Journal of College Science Teaching Call for Papers

The Two-Year Community section of the Journal of College Science Teaching, edited by Dr. David M. Majerich, invites submissions on aspects of teaching and learning of special importance in the community college environment. Coordination of science education efforts in the community college classroom with subsequent educational and/or workforce expectations and professional issues of science instructors at community colleges are of particular interest. Some broad topics of interest include the following:

• Programs aimed at promoting college completion
• New approaches to measure college readiness
• Coordination efforts (across secondary and two-year communities, and two-year and four-year communities)
• Developmental, remedial, and online course development, implementation, and assessment
• Gender and diversity issues in the classroom
• Industry and professional organization partnerships and programs
• Novel STEM course development, implementation, and assessment
• Professional development for two-year faculty
• Research on STEM teaching and learning outcomes
• Unique programs that address retention and attrition
• Science standards adoption
• STEM outreach programs
• Technical certification course development, implementation, and assessment
• Innovative technology adoption and curricular integration in the classroom or laboratory
• Improving transfer and articulation agreements between two- and four-year communities
• Undergraduate research experiences and learning outcomes
• Workforce development

Prospective contributors are encouraged to contact the column editor by e-mail to discuss the suitability of a given idea for this column. Submissions are limited to 3,000 words exclusive of tables, figures, and references. Submissions reporting on investigations or those that review other literature will be double-blind peer-reviewed. Editorial submissions will be assessed for their level of novel contribution. Accepted editorials will be designated as such (and therefore nonpeer-reviewed) in the journal and should be limited to 1,000 words.

Inquiries concerning the suitability of possible contributions to the Two-Year Community column should be sent by e-mail directly to:

David M. Majerich
Science Educator and Research Scientist II
Design and Intelligence Laboratory
School of Interactive Computing
Georgia Institute of Technology
85 Fifth Street NW
Atlanta, GA 30342
dmajerich@nsta.org 

For more information: http://www.nsta.org/college/twoyearcommunity.aspx

Faculty Spotlight - Janet Willman

English Instructor SouthShore Campus “Memorization is what we resort to when what we are learning makes no sense.”

Capital Course: I enjoy teaching ENC 1101 the most. I enjoy having students tell me that my instruction is helping them succeed in other courses. I also know that I am making a difference when a student tells me that he or she wishes my class was taken first because what I am teaching would have helped. Ideal Ideology: Learning occurs when students feel safe, when students are not afraid to give answers even if the answer might be incorrect. As an instructor, it is my job to provide that safe atmosphere. Once that atmosphere has been established in my classroom, learning can occur. In this environment, I provide students with instruction that will help them succeed in any course and in the business world where oral and written communication is a necessity. Teachable Moment: I had a student in my ENC 1101 class who plagiarized a paper. I talked with her, and she admitted it was a student’s paper from an earlier class of mine. I gave her a zero for that assignment, and advised her to do all of her own work in the future. I was very surprised to find that she signed up for my ENC 1102 class this semester. On the first day of class, she told me that she had signed up for me again because even though she had done the wrong thing in the previous class, she was completely comfortable with me. I had treated her with the same respect I had before she had cheated. She said she knew I didn’t hold grudges and would not hold it against her in this class. I think this demonstrates the safe environment I referred to early. She felt safe enough to return to me even though she knew I would be checking everything she wrote. Student Success: In my ENC 1101 class, on the first or second day of class, I give students a topic for a sample essay. I make comments on them just like I would any other essay written in that class. But I keep them. Near the end of the semester, I give the students the same topic again as an in-class writing. Once I grade them, I staple them to the first one they wrote and hand both back. The students are thrilled to see their progress. There are such drastic differences in the two pieces of writing. I have so many students thank me for doing this because they say it really shows their progress and it builds their confidence for future classes. Techno Tool: I use Blackboard to post PowerPoint presentations, missed notes, tips of the week for writing assignments. The students complain when I forget to post. Optimized Advice: Be active in the course. When I teach an on-line course, I am in the course shell five days per week. I have a discussion board every week which forces students to be active weekly. Because I am present in the course on a regular basis, fewer students are skipping out on assignments. If there is nothing for me to grade or respond to, I find out who has not logged in that week, and I send them a friendly email. Many instructors will put complete responsibility on the student. But I find myself encouraging students in my face to face classes to be on time, participate, be timely with assignments, and online, is no different in my mind.

