Tuesday, September 10, 2013

A note to my colleague, Prof. Marlene Martinez, about Field Guides

A quick post for my Biology colleague (and faculty office neighbor), Prof. Marlene Martinez: 



Although I appreciate your field guide for your Zoology students, this is puny compared to what I think is really needed: A Field Guide for Microbes!





Dr. Jonathan Eisen at UC Davis TBC 2013

Posted by at No comments:

Sunday, September 8, 2013

The beautiful dance of the Moon and Venus, captured on Twitter

Even in the screen age of Twitter, we can still go outdoors and gaze at wonder to the evening sky. The captivating pairing of the Moon and Venus in the early night sky, preserved in tweets.





Venus and Moon before occultation


Venus and Moon after occultation







Did you watch the Moon and Venus paired in the evening sky?
Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, September 5, 2013

ARC Town Hall Meeting - September 6: Science needs more attention

September 6 is the ARC campus Town Hall meeting to solicit suggestions on choosing the next college President. I plan to go. Why? Here's why:
The Science division has not received the resources it needs to support the type of learning we want to provide for our students. Several faculty have discussed and proposed projects that engage students in investigative, inquiry-based science projects, but our facilities have been insufficient to support this valuable component of learning science. With all the construction projects that have been done on this campus, we are still struggling among ourselves for laboratory space to support our courses. How will we be able to take the next step to foster the inquiry-based laboratory learning that we want? Yes, we do have a new Arts/Science building, but we did not get more laboratory space for our students.

Other campuses in California and the U.S. have STEM-enriched facilities that provide the space and resources to support hands-on, laboratory-based learning. The resources include updated equipment and technology to help students be more competitive when they transfer to four-year colleges or enter the workforce. So our campus can do better with science.


Since posting this, I've received some more points to add to our call for more attention to STEM education:

1. President Obama's administration has made STEM education a priority for the nation, as shown in the Administration's five-year strategic plan:
The health and longevity of our Nation’s, citizenry, economy and environmental resources depend in large part on the acceleration of scientific and technological innovations, such as those that improve health care, inspire new industries, protect the environment, and safeguard us from harm. Maintaining America’s historical preeminence in the STEM fields will require a concerted and inclusive effort to ensure that the STEM workforce is equipped with the skills and training needed to excel in these fields.
2. The Carnegie Corporation of New York is coordinating a collaborative national movement 100Kin10, which was created to meet the growing need for students with STEM knowledge and skills with 100,000 new excellent teachers by 2021
Posted by at No comments:

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

NIH Director Francis Collins sings "The Sequester Blues"

NIH Director Francis Collins visited the WAMU Kojo Nnamdi Show to give an NIH research update, and he played "The Sequester Blues." 


 Here's another performance by the NIH Director:



About the NIH Director

 The NIH Director's blog

 The NIH Director on Twitter
Posted by at No comments:

Friday, August 30, 2013

The Biology Gang is back!


Chris DeWitt from the ARC Science & Engineering Office dropped by the Biology Department meeting for a photo shoot. 

ARC Biology!

And some individual pics...

 
Jennifer Neale (Natural Resources)


Justin Moore


 Ken Kubo


Michael Sweet 
Renee Shahrok


And hail to the Biology Queen! Lori Smith is the new Biology Department Chair.


 Thanks, Chris!





Posted by at No comments:

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Scenes from my day at Fall 2013 Convocation | American River College

It's time for ARC Convocation! 


 Marsha Reske introduces the new video for the ARC iPad Initiative.




More information on the ARC iPad Initiative 

Yikes! We're on stage...





 The Student Success Seven!

Getting ready for the student success break-out session

After the break


Chancellor Brian King at the ARC Convocation

ARC is so AWESOME we need two presidents! Co-Presidents Bill Karns and Marie Smith adjourn the morning session. 



At the Science Division Meeting

Biology We Are Strong



John Aubert (Interim Dean, Mathematics) pays a visit!

At the Biology Department Meeting


Hail to the Biology Queen! Thanks to Marlene Martinez for the pic!








A Welcome Back goodie bag from the Science & Engineering Division Office




Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, August 22, 2013

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. 



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


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



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.


 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. 





 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. 


 I tried brainstorming integrative learning.



 A special thanks to Kathy Rodgers (ARC English and Honors program coordinator) for letting me attend this retreat.

 Some resources from the Honors Retreat: 

 Honors retreat agenda
Coordinator report fall 2013
Faculty events fall 2013
Update on Survey of Biology honors course proposal
Some ideas for independent research Biology projects
Integrative learning handouts
Reaching across the disciplines - brainstorming activity

 From Marcy Alancraig (Cabrillo College, Honors English)
Marcy Alancraig's faculty website
English 2H website
English 2H syllabus (from spring 2011)


Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)