Perimeter College Participates in Teaching Conference, Professor Inspires ‘Safe Space’ in STEM

ATLANTA—A full-circle moment came to fruition for Dr. Melody Kelley as Perimeter College took part in the Southern Regional Education Board’s Institute on Teaching and Mentoring in support of Georgia State’s participation in the conference.

At the conference, Dr. Kelley, who is an associate professor of chemistry at Dunwoody Campus, presented on the topic “Creating Safer Spaces in STEM: Failure-Centered Pedagogy as a Tool for Inclusive Teaching.”

Held Oct. 27-30 at the Marriott Marquis in downtown Atlanta, the annual event is the largest gathering of minority doctoral scholars in the country, according to its website.

“I was a Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) doctoral scholar, so I went to a lot of these meetings as a graduate student. For years, I was on the other end of it,” Kelley said.

The SREB conference focuses on underrepresented groups and provides opportunities for participants to expand their academic networks, and prepare for future roles as teachers and mentors, Kelly added.

Several of Perimeter College’s leadership attended the conference.

“We are extremely proud to lend our full support to Georgia State and its engagement with this impactful conference,” said Perimeter College Interim Dean Dr. Cynthia Lester. “Perimeter College is committed to doing its part in seeking out highly qualified faculty as part of the college’s diversity, equity and inclusion strategy.”

Professor Kelley also works as a faculty associate with Georgia State’s Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Online Education and conducts a workshop for Georgia State and Perimeter faculty that addresses how anxiety about failing and taking risks make their way to STEM classes.

“When we talk about failure-centered pedagogy, we’re talking about designing courses that are rooted in restoration as opposed to being punitive. We talk about processes, procedures and instructional strategies that are aimed at improving a student’s ability to learn deeply and addressing some of those psychological barriers, invisible barriers that show up in science classes.”

Kelley said she wants to communicate the message of designing course content in a way that considers the idea of failure and “cultivates” a comfort with failure in order to “create a more belonging-centered environment.”

SREB’s Institute on Teaching and Mentoring has had a profound impact in academics, Kelly said.

“It’s very impactful and is a meeting and an organization like no other because the emphasis is on education and how to improve as an educator.

“The SREB has definitely impacted higher education, especially when we talk about diversity and inclusion. With respect to Georgia State, what they are doing is recruiting professors that look more like the student body or have more shared experiences with the student body, which can improve learning outcomes.”