Infographic Friday

The Workplace Zodiac infographic by JESS3.

I never knew about dyslexia-friendly fonts...

Till I read this.  From Daniel Hamermesh, writing in Freakonomics.

Font Improvement

I write all my papers, letters, and exams using the typeface Times New Roman.  As a lunch-table discussion here in England revealed, the University insists on certain typefaces that are dyslexia-friendly, particularly Arial, Trebuchet, and Verdana.  It costs me or any other faculty member nothing to use one of these on exams; non-dyslexic students are not harmed by them, and dyslexic students are better off.  Henceforth, no more Times New Roman on tests — mine will all be in Arial.  A clear Pareto improvement.

Children and teens invited to ETSU Renaissance summer camps

East Tennessee State University’s Office of Professional Development invites children ages six and up to participate in Renaissance Child camps this summer. 

The camps offer a variety of educational, hands-on, interactive opportunities for participants from first grade through high school. The programs are based on “STREAM” Educational Curriculum (Science, Technology, Reading/Recreation, Engineering, Arts and Math) and follow the Tennessee Core State Standards.

A new Renaissance Child Science Discovery Camp: A Journey to the Center of the Earth and Beyond for children ages 6-12 will explore earth science, with volcanoes erupting and crystal gardens growing. Campers can make edible “rocks” and participate in other experiments. Field trips to Bristol Caverns and Cooper’s Gem Mine are planned. The dates for the camp are June 3-7.

Computer Camp for Teens, to be held June 3-7, welcomes those ages 11-15. Students will learn videography, as well as greenscreen and effects compositing. Participants will assemble a demo reel presentation for their family and friends.

            Science and Forensics Camp, offered June 10-14, is designed for those ages 11-15 who will join the Renaissance Camp “CSI unit.” Participants will learn to gather evidence, such as blood type identification, fiber analysis and DA extraction, as they solve a mock crime scene. Local forensic experts will visit the class, and a field trip to the American Museum of Atomic Entergy in Oak Ridge is planned.

Digital Media Camp, offered the week of June 10-14 at ETSU’s Niswonger Digital Media Laboratory, will allow high school students to discover digital imaging manipulation techniques through photographs, as well as the use of still imagery to create animated video clips. On the final day, students will have a showing of their work and a reception for family and friends.

A new Renaissance Child Superhero Week from June 17-21 allows children ages 6-12 to create an original superhero, determining the special qualities to give the character and deciding where it would go and what it would do. Campers will design a 3-D model of their hero, as well as develop a formula for a “bouncy” ball along with other science experiments.

Also new is a Renaissance Child Exploration Camp for ages 6-12, to be held June 24-28. While exploring science, technology and the arts, campers will build cotton ball catapults and make simple electrical circuits. Other activities include painting, drawing, sculpting and creating art from recycled materials. In addition, they will work in a computer lab and create a book of original stories.

From July 8-12, campers ages 6-12 will be the first to attend the new Renaissance Child Imagination Station, where they can develop creative drama techniques and stretch their imaginations as they write stories in the computer lab, make puppets and masks, and play the part of “mad scientist” with science experiments. At the end of the week, campers will present their puppet shows and stories to family and friends. The guest instructor will be David Claunch, who holds a master’s degree in storytelling from ETSU.

Art, Music and Drama Camp, to be held July 8-19, provides a two-week course for campers ages 10-16 who will collaborate in writing, staging and performing an original play. They will design sets and costumes, as well as choreograph dance routines, as they prepare to present their play to family and friends. Also included will be attending the Barter Theatre production of “Cinderella.” Ashley King will return as director this year. She works with Barter Theatre and is a digital media and theater student at ETSU.

A Science and Engineering Camp will be offered from July 22-26 for the 11-15 age group. While exploring engineering disciplines and related sciences, campers will launch hydro rockets and design roller coasters, as well as visit the campus robotics lab. A field trip to Wonder Works in Pigeon Forge is planned.  

The Renaissance Child Construction Zone, July 29-Aug. 2, gives children 6-12 years of age a chance to design and build their own contraptions, gizmos and gadgets from recycled materials. They will explore how things work and how to build a strong structure as they learn the basic laws of physics and engineering. The week will culminate with a “Renaissance Kid’s Trade Show,” where the week’s creations will be on display.

All camps meet from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday. Fees range from $180-375, depending on the camp, with discounts available for ETSU faculty, staff and students, as well as multiple registration discounts.

For registration or further information, contact the ETSU Office of Professional Development at goicl@etsu.edu or (800) 222-3878.

Save the date

The methodology is suspect

But these kind of lists are popular right now.  Here are the top ten universities with the worst professors, taken from CBS News.

25 universities with the worst professors

Which U.S. colleges and universities have the worst professors?

