NOVEMBER 2018 | VOL. 5 ISSUE 3
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS NEWSLETTER THIS MONTH'S FEATURES:
Designing and Re-Designing Curriculum....2 New Faculty Highlights...............................4 College Accomplishments..........................6 Announcements........................................12
A Message from the VPAA
Happy November!
In this issue, Dr. Tim Carter, Interim Associate Dean of Education and Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, provides a framework for considering the nature of purpose of program curricula. As we continue to focus on student success, the importance of our programs is central to recruiting and retaining students. Some scholars suggest that a carefully considered curriculum is the number one reason students choose and remain with a particular major. This issue also highlights continued your great work and introduces us to our newest colleagues. Enjoy! Sincerely, Phil Bridgmon Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs
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Designing and Re-Designing Curriculum Dr. Tim Carter Interim Associate Dean College of Education
One of the many important activities of the university is the design and re-design of curriculum. This activity involves much complex thought, careful reflection, and strategic planning. In regards to curriculum, scholars in this field of study have noted several points of emphasis. From these points of emphasis, the following provides you with three simple thoughts and a set of questions as you consider curriculum design and re-design. Purpose. Stephen Covey, a leadership expert, wisely stated that effective people and organizations plan with the end in mind. This thought is well worth considering when developing curriculum. As standards evolve, employers’ expectations change, and technology continues to play a more extensive role, it is beneficial to ask consistently what our graduates should know and be able to do upon completion of our programs of study. What is the purpose of our program? What is the end goal? How should this goal change as the society changes? Does our purpose have shared agreement among those implementing the curriculum?
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Continued: Designing and Re-Designing Curriculum
Planning. Once a purpose is clearly established, the detailed work of planning occurs. In planning curriculum, the determined purpose should remain at the forefront. This requires discipline and careful reflection. In any plan, the curriculum planners must visit and re-visit the progression of courses in order to ensure the attainment of the program purpose. When examining curriculum, it is important to ask questions such as the following. Does the curriculum have a clear progression? Do the skills or knowledge gained in one course clearly connect to the next? Do students recognize the program curriculum as a continuous preparation sequence or as independent, unrelated courses required to complete a degree? What courses are essential, preferred, and unnecessary based on the stated purpose? Performance. Once the department implements the curriculum with students, the examination of student and graduate performance data then serves an essential aim. These data provide key insights into the effectiveness of the curriculum in accomplishing its purpose as designed. When considering performance data, program faculty may wish to ask a variety of questions such as the following. Do employers report that graduates are well prepared? Do graduates feel they are well prepared for their employment? Do assessments completed at internship/practicum demonstrate strong preparation in the area for which the students are prepared? Do students do well on licensure tests, if applicable? To design effective curriculum it is beneficial to carefully consider the three aspects of purpose, planning, and performance. By doing so, departments can improve student learning and graduates will be better prepared for the careers they are pursuing.
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New Faculty Highlights BUSINESS “Good marketing makes the company look smart. Great marketing makes the customer feel smart.� – Joe Chernov
Management and Marketing Kuldeep Singh, Assistant Professor of Management in the Department of Management and Marketing, earned his Ph.D. degree in Management Sciences from the University of Texas Arlington in August 2018. He received his B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering from NIT, Kurukshetra, India. Prior to academia, he worked with leading companies in the automotive industry such as Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., primarily in service operations and quality management. His teaching interests are operations management, supply chain management, business statistics, operations planning and control, logistics management, ERP systems, and supply chain analytics. He is an active scholar and has presented his research at reputable national conferences such as Decision Sciences Institute and Production and Operations Management Society. His recent research interests are supply chain strategy, supply chain knowledge, health care operations, and business analytics.
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New Faculty Highlights Continued
ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCES Computer and Information Science “All parts should go together without forcing. You must remember that the parts you are reassembling were disassembled by you. Therefore, if you can’t get them together again, there must be a reason. By all means, do not use a hammer.” — IBM Manual, 1925 Philip Huff came to ATU after spending the last 15 years at Arkansas Electric where he served as Director of Critical Infrastructure Security. He was the chair of the Cyber Security standards committee for the U.S. electric industry and industry chair of the Department of Energy SEEDS cyber security research institute. He has a Masters in Computer Science and Information Security from James Madison and is completing his Ph.D. at the University of Arkansas. He looks to move his wife and 4 children to Russellville in May of next year.
LIBRARY Librarians are committed to promoting lifelong learning in order to create a community of well-informed individuals. Librarians are catalysts to enlightenment for their communities. —Louise Capizzo Charity Park is the Digital and Special Collections, Assistant Librarian at the Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center. She is a two-time alumna of ATU, receiving her BA and MLA here. She is currently finishing up her MLIS degree and Graduate Certificate in Archives and Special Collections at the University of Southern Mississippi. Before coming to Arkansas Tech University, Ms. Park spent thirteen years as the head of the Genealogy and Arkansas History Department at the Pope County Library.
