management Director), and Denna Hintze (Communications Director). Denna who lives in Norway (and is married to Knut Are Romann-Aas, the Academy webmaster) has a strong understanding of the issues relating to Internationalization. As President, I will work to join the team when I’m able, but Chaya will lead the team. I am hoping that we can find ways to ensure that we include international partners as key members of the team. This will require careful scheduling and collaboration.

As we approach our Winter Meeting and move into 2025 and beyond, we will expand the current team, adding additional members. It is my hope that you will help us carry this project forward in a manner that not only provides many new learning experiences for Academy members but also focuses on the key actions that will be necessary to make this project a cornerstone of our 2025- 2030 Strategic Plan! We will meet all day online Saturday, January 4th for the Winter Meeting. The agenda will focus on 2025 Conference planning and fashioning the 2025-2030 Strategic Plan. Of course, I expect the Internationalization issue will become a centerpiece of the next Strategic Plan. All of you are invited to join the Online Winter meeting. Details for the Winter meeting will be shared in early December.

I sincerely hope that you will be part of this exciting time for our Academy. As always, everyone is welcome to participate. If you have questions, concerns, or ideas you wish to share please post them in the Academy Forum, on the topic about our International aspirations. You can also contact me directly via email.

As we look forward to becoming an international organization and prepare to update our strategic plan, it would be helpful to look back at our beginnings. Much of the following information is taken from the International Journal of Process Education (IJPE) Vol 8 Issue 1, pages 147-150. The idea of forming a non-profit corporation to increase collaboration among practitioners of Process Education was first explored at the second annual Problem Solving Across the Curriculum conference in 1991. This effort was never formalized, but interest remained through the rest of the 90s and into the early 2000s.

In 2003, the focus shifted to a major scholarship project, the Faculty Guidebook. Between 2003 and 2007, under the leadership of Steve Beyerlein and Carol Holmes, four editions of the Faculty Guidebook were produced, with many of the individuals, who had dreamed of a collaborative organization, authoring and collaborating on Guidebook modules. A face-to-face authoring event occurred annually during semester breaks in January and rekindled the desire to have a formal community of Process Educators. The community was initially formed during a 2004 conference at Elmhurst College and a July 2005 Process Education Research conference at Madison Area Technical College (MATC), which established a blueprint for the combination of active learning plenary and workshop sessions which has characterized all subsequent Process Education conferences.

The group met again at MATC in February, 2007, to plan the first formal Academy conference at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) in July, 2007. In two days following this conference, participants developed the initial Academy bylaws. They agreed on the structure and name of the organization and set up a six month action plan, culminating in a January 2008 meeting at Brevard College in Florida. Joann Horton and Jackie El-Sayed spearheaded this effort. At the Brevard meeting, the duties of the members of the Board of Directors were specified and the Strategic Plan 2007-2012 was adopted. An initial slate of officers was identified to be elected at the summer 2008 conference at Hinds Community College. Cy Leise was elected as the first president of the Academy. At the conclusion of this conference, the Academy held a two day meeting during which plans were made for publishing the first edition of IJPE under the editorial guidance of Jackie El Sayed in June, 2009. Treasurer Peter Smith agreed to work on obtaining 501(c)3 nonprofit status, approved by the IRS in August, 2009. Webmaster Denna Hintze was tasked with securing the domain name www.processeducation.org and setting up the Academy website which was accomplished in September, 2008.

The Academy has continued to hold a summer conference each year either in person or over Zoom. One becomes a member of the IAoPE by either attending the conference or paying annual dues. All Academy members are invited to attend the annual business meeting virtually or in person whether or not they attend the conference. This meeting is held during each conference to elect officers and conduct other business. We encourage all members to actively involve themselves in the Academy activities in order to accomplish the original collaborative vision of the Academy.

