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PIA announces Calendar Art Contest Winners
Plaquemanians In Action (PIA) is a coalition that provides prevention of substance abuse and underage drinking to the community, especially the youth ages 12-25, through education and awareness.
Plaquemanians In Action (PIA) is a coalition that provides prevention of substance abuse and underage drinking to the community, especially the youth ages 12-25, through education and awareness.
Guest speaker, Liz Rayfield, Process Engineer for Chevron Ornite, presented The Engineers Without Borders (EWB) "Visan, Guatemala Water Project" at a recent Rotary Club of Belle Chasse meeting.
Volunteers from Chevron Oronite spent the morning of Friday, March 3 maintaining restoration plots, planting trees, and clearing brush at Woodlands Trail.
By Jason Browne
The French Consul General Vincent Sciama graciously accepted Plaquemines Parish President Amos Cormier III's invitation to visit Plaquemines Parish on March 16.
By Jason Browne
Brandon Turner skated through the state tournament on his way to his third consecutive wrestling title, in his third successive weight class, in three years.
The Belle Chasse Middle School cheerleaders and dance team under the direction of their coaches, Michelle Benson and Lisa Heck and their choreographer, Gretchen Palmer, were able to perform a thirt
Pictured in the back row, from left: Mrs. Cooper, Nicole Rodriguez, Allanah Harrison, Em Lam and Principal Barrett.
South Plaquemines Elementary School celebrated its first outdoor Mardi Gras parade last month on Friday, February 9.
By Jason Browne
District 8 Plaquemines Parish Council member Jeff Edgecombe recently distributed proceeds checks from the Empire South Pass Tarpon Rodeo, which was held in August 2017.
By Jason Browne
Plaquemines Parish President Amos Cormier III believes he can do a better job of steering the Plaquemines Port Harbor & Terminal District than its current management.
Governor John Bel Edwards today announced the appointment of Bill Bubrig of Belle Chasse, La., to the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Board (CPRA).
7962 Hwy 23
P.O. Box 700
Belle Chasse, LA 70037
Phone: 504-392-1619
Fax: 504-392-7526


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Teach Your Dog To Take A Selfie
Ever wonder what Fido gets up to while you're away?
Teach your pup to selfie, and all you'll have to do is follow Mr. Muffins on Instagram to keep tabs.
Yes, your dog can take selfies!
Our Pal Anna Jane of NYC's School for The Dogs has been teaching dogs this skill (her pooch Amos is quite a pro). She's kindly agreed to to let you in on just how it's done.
Convincing your furball to update their Instagram on the regs, is up to you.
How To Teach Your Dog to Selfie
p.s. Help! Anna Jane's School for the Dogs' building burned down. So she is raising funds to give the doggies of New York a new place to go for training (and fun). Throw her a (metaphorical) bone, wouldya? Visit her fundraising site.
What You'll Need:
- A Dog (dogs available here)
- An iPhone or iPad
- A Ziplock Bag That'll Fit Your iThing
- Peanut Butter
- Dog Treats
- The Big Camera Button App
- Optional: a Dog Training Clicker
STEP 1: Prep the Apparatus
Put your iPhone or iPad into a ziplock bag and put a tiny bit of peanut butter over the screen part.
(Not too keen to mix food and technology? You can teach your dog with a decoy phone instead)!
STEP 2: Teach Touch
Show your pup your peanut flavored phone and as soon (s)he touches it, say a verbal affirmation (or click your dog training clicker) and give 'em a treat + pats on the head + extra love.
STEP 3: Keep up the Good Work
Repeat step 2 till Fido/Fifi has a good idea that whenever they go for that peanut butter on your phone, they hear a click/affirmation and get a treat.
STEP 4: Lose the Crutch
After they get the hang of it, you can lose the peanut butter and the ziplock.
Hold out your phone and when they give it a nose tap (or lick) give 'em praise (and more treats too).
STEP 5: Fire Up The Camera
Pull up the Big Camera Button app.
Hit Menu and make sure it's shooting from the front facing camera.
Choose the "Big Button" mode to turn your entire screen into a shutter button.
Then turn on "Burst" mode to raise your chances of getting a good pic.
STEP 6: Baby's First Selfie
Hold your phone out to your dog.
This time when they perform their new trick, your camera will take their photo.
Your dog just created a photographic self portrait (aka a selfie)! Good Dog.
Taking It Further
- Fire up the "App For Dog" painting app and turn your dog into the next Pooch Picaso (iOS/Android).
- Use the Yes/No App to let your mutt make decisions for you. It displays a randomized yes or no with just one tap.
- Help Anna Jane rebuild NYC's School for the Dogs! Even if you don't have a pooch of your own, you can help the dogs of New York City get on the selfie train (and learn a bunch of other fun skills too). Donate now!
- Live in NYC? Head to Anna Jane's School for a lesson.

subset: commoncrawl


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You need to meet the following requirements to use SWITCHcast:
- AAA login
- audio and video recording equipment
- acceptance of SWITCHcast terms of service
SWITCHcast Recorder
SWITCHcast Recorder is a software tool that can record from two video sources at the same time. You might want to show the presentation and the presenter, just the slides, or the slides and a physical experiment.
Please consult the Help Browser to see the hardware requirements for using SWITCHcast Recorder.
Video can be recorded using either SWITCHcast Recorder for Mac OS X or any other recording software (e.g. Camtasia, Wirecast etc.).
To upload videos to the SWITCHcast server, you need to start by creating a channel on the server.
A recording can comprise one or two videos, which can be edited before you publish them. You can also edit the metadata.
A recording can be annotated with comments or tags. Anyone who is authorised to view a video can annotate it.
Channel management
All videos are stored in channels, which can only be changed by the channel owner or an organisation's administrator, who sees all the organisation's channels.
LMS integration (plugins)
SWITCHcast can be integrated into Ilias and Moodle using third-party plugins.
On-site training
We have found that just one session can be a big help and would be happy to take a closer look at your needs with you.


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Green chocolates??? Green flowers???
Yes! For every Valentine's gift, it seems there is an alternative to make it a green Valentine's Day.
From fair trade chocolate, to bamboo underwear, to organic candles, to organic flowers, the list of green valentine's ideas is varied and fabulous.
In this video, Tania Reuben, from Pure Natural Diva, shares with me some of her favorite green Valentine's gifts and creative Valentine's ideas.
(We had such a blast shooting this impromptu video last weekend with the talented Kimberley Blaine, aka The Go-To Mom, behind the camera. Thanks Kimberley!)
To learn more about the green Valentine's gifts in the video, head over to Pure Natural Diva.
Thanks again to Kimberley Blaine for shooting this video at 9pm on a Friday night, while we relaxed at her house during my trip to LA. So fun!
If you found this post helpful, we would love it if you gave it a Stumble, Tweet, Pin, or Facebook Like. Thanks so much! We really appreciate your support of 5 Minutes for Mom.
Written by Janice Croze, co-founder of 5 Minutes for Mom.
We want to get to know you better — Tweet with us: @5minutesformom, find us on Facebook: Facebook.com/5minutesformom, or join our newsletter list.


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The Funeral of a Viking (1893) by the British painter Sir Frank Bernard Dicksee (1853-1928).
Dicksee was a typical Victorian painter who exploited historical subjects in a manner which is still considered as Pre-Raphaelite style even though it has absolutely nothing to do with that.
Here he shows a highly dramatic scene where the Vikings are clad in Gallic armor including the stupid horned helmets invented by Wagnerian stage designers. To to me it seems more than stupid to push a longship through the surf.
It is safe to assume that the whole scenery is as false as the costumes, but this didn't stop the popularity of the work which was used in 1990 as a cover of a heavy metal cd.
Jean-Baptiste Greuze
50 minutes ago


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Walking school bus Walking school bus
Walking school buses contribute to reducing the amount of traffic around schools. In Auckland, there are about 350 active walking school buses, with over 4,000 children walking to school. That's a lot of active feet on the street.
- Find out how to start a walking school bus.
- Download printable walking school bus resources.
- Find out about the walking school bus merit scheme.
- Find out about walking school bus week.
What is a walking school bus?
A walking school bus is just like a school bus except children walk to and from primary school under the supervision of adult volunteers (often parents), who act as the walking school bus driver.
Children are collected from stops along a planned route and dropped off at the school gate. Along the
Routes vary in length, usually about 1.5 km and/or a
A walking school bus can operate all 5 days of the school week or as little as 1 day per week. It can operate in the morning, after school or both. It all depends on the availability of adult volunteers and what works best for your team of bus drivers.
Age and number of children
Walking school buses are for primary school children and are popular with
There is no restriction to the number of children and adults that can be on a walking school bus as long as the recommended ratio of 1 adult to 8 children is adhered to. Pre-school children who are walking are included in the ratio; pre-school children in pushchairs are not.
Volunteer information
Sharing responsibilities
When the responsibility of getting children to and from school is shared among a group of parents, it can lead to more free time for everyone. For example, if you are 1 of 5 volunteers for your bus route and you commit to operating the bus 1 morning a week, you're free to get to work without the stress of dropping off your child (or children) the other 4 days. This also gives you one morning to spend some time with your kid(s) and their friends.
