CFP: 2027 Eastern AAPT-APA Teaching Hub: "Developing Foundational Skills in Underprepared & Underprivileged Students"

Developing Foundational Skills in Underprepared & Underprivileged Students

SESSION GOALS: Students have always entered college with varying levels of preparedness. Perhaps now more than ever, those gaps in levels of preparedness are both more pronounced and politically relevant. Some students enter into college with exceptional writing, reading, study, and social skills, while others can barely read assigned texts, have difficulty articulating their thoughts during discussion, and are completely unprepared for the amount of patience and attention that rigorous work in philosophy takes. These differences track social, economic, political, racial, and gender privileges and disadvantages. Faculty are often encouraged by institutions to find a balance between treating all of our students equally and also ‘meeting students where they’re at.’ Meanwhile, many of the least prepared students are unaware of the extent to which these gaps exist, leading to inflated self-assessments and limited engagement with feedback.

The question of how to navigate these competing demands has been underexplored in contemporary conversations about college pedagogy. Most of us agree that this question is an urgent one, but few of us have found adequate ways of addressing it. This session is designed to provide a space to begin exploring solutions to this dilemma: how to treat our students fairly and justly while also supporting them at all levels of skill and preparedness.

We welcome proposals on any topic related to this theme, including (but not limited to) the following:

• Addressing skill gaps in writing, literacy, etc.
• Grappling with structural injustices in the classroom
• Coping with and responding to the tension between institutional pressure to admit / pass as many students as possible (even students who are unprepared for college) and the general social mission of education to improve the lives of our students
• Strategies for improving student awareness and engagement with feedback
• Balancing professionalism and rigor while caring for our most vulnerable students, especially when they are underprepared

FORMAT: Rather than a traditional paper presentation, Teaching Hub sessions are expected to be highly interactive. Proposals should indicate how audience members will participate in the session. The primary goal for the Teaching Hub is for attendees to walk away with something concrete to deploy in their own classrooms/teaching context.

What does the Teaching Hub mean by “highly interactive”? This includes (but is not limited to) the following:

• Presenters focusing less time on arguments for teaching some content or teaching a particular way, and more time on what it would actually look like to teach that content or teach in that way.
• Presenters thinking of the audience as their students and themselves as the facilitator/teacher. How could you cover the same content in a way that your audience participates in active learning activities during the session time?
• Presenters offering and demonstrating clear, practical examples of teaching methods, classroom activities, policies, practices, etc.
• Presenters conceptualizing of themselves as a facilitator, not giving traditional philosophical only talk-style presentation.

DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: August 1, 2026

SUBMISSIONS:

• Proposals should be sent to Mark C. Brennan ([email protected]) by August 1, 2026, with the subject line “Teaching Underprepared Students, AAPT-APA TH 2027.”
• In the body of the email, please include your name, institutional affiliation (if any), position (if any), and email contact information.
• Attached to the email, please include anonymized submission of 500–750 words (.doc, .docx, or .pdf) detailing the following: (1) describe the focus of your session, (2) an overview of how you plan to use your session time, including how you will make the session highly interactive, (3) what you hope the audience will take away from your session, and (4) whether you are requesting a 25- or 50-minute session.
• We aim to select presenters by August 15, 2026.

Questions about this session should be directed to Mark C. Brennan at the above email address. For general information about the AAPT-APA Teaching Hub, please visit the Teaching Hub page. For specific information about the Teaching Hub at the 2027 Eastern APA meeting in Boston, MA, please contact co-chairs Jordan Kokot ([email protected]) and Rebeccah Leiby ([email protected]).