Submit your Proposal Now – ET4Online Symposium 2013

A Joint Symposium of the Sloan Consortium and MERLOT
April 9-11, 2013
Planet Hollywood Resort, Las Vegas, NV
Twitter hashtag: #et4online
Follow us on Twitter @et4online

A conference devoted to the emerging and innovative uses of technology designed to improve teaching and learning online.
We invite you to submit a proposal for the 6th Annual Emerging Technologies for Online Learning International Symposium in Las Vegas.

The Emerging Technologies for Online Learning International Symposium, a joint Symposium of Sloan Consortium and MERLOT, is designed to bring together individuals interested in the review and evaluation of online teaching and learning technologies.

Faculty, students, instructional designers, instructional technologists and academic administrators are encouraged to submit proposals which are engaging, informative and interactive. These sessions can be targeted to all attendees or beginners, intermediates, or experts.

The symposium, focusing on the technologies, networking and systems that drive online learning effectiveness will accept presentations that offer attendees “real solutions.” Symposium tracks highlight and demonstrate research, application and effective practices and noteworthy technological tools in the following areas:

• Learning Spaces and Communities
• Open and Accessible Learning
• Evidence-based Learning
• Faculty and Student Development
• Innovative Media and Tools

Proposals must be submitted by December 10, 2012 at:
http://sloanconsortium.org/conference/2013/et4online/call-for-presentations 

Be a Speaker at the Enterprise IT Leadership Conference

When: April 16–18, 2013
Where: St. Louis, Missouri

The Enterprise IT Leadership Conference 2013 will focus on the trends and provide insights into IT leadership in an increasingly BYOD and cloud-based service environment. Your perspectives and experience will add value to the discussion.
The Enterprise IT Leadership Conference 2013 program committee welcomes proposals on any of these conference themes:

• Governance and Data-Driven Decisions
• Institutional Strategic Planning and Technology
• IT Service and Systems Management
• Leadership

Submit your proposal by November 14, 2012

Propose a Session to Convene IT Leaders on an Enterprise Security Issue
The Enterprise IT Leadership Conference and Security Professionals Conference programs feature a half day of combined sessions on Wednesday, April 17. You’re invited to submit a proposal for one of these combined sessions using either conference’s proposal submission form.

For more information, visit the conference's website: http://www.educause.edu/events/enterprise-it-leadership-conference

Congratulations to Dr. Susan Miletta!

Please join us in congratulating soon to be retired professor, and League for Innovation award winner, Dr. Susan Miletta! Dr. Miletta has been selected to speak at the Innovator Spotlight Virtual Conference!

Every year the League honors outstanding innovations through the presentation of its Innovation of the Year Award. These innovations represent significant achievements at member colleges and the continuing renewal of the spirit of innovation and experimentation upon which the League was founded. Award-winning innovations, along with other best practice projects and Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC) grantees, will be presented in collaboration with Teaching Colleges and Community (TCC) by some of the brightest minds in the community college world.

Dr. Miletta’s Winning Innovation: Online Lab Review Materials for Biology and Anatomy + Physiology

Conference Date/Time: Wednesday, September 19th, 2012
*Dr. Miletta will present at 1pm

For more Conference Info: http://www.league.org/innovatorspotlight2012/

Faculty Spotlight - Kristin Heathcock

Librarian, Plant City Campus

Techno Tool: iPads in the Classroom/Library

Ideal Ideology:
Technology plays an increasing role in our lives. In the library realm, technology is a tool that makes many things easier and more complicated simultaneously! For example, students have access to more information today than ever before. Though they have this access, they are frequently unaware of how to access information in an efficient and effective manner. Instead, they are overwhelmed by information. Their instructors often bring them to the library for library instruction, yet my instructional area is a standard “Smart Classroom” – so I do not have any computers for students to use during the instruction.