Bikes and scooters
As adult volunteers, it is you who decides whether you can control a group of children walking, riding bikes and riding scooters. If you feel it is too difficult and that safety would be compromised, you can remind children that it is a walking school bus (not a riding one).
Wet weather days
Wet days are when congestion at the school gate is at its worst, so everyone benefits if the walking school bus operates. Get out your wet weather gear and see what different creatures venture out in the rain. Ultimately, it is the volunteer who operates the bus who decides whether or not to operate in wet weather, so discuss this when you start the bus so that everyone knows what to do when it rains.
How we keep walking schools buses safe
- All walking school buses are set up with the help of an Auckland Transport (AT) Community Transport Coordinator.
- All routes undergo a hazard identification walk to identify safe places to cross and to rectify any hazards along the way.
- Each adult volunteer receives road safety guidelines that provide simple tips for walking with a group of children. Find the guidelines in multiple languages in our walking school bus resource list.
- Defining walking school bus procedures for your school and putting in place some common-sense road safety practices will help volunteers feel comfortable with their role as supervisors, and ensure children are as safe as possible.
- A consent form must be signed before children can join the bus. Find the consent form in our walking school bus resource list.
Starting a walking school bus
Setting up and coordinating a walking school bus route requires enthusiastic parents or adults from your school. If you think you are that person, contact your school principal and the local AT Community Transport Coordinator.
AT can give you all the help you need in getting the walking school bus going, including:
- Parent/volunteer training, ongoing support, and networking and training opportunities, eg child first aid course and regular chances to meet up with those involved in the walking school bus network.
- Discretionary funding for a route.
- Useful resources.
- Checking the proposed route for safety.
For more details about setting up or volunteering on a walking school bus, please contact firstname.lastname@example.com
Walking school bus resources
- The walking school bus - general information (English, PDF 300KB). The purpose of a walking school bus, how it works, how you can get involved and/or how you can set one up.
Also available
in:Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Maori, Samoan, Tongan.
- Road safety guidelines for walking school bus volunteers (English, PDF 324KB). Explains the basic road safety rules and guidelines for conducting (leading) a walking school bus.
Also available
in:Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Maori, Samoan, Tongan.
- My walking school bus pledge (English, PDF 551KB). The pledge each child signs when joining a walking school bus, agreeing to follow the road safety rules and to listen to the
Also available
in:Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Maori, Samoan, Tongan.
- Walking school bus funding application form (English, PDF 88KB). Each WSB is eligible for annual discretionary funding for promotional items, incentives and other materials needed for a successful bus.
- Walking school bus leaving certificate for children - A4 certificate (English, PDF 64KB) and A5 certificate (English, PDF 516KB). An editable certificate that can be presented to children when they leave the walking school bus.
- "We are a walking school bus school" poster (English, PDF 150KB). Print out and display this poster at your school to let students and parents know about the walking school bus.
- Walking school bus consent form (English, PDF 100KB). Make sure participants understand guidelines and responsibilities before heading off on the walking school bus.


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Hi, my program streams data for a long time from one channel and continually analyzes it. sometimes, my ps3000a returns error code 07 from the call to ps3000aGetStreamingLatestValues.
The manual lists this as PICO_NOT_RESPONDING. Typically when it enters this state, further attempts to read the data over the next 3 seconds all fail, and if left to continue trying, will never recover.
What is the recommended way to handle this error code according to Pico Technology?


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|Tribbles is trying to get in on the action!
Re-fashioned, Re-purposed, Re-Used: Fashion and Decor from Thrift Stores to the Home
Wednesday, 2 September 2015
O Summer, Where Art Thou
As I was driving home from work today, creeping along to avoid hydroplaning off the road, knuckles white on the steering wheel (yes, I'm being overly dramatic... but not much) I couldn't help thinking wistfully of warmer weather to come (we had a brief glimpse last week but it seems to have gone away again...) anyway, all this to say I had water and warmer weather on my mind, which reminded me of this little refashion I did yonks ago... people who know me (and anyone who follows me on Instagram) know that these are fairly old as I've had a little hair change since then! Enough of my rambling, you want pictures! I bought this little number in a second hand shop in Gawler for $1 because it made me think of the sea and sailing ships, I'm a huge fan of all things nautical (just as long as I don't have to get on said ship!) and thought I could make something of this!
Clearly it was too big and not overly attractive! But I took it in, gave it a new hem and swapped out the buttons for some slightly more nautical ones (it's hard to see in the picture but they are navy with gold anchors). I styled it with a gold 'rope' necklace and navy tights as well as my standard ankle boots and leather satchel.
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We All Have Something to Be Thankful ForNovember 09, 2017.
Thanksgiving is a time when many of us count our blessings. It's a wonderful opportunity to gather with the people we love and acknowledge the things we value. However, it's important to remember that for someone with an active eating disorder or in recovery from an eating disorder, the holidays can be a challenging time filled with complicated emotions.


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Reporting from Buttonwillow, Calif. -- At noon, when the morning breeze had faded and the temperature hit 95, a union representative walked into the sweltering field to check on dozens of farmworkers harvesting peppers.
A middle-aged worker with a T-shirt placed under his cap to absorb sweat approached, whispering: "No hay sombra" (there is no shade).
Only after the union man appeared did two foremen pull canopies out of their trucks and call the workers in for a break.
"There's a law for this," the field hand said. "I've heard it on the news. They have to have water. They have to have shade."


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The Learning MarketSpace, July 2012
A quarterly electronic newsletter of the National Center for Academic Transformation highlighting ongoing examples of redesigned learning environments using technology and examining issues related to their development and implementation.
Offering perspectives on issues and developments at the nexus of higher education and information
Improving Learning and Reducing Costs: Initial Project Outcomes from Changing the Equation
In November 2009, the National Center for Academic Transformation (NCAT) launched a three-year, program, Changing the Equation (CTE), funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The purpose of the program was to engage the nation's community colleges in a successful redesign of their remedial/developmental math sequences to improve student learning and reduce instructional costs. Each participant in Changing the Equation redesigned its entire developmental math sequence--all sections of all developmental courses offered--using NCAT's Emporium Model and commercially available instructional software. Each redesign modularized the curriculum, allowing students to progress through the developmental course sequence at a faster pace if possible or at a slower pace if necessary, spending the amount of time needed to master the course content.
Following a national competition, NCAT accepted 38 institutions to participate in the program. CTE partnered experienced NCAT Redesign Scholars who had previously led successful math redesigns with new institutions to mentor them in the process. The redesign projects piloted their redesigns in spring 2011 and fully implemented them in fall 2011. Detailed descriptions of selected individual redesign projects and the outcomes each achieved will be posted on the NCAT website in early fall.
At the start, we said that if institutions followed our recommendations—derived from the successes achieved in past course redesign programs in developmental and college-level mathematics— we could guarantee that they would improve student learning, increase student completion of the developmental math sequence, produce students well-prepared to tackle college-level math and reduce instructional costs.
And that is exactly what happened.
Not all institutions followed our advice. Despite receiving repeated guidance from both NCAT staff and NCAT Redesign Scholars, a number of projects simply ignored us and failed to do things such as requiring class/lab participation, awarding participation points as an incentive for students to attend class/lab, establishing deadlines and clear expectations, monitoring student progress and intervening when they were not meeting deadlines, and so on. In addition, five of the original 38 institutions withdrew from the program due to an inability to meet the program's requirements.
Those that followed our advice achieved outcomes in line with past NCAT mathematics redesigns.
Twenty of the Changing the Equation projects have submitted final reports; the remaining 13 will do so in August. What follows are the outcomes for the first 20 projects.
Improved Learning Outcomes
Twenty institutions redesigned a total of 54 developmental math courses. Student learning outcomes in the traditional and redesigned formats of the courses were measured by comparing performance on common final examinations, common exam items and/or gains on pre- and post-tests with the following results:
Examples of comparative means on common final examinations:
Examples of comparative means on common items from examinations:
Improved Course Completion
NCAT asked each institution to compare course-by-course completion rates (grades of C or better or grades of P in a P/F system) between the traditional and redesigned formats. Twenty institutions redesigned a total of 54 developmental math courses with the following course-by-course completion results:
* In order to compare individual course completion rates, one needs to look at the percentage of students who complete the same amount of material in the same period of time. In the redesign of their developmental math sequence, four institutions collapsed what had been 12 different courses into four modularized courses. Students enrolled in the redesigned courses could begin anywhere from Module 1 to Module 15, etc. and pick up where they left off in a subsequent semester. Thus, there was no comparative basis to calculate completion rates.
In conducting an extended analysis of the discrepancy between increased learning outcomes and decreased course completion rates in Changing the Equation, NCAT has discovered a variety of reasons why course-by-course completion comparisons are not a true measure of the success or lack of success of the program. Among them are:
Despite these differences in grading policies in the traditional and redesigned formats and consequently the lower course-by-course completion rates, there are indications that redesigned students, in the majority of instances, are completing at a higher rate. Of the 54 developmental math courses that were redesigned, a grade of "making progress" (MP) or the equivalent was awarded in 35 of them. Students receiving an MP grade must have been making substantial progress at a high mastery level. Definitions varied from school to school (for example, must have completed 86% of modules at 80% mastery, 80% of modules at 70% mastery, 75% of modules at 75% mastery, 75% of modules at 80% mastery, 60% of modules at 80% mastery, 50% of modules at 80% mastery and 50% of modules at 75% mastery.) These definitions are equivalent to a grade of C or better in the traditional courses.
