PINERO RECOGNIZED
Congratulations to Amy Pinero, Interim Department Chair of Social Sciences,
for being selected as the BRCC Outstanding Faculty Member of the year. Pinero, who teaches
criminal justice courses, received her recognition at the LCTCS luncheon today.
She is a very active member of the BRCC faculty and currently serves on the
eLearning Faculty Learning Community among other things. Well-deserved
recognition for a terrific teacher!
READY TO FLIP YOUR CLASS
There are still a few slots open for the Flipping the Classroom seminar to
be held on Thursday, March 21 at 3:00 PM in the Teaching+Learning Center (311
Magnolia). Dr. Bill Wischusen, associate chair of the Department of Biological
Sciences at LSU, will deliver this seminar. Although the concept of flipping
has been around for some time now, new ideas continue to emerge that allow us
to improve the innovative teaching approach. In essence, flipping means that
students gain first exposure to new material outside of class, usually via
reading or lecture videos, and then use class time to do the harder work of
assimilating that knowledge, perhaps through problem-solving, discussion, or
debates. You might want to take a look at the Flipped Learning Network website for some
additional information. To reserve your seat, send an email to Todd Pourciau at
pourciaut@mybrcc.edu.
COOPERATIVE LEARNING REVISITED
Returning to the topic covered by Dr. Barbara Millis, the most recent
distinguished speaker in the Teaching+Learning Center's ongoing series,
cooperative learning is the instructional use of small groups so that students
work together to maximize their own and each other’s learning. Considerable
research demonstrates that cooperative learning produces higher achievement,
more positive relationships among students, and healthier psychological
adjustment than do competitive or individualistic experiences. The research notes that this can lead to reduced attrition rates and hirer completion for students. Dean McManus
who implemented cooperative learning into his classes notes, "For the students, change began on the first day. They learned
that they would be expected to discuss the assigned reading and to teach it to
other students. Furthermore, they would be writing one-page and two-page summaries
of readings often, and five-page reports every couple of weeks. The emphasis
would be on their ability to express themselves in terms of the science they
were studying." Here are a few other resources for you to supplementthe material that Dr. Millis shared with us during her visit.
BEARS ENTER THE TIGER'S DEN
The Tiger Bridge Program is an innovative new academic opportunity that
combines the on-campus living experience unique to LSU, with the smaller class
setting of Baton Rouge Community College. This academic collaboration between LSU and BRCC is an invitation-only,
year-long program that allows students the chance to make a seamless transition
into college life at LSU. After the successful completion of this one-year
program, students will transfer fully to LSU for their sophomore year
coursework and beyond. Space is limited in the Tiger Bridge Program, and
students will enter on a first-come, first-served basis. “I think it will be a
great collaborative effort between BRCC and LSU," says Vice Chancellor of
Academic Affairs Monique Cross. “This gives them additional options,” she said.
“This is an alternate path students can take to get to LSU and they will also
be able to earn an associate degree from BRCC.”
Showing posts with label bridges program. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bridges program. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
DO YOU HAVE AN OPINION
Are you looking to integrate active learning into your course or perhaps you want to use inquiry-guided learning in your class? Do you know why Millennial students are different from students you may have taught in the past? Did you know that student engagement has proven to be the most important deterrent to student attrition according to the latest research? These questions are just part of the Teaching+Learning Center's Needs Assessment survey now being collected. If you have not had the opportunity to complete the short survey, please take a few minutes to do it today.
CONNECTING NEW INFORMATION TO MEMORY
Speaking of student engagement, there are a number of resources that can help you create a student-friendly classroom. Elizabeth Barkley says that engaged students are involved in the academic task at hand and are using higher-order thinking skills such as analyzing information or solving problems. In her book Student Engagement Techniques: A handbook for college faculty, Barkley notes that engagement is linked to active learning because learning is about making sense and meaning out of new information by connecting it to what is already known. Although the BRCC Library does not have access to Barkley's book, you can view large portions of it using the Google books feature. She concludes by saying that there is "no single tip, technique, or strategy that offers a magic formula or blueprint for student engagement. Yet some approaches and activities do engage students better than others."
YOU CAN USE THIS NOW
If you are looking for a way to enhance the question and answer portions of your class, you might want to try to the Waiting Game technique. Tell your students that once you ask the question, they must wait until you say it is okay for them to answer. The wait time should generally be short (15 seconds or so) - but research shows this is one of the hardest things for faculty to do yet it creates a better learning environment for many reasons. It is important to insist that no one raise their hand (or shout out the answer) before you give the okay, in order to discourage the typical scenario in which the five students in the front row all immediately volunteer to answer the question, and everyone else sighs in relief. Waiting forces every student to think about the question, rather than passively relying on those students who are fastest out of the gate to answer every question. When the wait time is up, the instructor asks for volunteers or randomly picks a student to answer the question. Once students are in the habit of waiting after questions are asked, more will get involved in the process.
DOCTORS OF THE FUTURE
A $1.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health has been awarded to LSU and BRCC to establish a new biomedical and behavioral sciences education initiative called the Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program. The program will encourage underrepresented students in the biomedical and behavioral science fields to complete their associate degrees at BRCC, and then move on to complete bachelor's degrees at LSU.
Are you looking to integrate active learning into your course or perhaps you want to use inquiry-guided learning in your class? Do you know why Millennial students are different from students you may have taught in the past? Did you know that student engagement has proven to be the most important deterrent to student attrition according to the latest research? These questions are just part of the Teaching+Learning Center's Needs Assessment survey now being collected. If you have not had the opportunity to complete the short survey, please take a few minutes to do it today.
CONNECTING NEW INFORMATION TO MEMORY
Speaking of student engagement, there are a number of resources that can help you create a student-friendly classroom. Elizabeth Barkley says that engaged students are involved in the academic task at hand and are using higher-order thinking skills such as analyzing information or solving problems. In her book Student Engagement Techniques: A handbook for college faculty, Barkley notes that engagement is linked to active learning because learning is about making sense and meaning out of new information by connecting it to what is already known. Although the BRCC Library does not have access to Barkley's book, you can view large portions of it using the Google books feature. She concludes by saying that there is "no single tip, technique, or strategy that offers a magic formula or blueprint for student engagement. Yet some approaches and activities do engage students better than others."
YOU CAN USE THIS NOW
If you are looking for a way to enhance the question and answer portions of your class, you might want to try to the Waiting Game technique. Tell your students that once you ask the question, they must wait until you say it is okay for them to answer. The wait time should generally be short (15 seconds or so) - but research shows this is one of the hardest things for faculty to do yet it creates a better learning environment for many reasons. It is important to insist that no one raise their hand (or shout out the answer) before you give the okay, in order to discourage the typical scenario in which the five students in the front row all immediately volunteer to answer the question, and everyone else sighs in relief. Waiting forces every student to think about the question, rather than passively relying on those students who are fastest out of the gate to answer every question. When the wait time is up, the instructor asks for volunteers or randomly picks a student to answer the question. Once students are in the habit of waiting after questions are asked, more will get involved in the process.
DOCTORS OF THE FUTURE
A $1.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health has been awarded to LSU and BRCC to establish a new biomedical and behavioral sciences education initiative called the Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program. The program will encourage underrepresented students in the biomedical and behavioral science fields to complete their associate degrees at BRCC, and then move on to complete bachelor's degrees at LSU.
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