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College Accomplishments ARTS AND HUMANITIES
Strategic Goal 2 – Academic Coherence ART Mural at Arkansas Nuclear One - David Mudrinichs’ Advanced Painting students are collaborating with Entergy to create a mural at Arkansas Nuclear One. Funding for the mural is expected to come from an external grant. Neal Harrington - Body [Parts], (7 works) group show, Bradbury Art Museum, Jonesboro, AR, August 23 - September 19 and #printmaking, (2 works) Arkansas Society of Printmakers group show, William F. Laman, Library main branch gallery, August 20 - October 13. Dawn Ward - Artwork published "Sentimental Fool" will be in this years’ Cave Review, literary magazine BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES Jason Ulsperger - Ulsperger, J. & Ulsperger, K. (2018). Do CNAs want CARE? Certified nursing aide views of culture change. The Journal of Aging and Social Change 8(4): 1-15. doi: 10.18848/2576-5310/CGP/vo8i04/1-15. David Osborn - Paxton, J., Bell, D., Leggett, T. and Osborn, D., Using a Team Work to Implement Useful Approaches to Deal with the Issue of Bullying and Team Work: Working Together to Prevent Children from Being Bullied. Twentieth Annual Fall Child Care Conference, UACCB, September 29, 2018.
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College Accomplishments Continued ARTS AND HUMANITIES
HISTORY AND POLITICAL SCIENCES Dr. James Moses published Just and Righteous Causes: Rabbi Ira Sanders and the Fight for Racial and Social Justice in Arkansas, 1926-1963 (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2018). He was also a speaker and panelist at “Meet the Authors” session, Southern Jewish Historical Society annual meeting, October 26-28, 2018, Mobile, AL; presented “The Southern Rabbi and the Civil Rights Movement: The Case of Ira Sanders of Little Rock” at the Interdisciplinary Research Series, ATU, September 7, 2018; and presented “Rabbi Ira Sanders, Race, and Poverty: The Great Depression in Little Rock” at the Arkansas Association of College History Teachers annual conference, October 5, 2018, Little Rock, AR. Dr. Michael Ogu, “History and Democracy in Africa: Insights from Zimbabwe” at the Arkansas Association of College History Teachers annual conference, October 5, 2018, Little Rock, AR. Dr. Greg Michna presented “Naturalistic Symbolism and Divine Mystery: The Reclamation of Enlightenment Wonder in the Writings and Missionary Sermons of Jonathan Edwards” at the annual meeting of the Canadian Society for EighteenthCentury Studies, Niagara Falls, Ontario, 10-13 October, 2018 and “Godly Walking in the Borderlands: Evangelical Education and Childrearing in Deerfield, Massachusetts, 1694-1704” at the Arkansas Association of College History Teachers annual conference, October 5, 2018, Little Rock, AR. Dr. Guolin Yi presented “Communicating the Sino-American Rapprochement to the Chinese Public” at the 24th Association of Chinese Professors of Social Science in the United States International Conference, Troy University, Troy, Alabama, 12-14 October, 2018.
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College Accomplishments Continued ARTS AND HUMANITIES HISTORY AND POLITICAL SCIENCES Dr. Kelly Jones presented “Freedom at the ‘Pine Bluffs,’ 1864” at at the Arkansas Association of College History Teachers annual conference, October 4, 2018, Little Rock, AR. Dr. Peter Dykema presented “The Last Lecture” at the fall Anthropology Club lecture series, October 23, Arkansas Tech University. MUSIC Phil Parker - My composition for symphonic band, Celebration, was recently accepted for publication by C. Alan Publications. It was commissioned by ATU for its centennial and is dedicated to Hal Cooper.
EDUCATION Strategic Plan Goal: 1 - Human Core The African American Alumni Chapter recognized Dr. V Carole Smith with the Outstanding Black Faculty Award on October 20, 2018 during the homecoming celebration.
Dr. Rebecca Callaway and Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim recently received the Outstanding Paper Award at the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE) on Implications of Flipped Teaching Strategy on Preservice Teachers’ Self-Efficacy and Intention to Integrate Technology in Future Classrooms. The award was presented at the E-Learn 2018 World Conference of ELearning in Las Vegas. Typically there are over 300 conference papers accepted, with 5-8 selected for an outstanding paper award. They have had three other papers selected for this honor in 2012, 2013, and 2014.
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College Accomplishments Continued Dr. Ellen Treadway is representing Arkansas Tech on the ADE Professional Licensure and Standards Board, Ethics Subcommittee, and Educator Preparation Program Quality Review Committee. This committee will meet monthly to determine a quality rating system that will be used in 2019 to rank the state educator programs.