When adding the MP grades to the C or better grades, the completion picture improves significantly:
These results are extremely encouraging, especially when taking into account the differences between grading policies in the traditional and redesigned formats of the courses.
NCAT has learned that one cannot evaluate the success of Changing the Equation by comparing individual course completion rates. Completion of the developmental math sequence and success in subsequent college-level math courses are the two most important data points to use to compare student success rates between the traditional and redesigned formats. If only 20% of students exit the developmental math sequence but 75% pass the college-level course, you still have a problem just as you did when 50% exited the sequence but were unprepared and only 30% passed the college-level course. Unfortunately, the time period of the program has not allowed sufficient time to collect those data.
A few of the participating institutions have had sufficient time to collect preliminary data on how well students who emerged from the redesigned sequence performed in college-level courses compared with those who exited from the traditional format. The results are positive and, we believe, will be replicated in the other projects as more time goes by.
Reductions in Instructional Cost
With regard to cost savings, the CTE results were almost universally successful. All but one of the 20 CTE projects reduced their costs. Some saved more than their projected savings; others saved less.
The average projected reduction in the cost-per-student was about 25%.
NOTE: These data include all 38 institutions originally accepted into the program.
The actual reduction in the cost-per-student for the 20 institutions was about 20%.
NOTE: These data include the 20 institutions that have thus far reported final results.
There were two primary ways that cost reduction was achieved: 1) increasing section size or 2) increasing the number of sections that full-time and adjunct faculty counted toward their load (e.g., teaching two redesigned sections rather than one section for one workload credit.) Both of these strategies were implemented without increasing faculty workload because of the elimination of repetitive tasks such as hand-grading homework, quizzes and exams.
Examples of increasing section size:
Examples of increasing the number of sections counted in load:
The One-Room Schoolhouse
Many of the projects also used the "one-room schoolhouse" approach to deal with low-enrollment sections, producing both institutional cost savings as well as clear benefits to students. Previously, when small sections did not "fill" (particularly at smaller campuses and sites or during certain class times), they had to either be cancelled, (interrupting student progression through the sequence and incurring lost revenue to the college) or offered at a relatively high cost. Using the one-room schoolhouse meant that the college offered multiple developmental math courses in the same computer classroom or lab at the same time. Students worked with instructional software, and instructors provided help when needed. Even though students were at different points in the developmental sequence, they could be in the same classroom. This strategy enabled the institution to increase course offerings and avoid cancelling classes, which, in turn, reduced scheduling roadblocks for students and enabled them to complete their degree requirements sooner. Since fewer sections were needed to accommodate the same number of students, the overall cost-per-student was lowered.
We asked the CTE institutions, will the redesign be sustained now that the CTE program has concluded? All 20 institutions plan to sustain their redesigns. Here are some examples of their responses:
Changing the Equation required teams to radically redesign multiple courses in a relatively short period of time. Most projects had significant implementation issues that they needed to deal with (faculty training, faculty buy-in, technology problems, registrarial and financial aid issues, facilities issues, and so on.) In addition, most of the community colleges were unaccustomed to collecting assessment and cost data to evaluate the efficacy of their redesigns. Yet despite these challenges, they all intend to continue and improve on the initial implementations of their redesigns.
In retrospect, the timeline for Changing the Equation was probably too aggressive, given the amount of change that was required. The fall 2011 full implementation period was, in many respects, more similar to a typical NCAT pilot period. Teams made mistakes that they are now in the process of correcting, and many have acknowledged having multiple difficulties during the transition. It is not coincidental that those institutions with a "head start" on the redesign process (those that began their redesigns before the formal grant period started) have shown the strongest results.
We at NCAT are confident that if those institutions with poor results to date make the necessary changes and "follow the rules" of the Emporium Model, they too will show the strong outcomes demonstrated by prior math redesign projects. The emergence of institutions that have successfully redesigned their developmental math sequences outside of a formal NCAT program (such as those described below in Common Ground) by "following the rules" gives us further confidence in the Emporium Model. We congratulate the Changing the Equation participants on their accomplishments thus far and look forward to their continuing achievements in addressing one of higher education's most vexing problems, increasing student success in developmental mathematics.
--Carol A. Twigg
Featuring updates and announcements from the Center.
On July 19, 2012, Carol Twigg testified before the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP). The hearing was titled "Making College Affordability a Priority: Promising Practices and Strategies." (Carol also testified before a sub-committee of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on the same subject on July 10, 2003.) Carol expressed her view to the committee that U.S. higher education has a productivity problem and that course redesign can help to address it. She shared the results of the more than 150 course redesign projects that have occurred over the last 13 years. Senators questioned her about how the redesigns actually worked, why was it not possible to have one psychology course for the whole country and what should the federal government be doing to have an impact on the affordability problem. In response to the last question, Carol recommended that federal grant programs that focus on education reform at agencies such as NSF and the Departments of Education and Labor include cost reduction strategies as part of their application guidelines in addition to "innovation" or "curricular improvement." Carol was joined by the presidents of Iowa State University, Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana and Tallahassee Community College as well as the dean of the college of education at Michigan State University. To watch the full hearing, including Carol's testimony and the Q&A period, go to http://www.c-span.org/Events/College-University-Leaders-Testify-on-College-Affordability/10737432453/. To read Carol's full written testimony, see http://www.help.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Twigg.pdf
National Research Council Takes on Higher Education Productivity
The National Research Council recently published a report, Improving Measurement of Productivity in Higher Education. Sponsored by Lumina Foundation for Education, the report was produced by a National Academies panel chaired by Teresa Sullivan, president of the University of Virginia. Among the panel members were NCAT president Carol Twigg and Peter Ewell, a member of the NCAT board of directors. NCAT's work is featured in the report as a contemporary example of how instructional productivity can be increased.
The report often seems contradictory within itself, so much so that articles in Inside Higher Education and The Chronicle of Higher Education reached opposite conclusions about its value.
Headlining its review, "Friendly Call for Gauging Productivity," Inside Higher Education commented, "Arguing that higher education must do a better job defining and tracking productivity, but that the current models for doing so are inadequate, the National Research Council released a book-length study suggesting a new set of metrics that would allow for a sectorwide look at productivity." The article quoted the study's authors in saying the report "presents an analytically well-defined concept of productivity in higher education and recommends empirically valid and operationally practical guidelines for measuring it. In addition to its obvious policy and research value, improved measures of productivity may generate insights that potentially lead to enhanced departmental, institutional, or system educational processes." The article accurately summarized the model presented: "Productivity, as the report's authors define it, would factor in both credit hours completed and degrees awarded compared to labor costs and other expenses. By accounting for both degrees and credit hours, the model would reward institutions for graduating students without penalizing them for having large numbers of part-time students."
The Chronicle of Higher Education's assessment (headlined "Quest for College Accountability Produces Demand for Yet More Student Data") focused on the report's discussion of the difficulty of measuring productivity within higher education. The Chronicle commented, "Despite growing pressure from policy makers and prospective students for colleges to prove their value, the institutions have often insisted that their unique missions make simple measurements forbiddingly difficult. Now they have documented proof. After three years of studying ideas for measuring institutional quality, an expert panel assembled by the National Research Council delivered a 192-page report that indicates just how hard it is to do that." The article also quoted the study's authors: "While productivity measurement in many service sectors is fraught with conceptual and data difficulties, nowhere are the challenges—such as accounting for input differences, wide quality variation of outputs, and opaque or regulated pricing—more imposing than for higher education." The article concludes, "The National Research Council panel may have provided more detail on the dimensions of those obstacles, but it wasn't immediately clear that it provided any new path through the maze of variables."
To decide which view is correct, you will have to read the entire report, which can be found at http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13417#description. To read the Inside Higher Education article, see: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/05/18/study-proposes-new-model-calculating-college-productivity#ixzz21Yg3UkMv. To read the Chronicle article, see http://chronicle.com/article/Quest-for-College/131910/.
Kentucky Holds Statewide Conference on Innovation
On May 17, 2012, Carolyn Jarmon delivered a keynote address at the Kentucky Innovations 2012 Conference at Northern Kentucky University. One of the conference's primary themes was using course redesign to improve student learning. In addition to Carolyn, there were multiple presenters who had already engaged in course redesign. Carolyn's comments focused on the goals, models and key principles of course redesign and were followed by an interactive question and answer session. The 300 participants included a mix of faculty, academic administrators and technology professionals from colleges and universities across the state of Kentucky. For more information about the conference, see http://kyinnovations.org/.
WICHE Sponsors Webinar on Mathematics Course Redesign
Recognizing the importance of course redesign for higher education institutions, the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) sponsored a webinar, "The Math Emporium: Redesigning Math Courses to Benefit Students AND Institutions," on June 13, 2012. WICHE is facilitating a learning network of organizations and agencies, called the Adult College Completion Network, dedicated to improving adult college completion programs and disseminating lessons learned new results and promising practices that deserve more study. The network has identified mathematics as a hurdle for many adults as they seek to complete their college degrees or certificates. During the hour-long session, Carolyn Jarmon provided an overview of NCAT redesign projects in mathematics at both the developmental and college-level. To view the webinar, see http://adultcollegecompletion.org/webinars.
