USING TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
The Blackboard Series continues with a workshop on Thursday, March 27 at 1:00 pm. The professional development session is sponsored by the Teaching+Learning Center and will be held in 311 Magnolia Building (Mid City Campus). Susan Nealy and Lenora White will be sharing some of the latest Blackboard features that you can use to help your students succeed. Todd Pourciau will add some pedagogical practices using technology that have been proven to help student achievement. Some of the topics to be shared include group work, material chunking, and homework. You can register now.

THE CHAIRLIFT LESSON
Chemistry professor Steven M. Wright's one-pager on learning about teaching through his experience with his niece on a chairlift is humorous. Even better, his outcome sheds some light on the connection between teaching and learning. He writes, "Successful teaching isn’t measured by what I have covered; it is measured by what students learn. Teaching that promotes little or no learning does raise some interesting ethical questions."

ACADEMIC RIGOR IN COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Inside Higher Ed has an interesting piece for all of us folks who work at community colleges. Paul Fain shares some information about a recent study that examines why community college transfer students are not succeeding. He writes, "Students are much less likely to earn a four-year degree if they first enroll at a community college. A key reason, according to a newly released study, is lost credits in the transfer process." The research also dumps cold water on several other explanations for why many community college students fail to eventually complete bachelor’s degrees, such as assumptions about lowered expectations, a vocational focus or inadequate academic rigor during their time at two-year colleges.