Assessment tools must match the level of intended learning outcome

The purpose of assessment is to improve the level of student learning. Thus, it is essential that assessment tools are appropriate for the desired level of student learning. If a learning outcome is at the level of “application,” then the assessment tool must be able to determine if the student can apply the knowledge to a new context rather than simply recall information. 2.4.1 Overview of Instructional Design

This short paragraph is FULL of meaning, but we need to draw upon the Levels of Learner Knowledge (2.2.1 Bloom’s Taxonomy—Expanding its Meaning) to truly benefit from what it means for assessment tools to MATCH the level of learning outcomes:

If our goal is for student to gain INFORMATION, assessment tools should ask them to…

• tell who/what/where/when/which, find, choose, define, list, label, show, spell, match name, tell, recall, select, organize, outline

If we want to know if students have attained CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING, assessment tools should ask them to…

• relate, compare, contrast, how, illustrate, translate, infer, demonstrate, summarize, interpret, show, explain, classify, select, rephrase, why

If we want to know if students have attained the ability to APPLY and TRANSFER understanding, assessment tools should ask them to…

• apply, construct, make use of, plan, build, develop, model, interview, experiment with, identify

If we want to know if students have attained WORKING EXPERTISE, assessment tools should ask them to…

• analyze, dissect, inspect, model relationships, divide, simplify, solve, test for, connect functions, make and test assumptions, examine, apply a design, create themes, improve

If we want to know if students have attained the level of RESEARCH, assessment tools should ask them to…

• theorize, design, formulate, discover, make up, hypothesize, prove, disprove, invent, create an original work

(“Assessment tools” are things like exam questions, learning challenges, reflective writing, and critical thinking questions.)

This is a new standing column where we will feature two Academy members each month, until we run out of members. And then we'll just get more! The point is that we're curious about each other and few people enjoy reading professional bios. So, as Communication Director, Denna is reaching out to members and asking each the same set of questions:

• 3 books you love and why
• The best class you ever took and why
• The class you would most want to teach, if you could choose
• One piece of advice you'd give to a teacher about to begin a teaching career

3 books I love: During the summer of 2020 I took a deep dive into reading books about education. Here are a few I learned a lot from:

• Blaming Teachers: Professionalization Policies and the Failure of Reform in American History by Diana D’Amico Pawlewicz
• Critical Mentoring: A Practical Guide by Torie Weiston-Serdan
• The Labor of Lunch: Why We Need Real Food and Real Jobs in American Public Schools by Jennifer E. Gaddis

The best class I ever took and why: While very many classes have had a profound impact on me, the class I want to mention is general chemistry at my community college. This class was a turning point for me. I had previously been a student who struggled a lot in math and science. During this course, I decided to really study how my mind worked, and try new things to learn better. Over the course of the semester I really learned a lot about “how to learn”, and things have gone very well since.

The class I’d most want to teach if I could choose: I would love to teach an introductory chemistry course. As someone who initially did very poorly in the subject, but was able to turn things around, I find joy in helping people get over their roadblocks and build an understanding. I also love being reminded of the ways chemistry helps us to understand the environment and happenings from the kitchen to the garden.

One piece of advice I’d give to a teacher about to begin teaching: Learn with your students. While the content of your course might be quite similar to what it was 10 years ago, each student is new. Each student has been informed by unique experiences and brings a different way of thinking and learning into the classroom. Be curious about them, and what they need to build an understanding that will stick with them.

Summary of Nov 6 Board Meeting

Treasurers Report – Matthew Watts

• See the report here. Budget links are here. Matt shared the costs and value of IJPE, and the website
• Approved

PE Conference 2025 Planning – Patrick Barlow

• Moving forward with UIndy plan
• Week of June 2-5 for the conference
• Lodging: There will be an opportunity to stay in a dorm if desired

2025 Winter Meeting

• Saturday January 4th, 100% virtual meeting
• Topics: Strategic Plan Goals, Conference Planning, Spring Semester Board Topics

 Bylaw Changes

• Inclusion of “International” in name
• The right of any member attending the annual business meeting to vote on any matter brought to vote during that meeting
• Approved

(The DRAFT minutes from the November Meeting are available HERE.)

Including (BUT NOT LIMITED TO)
workshops you'd like to attend!