Sloan Consortium Webinar on Scaling in Higher Education To Feature NCAT
Well known for its pioneering efforts in supporting the growth of online education, the Sloan Consortium will host a webinar, "Scale," on September 6, 2012 as part of its Online Education Research Symposium Series. The webinar will focus on the multiple issues that arise when institutions seek to scale their innovative efforts on campus and across campuses. After an introduction by Frank Mayadas, senior advisor to the Sloan Consortium, the webinar will be moderated by Jan Poley, president of the American Distance Education Consortium. Carolyn Jarmon will share NCAT's experience and successes with scaling course redesign in multiple institutions to high numbers of students in large-enrollment, introductory courses as well as across courses at a particular institution. Other presenters from Rio Salado College in Arizona, the University of Florida and the University of Maryland University College will provide case studies of their experiences. The Sloan Consortium is an institutional and professional leadership organization dedicated to integrating online education into the mainstream of higher education, helping institutions and individual educators improve the quality, scale, and breadth of online education. For more information about the webinar, see http://sloanconsortium.org/research_symposium/2012/topics/scale.
Survey Seeks to Assess NCAT's Course Redesign Methodology in Australian Context
As part of the Australian Course Redesign Initiative sponsored by the L.H. Martin Institute and the Australian Teaching and Learning Council, the project staff are administering a survey that will address three topics: general approach, methodology and overall satisfaction with the process. The survey participants include the redesign teams from James Cook University and the Australian Catholic University, (both those that were selected to conduct a redesign as well as those who were not or who withdrew from the program during the planning process), institutional administrators, NCAT staff and project staff from the L.H. Martin Institute. Some of the topics covered in the survey include the clarity and usefulness of the Orientation Webinar and the Planning Webinar, NCAT's resources that were provided for use in planning the redesign project, the feedback and consulting assistance received from NCAT, the assistance received from the L.H. Martin Institute, the process used on campus to promote the initiative, and the timeline and overall process of developing a redesign plan. Results of the survey will help determine how the approach can be improved and made more applicable to the Australian context. To learn more about the initiative, see http://www.lhmartininstitute.edu.au/consultancy-and-bespoke/57-call-to-participate-redesign-projects-for-james-cook-university-and-australian-catholic-university or contact Peter Bentley at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Engaging community colleges in a successful redesign of their developmental math sequences.
CTE Institutions Report on Full Implementation
The community colleges participating in Changing the Equation have fully implemented the redesigns of their developmental math sequences, using the Emporium Model and a modularized curriculum. Twenty of the projects reported their findings at a workshop in Dallas, TX on March 30, 3012, which Carol summarizes above. After collecting data from a second term of full implementation, the remaining institutions will report their outcomes at a workshop to be held on August 7, 2012, in Baltimore, MD. The results presented above will be updated to include data from the second group prior to posting a full report on the NCAT website in fall 2012. The report will include summary data charts, individual case studies and a discussion of lessons learned from the program. To learn more about Changing the Equation, see http://www.theNCAT.org/Mathematics/CTE/CTE.htm.
Featuring initiatives to scale course redesign through state- and system-wide redesign programs.
Missouri Institutions Report on Pilot Results
Thirteen project teams participating in the Missouri Course Redesign Initiative met on June 20, 2012, in Columbia, MO to report the outcomes of their redesign pilots. NCAT recommends that every large-scale redesign project conduct a "pilot" of their redesign before moving to full implementation. What do we mean by a pilot? A pilot involves testing the redesign idea, including most if not all of the important quality improvement and cost savings characteristics of the planned redesign, with a sub-set of students enrolled in the course. Enrollment in the pilot section(s) needs to be large enough so the redesign team can learn what problems students are likely to face and how to resolve these prior to scaling up to full implementation in all sections of the course. The pilot period provides an opportunity for the redesign team to uncover technology issues or any problems with newly designed assignments or activities that might emerge. For some institutions, the pilot term also provides a time to collect consistent data on student learning from both traditional and redesign sections that can be compared when consistent historical data are not available. For many institutions, the pilot has provided a time to make sure that important audiences both on and off campus have been informed of changes in the course and to be sure that all potential "bumps in the road" have been smoothed. Overall, a pilot provides the redesign team with a "dress rehearsal" of the redesigned course and an opportunity to resolve any issues that may arise. Teams have learned that it is much easier to solve problems with 150-200 students rather than with 1,000 students!
As in past redesign initiatives, the pilot period uncovered issues related to assessment, technology, student engagement, facilities and so on. The Missouri teams clearly learned a lot from the pilot period and are making the needed changes in preparation for the fall 2012 full implementation. What follows is a brief summary of each project.
The redesign of Basic English at Lincoln University seeks to eliminate course drift and increase student engagement using the Replacement Model. After full implementation, cost savings will accrue from increasing class size from 20 students to 26 per section, which will be made possible by using computer-grading software, adding course assistants to share grading/course management duties and having computer lab assistants help answer student questions and troubleshoot problems in the lab portion of the course. The pilot uncovered some issues that the team will address before the full implementation including better training for the lab assistants and the course assistant so that they spend their time well, reconfiguring some of the assignments and resolving technology-related submission issues.
At Missouri Southern State University, the team redesigning Oral Communication is using the Replacement Model with the goal of addressing inconsistency in course delivery and invalid alignment of objectives, assessment and content. The team has created a training manual for faculty and undergraduate learning assistants so that they have a clear understanding of how the course will operate in its redesigned format. They are working on establishing the needed labs across campus to be prepared for larger numbers of students in the fall. Other issues they face include increasing student lab attendance and addressing some resistance to the new model in other areas on campus. Once fully implemented, the redesign will decrease the number of sections offered annually from 44 to four, increasing section size from ~23 to 230 students. Because they were able to reduce the number of adjuncts needed in the pilot, the team has already experienced some cost reduction.
The Missouri State University redesign of Introductory Psychology uses the Replacement Model. Because this is a large enrollment course with 2,500-2,700 students annually, the team seeks to make the course more engaging and to reduce course drift, which has resulted from using a large number of adjuncts in the past. Based on responses to student surveys, it was clear that some of the students in the redesign did not understand the Replacement Model and the need to work outside of class, given there were fewer class meetings. Some of the students in the redesign perceived the new format of the course as requiring more work than the traditional format. As part of full implementation, the team will explain the course structure more clearly to students. They will also work on improving communication with students and promoting greater student engagement in the online activities. The team has already seen the reduction of course drift in the redesigned format and believes they will also eliminate grade inflation in the redesign. After full implementation, the redesign will produce cost savings through a combination of larger class size (from 153 to 300 students) and the restructuring of personnel. The addition of a senior learning assistant to each section will allow full-time faculty members to teach double the number of students and to teach an additional course in the department.
At the Missouri University of Science and Technology (MST), the redesign of Chemistry I, using the Buffet Model, seeks to increase student engagement in the course content, improve students' study and learning strategies, recognize the differences in students' backgrounds in chemistry and help them develop greater conceptual thinking. During the pilot, the registrar required students to register for either the face-to-face or the online version of the course. (The team's plan was to allow students to learn more about the buffet options before making a choice and move back and forth between modes.) Prior to full implementation, the team is working to resolve this issue with the registrar. Resolution of this issue is critical to the success of the redesign plan, which calls for increasing section size from 200 to 400 students by transferring half of students' learning experiences to an online environment.
Using the Replacement Model, the redesign of Introduction to Business at Missouri Western State University (MWSU) was undertaken because the course suffered from considerable course drift and a consistently high DFW rate. After full implementation, cost savings will result from reducing full-time faculty teaching the course annually from seven in the traditional mode to two in the redesign assisted by adjuncts and undergraduate learning assistants. Observations during the pilot were that the non-traditional (adult) students liked the Stock Market Game used in the redesign more than the traditional students, but they were not as engaged with other kinds of gaming included in the course. Challenges for the fall full implementation include an anticipated reduction in enrollment because of changes in relationships with local community colleges as well as the need to encourage more traditional-aged students to enroll. MWSU's department of criminal justice has also begun to redesign its Juvenile Delinquency course after learning about the business redesign.
The redesign of Principles of Management at Northwest Missouri State University, using the Replacement Model, intends to decrease course drift and establish a consistent level of rigor and overall learning outcomes. The redesign will produce cost savings after full implementation by increasing section size from ~40 to 100 students, reducing the number of sections offered each year from eight to four and reducing the number of different instructors teaching the course from three to one. The team was rather disappointed in the outcomes of the pilot. One of the factors that may have influenced the results was the fact that the redesign section was taught at 8:00 am in the morning. The team believes that such timing might have had an impact on who enrolled in the redesign and who attended consistently. The team found that when students attended regularly, the average grade was 78%. When the attendance was not good, the average grade was 66%. Instructor evaluations were higher for the redesigned course. Issues to be addressed before the fall include room scheduling as well as establishing a way to monitor attendance that is not laborious for the faculty.
