The University of Findlay’s Cara Davies, Ph.D., assistant professor of health science, and Christine M. Denecker, Ph.D., associate professor of English, recently hosted a professional development workshop at the biennial convention for The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi — the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines — on Aug. 11, in St. Louis, Mo.

 The workshop, “Meeting Them Where They Are: Millennials and Technology Etiquette in the Classroom,” helped participating professors prepare for classroom challenges arising in a technologically changing society.

During the interactive workshop, Davies and Denecker discussed how to harness technology for educational purposes and set appropriate boundaries for use of technology in the classroom. Through real-world examples of challenges faced today, participants of the workshop walked away with knowledge of how to effectively manage these new classroom challenges on a daily basis.

The workshop was hosted during the second day of the society’s two-day convention, which brought together more than 300 guests including 177 chapter delegates. The event also featured a keynote address from retired NASA astronaut Wendy Lawrence, as well as presentations by award winners from Phi Kappa Phi’s grant programs, regional meetings, ideas for strengthening chapters, and elections for the new board of directors. 

Founded in 1897 at the University of Maine, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. The Society has chapters on more than 300 select colleges and universities in North America and the Philippines. Membership is by invitation only to the top 10 percent of seniors and graduate students and 7.5 percent of juniors. Faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction also qualify.