Governor Nixon promotes Caring for Missourians

June 16, 2009

Governor Nixon promotes Caring for Missourians
UMKC will directly benefit from a new initiative to address the shortage of health care professionals in Missouri.

Gov. Jay Nixon visited the Hospital Hill Campus last Thursday to announce that UMKC is one of the many colleges and universities across the state which will be part of the Caring for Missourians program, an initiative to train more than 900 health care professionals to serve in critical-need areas.

Written by Aha Bloger · Filed Under University Scholarship

College – what is it good for?

May 15, 2009

College – what is it good for?
I don’t try. I get good grades, but I’m not learning anything.

Higher education isn’t what it used to be.

Once upon a time, colleges and universities were prestigious organizations, and accepted only the best and brightest (or richest) students.

Of course, there are inherent flaws in that system, and I am in no way a proponent of limiting access to higher education and the opportunities it opens up to only an elite few.

Two hits score seven runs
Three games, three wins – and the last one was a doozy.

The Kangaroos closed out a series sweep against the IUPUI Jaguars with a 9-4 win on Saturday afternoon.

Freshman Chelsea Hartwig and senior Amanda Evans both homered in the game and sophomore Taya Upkes recorded the win on the mound for UMKC.

Written by Aha Bloger · Filed Under University Scholarship

University Publishing In A Digital Age

April 18, 2009

University Publishing In A Digital Age
University Publishing In A Digital Age / July 26, 2007

Report on University Publishing Released

Scholars have a vast range of opportunities to distribute their work, from setting up web pages or blogs, to posting articles to working paper websites or institutional repositories, to including them in peer-reviewed journals or books. In American colleges and universities, access to the internet and World Wide Web is ubiquitous; consequently nearly all intellectual effort results in some form of “publishing”. Yet universities do not treat this function as an important, mission-centric endeavor.

The result has been a scholarly publishing industry that many in the university community find to be increasingly out of step with the important values of the academy.This paper argues that a renewed commitment to publishing in its broadest sense can enable universities to more fully realize the potential global impact of their academic programs, enhance the reputations of their institutions, maintain a strong voice in determining what constitutes important scholarship, and in some cases reduce costs.

NOTE:

In partnership with the Scholarly Publishing Office of the University of Michigan Library, we are experimenting with a “commentable” version of our paper.

To Access The Report / Read Comments / Add One’s Comment(s) / Read News Coverage / Visit …

Source

[http://www.ithaka.org/strategic-services/university-publishing]

Written by Aha Bloger · Filed Under University Scholarship

Taking the LEED in eco-friendly construction

March 8, 2009

Taking the LEED in eco-friendly construction
LEED-A-Palooza led the way in environmental design education last Thursday in the Administrative Building.

Eco-friendly construction techniques and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification process were the focus of the conference which was co-sponsored by Clayco Corporation, the company building the new residence hall on Oak Street, and the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).

The Student as Scholar: Undergraduate Research and Creative Practice
Association of American Colleges and Universities

The Student as Scholar: Undergraduate Research and Creative Practice

Conference Description, Program, and Resources

300 faculty and administrators gathered in Long Beach, California on April 19-21, 2007 for a conference focused on integrating research and scholarship into the undergraduate experience with the goal of expanding and deepening learning for all students. Conference sessions explored developmental models, research and assessment of student learning, and examples of campus practice.

KEYNOTE: From Convocation to Capstone: Developing the Student as Scholar

David Hodge, Kira Pasquesi, Marissa Hirsh / Miami University ; Paul LePore / University of Washington

In order to integrate undergraduate research most effectively into the learning experience, undergraduate education should focus on the “student as scholar” from the first to final year. President Hodge will offer a vision of the student as scholar, where ‘scholar’ is defined in terms of an attitude, an intellectual posture, and a frame of mind derived from the best traditions of an engaged liberal education. Fulfilling this vision of the student as scholar will require a fundamental shift in how we imagine and structure the curriculum. In this new paradigm, the curriculum is learning-centered, providing intentional pathways that culminate in capstone experiences, peer-reviewed research papers, and creative presentations.

… [T]he undergraduate research experience is often viewed too narrowly as an isolated component of the student’s education, or as suitable for only some of the most advanced students. In this paper we argue that undergraduate research should, in fact, be at the center of the undergraduate experience, that undergraduate education should adopt the “Student as Scholar” Model throughout the curriculum, where scholar is conceived in terms of an attitude, an intellectual posture, and a frame of mind derived from the best traditions of an engaged liberal arts education. With this framework, not only each research project, but also each course, is viewed as an integrated, and integrating, part of the student experience.