Using the Online Model, Truman State University is redesigning Health and Fitness, a required course for all students. The redesign features on-ground and online, self-guided and instructor-guided learning experiences that complement foundational personal health course content. Once the redesign is fully implemented, cost savings will result from reducing the number of course sections offered annually from 15 to two and decreasing faculty involvement in course instruction from seven to two people team-teaching the one large section offered each term. By reducing the number of sections, integrating online resources and assessments, and utilizing undergraduate learning assistants, the course will become more cost efficient. The team has experienced issues with technology and some faculty resistance. Student reactions indicated that they appreciated the flexibility regarding when they could work on their assignments, and some reported changing their exercise and stress management behavior, a good outcome for the redesign.
At the University of Central Missouri, the redesign of Human Anatomy will occur by separating Anatomy from Physiology, making two free-standing courses. Prior to the redesign, Anatomy and Physiology were combined in A&PI and A&PII. The redesign of Human Anatomy will use the Replacement Model. (Physiology will be redesigned after this initiative concludes.) To achieve cost savings, course enrollment will increase from 336 to 480, lab section size will increase from 25 to 40 and the number of lab sections will be reduced from 14 to 12 annually. The team did not conduct a pilot because of the timing issues in making the transition. However, during spring 2012, the team was busy preparing new labs, constructing and outfitting separate lab locations for the two new courses and organizing the content for the divided courses, removing duplication and re-working the assessments. The team also needed to assemble the baseline assessment data for Human Anatomy, which was a considerable task. In fall 2012, Human Anatomy will be taught to all students in the redesigned format.
The redesign of Intermediate Algebra at the University of Central Missouri (UCM), using the Emporium Model, substitutes lectures with online interactive software and on-demand help. The goals for the redesign include eliminating course drift and reducing DFW rates. To generate savings, section size will be increased from 35 to 70 students and reducing the number of sections offered annually from 20 to 10. The number of graduate teaching assistants needed in the course will decline from five to 2.5, and undergraduate learning assistants will be added to help staff the lab. Some of the challenges that the team faced during the pilot were the diverse backgrounds of students in the same section, issues with how email was handled and the difficulty providing partial credit when tests were completed online. Other challenges included the difficulty in getting students engaged. Some students had poor time-management skills and did not complete homework and quizzes prior to tests. Some students did not have internet access at home. The lab requirement for fall will decline from four hours to three, and the team is seeking ways to provide additional assistance to students who do not have sufficient backgrounds.
The redesign of College Algebra at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) is moving forward, using the Emporium Model, with two lab meetings of 75 minutes each and one 50-minute class meeting per week. The lab is complete and ready for full implementation in the fall term. The team speculates that substantial grade inflation occurred in the traditional course sections, and they know from prior terms that there was also significant course drift. Ending this course drift is one of the goals of the redesign project at UMKC. Cost savings will occur by increasing the number of students taught by each instructor. Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) and adjunct instructors will more than double their student load, from one section of 35-40 students to two sections of 50, without changing the number of total hours they dedicate to the course. The team identified the need for greater training of GTAs so that they are more familiar with the course objectives, approaches and are more assertive with students. In addition, they will acquire swiping technology for attendance recording and work on additional ways to introduce students to the course–possibly a video–which would help orient students, especially those who register late.
At the University of Missouri-St. Louis, the redesign of Information Systems uses the Replacement Model with one class meeting and a two-hour lab exercise each week. All class meetings are held in a computer classroom. After full implementation, all sections will be consolidated under one instructor assisted by a team of undergraduate and graduate students. The number of sections will decrease from 11 to two annually and section size will increase from 50 to ~150-200 students, producing substantial cost savings. The pilot uncovered some issues that need attention prior to full implementation in the fall. Although the team had good communication with advisors, there were some issues with how the course appeared on the schedule despite support from the registrar who complimented them on their innovation. A second issue was whether students understood what was required of them. Students seemed to "own" the course more, although some students were concerned they had to do more than "show up." The team will also work on establishing greater buy-in in the department, developing grading rubrics for the assignments and establishing a more structured schedule for all personnel. During full implementation, the team will meet more frequently to be sure everyone is prepared and knowledgeable about what is happening.
To learn more about these Missouri projects, see http://www.theNCAT.org/States/MO/MO%20Project%20Descriptions.html.
University System of Maryland Expands Course Redesign Across the State
NCAT's first system-wide course redesign initiative was in partnership with the University System of Maryland (USM), from 2006 through 2009. Based on the success of that initiative, USM has been engaged in course redesign ever since. The USM-NCAT partnership was launched by the USM Board of Regents and Chancellor Brit Kirwan. Brit has become a strong advocate of course redesign in the state of Maryland and elsewhere. Today, the USM strategic plan includes a theme of academic transformation, including course redesign.
There are now three initiatives at USM that will continue to build redesign capability across the system. The first is a multi-year effort focused on institutions within the system. Twelve redesign teams will submit final reports in October 2012. An additional 12 teams will pilot their redesigns in fall 2012, and USM will recruit a third cohort beginning in August 2012. A second initiative, funded by Lumina Foundation for Education, is focused on developmental courses, primarily at community colleges in Maryland, and expects to produce 10 to 12 redesigns in each of two years. The third initiative, supported by a Complete College America grant to the Maryland Higher Education Commission, is modeled on the other USM programs with USM supporting the teams. The expectation is that ~15 redesigns will result. USM has appointed six Faculty Fellows, four of whom are also NCAT Redesign Scholars, to help provide guidance to new redesign teams. To learn more about USM's initiatives contact Don Spicer at firstname.lastname@example.com or Nancy Shapiro at email@example.com or visit http://www.usmd.edu/usm/academicaffairs/cr2/.
Providing assestance to the higher education community as they engage in course redesign.
Course Redesign Goes to High School in Tennessee
Chattanooga State Community College and Cleveland State Community College in Tennessee recently received grants to work with local high schools as part of the America Diploma Project. The project is introducing course redesign in a senior-year bridge math course. Students successfully completing the bridge math course in the fall are eligible for the colleges' dual enrollment programs in the spring. Students will gain a head start on their college careers as the progress they make will be banked at the local community college. Results from a pilot at Red Bank High School indicated that approximately 75% of the students will be eligible to take a college-level math course in the spring and that more than 90% of the students will enter college math-ready. Studies have shown that giving students a head start on their college career results in significantly higher enrollment rates, combined with a dramatic increase in retention and graduation. A similar program will be piloted in Jackson, TN in fall 2012. Betty Frost, an NCAT Redesign Scholar, will work with Jackson State Community College and local high schools. To learn more, contact NCAT Redesign Scholars John Squires at email@example.com or Karen Wyrick at email@example.com.
Scholars Continue to Provide Advice and Support on Course Redesign
Redesign Scholars continue to work with state-wide initiatives, individual institutions as well as departments within their own institution. They bring knowledge of how to get started on course redesign, the challenges that teams will face as well as the successes that can be achieved. Here are some examples of the ongoing assistance they are providing across the higher education community.
Betty Frost from Jackson State Community College and Karen Wyrick from Cleveland State Community College are serving as ongoing coaches and consultants for two projects focused on the redesign of developmental math across the state of Arkansas. The project is funded by Complete College America and the U.S. Department of Labor. Betty is assigned to work with four baccalaureate institutions (North Arkansas College, University of Central Arkansas, Arkansas Tech University, and Southern Arkansas University) and Karen will be coaching five others (Arkansas State University (Jonesboro), University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Arkansas State University Beebe, Arkansas Northeastern College and University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Betty and Karen are visiting campuses, making presentations to the group as a whole and providing ongoing assistance as these institutions seek to replicate the successful redesigns at the Tennessee institutions.
In addition, Betty and Karen are working with community colleges as part of the Department of Labor grant. They have provided state-wide training as well as campus consulting. The state of Arkansas was divided into four regions for the project, which includes all community colleges in Arkansas. Betty is working with North Arkansas (six institutions) and Southwest Arkansas (five institutions), and Karen is working with Arkansas Delta (five institutions) and Central Arkansas (six institutions). Their responsibilities include facilitating faculty development on the content issues of implementing developmental math redesign, providing technical assistance on the NCAT model of course redesign, scheduling and executing at least one peer learning session per region per quarter, scheduling and executing at least one conference call per month for each region and providing individual redesign and implementation guidance to consortium members through email and phone calls. These are busy people!
Several Redesign Scholars have recently given invited conference presentations. Masoud Rais-Rohani from Mississippi State University gave a web-based presentation at the last Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) Virtual Conference, Feb 13-14, 2012, titled "Engaging Students in New Ways of Learning: A Course Redesign Perspective." John Squires from Chattanooga State Community College has been working with the Education Commission of the States (ECS), assisting with a statewide workshop in Montana and speaking about course redesign in math at the ECS national forum in Atlanta, GA. He has also submitted a guest blog, "The Emporium Model: Fact and Fiction," which will appear in July on ECS's Getting Past Go website. Dan Miller from Niagara County Community College gave a talk, "From Delivery to Assessment: Using Technology to Enhance Your Course" at the 16th Annual Northeast Consortium on Quantitative Literacy on April 14, 2012 at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY.