Strategic Plan Goal: 4 - Citizens of the Region State and World The College of Education Excellence in Education Committee created Spirit Week in celebration of Homecoming by having a special event for each day. The schedule included: Monday - Character Day (dress as any book, show, or movie character); Tuesday - Canned Goods Day (bring canned food items to donate to Green and Gold Cupboard); Wednesday - Colors Day (Elementary Ed majors = Red, Middle Level = Blue, Secondary Education = Black, Higher Education = purple); Thursday - Cereal Day (bring a box or bag of cereal to donate to River Valley Food 4 Kids; Friday - Green and Gold Day! Tech Out!
Dr. John Freeman and Dr. Linda Bean participated in the Solution Tree Professional Learning Communities (PLC) at Work Institute along with other state university deans and leadership team members. The institute was held in Salt Lake City at the Salt Palace Convention Center with over 1,600 teachers and leaders in attendance.
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College Accomplishments for Education Continued Pediatrics Plus Fall Festival: COE Elementary Education faculty and students assisted and participated in the annual Fall Festival at Pediatrics Plus! This festival is only open to Pediatrics Plus families and employee families and of course our friends at Arkansas Tech. There were games, bump and jumps, prizes, food, golf, pictures and so much more. The elementary education majors were able to connect with the children and earn a couple of hours of community service while gaining experience working with children with special needs. Dr. Timothy Leggett collaborated with Pediatrics Plus to have our students participate in this event.The COE participated in the 2018 Homecoming by hosting a Chili Cook-Off. There were four entries and the winning batch was made by Dr. Selena Sasser. Dr. Sasser is new to the college and teaches in the elementary education program. Her recipe was also used at the Russellville October Fest Chili Cook-Off October 27. The COE Administrative Specialists are raising money for their Administrative Specialist Educators of Promise Scholarship. The first scholarship is planned to be awarded for the spring semester. Dr. Tim Carter and Dr. Shellie Hanna participated in the Arkansas Department of Education Teacher Cadet Curriculum Development meeting in Little Rock. They assisted in developing curriculum used in public schools to encourage pursuit of teaching careers. Arkansas ATE Annual Conference at Harding University: Desiree Wait, Dr. David Bell, Dr. Jackie Paxton, and Dr. Timothy Leggett presented “Spanning Boundaries: The Collegiate Culture and Bullying”. Child Care Aware Conference: Dr. Jackie Paxton, Dr. Timothy Leggett, Dr. David Bell, Dr. David Osburn, and Teresa Toland presented “Team Work-Working Together to Prevent Children from Being Bullied” recently in Batesville. They also presented “Using Team Work to Implement Useful Approaches Such as Books to Deal with Preschooler Aggression and Pre-Bullying Behaviors”.
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College Accomplishments Continued ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCES Strategic Goal 2 – Academic Coherence Agriculture Dr. Willey Hoefler had two abstracts ("Effects of Two Different Hatcher Basket Wash Systems on Microbial Counts" & "Effects of Different Stages of Processing Newly Hatched Chicks on Body Temperature") accepted by the American Society of Animal Science for presentations at the Southern Section Meetings from January 26-29, 2019 in Oklahoma City. These two projects were undergraduate research projects supported by the undergraduate research grants here at Tech. The two students are Tiffany Timbrook and Abby Sanders.
ADJUNCT SUPPORT COMMITTEE Strategic Goal 1 - Human Core & Goal 3 – Operations Excellence Dr. Anthony Lee from the Department of English and World Languages and taught as adjunct from 2009-2013 and left Tech for period to pursue a job in Maryland. Dr. Lee has recently returned to Tech this fall to continue teaching. He has published more than 15 articles and reviews. His current journal articles include “Two New Allusions: Samuel Johnson and the Book of Common Prayer, Boswell and Apollonius of Rhodes” and “Nicholas Rowe, Samuel Johnson, and Rambler 140” from this fall. He also has three upcoming books that will be available in 2019. Dr. Stephanie Pepper from the Department of College of Education, just retired from full time teaching. She taught Curriculum and Instruction for 8 years. She currently teaches part-time as an adjunct for online classes in the Education Department. She is an executive board member of the state and regional Association of Teacher Educators. She just completed her term as president with the Arkansas ATE in July and will complete her term as president of the Southeastern Regional Association of Teacher Educators at the end of October. However, she will remain a member of both state and regional and will continue to make decisions as a member of the executive board. Dr. Andrew Mason teaches in the College of Business. He has a Doctorate in Pharmacy from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and a Master’s degree in Business from Arkansas Tech University. He currently teaches at the Tokyo Medical and Dental University and serves as an Adjunct Instructor of Business at Arkansas Tech University. He is a proud recipient of the ATU Jim Ed McGee Award as the Outstanding Graduate from 2017. He has five published business research journal articles and one published conference proceedings (one of which earned a best paper award with the Academy of Business Research in 2016).
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Time for Announcements Early Registration for the Spring and Winter Intersession Terms November 8: 19 - 12 earned hours November 14: 11 - 3 earned hours November 27: 2 or fewer earned hours
Thanksgiving Break November 21 - 25, 2018 12