Developing the Student as Scholar Model requires a fundamental shift in how we structure and imagine the whole undergraduate experience. It requires, as a minimum, the adoption of the Learning Paradigm in everything from the first introductory course through the final capstone experience. It requires a culture of inquiry-based learning infused throughout the entire liberal arts curriculum that starts with the very first day of college and is reinforced in every classroom and program. It transcends the boundaries of the classroom and takes advantage of the vast amounts of raw material now available to undergraduates. And it draws heavily from a developmentally-appropriate perspective of undergraduate education, where students move from a more passive, externally motivated experience to the active, internally-motivated posture of a scholar.

At its core, this is a vision of undergraduate education that offers students sustained and consistent emphasis on their identity as learners and as scholars, gradually blurring the distinction between the two, and it provides opportunities to develop meaningful connections to faculty and other students in campus environments that establish and support vibrant learning communities. The adoption of the Student as Scholar Model is the culmination of fundamental shifts in our underlying educational philosophy, specifically from a teaching paradigm that emphasizes telling students what they need to know, to a learning paradigm that emphasizes inquiry in shaping how students learn what they need to know, to a discovery paradigm that emphasizes inquiry with no boundaries.

In this paper we first examine the shift in educational paradigms and define what it means to be a student as scholar. We emphasize how the changing context of technology and scholarship makes the discovery paradigm possible now and increasingly so in the future.

[Much More]

[http://www.aacu.org/meetings/undergraduate_research/documents/Keynote.pdf]

Presentation (ppt) / Address (pdf) / Podcast Recording (mpg)

A Related Presentation Was Deleivered By David C. Hodge At Learning Through Enquiry Alliance (LTEA) Conference 2008:
Inquiry In A Networked World Held At The University of Sheffield In Late-June 2008

[http://networked-inquiry.pbwiki.com/About+the+LTEA2008+keynote]

Select Conference Workshops, Posters, Roundtable Discussions Case Studies, Plenaries

WORKSHOPS

Sustainable Models of Student–Faculty Collaboration

Research and Creative Scholarship: An Integral Part of the Undergraduate Experience

Assessing the Impact of Undergraduate Research on Student Learning and Campus Culture

POSTERS

Providing Undergraduates with a Research Training Roadmap

Research Ethics Training for Undergraduates

Undergraduate Research: Theirs, Mine, and Ours

Experiences in Research: A Structured, Faculty-Mentored Program for First-Year Students

ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS

Collaborative Undergraduate Research Seminars: Providing a “Research I” Experience

Institutionalizing Student Research Opportunities: Creating Visibility and Promoting Collaboration for Engaged Learning

Implementing an Integrative Research Sequence: The “Scientific Core”

Interdisciplinary Research: Building a Bridge to Scientific Inquiry in the 21st Century

Integrating Theory and Practice: An Action Research Case Study

Supporting Undergraduate Research: Centralized and Decentralized Institutional Models and the Role of Statewide Programs

Students’ Expectations of the Analytic and Communications Skills Needed for Research

Co-Creating Pathways to Student Scholarship: A Developmental Trajectory of Experience, Reflection, Research, and Scholarship

CASE STUDIES

A Comprehensive Approach to Student Scholarship

A Developmental Approach to Undergraduate Research in the Sciences

Building a Learner-Centered Environment through Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

Moving Undergraduate Research Beyond a Few Disciplines and a Few Student

Developing Student Scholars from Convocation through Commencement: An Institution-Wide Model

What Does the Research Tell Us about Undergraduate Research?

