Aurora Volume 14

College formerly located at Olivet, Illinois and known as Olivet University, 1912-1923; Olivet College, 1923-1939, Olivet Nazarene College, 1940-1986, Olivet Nazarene University, 1986-https://digitalcommons.olivet.edu/arch_yrbks/1016/thumbnail.jp

Supporting the success of online students who are deaf

One social justice victory of online education is the ability to expand access to higher education and serve a diverse student body. This roundtable discussion gave instructors and administrators the chance to share strategies and tools for supporting the success of students who are deaf. Online courses with synchronous components generally include audio elements in the form of live virtual classes; homework assignments that include videos, podcasts, or other media; and student-generated media assignments such as introductory videos or video role plays. To enable students who are deaf to fully participate in these courses, school administrators and instructors need to be ready with tools and strategies, such as live captioners or American Sign Language translators, media captioners, and plans for inclusive lessons. This roundtable discussion provided a forum for those with experience supporting the success of students who are deaf to share their experiences, and for those without experience to learn and ask questions. The goals for this session included: 1) Sharing concrete tools and resources that can support online students who are deaf 2) Sharing strategies for inclusive lesson planning and instructional design 3) Identifying areas where schools of social work can better prepare to support students who are dea

Reflection Journals - Examples of using this powerful tool to help students synthesize course content

For new and experienced online instructors, or those who work with them, this interactive session will share examples of well received reflection journal assignments from online courses at Columbia University. The presenters will open by touching on research on the value of reflection journals, sample uses of reflection journal assignments, and how to provide instructor feedback and grading to deepen student work on future journal entries while maintaining a feasible instructor workload. Next, the presenters will share examples of reflection journal assignment instructions, grading rubrics, and lessons learned from two online courses. Finally, the presenters will facilitate a chat-based discussion to encourage the session participants to share their experiences, advice, and questions. Most learning management systems, including Blackboard and Canvas, include a journal tool. This session will help instructors share and spark ideas of ways to use this tool effectively in their own online courses, regardless of the course topic or academic discipline. The presenters will be Beth Counselman Carpenter, Assistant Professor, Southern Connecticut State University's School of Health and Human Services; and Matthea Marquart, Director of Administration, Online Campus, and Lecturer, Columbia University School of Social Work

Supporting the success of online students who are deaf: Lessons presented at #SWDE2017

Guest post for the "Teaching & Learning in Social Work: Exploring Ways to Enhance Life-Long Learning for Professional Practice" blog by Laurel Hitchcock. (2017, June 23). Post available at http://www.laureliversonhitchcock.org/2017/06/23/supporting-the-success-of-online-students-who-are-deaf-lessons-presented-at-swde2017

Supporting ourselves and others by encouraging self-care: Strategies that educational developers can build into courses for instructors and students (and consider using ourselves) -- #EDC2019

Members of the Millennial and iGeneration generations report higher levels of anxiety and depression, lower levels of self-esteem and happiness, lower levels of intrinsic motivation for school, and have less experience with independence, self-directed learning, and decision-making than past generations, and as a result require more guidance to be able to succeed in higher education (Twenge, 2018). These students and early-career professionals may benefit from explicit support around building self-care into academic experiences. This one-page showcase item asks educational developers and instructors to consider ways to build self-care strategies into their courses, to bolster both students and instructors, and shares sample strategies; these strategies can apply to different types of courses and across disciplines. As part of the showcase, the presenters will invite participant interaction to share ideas, discuss challenges, and ask questions

Engaging Adult Learners by Creating Inclusive Online Classroom Communities

Drawing from experience teaching synchronous, hybrid, and asynchronous courses on topics of diversity, in multiple academic settings, the presenters will share case studies, experiences, challenges, and solutions around creating inclusive online classroom communities that engage adult learners. The session will be interactive and supportive of participants, and will include concrete, practical strategies and practices for addressing issues of power, privilege, and oppression in online classrooms. Learning Objectives: By the end of this session, participants should be able to: - Describe ways to build a respectful and supportive classroom community that encourages participation from all students, including nontraditional adult learners. - Discuss strategies for dealing with potential challenges around power, privilege, and oppression that may come up in courses. - Identify pedagogical best practices from courses on topics of diversity that can be applied to courses on any subject

Self-care practices in online faculty: Strategies for professional satisfaction and program retention -- #SWDE2019

SESSION DESCRIPTION: This presentation/discussion looked at what self-care practices online distance social work faculty engage in to manage teaching stress and academic burnout, how faculty members' perceptions of self-care connect to their in-class modeling and experience with online students, what institutional strategies are identified by online faculty members that may promote lower rates of burnout, and what (if any) role professional mentorship plays in improved self-care outcomes and role satisfaction. SESSION DETAILS: ● Participants will learn a six-pronged model of professional self care for social workers. ● Participants will share their faculty perceptions of self-care in an online teaching environment and discuss in-class modeling strategies and experience with online students. ● Participants will discuss what institutional strategies should be promoted for lower rates of burnout and what if any role does professional mentorship play in improved self-care outcomes and role satisfaction? ● Participants will have the ability to engage in a year-long practice to improve their self-care

Sliding-mode amplitude control techniques for harmonic oscillators

This thesis investigates both theoretical and implementation-level aspects of switching- feedback control strategies for the development of voltage-controlled oscillators. We use a modified sliding-mode compensation scheme based on various norms of the system state to achieve amplitude control for wide-tuning range oscillators. The proposed controller provides amplitude control at minimal cost in area and power consumption. Verification of our theory is achieved with the physical realization of an amplitude controlled negative-Gm LC oscillator. A wide-tuning range RF ring oscillator is developed and simulated, showing the effectiveness of our methods for high speed oscillators. The resulting ring oscillator produces an amplitude controlled sinusoidal signal operating at frequencies ranging from 170 MHz to 2.1 GHz. Total harmonic distortion is maintained below 0:8% for an oscillation amplitude of 2 Vpp over the entire tuning range. Phase noise is measured as -105.6 dBc/Hz at 1.135 GHz with a 1 MHz offset

Logan City CurbsideRecycling Program Phase III Results

This report summarizes the results of a series of survey research projects examining the attitudes and behaviors of Cache County residents regarding recycling programs in 2005. USU researchers were contacted by the Cache County Service District #1, through the Logan Environmental Department, to update information about household recycling attitudes and behaviors, and to present results to various audiences as part of the long-range county solid waste master planning process

Water-Conserving Landscapes: An Evaluation of Homeowner Preference

Landscape preferences were assessed for three identically designed Xeriscapes™, differing only in the plant material, under both well-watered and drought conditions. The classes of plant material included traditional (high water use), intermediate (moderate water use), and native/adapted plant species of the Intermountain West (low water use). Landscapes were subjected to a 5-week dry-down period. Under drought conditions, respondents preferred drought/adapted and intermediate landscapes to traditional landscapes. A focus on Xeriscape™ education, practices, and visual exposure may result in greater adoption of Xeriscape™ practices by homeowners and may also result in significant residential water savings