New Semester, New Building, New Challenges!

     As I write this, I have been prepared for a new semester of my adjunct teaching for several days.  I have prepared as much in advance as I can, assembled grade books, prepared new handouts, uploaded content to the LMS system, etc.  However, this semester there are two really big unknowns:  a brand new Math and Science building, and a bunch of new technology! 

     It is hard for anyone to prepare for these changes, but it is especially hard for adjuncts.  Most of the time, adjuncts are not privy to the information full-time faculty receives.  For example, I was not even sure of the existence of the rumored smart boards until I had a chance to catch-up with a full-timer.  Also, I have heard rumors about better computer access by students.  This could really change my preparations! 

     So as we begin the new semester, it will be a learning curve for all: students and faculty alike!  We just need to stay focused and stay on top of the changes and the challenges.

     And for me, the preparations for the new business are coming along nicely.  This is another challenge that I am personally facing this semester and I really cannot wait to get up and running!  So have a good semester and keep a look out for more business and education posts!

Virtual Classroom

     Yesterday I attended a training class on the use of virtual classroom technology (www.WizIQ.com).  This is the same technology I will be using to tutor students online.  The technology is all JAVA based (looks like I should learn JAVA stead of drinking it), and is amazingly user-friendly. 

     The trainer (and the virtual classroom website) was based in India.  The quality of the audio in the virtual presentation was not the best but not prohibitive either.  The PowerPoint presentation was smooth as was  the whiteboard controls. Also, the ability to play audio and video files (podcast, YouTube, etc.) within the classroom setting is phenomenal.   I found this amazing that I could take a class from someone on the other side of the planet and still have a smooth interaction.  I have used Skype before and have had problems talking to people in Houston, Texas let alone India!

     I am quite enamored of the technology and would love to see it used more often in the US.  Currently, most of the instructors using the technology are in Asia and are geared toward supplemental instruction for the college entrance exams in India.  Not only is this tech beneficial for non-traditional methods of instruction, the controls of the classroom also make this a good place to teach a traditional style lecture class. 

     What great strides have been made in technology!  And a big thank you to Rohit for the tutorial and the interesting discussion of True Blood!

The Debate…

I found an interesting article in the Chronicle of Higher Education (www.chronicle.com/article/To-Justify-Every-A-some/128528). Western Governors University has hired 300 adjunct professors to do nothing but grade.  The reasoning is that professors who teach the classes themselves can skew grades just from having contact with the students.  This leads to grade inflation.  The article states average grades have risen for thirty years and the most common grade given at the university level is an A.  The article then goes on to debate the merits of the standard professor-as-grader system and the new systems (including artifical-intelligence driven grading of essays) being implemented.

Both sides of the argument, pro-status quo and pro-independent grading have valid arguments.  But the most telling portion of the article to me is the reflection of grade inflation on higher education.  Are students genuinely better today than they were 30 years ago?  Or is the grade inflation indicative of a shift in higher education toward a service mentality (meaning that colleges and universities are serving the public, i.e. customers and the customer is always right).  I have heard 'round-the -water-cooler discussions of these topics before.  The debates have been very often both optimistic and pessimistic.  Which belief is right?

Like many issues that are worth discussing, there is no clear-cut answer.  There needs to be discussion, debate and dialog  not only at the intra-collegiate level but at the inter-collegiate as well.  And while we are at it, why not include the K-12 educational systems as well?  If it weren't for K-12, there wouldn’t be a higher education to strive for.  I think it would benefit everyone to continue to discuss new, innovative strategies to help students succeed.  After all, student success is what education is about, and that’s something we all agree on.

The start of business...

     Beginning any new venture has its share of perils, but the biggest peril is not starting at all.  Starting  a new business in this economy is truly perilous.  Yet, even more perilous is the future we face when our students are ill-prepared to face the tasks of being responsible members of an increasingly technical society. It is my belief that a firm grasp of basic scientific principles is necessary to understand the challenges of todays society.

     STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education is highly publicized and often criticized. Many would agree that STEM education is the route to more innovation in technology. But many are critical of the cost, both in financial terms and in the work necessary to obtain a good education in general, and  science and math in particular.  Students find science and math to be difficult subjects that they cannot wait to leave behind. Why?

     That last sentence is fundamentally what science is all about.  Why?  Why do things happen?  At its most elemental, science is posing a question and then looking for the answer.  Because of this, children are natural scientists.  The typical question of "Why is the sky blue?" is the type of thing scientists do daily!  And yet these students who dislike science and math were once children themselves.  Where did that natural curiosity go?

I think that the natural questioning behavior of children is not often encouraged.  When we don't encourage questioning, we are setting the groundwork for dislike of science.  We need to let these children know early that they should question the world.  We need more scientifically inclined people to go into early education.  We need more collaboration between working scientists and educators at all levels.

     That is why I am working to launch EChemCLASS (Chemical Literacy And Study Skills), an e-tutoring venture.  The focus is on chemical education and chemical literacy because it is usually the most reviled subject in all of science.  The root cause of this hatred of chemistry, I believe, lies in its relation to all of science as a whole.  You need to know a little bit about all sciences in order to understand and appreciate chemistry for the wonderful, vast, complex, engaging, miraculous and sometimes smelly subject that it is.

     I also would like to teach and encourage study skills that are core to success in sciences, and are highly transferable skills to all subjects. Too often material is presented to students that lack the basic skills to use the information to the best of their abilities.  By showing strategies in study, problem solving, time management and language skills, the students become better equipped to use material presented to them, allowing internalization of knowledge.

     Please bear with me as I start this new venture.  I would like to reach the broadest of all possible audiences when I go live with EChemCLASS in January 2011.  Please feel free to email me or leave comments.  Thank you.