Volume XXXIV, No. 14 | April 27, 2012 It Makes a Difference Let’s start with the question “What’s the difference between 7 and 3?” The answer is 4. If you ask students how they got that answer, they will say something like, “I took 4 from 7,” or “I subtracted them.” The point [...]

Volume XXXIV, No. 13 | April 20, 2012 Why Study Math? As an instructor of students in the area of mathematics, I am sometimes asked such questions as, “When am I ever going to use this?” or “Why do I have to study math?” I usually take the time to go over the [...]

Volume XXXIV, No. 12 | April 13, 2012 The Benefits of Crossing Disciplines: Writing + Calculus = A Happy Marriage I recently taught a section of first-semester calculus for the Honors Program at Moraine Valley Community College. The Honors Program has specific goals that make the experience unique. One of the more challenging [...]

Volume XXXIV, No. 11 | April 6, 2012 Let’s Party Like Our (Successful) Future is Now: The 10-Year Class Reunion as a Goal-Setting Exercise One of the most challenging tasks college students face is defining and developing educational goals that align with their dream career. The students who never define an end or [...]

Volume XXXIV, No. 11 | April 6, 2012 Let’s Party Like Our (Successful) Future is Now: The 10-Year Class Reunion as a Goal-Setting Exercise One of the most challenging tasks college students face is defining and developing educational goals that align with their dream career. The students who never define an end or [...]

Volume XXXIV, No. 10 | March 30, 2012 DEVELOPING KEY JOB INTERVIEW SKILLS IN A VOICE AND DICTION COURSE Communication skills are important to employers evaluating job candidates. Employers and human resources personnel view communication skills as among the key qualities they seek in qualified applicants; lamentably, employers’ recurrent criticism of community college [...]

Volume XXXIV, No. 8 | March 9, 2012 Building Junior Faculty: Peer Mentoring and Learning Communities Six new junior faculty members, each with different concentration areas and research specialties, joined the faculty in a large school of social work over a two-year period. In addition to attempts by senior faculty and administration to [...]

Volume XXXIV, No. 7 | March 2, 2012 Student Writing: Developing “Journal Quality” Outcomes The Skills Gap The American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) identified, then studied, the skills gap phenomenon. They defined the skills gap as the significant difference between the organization’s current operational capabilities and the actual employee skills it [...]

Volume XXXIV, No. 6 | February 24, 2012 Play? Are You Serious? When the hands are engaged, so goes the mind. A recent innovation in business and industry is now making its way into American classrooms. Based on research findings relative to the psychology of learning, LEGO Serious Play® is a methodology that [...]

Volume XXXIV, No. 5 | February 17, 2012 An Ounce of Prevention: Improving College Readiness as a Strategy Toward College Completion Since President Obama’s 2009 challenge to “Once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world,” American colleges have been challenged to turn college access into college completion. Enrollment in [...]