In addition to statewide initiatives, scholars have worked with individual institutions, either through campus visits or telephone consultations. Tammy Muhs from the University of Central Florida (UCF) has worked with several institutions via phone and email (University of North Carolina Upstate and University of South Florida) and site visits including the University of Southern Maine, UNC Greensboro, University of South Alabama and Florida International University. Tammy has also been involved in continuing consultations about the highly successful UCF math redesign with the University of Northern Arizona and Oregon State University. Malcolm Hill from the University of Richmond has been working with Coastal Bend College in Beeville, TX to implement course redesign in their STEM (mostly biology) courses. He met with faculty and administrators and reviewed the program, courses and facilities during a site visit in April 2012. Sally Search from Tallahassee Community College continues to work with Amarillo College in their plans to redesign English and math; she will visit the campus again in September 2012. Bill Ganley from Buffalo State College has been advising the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Texas at Austin on the redesign of economics courses and the use of undergraduate learning assistants. Bill also published an article, "Revitalizing Economic Education," in the New York State Economics Association 2012 online proceedings based on his presentation at their 2011 annual conference.
Redesign Scholars continue to assist their own institutions, helping other departments redesign their courses. Donna Seagle at Chattanooga State Community College has been appointed director of educational technology and design. Her responsibilities are to work with other departments and colleagues in course redesign. Bill Ganley from Buffalo State College has also worked with colleagues in chemistry to share the process and results of his economics course redesign. In addition, Bill and his departmental colleague, Dr. Ted Schmidt, have redesigned some sections of Principles of Economics into hybrid and fully online courses to provide options for students. The online version was available in summer 2012 to students throughout New York with undergraduate learning assistants serving as discussion forum facilitators.
NCAT plans to expand its Redesign Scholars Program. As Changing the Equation concludes later this year, we anticipate adding additional Scholars who are knowledgeable about redesigning developmental math and will be available to assist other higher education institutions seeking to replicate their success. Similarly, when the projects in the Missouri Course Redesign Initiative conclude in early in 2013, additional Redesign Scholars in multiple disciplines will be identified and invited to share their expertise. To learn more about the Redesign Scholars Program and how to apply, see mhttp://www.theNCAT.org/RedesignAlliance/ScholarsProgram.htm.
How to Measure the Effectiveness of Developmental Studies Programs
John Squires, an NCAT Redesign Scholar, and Dr. Anita Polk-Conley of Chattanooga State Community College recently co-authored a paper, "Data Drive Success: Defining a Metric for Developmental Studies." The article was written for the American Association of Community Colleges and provides a metric by which colleges can easily gauge the effectiveness of their developmental programs. Using developmental math as an example, the article points out that most students never exit from developmental math. It also clearly specifies the benefits to a college that can be reaped by improving their developmental studies programs using course redesign and the Emporium Model. For example, at Chattanooga State Community College after three years of math redesign, college-level math enrollment now exceeds developmental math enrollment by more than 500 students each semester. Similarly, at Cleveland State Community College, college-level math enrollment has doubled and now exceeds developmental math enrollment. The impact of these gains on retention and graduation are clear. This paper will be included in New Directions for Institutional Research: Data Use in the Community College, published by Jossey-Bass in spring 2012. For learn more, contact John Squires at email@example.com.
Featuring updates from the Alliance, a member organization of institutions, organizations and companies committed to and experienced with large-scale course redesign.
Cengage Learning is New NCAT Strategic Corporate Partner
Cengage Learning has been active in the Redesign Alliance from its earliest days and has recently renewed its relationship with NCAT as a Corporate Strategic Partner. NCAT will work with Cengage Learning to plan internal as well as external events focused on course redesign that improves student learning and reduces instructional costs using Cengage products and services. Internal events may include executive briefings and workshops for sales representatives or specific customer support groups. External events may include customers or potential customers who seek to learn more about the benefits of course redesign for their students and their institutions. We welcome Cengage and look forward to working with them again. To learn more about becoming a Corporate Strategic Partner, contact Carolyn Jarmon at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Pearson To Hold September Course Redesign Conference
Pearson Education, an NCAT Corporate Strategic Partner, will hold its Ninth Annual Course Redesign Conference on September 28-29, 2012, at the recently renovated Hyatt Regency in New Orleans. Participants will learn how to get started on course redesign from NCAT's Carolyn Jarmon and from large- and small-group interaction with experienced educators in accounting, anatomy and physiology, chemistry, developmental reading and writing, economics, engineering, English composition, IT, math, psychology, student success and world languages. The workshop will highlight successful course redesigns that take advantage of technology to improve student learning and efficiency in large-enrollment, introductory courses. Participants will learn how to implement course redesign principles in both quantitative and qualitative disciplines. Faculty will also have the opportunity to learn more about Pearson's technology products, including the MyLabs and MasteringScience. Online registration is open, but space is limited so register today at http://www.pearsonhighered.com/courseredesign/events.html or contact Karen Mullane at email@example.com. If you would like to view examples of how institutions have used MyLab or Mastering products in redesigned courses, send an email to firstname.lastname@example.com to obtain a login and password.
Penn Highlands Community College Holds Workshop on Course Redesign
On May 22, 2012, Carolyn Jarmon traveled to Johnstown, PA to conduct a workshop for Pennsylvania Highlands Community College, a $10,000 member of the Redesign Alliance. First accredited in 2002, Penn Highlands is a new college with two locations that serve an area of Pennsylvania with a high unemployment rate and low per capita income. Penn Highlands has been awarded a Title III grant to strengthen the college by improving retention and graduation. As part of the grant, Penn Highlands plans to redesign their core curriculum, which will involve almost all of the 23 full-time faculty as well as a number of adjuncts for larger courses. While visiting Penn Highlands, Carolyn conducted a full-day workshop for faculty to introduce them to course redesign, to share successful redesign examples in multiple disciplines and to help them begin to think through how to proceed in their planning. Carolyn also had conversations with key administrators about how to support the effort and the importance of following up with newly formed redesign teams. To learn more about this initiative, contact Erica Reighard at email@example.com.
Reporting on initiatives that share the Center's goals and objectives.
Closing Low-Income, Race and Gender Achievement Gaps in Developmental Math
Chattanooga State Community College was one of 29 Wave I winners in the Gates-funded Next Generation Learning Challenge program, partnering with Jefferson Community Technical College and the University of Hawaii Maui College to redesign developmental math courses at the three colleges. The Education Trust is also a partner in the project. As part of the project, the performance of low-income students in developmental math at Chattanooga State was compared with that of all students in the areas of successful course completion, accelerated learning and fall-to-spring retention. The data revealed that the income success achievement gap had been eliminated as low-income students performed at nearly identical rates in all three categories. This is not the first time that a college in Tennessee has seen achievement gaps close. Cleveland State Community College, where John Squires led the Do the Math program, saw both race and gender achievement gaps close as a result of the math redesign. For more information on the Do the Math project go to http://www.edtrust.org/issues/higher-education/do-the-math. To learn more, contact John Squires at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Liberty University Redesigns Developmental Math
Liberty University (LU) in Virginia has adopted the Emporium Model and redesigned two developmental math courses, Beginning Algebra and Intermediate Algebra. After attending an NCAT math workshop at the University of Central Florida in February, 2011, the team from LU visited Cleveland State Community College, Louisiana State University, the University of Alabama and Virginia Tech to see the Emporium Model in action. LU decided to skip doing a pilot and fully implemented their redesign in spring 2012 with 970 students. A new math lab includes 250 computers, long tables for students who own their computers and three faculty offices. Students are required to spend three hours each week in the lab and meet for one scheduled hour as a class. LU uses one customized, online text for both courses.
In the traditional format, LU had a pass rate of about 50%. In the first term of the redesign, completion rates rose to 56% in Elementary Algebra and 60% in Intermediate Algebra. Students appreciated the flexibility of the new format, the option to take tests early and the immediate feedback they received. Four students completed two courses in one term; four students finished one course and started the second course, completing part of it, in one term; and, 38 students completed a course early but did not start another one.
The redesign also produced cost savings by reducing the number of instructors who taught the course. The traditional course was taught by seven full-time faculty members and 14 adjuncts. After the redesign, six full-time faculty taught these courses, and no adjuncts were needed. In fall 2012, LU will also offer Statistics, Math for Liberal Arts and College Algebra in the redesigned format. To learn more, contact Kathy Spradlin at email@example.com.
Monroe County Community College Redesigns Developmental Math Using Netbooks
A team from Monroe County Community College (MCCC) in Michigan attended the March 2010 Redesign Alliance Fourth Annual Conference in Orlando where they learned much about implementing a redesign. MCCC has since fully implemented a redesign of their three developmental mathematics courses: Basic Mathematics Skills, Beginning Algebra, and Intermediate Algebra. Rather than building computer labs to facilitate the Emporium Model, MCCC issued netbook computers to students which they use with instructional software via the wireless network in ordinary classrooms. Thus, all students are always in a lab setting when they are in class. The class structure is unchanged; students still meet for two hours twice a week in a classroom. There is, however, no lecture; faculty work with students individually or in pairs to answer questions and provide on-demand assistance.
