Kubo Petri Dish: ARC Honors faculty retreat

The first day of class at ARC is approaching fast, and before students fill our classrooms again, it's time for FLEX! I spent several hours at the Honors faculty retreat, which was held at the Shriners Hospital near the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.

Honors faculty from #AmericanRiverCollege meeting at Shriners Hospital - view from our 7th floor venue! pic.twitter.com/QJae6xnE4G
— Ken Kubo (@kmkubo) August 21, 2013

Various faculty presented some excellent projects to engage students and teachers in reaching across different disciplines. Creative thinking is really happening.

Kathleen O'Brien at #AmericanRiverCollege Honors retreat: Wow, she teaches English w/ Plato & Calculus pic.twitter.com/gCdThJF288
— Ken Kubo (@kmkubo) August 21, 2013

Christian Kiefer (ARC English) introduced the Honors Read for the fall: John Steinbeck's The Log from the Sea of Cortez.

'Infinite Tides' author & #AmericanRiverCollege English Prof. Christian Kiefer at Honors faculty retreat pic.twitter.com/GcdTRsPGYQ
— Ken Kubo (@kmkubo) August 21, 2013

Rick Topinka (ARC Biology) and I had some time to discuss our non-majors biology course still in the planning stages. One important issue: We're working on how to give students authentic hands-on experience with the scientific process. Can students do investigative laboratory research to experience science first-hand? We're developing some possible projects.

We're discussing our proposed honors biology course at the #AmericanRiverCollege Honors faculty retreat pic.twitter.com/9rNohIDqRM
— Ken Kubo (@kmkubo) August 21, 2013

And we were fortunate to have English Prof. Marcy Alancraig from Cabrillo College give a talk about her Honors English course that integrates writing and science. She led a fascinating presentation and discussion on "the science of writing and the writing of science." I wish I took her English course when I was an undergraduate.

Guest speaker Marcy Alancraig from Cabrillo College English at #AmericanRiverCollege Honors faculty retreat pic.twitter.com/fWob3z7oRK
— Ken Kubo (@kmkubo) August 21, 2013

Cabrillo College Prof. Marcy Alancraig talking about writing & science at #AmericanRiverCollege Honors Pgm pic.twitter.com/xKcISHWU2g
— Ken Kubo (@kmkubo) August 21, 2013

To close the retreat, Kathy Rodgers (ARC English) and Andy Halseth (ARC Math) discussed how they have created a student learning community to pursue real-world issues that integrate English and math. Andy showed how even the life ritual of buying a car involves English and math skills.

Integrative learning projects: Kathy Rodgers (English) & Andy Halseth (Math) #AmericanRiverCollege Honors pic.twitter.com/mrahr3yNu5
— Ken Kubo (@kmkubo) August 21, 2013

I tried brainstorming integrative learning.