The Evolution of Student Engagement: Writing Improves Teaching in Introductory Biology

In response to calls for pedagogical reforms in undergraduate biology courses to decrease student attrition rates and increase active learning, this article describes one faculty member’s conversion from traditional teaching methods to more engaging forms of practice. Partially told as a narrative, this article illustrates a.) the way many faculty initially learn to teach by modeling the pedagogy from their own undergraduate programs; b.) the kind of support biology faculty may need to break out of traditional molds; c.) how writing can promote active learning; and d.) the impact of reformed pedagogy on student levels of engagement. The latter will be demonstrated through assessment results gathered from student surveys, reflective writing, and focus group interview. Ultimately, the study challenges misunderstandings some faculty might have regarding the value of writing in science classes and offers inspiration, urging critical reflection and persistence

Information Systems Undergraduate Degree Project: Gaining a Better Understanding of the Final Year Project Module

The place of an individual project in the final year of Information Systems (IS) undergraduate degrees at UK universities is well established. In this paper we compare the final year project modules at four UK universities: the University of Brighton, the University of South Wales, University of West London and the University of Westminster. We find that the aims of the projects are similar, emphasising the application of the knowledge and skills from the taught element of their course in a complex development project, often including interactions with a real client. Although we show in this analysis that projects serve a similar purpose in the IS degree courses, the associated learning outcomes and the assessment practice varies across the institutions. We identify some gaps in the skills and abilities that are not being assessed. In further work we are planning to consult final year students undertaking their projects and their supervisors, in order to gain an understanding of how project assessment criteria are actually put to use

Sustainability Education and Learning Committee Web Portal

Course Code: ENR/AEDE 4567This project was completed for The Sustainability Education and Learning Committee (SELC) of OSU's Sustainability Institute to provide insight and student perspective on the best way to design an interactive web portal that encompasses and makes easily accessible all sustainability-centric and and sustainability-related majors, minors, and coursework in one platform.Sustainability Education and Learning CommitteeAcademic Major: Environment, Economy, Development, and Sustainabilit

Vol. 9, issue 1

Bloomberg Terminals Now at the Library Archives of Sexuality and Gender News Bank Bryant Book Club Survey The Library Staff Discovers Their Strengths Meet Our New Employee Flipster Art by Faculty Member@ The Douglas and Judith Krupp Library HeinOnline Honors Capstone: Personal Library Program Gartner: Resource of the Mont

Information Literacy Instruction in an English Capstone Course: A Study of Student Confidence, Perception, and Practice

An English professor and an instruction librarian at the University of New Hampshire at Manchester felt that the college\u27s new English Capstone course for majors provided a unique opportunity to assess the information literacy skill levels of graduating English majors. They therefore engaged in a three-year study to evaluate the IL competency of these students, to gauge their perceptions of library instruction provided during the Capstone course and throughout their academic careers, and to determine students\u27 confidence and self-efficacy with respect to these skills. The researchers sought to determine the ways in which the IL program for English majors effectively met established IL goals and to identify areas for improvement

Online Technology Management Student Tutorial Case Study

This paper presents a case study of implementing online video-based tutorials to enhance student learning. Initially, these tutorials were developed using a software product, Camtasia, to mitigate learning differences between traditional-based classrooms versus online classes. Because online students often did not receive the same hands-on and visual learning modality that was available to students on traditional classroom settings, tutorials were assumed to level the playing field between these two groups. However, after two years of developing and integrating these tutorials into online classes, it was found that only a small minority of students were using them. Other issues were that tutorials took a long time to develop, and many lecturers felt they were ineffective. This case describes the reasons the tutorials were developed, the integration process, issues raised, and implications for future development

Design and Implementation of Performance Metrics for Evaluation of Assessments Data

The objective of this paper is to design performance metrics and respective formulas to quantitatively evaluate the achievement of set objectives and expected outcomes both at the course and program levels. Evaluation is defined as one or more processes for interpreting the data acquired through the assessment processes in order to determine how well the set objectives and outcomes are being attained. Even though assessment processes for accreditation are well documented but existence of an evaluation process is assumed. This paper focuses on evaluation process to provide insights and techniques for data interpretation. It gives a complete evaluation process from the data collection through various assessment methods, performance metrics, to the presentations in the form of tables and graphs. Authors hope that the articulated description of evaluation formulas will help convergence to high quality standard in evaluation process

Feature Detection in Medical Images Using Deep Learning

This project explores the use of deep learning to predict age based on pediatric hand X-Rays. Data from the Radiological Society of North America’s pediatric bone age challenge were used to train and evaluate a convolutional neural network. The project used InceptionV3, a CNN developed by Google, that was pre-trained on ImageNet, a popular online image dataset. Our fine-tuned version of InceptionV3 yielded an average error of less than 10 months between predicted and actual age. This project shows the effectiveness of deep learning in analyzing medical images and the potential for even greater improvements in the future. In addition to the technological and potential clinical benefits of these methods, this project will serve as a useful pedagogical tool for introducing the challenges and applications of deep learning to the Bryant community

Relationships Among Heart Rate Monitor Usage, Neuroticism, and Performance in Triathletes

Triathlon, a sport that consists of swimming, biking and running, is growing in popularity throughout the country and the world. There is a large percentage of athletes that rely on the use of a heart rate monitor to gauge effort, but there is also a group of athletes that do not use this technology. The purpose of this research was to determine if personality, specifically neuroticism, played a role in determining which athletes use heart rate monitors and whether these variables had any effect on performance. Ninety-eight triathletes were surveyed from 2 half iron distance triathlons in the summer of 2010. There proved to be no interaction effect between neuroticism and heart rate monitor usage on performance [F 2 = 1.830, p = 0.168]. Interestingly, the data showed that there was no significant relationship between heart rate monitor usage and performance. This finding is interesting because heart rate monitors are widely used in the triathlon community, and these data show that perhaps heart rate monitors are not the best tool for gauging effort

IMPACT: The Journal of the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning. Volume 1, Issue 1, Summer 2012

Impact: The Journal of the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning is a peer-reviewed, biannual online journal that publishes scholarly and creative non-fiction essays about the theory, practice and assessment of interdisciplinary education. Impact is produced by the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning at the College of General Studies, Boston University (www.bu.edu/cgs/citl)