4 x 4 x 16 Challenge Articles

Changing the Mindset

Changing the Mindset

Have you ever felt like why do I need to know all of that?  This very thing happened to me this weekend while I was working on an assignment for my class at Ferris State University. It made me think about all of the classes I have had in the past. I thought about...

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Three Laws of Physics…

Three Laws of Physics…

Each of us can easily apply the formula F = MA to student learning - think of an instructor, a student, and learning that happens. The electrical law E = IR (electromotive force = current times resistance) is just as easy to apply. However, both formulas assume...

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Phubbing & Nomophobia: lol, but seriously tho

Phubbing & Nomophobia: lol, but seriously tho

I’ve had a few interesting interactions recently around behaviors stemming from our use (and overuse) of technology and the subsequent new terminology that has crept into our lexicon. We’ve had our go-round in recent years with words like ‘hashtag’, ‘photobomb’,...

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I have nothing to contribute

I have nothing to contribute

“I have nothing to contribute.” This is a phrase that I have heard. Sometimes said out loud, other times mixed with comments in student groups like “What are we doing?” and “I didn’t read the lab.” I have found that everybody has something to contribute, and is good...

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A Mile Wide….

A Mile Wide….

... and an inch deep. That is how our curriculum is categorized in the United States. That is certainly how I feel about our curriculum. In other countries, they choose to cover far fewer topics, but at greater depth. What makes more sense? Know a little about a lot,...

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My Most Inspiring Student

When Katherine turned in her first assignment in ENG 97/107, I was shocked. The assignment was to write a page of free writing explaining something they were good at and how they got good at it. Most students wrote about a page--messy and full of errors, maybe, but...

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The WRC: Forging Student Connections

The WRC: Forging Student Connections

This morning I was eating my snack at a table in the Writing and Reading Center when I overheard a conversation between two students. One student asked the other if she was at the WRC for her psychology paper or her sociology paper. When the other student responded...

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When Accounting is Spelled, “Water…”

When Accounting is Spelled, “Water…”

      Lofty ideas and ideals need to have a landing place. Words and ideas need to become flesh if they are to have any value at all. I am an educator. But I am also an innovator. I guess that makes me an educational innovator? Strangely, that label...

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Course Projects – Getting Topics Right

Course Projects – Getting Topics Right

Students with enthusiasm - awesome! Spring CIT 275 students developed a multi-player top-down shooter game and presented their project twice last April, to faculty and staff at the Friday Forum and to community business leaders at the CIT Advisory Committee. They were...

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