The results to date are quite positive. For example, in winter quarter 2012, about 60% of students in Intermediate algebra received a grade of A or B compared with the less than 50% who succeeded with a C or better in the traditional format. MCCC provides strong incentives for students to come to class; if a student misses six out of 30 classes, they fail. However, if they persist and complete lessons and modules, they can pick up where they left off in the following term rather than start over. If students complete two courses in one term, they are only charged for one. Faculty continue to work on a number of issues that they have identified. As in other developmental math redesigns, the greatest challenge is to get the student to come to class. Faculty are committed to the new format and to working with students to understand its benefits. To learn more, contact Vinnie Maltese at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Federal Education Budget Project Updated
The New America Foundation's Federal Education Budget Project has recently updated its education funding database, http://febp.newamerica.net/. The update includes the most recent data available for virtually all of the nation's higher education institutions. Updated higher education data for the 2010 school year include:
The website enables users to view and download education data profiles for states, school districts, and institutions of higher education. Users can conduct custom comparisons of similar states, districts, and institutions to better understand how federal funding, student outcomes, and student demographics vary and interact across the nation. These dynamic comparisons can be used to answer a number of education policy questions. The New America Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy institute that invests in new thinkers and new ideas to address the next generation of challenges facing the United States.
Institute for Higher Education Policy Develops Classification System for For-Profit Institutions
Are all for-profit institutions of higher education the same? A new classification system developed by the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) would argue that they are not. Published in June 2012, the report, "A New Classification Scheme for For-Profit Institutions," proposes a framework within which outcomes, policy interventions, and/or program supports can be better targeted. This classification includes criteria that are different than those used in systems for non-profit institutions and moves beyond institutional characteristics to look at contextual factors. The framework includes three levels based on the following criteria: (1) Market-Level Dimension: Measures the growth of for-profit institutions in selected educational markets; (2) Institutional-Level Dimension: Captures the institutional orientation, or niche, of for-profits; and (3) Individual-Level Dimension: Focuses on the enrollment behavior of students attending for-profits. According to IHEP President Michelle Asha Cooper, "With the for-profit sector being the fastest growing sector in higher education, it is critically important that everyone has an accurate framework to compare these institutions—among themselves as well as with all nonprofit institutions—particularly as it relates to a variety of postsecondary outcomes such as quality, affordability, and competition." This new multi-faceted framework is designed to help address these challenges. To read the entire report, see http://www.ihep.org/Publications/publications-detail.cfm?id=154.
The National Center for Academic Transformation serves as a source of expertise and support for those in
Copyright 2012, The National Center for Academic Transformation


text:
SOURCE: Artec Consulting
January 22, 2014 09:00 ET
SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwired - Jan 22, 2014) - Artec Consulting Corp. (OTCQB: ACTL), an emerging vertically integrated marketing firm providing affiliate marketing, publishing and strategic consulting solutions, today provided a corporate update, including key strategic initiatives, the establishment of Artec Media and Artec Media Partners, intended to provide greater value to customers and differentiation in the market.
CEO Caleb Wickman said that "Internet technologies and social networks are proving to be invaluable resources to effective campaign planning and execution for advertisers and brands. One of our primary value propositions to our customers is that we are technology-agnostic, incorporating best-in-class technologies into campaigns that we design and manage, based on our understanding of our clients' specific objectives and budgets. Our belief has been that by focusing on each campaign as a partner, or stakeholder, we will drive better results."
Artec Consulting is pleased to announce the launch of Artec Media and Artec Media Partners, which will enable the company to more effectively cater to a broader range of customers:
Artec Media
In contrast to conventional marketing firms which provide any, or a combination of affiliate or performance marketing solutions, publishing capabilities, or agency services, Artec Consulting has developed a full-service platform under the Artec Media banner. Wickman added that "Where other firms in the market do provide this capability, they primarily cater to Fortune 100 and Fortune 50 clients. We are bringing agency level full-service marketing solutions to the broader market."
Artec Media Partners
Artec Media Partners is being launched in the first half of 2014 to identify and strategically align with select customers through profit-sharing and in strategic situations, through direct investment into campaigns. "We understand that small and mid-sized advertisers, and emerging brands are faced in many cases with narrow budgets. At the same time, many of these firms have exceptional products and services to offer, and we believe that with our help, they can and will be highly successful. In these situations, we will become stakeholders in these firms and their campaigns, enabling them to leverage our resources and enabling us to join in their success," Wickman said. "This is truly unique territory, but it is also a tremendous opportunity for us to drive shareholder value."
Safe Harbor and Informational Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This document includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the securities laws. The words "may," "could," "should," "estimate," "project," "forecast," "intend," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "target," "plan," "providing guidance" and similar expressions are intended to identify information that is not historical in nature.
This document contains forward-looking statements. All statements, other than historical facts, including, but not limited to: the expected benefits of the transaction such as improved operations, growth potential, market profile, the competitive ability and position of Artec Consulting Corp. (or the "Company") and any assumptions underlying any of the foregoing, are forward-looking statements. Such statements are based upon current plans, estimates and expectations that are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The inclusion of such statements should not be regarded as a representation that such plans, estimates or expectations will be achieved. You should not place undue reliance on such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such plans, estimates or expectations include, among others, factors as detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including Artec Consulting Corp.'s Annual Reports on Form 10-K for the year ended January 31, 2012, and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended October 31, 2013, and in other materials that have been filed by Artec Consulting, which are available on the SEC's web site (www.sec.gov).
All forward-looking statements contained in this document and the documents referenced herein are made only as of the date of the document in which they are contained, Artec Consulting Corp. undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements.
About Artec Consulting Corp.
Artec Consulting Corp. ("Artec," "the Company," "we" or "us") is a vertically integrated marketing firm that provides affiliate marketing, publishing and related professional services focused on developing and executing comprehensive strategies and programs that supports customer business goals. The Company offers a comprehensive suite of online marketing and reporting solutions, including lead gen (prospect email, performance display, mobile marketing), performance media (PPC, SEO, social media, retargeting) and affiliate marketing, as well as other related web services. For more information go to www.artecinc.net.
Todd Pitcher 858-518-1387
Todd Pitcher 858-518-1387
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Spring has finally sprung, and that's close enough to summer for the fine folks at The Big Ketch Saltwater Grill in Buckhead to celebrate with patio parties. Swing by 5-9 p.m. every Thursday in April for $5 drinks including SweetWater drafts, Moscow mules, glasses of wine and flavored mojitos and margaritas. Rounding out the festivities will be live music and the following seafood specials: April 6 – oyster roast; April 13, crawfish; April 20 – fish fry; and April 27 – low country boil.
3279 Roswell Road N.E., Atlanta. 404-474-9508, www.thebigketch.com
Read The A List: The faces, places, dishes and drinks defining the Atlanta dining scene right now
Read more stories like this by liking Atlanta Restaurant Scene on Facebook , following @ATLDiningNews on Twitter and @ajcdining on Instagram .


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How parents can spot trouble before it's too late
Sunday, December 14, 2003 - Page updated at 12:00 a.m.
By Maureen O'Hagan and Christine Willmsen
A sexual comment by the coach or a pat on the buttocks may seem accidental or innocuous, but experts say such behavior may be a first step in grooming a victim for abuse. Here are other warning signs for parents:
Full-body hugs by the coach. A high-five should suffice. Talk to your daughter about appropriate boundaries with a coach.
Rides home alone from practices or games and one-on-one training. A typical teenage athlete doesn't spend time alone with the coach. Parents should try to attend practice and provide transportation.
Cards, gifts and even sports-related awards. If they're targeted at one athlete and not the team, they could be a sign of an intimate relationship.
Sleepovers at the coach's house, even if the team is invited. Coaches also ask athletes to baby-sit their children, using the occasion to develop closeness or as a cover for ongoing intimacy.
Long or repeated phone calls to and from the coach or a seeming dependency on the coach or his advice. A coach isn't the athlete's peer, and parents should be wary of one who acts that way.
Out-of-town trips to tournaments or camps. If a coach makes it difficult for parents to come along, parents should be concerned. Make sure there are enough parents along to supervise.
A daughter suddenly quitting or losing interest in her favorite sport or not wanting to be near a coach. Often victims of sex abuse or harassment will make up reasons why they no longer want to play.
Coaches who jump from team to team or district to district. Parents should ask a coach for references and interview current and former players, parents and school officials about his conduct. Parents can obtain a coach's disciplinary records from a school district by filing a public-disclosure-act request. They can also ask the state education office for similar misconduct information on teachers who coach.
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The History Department of the College of Social Science and Philosophy spearheaded the 12th Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day International Conference on 7-8 October 2014 at the Claro M. Recto Conference Hall, Faculty Center, UP Diliman, sponsored by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP). The conference is an annual gathering of scholars from the Philippines and Spain, which aims to highlight the rich, shared historical and cultural encounters and experience between the two countries.
