PIESL lecturers present at first MIDTESOL Conference hosted in Nebraska

By Juliee Crocker | Programs in English as a Second Language

Several lecturers in the Programs in English as a Second Language (PIESL) office presented at the 2019 MIDTESOL Annual Conference on September 27 and 28 in Omaha, the first time the conference was hosted in Nebraska.

Members of the PIESL staff regularly attend and present at the regional conference of the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) association. The conference offers a valuable exchange of knowledge for classroom instruction and an outlet to advance PIESL’s growing reputation.

This year’s theme for the MidAmerica regional conference (MIDTESOL) included the theme of “Bridge to Success.” More than 600 educators and professionals in the English language teaching field from Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri attended the event. Conference events included plenary speakers, poster sessions, networking opportunities, breakout sessions and an educational technology fair.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s PIESL lecturers gave 14 different presentations on a wide variety of topics at the conference, including:

• “Screencasting for Essay Feedback” by John Andrews
  
• “Challenges, Solutions, and Trends in Advising International Students” by Natalie Baskin and Chris Dunsmore
  
• “#LearnAndApply: Using Social Media for Language and Content Application” by Crystal Bock-Thiessen
  
• “Are These Your Words? An ESL’s Perception of Plagiarism” by Ann Bouma, Carol Ochsner and Guy Trainin (UNL College of Education and Human Sciences)
  
• “Working in Groups: ESL Style” by Ann Bouma and Dawn Rammaha
  
• “OER’s: A Bridge to Textbook Freedom” by Timothy Janda and Dawn Rammaha
  
• “Am I Being Too Helpful?” by Tim Meadows and Timothy Janda
  
• “Using Self-Assessment to Improve Research-Based Essays” by Tim Meadows
  
• “Preparing International STEM Majors for University Success”; “I Do Solemnly Swear: Vocabulary Contracts”; and “Addressing STEM Faculty Concerns through ‘Hidden Figures’” by Emily Herrick
  
• “An ASL Student in an ESL Classroom” by Jane Miller
  
• “Does Using Games in the Classroom Improve Student Learning?” by Takako Smith
  
• “Bridging Cultural Literacies” by Takako Smith and Terry Barakat (Missouri State University)