My dean and I explored the idea of a mobile classroom, and eventually decided to go with an iPad Classroom. This classroom is mobile, easily stored, and fun!

Teachable Moment:
I am my best with students when we are working collaboratively together to solve a problem. The iPads in the classroom allow me to do just this. Rather than being the sole person in the room doing a “show and tell”, the students and I work together to locate information, troubleshoot and more. The iPads allow us to do it all at the same time.

Librarians often work one-on-one with students, and the iPads allow me to do just this. Rather than addressing one student’s question or problem with the entire class, students are able to work independently on their iPads. I rove around the room assisting them as they need help.

Instructional Collaboration:
Librarians and classroom faculty are ideal partners. I’ve had tremendous success in collaborative efforts that focus on addressing the research needs of students.

One English faculty member and I collaborate on the research and writing components for her course each term. This allows the faculty member to have an assignment that meets the needs of the course, while ensuring that the library has the required resources for students to successfully complete the assignment. Additionally, it ensures that students are provided library instruction that truly addresses the requirements of the assignment.

Another faculty member allows me to participate as an embedded librarian in her online courses. This allows me to have direct contact with the students in the class, access to their assignment instructions, and a discussion board for library related questions.

The library databases are the very best resource that we have in the library. There are over 100 databases available at HCC. Many of the databases provide access to more than just printed materials – several have videos and audios! These are such a great resource for faculty to use, as they can show them in their classrooms, require them for student assignments, and direct students to them for additional assistance.

Technological Success:
The classroom set of iPads that I have in the library are very popular. I use them as the “hands-on” component of my library instruction sessions. This allows students to get an active learning experience, while also ensuring that they know and understand how to use the library resources. Students are excited to use them because they’re cool; faculty are excited for them in class because it allows students to use and interact with the databases; and I like them because I find that students really do use them to do in-class research! The recent classes I’ve had use them have stayed in the library instruction area long after the instruction was over – because students were still using the iPads to do research!

Turning PowerPoint into an Interactive PDF

Contributed by Don Modesto
EAP Faculty - Ybor Campus

PROBLEM
To distribute Powerpoints to students:

1. allowing them to fill in blanks
2. without allowing them to edit the Powerpoint file (to prevent confusion re: which is the teacher’s and which are students’ revisions)
3. that they can print efficiently
4. ie, four slides to a page so as not to waste paper (I was appalled once to see a student had printed a 30-slide Powerpoint one slide to a page)

SOLUTION
Google turned up PDFill (http://www.pdfill.com/). Downloaded, PDFill puts an option in your Powerpoint Print dialogue allowing you to “print” to a PDF file (which can then be uploaded to Blackboard.) In your Powerpoint presentation, you select Print and then choose PDFill, as below:

After that, you configure for the layout, color, etc.:

When you tell it to “print,” PDFill converts your Powerpoint into a PDF file. I’ve used it several times now, and it works as described.

ANNOTATE THE PDF
When students download and open the pdf file, they will have to click the Add Text icon in the tool bar in order to add text to the page. The implementation is a little clumsy, but it works. As below, there are several formatting choices on the floating Add Text toolbar.

POWERPOINT SHOW FORMAT
I have previously distributed Powerpoints as “Powerpoint Shows” (Save as, Save as type: Powerpoint Show) which open immediately to a full screen presentation with no opportunity to edit or, alas, print. This is fine should you choose to distribute your entire Powerpoint. I no longer do this. I save my lesson in a students’ version and then replace critical terms with blanks to encourage active learning and then, as above, save and distribute it as a PDF.