The Role of Undergraduate Research in Student Retention and Academic Success

Multiple Models for Incorporating Undergraduate Research into the Curriculum

Assessing Science Enrichment Programs: Measuring Students’ Development as Scholars

Collaborative Research and Creative Inquiry

Thinking Like a Scientist: Building Skills on the Way to a Culminating Research Experience

Integrating Undergraduate Research and Service-learning in Self-Designed Capstone Projects

Using an ePortfolio as a Personal Knowledge Management System

Educating Undergraduate Research Mentors

The Sociology of Everyday Life: Student Scholars in the Introductory Classroom

Adapting the UIW McNair Model to Engage Faculty and Students in Undergraduate Research

Designing and Implementing an Undergraduate Research Program

EUREKA! Building an Integrated University-Wide Model for Engaging Students in Undergraduate Research

Organizing and Implementing a Statewide Undergraduate Research Conference

The Importance of Institutional, Disciplinary, and Interdisciplinary Definitions of Scholarship

Fostering Undergraduate Research in the Arts and Humanities

Integrating Undergraduate Research and Engagement Programs across Departmental, Disciplinary, and Developmental Boundaries

Equal Partners: Participatory Research Involving Faculty, Students, and Community Members

Improving the Quality of Student Research through Information Fluency

Creating and Publishing Undergraduate Research Journals

PLENARIES

Enhancing Academic Excellence through Inquiry, Research, and Creative Practice

Toward a Collaborative, Learning-Centered Culture: Phases of Institutional Development

Key Elements to Building a Sustainable Undergraduate Research Program

SOURCE

[http://www.aacu.org/meetings/undergraduate_research/]

PODCASTS

[http://www.aacu.org/Podcast/UG07_podcasts.cfm]

Written by Aha Bloger · Filed Under University Scholarship

Recipe – Baked chicken soup

January 18, 2009

Recipe – Baked chicken soup
Christmas may be over, but we still have plenty of cold days left. When you’re suffering through one of those snowy winter days, try out our updated chicken soup.
Baked chicken soup is a wonderful, quick recipe to relieve the bone-chilling cold winter temperatures.

University faces state budget cuts
With the effects of the economy weighing down on colleges and universities across the country, the University of Missouri system is preparing for impending cuts to state funding in 2010.

In December, the Missouri Department of Higher Education sent out requests for budget scenarios reflecting a potential 15, 20 and 25 percent cut in state funding for the 2010 operating budget.

Written by Aha Bloger · Filed Under University Scholarship

University faces state budget cuts

January 17, 2009

In December, the Missouri Department of Higher Education sent out requests for budget scenarios reflecting a potential 15, 20 and 25 percent cut in state funding for the 2010 operating budget.

Reading the signs
With many dragging worn out bodies to the year’s end declaring “Make it stop!” the idea of a carefree college experience is quickly fading as economic woes become more apparent.

The past year has been a tumultuous ride for college students and the general public alike.

Written by Aha Bloger · Filed Under University Scholarship

PhD Scholarships in the area of IDM Co-Space – Nanyang Technological University

September 21, 2008

PhD Scholarships in the area of IDM Co-Space – Nanyang Technological University
A few scholarships in the area of mathematics, geometry and computer
graphics are available. They are a part of the *NRF*
< http://www.nrf. gov.sg>funded project entitled “Visual and Haptic
Rendering in Co-Space”. The work
will be carried out at the Centre for Advance Media Technologies (CAMTech)
of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The goal of the project is
to propose an efficient interoperable mathematical model defining geometry,
visual appearance and tangible physical properties of objects in
*Co-Space*< https://rita. nrf.gov.sg/ IDM/Lists/ RSS%20Open% 20Grant%20Call% 20IDM/DispForm. aspx?ID=15>.
The object definitions must be small in size and invariant to the rendering
platform used in Co-Space. The particular goals of the project include
development of the fast interactive definitions by implicit and explicit
functions, description of complex geometry using parametric partial
differential equations, introduction of function-defined physical properties
to objects in Co-Space, and development of several exemplar applications
illustrating the usefulness of the proposed approach, including an ability
to establish physical contact with other party in Co-Space through haptic
devices.

*Requirements

*A good bachelor or master degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science,
Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Mathematics or related-fields.
Advance knowledge of mathematics, geometry, physics and good programming
skills. Evidence of the experience will be required.
Knowledge of one or more of the following areas will be an advantage: 3D
computer graphics, interactive computer graphics, web visualization, web
programming, parallel computing.
Good written and oral communication skills.

A few possible research topics can be found at *
http://www3. ntu.edu.sg/ home/assourin/ PhDProj.htm*< http://www3. ntu.edu.sg/ home/assourin/ PhDProj.htm>

*Closing Date*
The candidates are expected to start their projects in January or August
2009.

Best Regards,
Dr. Alexei Sourin
Associate Professor
School of Computer Engineering
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
*http://www.ntu. edu.sg/home/ assourin* < http://www.ntu. edu.sg/home/ assourin>