Decoding the Disciplines

At the first Decoding the Disciplines conference in Aachen in November 2023, there was great enthusiasm for a new meeting of those using the approach. Therefore, we are coming together again to share our work and to advance our understanding of the potential of this approach. We encourage you to attend the conference, to propose sessions, and to share this announcement with others who are interested in this work.

We invite presentations on the following topics:

1. Experiences with Decoding the Disciplines: If you have used Decoding to identify a central bottleneck, to explore learning through an interview, to change something in your teaching for the better, or to respond to a larger challenge, share your experiences.

2. Analyses of the paradigm: Here, we are interested in the theoretical or methodological reflections on the framework or its steps, in the assessment of the effects of the methods on teachers or teaching, or the application of the approach in different institutional frameworks.

3. Strategies for spreading Decoding: What strategies are being used to introduce Decoding to teachers who are unfamiliar with the approach and how can we move this work into new contexts.

4. Application of the paradigm for the next generation: Are you interested in taking Decoding in a new direction similar to the ones below?

   • new ways to introduce Decoding in different contexts

   • how to use Gen AI, augmented reality/virtual reality, or game-based learning within the Decoding cycle as a teacher or with your learners,

   • innovative ideas about how to engage next-generation students for deeper learning in the new tech landscape, we would be excited to hear about your work.

5. Disrupting with Decoding: Recent work has been done to apply the decoding paradigm to anti-colonial and anti-racist curriculum and other aspects of teaching/learning to disrupt divisive elements in the learning environment. Share your inquiry and findings with the community to grow more equitable learning environments more broadly.

Participants can also attend:

• Workshops to directly experience the Decoding interview process and other strategies for making explicit what students need to do to succeed.

• Discussion to help shape the future of Decoding, exploring new directions for this work and ways to share your experiences through writing groups, a journal, a coordinating committee, the Decoding website, and future conferences. 

What you need to know:

The Call for Presentations will close on Sunday, April 7, and there will be a committee reviewing the submissions. Proposals for paper presentations should be no longer than 300 words and should provide both a general overview of what is to be shared and how it will contribute to a broader understanding of the potential of Decoding. Presentations are limited to 30 minutes.

To submit a proposal, include the following information in an email, or attached as a Word or PDF document, to decoding.web@gmail.com:

• Title of proposal

• Do you envision your talk as a Paper Presentation (25 minutes + 5 min for questions) or as a Workshop (50-60 min)?

• Names of presenter(s) (plus title and affiliation, if applicable)

• Topic (see numbered list above)

• Abstract (no more than 300 words)

• References

The conference will take place in Bloomington, Indiana. It will immediately follow the annual conference of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in nearby French Lick, Indiana (https://issotl.com/issotl24/). Participants are encouraged to attend both conferences.

The conference language will be English. It will be open to those who are interested in using the Decoding approach at all levels of education.