The Division of Continuing Studies Transformative Teaching and Learning Initiative

Participation in Two Additional Professional Development Activities

For this portion of your portfolio, please participate in two additional professional development
activities. Options for activities include, but are not limited to, the list provided below. If you are unsure
whether or not an activity would count toward this requirement, please contact the program facilitator.
Note: the professional development needs to take place during the months of this course, unless
otherwise approved by the facilitator.
Example activities fulfilling this requirement:

A national, regional, state, or local academic conference.

A training by the Academic Partnership for Instruction at UNO. For a list of upcoming training
sessions, see their website: http://www.unomaha.edu/information-services/Calendar/apicalendar.php
The Innovation in Pedagogy and Technology Symposium, hosted each May by Nebraska Online
Worldwide.
A Magna Publications 20 Minute Mentor presentation.
A presentation/conference on UNOs campus or another college/university campus.

Please submit the following page in your final portfolio.

Two Additional Professional Development Activities Completed, June-December, 2015

Activity #1
Name of Professional Development Activity: Title IX Sexual Harassment Training
Host/Location: UNO, Online faculty and student development through Firefly
Brief Summary of Key Learnings: The video reviewed the many types of sexual harassment from faculty
to student and between students. Research regarding rape on college campuses was reviewed and how
alcohol can be a major player in sexual assaults during the college years. The video did a really good job
of showing how a bystander can intervene when someone is intoxicated to prevent the drunk person
from having sex with someone which they would later regret. I believe this was very helpful to
encourage students and faculty to look out for one another. Another great topic covered was abusive
relationships and warning signs to look out for such as put downs and negative comments. Many
college students are still new at the dating game and dont really know what negative flags to look for
within a person. Other physical and emotional signs of abuse were covered along with different
resources on campus and in the community to contact. I believe the video and subsequent quiz were
very well done and very informative.

Activity #2
Name of Professional Development Activity: Peer Relations video conference run by Dr. William
Bukowski from Concordia University in Canada
Host/Location: hosted on UNO campus by Dr. Jonathan Santo
Brief Summary of Key Learnings: The latest research was presented by many of the leading peer
relations research groups. There were a few group discussions between researchers who are working
on the same concepts. Dr. Rose presented on depression and how co-rumination can negatively affect
functioning especially of girls. She is currently looking at different age groups and how mothers can
effect the thought processes and communication styles of their daughters. The other aspect she is
exploring is how friendship quality and co-rumination affect emotional adjustment. Kristina McDonald
is exploring how gossip which is seen as an antisocial behavior can be used in a prosocial way to gain
influence within the peer group. Amanda Guyer is using neuroscience and brain analysis to see what
areas of the brain react to peer rejection, peer acceptance, and depression. Knowing how
environmental and social influences affect brain activity can really help with adolescents dealing with
negative affects and mental exercises can be developed to stimulate other areas of the brain to mitigate
negative social consequences such as social anxiety and depression. All of the findings will be very
interesting to read about in journals once they are published. The idea behind the conference was to
present new studies and preliminary results.