According to the latest figures compiled by an education think-tank, many of the worst profs are teaching in schools in the Midwest and on the East Coast. The Center for College Affordability and Productivity compiled a list of schools with the best and worst professors by culling through millions of teacher ratings at RateMyProfessors.com. The teacher ratings were one of the components that the center used in evaluating 650 colleges and universities for Forbes' ranking of America's Best Colleges. 

Millions of students have used RateMyProfessors to share their feelings about their teachers in the U.S., Canada and U.K. Using a five-point scale, students rate professors on three criteria: helpfulness, clarity and easiness. An overall quality score is determined by averaging the helpfulness and clarity ratings. You can see all four scores for each professor on the site. . . . 

25 universities with the worst professors

1. U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (NY)2. Michigan Technological University3. U.S. Coast Guard Academy (CT)4. Milwaukee School of Engineering5. New Jersey Institute of Technology6. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (NY)7. Widener University (PA)8. St. Cloud University (MN)9. Bentley University (MA)10. Indiana State University

Never utter one of these in a crisis

Hero advice from Charlie Jan Anders in io9.  I've listed a couple of my favorites from the twelve presented.

12 Phrases That Are Never a Good Sign For a Hero's Survival

"You can do better than that!"

Or, alternatively: "Is that all you got?" Said tauntingly to an attacking evil person. Inevitably, that isn't all they've got.

"When all this is over..."

And finally, the classic. As often satirized on The Simpsons and other shows, the moment someone starts talking about all the great things he or she is going to do after this nightmare is finally ended, you know there's no happy ending in store for that person. In Hunt for Red October, as soon as Sam Neill starts talking about the great time he'll have living in Montana after he's defected, you know it's curtains for Sam — and we're not talking about picking out curtains for his Montana cabin.

Infographic Friday

Public Institution Graduation Rate of Incoming Freshman infographic

Is college still worth it?

By Degree Jungle Is College Still Worth It

ETSU announces OpenBUCS free online course system

Beginning this fall, East Tennessee State University will offer free college courses through the Open Buccaneer University Course System (OpenBUCS), university officials announced today (Tuesday, May 14). 

The emergence of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) precipitated the development of the OpenBUCS initiative. But what makes the ETSU program unique is a path to actual college credit.

MOOCs began in recent years, with notable programs established through a partnership between Harvard University and MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and by Stanford University. Today, the Harvard and MIT program has 25 MOOC courses with 675,000 students, and Stanford has more than 3 million students in 100 courses. And, other institutions across the country are following suit.

“Higher education is changing rapidly, and (MOOCs) are having a phenomenal influence,” explained Dr. Karen King, ETSU vice provost for eLearning. “These free courses are created so that enrollment is open. Students move at their own pace, interact with each other online, interact with the content. There are a lot of different models out there – some are on the semester system, while some are shorter. Some do not have an active, present instructor, and some do.

“When we began looking at this, and at all that is happening in online education, I started asking how this could apply to ETSU,” she continued. “How can we take what they’ve done and make our own unique model that can help ETSU and students throughout our region?”

After months of planning and brainstorming involving the Committee for 125 – the group formed and tasked by ETSU President Dr. Brian Noland with exploring and developing ideas to help guide the university into its second century – as well as the ETSU Office of eLearning and various academic and administrative groups, OpenBUCS was formed.

OpenBUCS offers an opportunity for anyone to take free online courses, but also provides an optional path to earning college credit at a substantial discount from full college course tuition.

Participating students taking a free OpenBUCS course will earn a certificate of completion. If they decide they want to go further and earn three hours of academic credit for the course, they may elect to pay a “pre-credit assessment fee” of $150 and take tests on the coursework. Upon successful completion of the tests, they may pay an additional $150 fee to obtain the actual academic credit via an evaluation of learning outcomes. In the current, 2012-13 academic year, the cost of three credit hours is $912, so the cost of obtaining credit through an OpenBUCS course would be roughly one-third that of a regular course.

This has a number of advantages for students, according to King.

“OpenBUCS will help students throughout our state by increasing access to education, reducing cost, and potentially reducing the time it takes to graduate,” she said. “I think this will help a lot of people who might not have been to school in a while, or perhaps students in high school who aren’t really sure if they’re prepared for college, to ‘test the water’ before they begin college. They can take a course for free and see how they do. It could be a good barometer for them.”

Two pilot courses will be offered through OpenBUCS this fall: “U.S. History Since 1877” (History 2020) and “Introduction to Music” (Music 1030). Both courses are general education courses and part of the core curriculum.

For more information, visit www.etsu.edu/online/openbucs, call the Office of eLearning at 1-855-590-ETSU (3878), or email online@etsu.edu.