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November Newsletter: Spotlight on Student Experiential Projects

October 30, 2018 Beth Seltzer
Historical photo of BMC students in geology lab

Bryn Mawr College's Digital Competencies Program helps students build the digital skills and critical perspectives on technology needed for success in the digital age.

Part of the purpose of this newsletter is to highlight and amplify events and events happening on campus that can help students develop digital competencies. Want to see your event featured in our newsletter? Just contact us at digicomp@brynmawr.edu


As we move into semester crunch time, we wanted to showcase all of the experiential, hands-on learning that Bryn Mawr students do. In honor of their work, our Competency of the Month is 5.3 Project management. If you've ever coordinated an event or a complicated group project, you've got some project management skills already.

Learn more with our student-centered, student-created guide, Project Management for Mawrters, created by Leslie Goloh '19. This guide walks you through project management skills to help you succeed in your end-of-semester projects. 

Featured November Events

In November, there are a ton of opportunities to build your project management skills and to learn more about how Bryn Mawr students thrive in independent, experiential learning environments:

  • Check out the Bryn Mawr and Beyond Fair to hear from students about their summer internship experiences (including the work of our own Summer 2018 Interns). As the culminating event for the LILAC summer funding recipients, this networking session provides the opportunity for students to share their internship experiences with the Bryn Mawr community. Students will discuss their LILAC and digital competencies development!
  • For more student experiential learning examples, you won't want to miss the November 13 Tech Talk on "Women in STEM: Past and Present," in which the Summer Digital Scholarship Fellows present their research and work recreating a historical BMC science lab in Unity. The talk will also feature Victor Donnay and Tiana Evelyn speaking about their summer project: Real-World Engagement in Mathematics. This talk may be particularly useful to faculty interested in applying to the Digital Bryn Mawr Seed Grants and in hearing more about the experience working with student collaborators. 

Recent Digital Competencies Highlights

Students have been learning both inside and outside of the classroom this fall!

Data Intensive

Students took some time on a beautiful weekend this fall to participate in a two-day Data Intensive. Students met alums in data science fields, heard from Tri-Co academic researchers who use data in their work, and learned hands-on data skills, especially focused on the important real-world skill 3.3 Cleaning, organizing, and managing data.

Alum panelists
Alums Kriti Shrestha ('14), Jennifer Rabowsky (’15), Frankie Leech (’16), and Madelyn Houser (’11)

Read more about the Data Intensive here.

Missed the Data Intensive and looking for a way to stretch your creative muscles? We're in the early stages of planning a March Digital Narratives Intensive, which will teach skills in 2.3 Audiovisual analysis and production and 2.2 Digital writing and publishing. This Intensive will offer students opportunities to experiment with different forms of narrative creation. If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, keep an eye on Handshake—more information coming next semester!

Student and Staff Presentations at the Bucknell Digital Scholarship Conference 

Bryn Mawr programs were well-represented this October at the Bucknell Digital Scholarship Conference. Students and staff discussed "The Making of the History of Women in Science Project: A Student-Centered Approach to 3D Technology and Digital Scholarship." Alicia Peaker, our Director of Digital Scholarship, Critical Making and Digital Collections Management, discussed "Sustainable Digital Scholarship Programs Through Consortial Collaboration," and Beth Seltzer, Educational Technology Specialist, discussed "Telling the Institution's Digital Stories: Communications, Student Partnerships, and (gulp) Marketing." 

Innovative Teaching Report

Professor David Ross discussed "Using Moodle Lesson for Guiding and Assessing Student Preparation for Class" at a recent Tech Talk. "The best use of my time in the classroom is helping to answer student questions," noted Ross, discussing his decision to flip his class. But it wasn't as simple as just finding a module online, since "no one seems to be able to agree on the right way to teach statistics." Ross discussed his experience working with student interns to develop self-paced online modules in Moodle. For more information about our Tech Talks series, follow the Blended Learning Twitter and Youtube accounts. 

Upcoming Events

See the full events calendar.

Questions? Comments? Want to get involved? Email us at digicomp@brynmawr.edu

Photo credit: "Bryn Mawr College students in geology lab." Bryn Mawr College. circa 1940. College Women. Web. Accessed Oct. 30, 2018.