This year's theme, 'Explorations and Transformations: Creating Texts, Shaping Identities', highlights the unprecedented production of texts and narratives to describe the encounter and exchange between two cultures, record their perception and actions, and in the process define the identities and roles of each in relation to the other. The resulting texts, written, visual and oral, produced by both the explorer and the explored, brought about the transformation that began to take place and the changing identities and relations of peoples in these societies. History Chairperson Prof. Maria Bernadette Abrera presented the two keynote speakers, Dr. Luis Alonso of the Universidad de Cordoba (please verify) and Dr. Paul Dumol of the University of Asia and the Pacific. A total of 30 paper presenters from 20 academic institutions, and 150 delegates from 40 colleges, universities, and secondary schools attended the conference. Topics ranging from exploration narratives, text production, and cultural and scientific encounters were presented.
The conference was capped by a tertulia performed during the dinner at the Executive House. It was attended by President and Mrs. Alfredo Pascual, Spanish Ambassador Luis Antonio Calvo, UP Vice President Gisella Concepcion, Chancellor Michael Tan, officials of the NHCP and the Spanish embassy, and faculty members of the History Department.
The conference was also the venue of the Manila launching of the book 'El Galeon de Manila: Cruzando el Atlantico' (The Manila Galleon: Crossing the Atlantic).
In pursuance of Republic Act 9187 or the Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day Act of 2003, the UP History Department is mandated to lead the hosting of an annual history conference. Aside from the NHCP, the conference was also sponsored by the Embassy of Spain in the Philippines, Instituto Cervantes Manila, and the Office of the UP President.


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January 20, 2006
Judge rules Merck lawyers can question NEJM editor
The federal judge overseeing Vioxx litigation ruled this week that Merck would be allowed to depose the executive editor of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), according to a report in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) this week. Lawyers for Merck will question Gregory Curfman over an editorial in the NEJM last month that said the drug firm didn't fully disclose adverse events in a 2000 study of Vioxx, according to Ted Mayer, the lead outside counsel for Merck in the Vioxx litigation. Merck will be allowed to question Curfman about the peer review process used for medical articles but won't be entitled to the names of those who reviewed the Vioxx study. Plaintiffs' attorneys in the Vioxx litigation say they intend to use the NEJM editorial in future trials to argue that Merck failed to disclose relevant information. Meanwhile, the Norwegian government vowed this week to speed up a new law that may bring jail terms to those caught falsifying data published in medical journals. "There must be no doubt about the quality of our research," Norway's health minister Sylvia Brustad said in published reports. "So we are speeding up our draft law." The law would bring stricter rules for overseeing research and make those falsifying data liable to criminal charges that could bring jail terms. Under existing rules, violators can in the worst cases be fired and banned from practicing medicine. Norwegian officials said that 44-year-old John Sudbo, a researcher at Oslo's Radium Hospital, made up patients' case histories for a study about oral cancer published by British medical journal The Lancet in October. The hospital said an independent commission would probe all his research. The new law would not have a retroactive effect, a Norwegian health official said. Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, said the report published in October would be retracted if Oslo supplied confirmation that it had been falsified.


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Feminist Times launched on 3 October 2013 and has published almost 500 articles in just nine months online. Here are some of your favourite moments, as well as some of our personal highlights.
Theme Weeks:
Fascinating, fun and challenging in equal measure, at FemT we've commissioned some brilliant content for eight theme weeks, aiming to bring together different ideas and debates on particular, often polarising, feminist issues.
1. Man Week – 18-25 November 2013
Coinciding with International Men's Day and the UN Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women and Girls, FemT presented our first theme: Man Week. Click to see all content here.
2. 5 years since Maria
In collaboration with Refuge, we marked the fifth anniversary of Maria Stubbings' brutal murder at the hands of her former partner – featuring the manifesto of a survivor, asking whether domestic violence sentencing is fair, and exploring how the authorities can stop failing women like Maria.
3. I don't buy it
An anti-consumerist Christmas theme week, kicked off by our alternative Christmas service at Conway Hall. Click to see all content here.
4. 12 Days of Sexism
While everyone took a Christmas break, FemT spent the 12 days of Christmas looking back at the previous 12 months of sexism, as well as reflecting on a year in black feminism and the most and least read Feminist Times articles of 2013.
5. New Year, New You
While the women's mags filled their pages with the annual quest for a "new you", Feminist Times asked: what are women really worried about? (Clue: it wasn't their weight.) Plus: why the yoyo diet is only good for capitalism; a response to Running? It's just jogging; how to face 2014 with FATITUDE; one feminist's new year's resolution to adopt a new feminist; a new year message from self-described "crone" Raga Woods; a plea for no more sadomasochism on the high street, and finally our January members' event, Feminist Fat Chat – is fat still a feminist issue?
6. Sex Industry Week
A week of, let's call it, lively discussions on the sex industry, featuring an exclusive serialisation of Melissa Gira Grant's Playing The Whore. Click to see all content here.
7. Gender Week
Another polarising topic that divided opinions across our readership. Click to see all content here.
8. Mental Health Awareness Week
Produced to coincide with the national Mental Health Awareness Week, we looked at media coverage of 'White Dee', the problem with mixed therapy groups for women with borderline personality disorder, feminist responses to anorexia and self-harm, how to stay mentally healthy on Twitter, and the women occupying their community mental health clinic. Plus, we asked why so many progressives fall short on mental health, is it feminism that's making us mad, and is there a feminist alternative to asylums?
Most Shared:
1. Open letter to journalists: middle class strippers – it's neo-liberalism, stupid – after another Daily Mail journo gets in touch, Dr Kate Hardy is compelled to write an open letter
2. Summertime body-shaming is upon us: no more bikini body war! – Bethany Rutter explains how every time you subvert cultural norms about how a body should look in public, that's a victory.
3. Call yourself an "Intersectional Feminist"? – Contributing Editor Reni Eddo-Lodge interviews the mother of intersectionality, Dr Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw.
4. Debbie Harry to become first woman musician awarded Godlike Genius – Blondie picked up NME's Godlike Genius award in February; Kat Lister looks at the impact for women in music.
5. Women Against Pit Closures: Memories from the miners' strike, 30 years on – As part of Women's History Month, we mark the 30th anniversary of the miners' strike.
6. The forgotten women of Kalamazoo – How Gibson forgot the women who made some of their best guitars.
7. Top 10 Shit Valentine's Gifts – What not to buy the woman in your life this Valentine's Day.
8. A Womb With A View: After birth – What I've learned… – After the birth of her baby boy, Jude Rogers has some epiphanies and top tips.
9. The Punk Singer – Return of the Riot Grrrls? – Faye Lewis hopes Kathleen Hanna's legacy will inspire a new generation.
10. LONG READ: Chav is a feminist issue – Intersectional feminism, class and austerity: a speech from Manchester feminism conference by Rhian E. Jones.
Most Read:
1. A feminist in high heels is like Dawkins in a rosary – Editor Charlotte Raven responds to the first question she always gets asked. See also our readers' responses, Comeback: #FeministHeels
2. For once let's really talk about slut-shaming – Can you be sex positive and anti-objectification? Glosswitch calls for a more honest discussion of "slut-shaming".
3. No More Page 3: A bit of fence sitting – The No More Page 3 team explain why they're sitting on the fence about porn.
4. A year in black feminism – Reni Eddo-Lodge looks back at Black Feminism in 2013.
5. Congo Stigmata: The day Ensler crucified herself – Jude Wanga mourns a loss of faith in V-Day, telling Eve Ensler: "The women of Congo are not living cadavers."
6. Femen – The beauty fascist fauminists – Femen are recruiting in Britain. Would the Feminist Times team qualify?
7. Feminism cannot compromise on the liberation of women – Compromise cannot and should not be a feminist policy, argues Louise Pennington.
8. The essential feminist's guide to Pick Up Artists – Kate Smurthwaite investigates the sinister world of The Game.
9. Men, know your place! – "Men who understand feminism don't need our praise," says Louise Pennington.
10. Dworkin was right about porn – "Feminism has to do more than simply polish patriarchy's turds," says Glosswitch on porn.
Our Favourites:
Some of the Feminist Times team's personal favourites, in no particular order…
1. Three Dimensional Feminism – One of our most popular launch pieces: Nina Power, author of One-Dimensional Woman, on how to create a Three-Dimensional Feminism.
2. Obituary: Post-Feminism – Girl power, Tory feminism: Professor Lynne Segal buries the wannabes.
3. Should we stop asking pop stars about feminism? – Contributing Ed Kat Lister on how feminism is being used to market popstars and yet we fall for it every time.
4. Feminist Valentine's cards – Greer? hooks? Dworkin? Looking for the perfect Valentine's card for the feminist in your life? Look no further.
5. TV's got a Fox Problem and I hope it's zoo TV – The second series of an all-female zoo TV show heralds a serious channel change predicts Editor Deborah Coughlin.
6. War on Spanx – Another of our launch pieces: Burning your bra? That's so second wave. Decommission your shapewear instead.
7. 10 reasons why debt is a feminist issue – We need to start talking about women's debt, says Fran O'Leary.
8. Becoming advertising – Now even the Guardian's at it, will it be long before reality segues seamlessly into advertising? Or has it already happened?
9. Nimko Ali – a year as the face of FGM – Sarah Graham interviews "fanny forward" anti-FGM campaigner Nimko Ali.
10. Losing it – no one warns young women about anxiety – Feminist blogger Grace Campbell opens up about her recent battle with anxiety after leaving home for the first time.
Don't see your favourite in this list? Let us know which articles you've most enjoyed and why.