Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Volume 20 l No. 18

CLICK HERE FOR A PDF FILE OF THE CURRENT PAPER EDITION

Scholarships

Academic Calendar

Board Briefs

MCC Inclement Weather Policy

Archive

May 10 through 23
Jeanne Miller—May 12

Kristen Morgan—May 12

Roxanne Newton—May 14

Joyce Roseberry—May 15

Bobby Johnson—May 17

Mike Brown—May 18

Catherine LeRoy—May 21

Deadline for article submissions to Mitchell Columns is every Tuesday at 9 a.m. E-mail articles to  printgraph@mitchellcc.edu

On the Circle

Coming Soon!

SGA Spotlight Archive

• The NC History Presentation Project
  This week’s featured CTL project is the NC History Presentation project. This project was implemented by Marianne Rogowski, who is an adjunct history instructor. Ms. Rogowski created the NC History Presentation project in spring 2012 to help HIS 236 students enhance their understanding of a particular aspect of North Carolina history and culture. Specifically, the project requires students in small groups to conduct research on a relevant topic, write a 3-5 page summary of their findings, and present their reports to the class near the end of the semester in a format approved by the instructor. Some examples of topics presented this semester included bluegrass music, the wine industry in North Carolina, NASCAR, North Carolina ghost stories, and North Carolina barbeque. The students in the "North Carolina barbeque" group prepared and served barbeque, slaw, beans, and dessert for the class on the Circle in front of the Main Building! In general, the students seemed to enjoy presenting their projects. —Submitted by Todd Martin (05.02.12)

• The Andrew Jackson Debate Project
  This week’s featured CTL project is the Andrew Jackson debate project. This project was implemented by Kristl Kelley in 2011-12 to help HIS 131 students enhance their understanding of the policies and character of the seventh president of the United States. Specifically, the project requires two teams of students to debate whether or not the policies of the Jackson administration and his personal character were good for the nation. After viewing two relevant documentaries, students are assigned to either a "pro-Jackson" team or an "anti-Jackson" team. Students are graded on the level and the quality of their contributions to the debate. The Andrew Jackson debate project has been associated with positive results. Ninety-four percent of Ms. Kelley’s HIS 131 students participated in the fall of 2011, with all of them using facts to support their arguments. In addition, they seemed to really enjoy participating in this project. Because of the success of the Andrew Jackson debates, Ms. Kelley has also created a Revolutionary War debate project. —Submitted by Todd Martin (04.25.12)

• House Project
  This week’s featured CTL project is the house project. This project was implemented in 2009-10 to help MAT 060 students apply the properties of arithmetic operations with real numbers to interpret, calculate, and apply geometric concepts. The house project requires students to design a floor plan of a house on graph paper, and then answer questions regarding the installation of tile, carpeting, molding, and other areas that deal with geometry and measurement. The house project has been associated with positive results. Students tend to do well on it (84% proficient in Fall 2009, 82% proficient in Spring 2010, 81% proficient in Fall 2010, and 87% proficient in Spring 2011). During the pilot semester, 26% of students indicated that they would use the knowledge learned in the house project to actually build a house. —Submitted by Todd Martin (04.18.12)

• SLEEVES, LLC.
  This week’s featured CTL project is SLEEVES, LLC. Managed by Dr. Gloria Rembert’s BUS 238 (Integrated Management) class, the student store is a collaborative capstone project involving Marketing and Retail, Accounting, and Web Design classes. SLEEVES was created as a capstone project to help BUS 238 students put business theories and concepts into practice. SLEEVES sells t-shirts to Mitchell Community College students, faculty, staff, and the general community. At the end of the project, students will write reflection papers describing how they contributed to the store’s development and implementation. Although this particular project has not yet been evaluated, Dr. Rembert reports that previous student stores have been positive learning experiences for the students involved in their planning, marketing, and operation. SLEEVES location: Learning Resources Center, Room 202 Store Hours: M-Th, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; T&W, 4 to 6 p.m.; F, 9 a.m. to noon. —Submitted by Todd Martin (04.11.12)

• Project Greenway
  This week’s featured CTL project is entitled "Project Greenway." This project was implemented by Parks Collins in 2011-12 to introduce students in BIO 145 (Ecology) and BIO 143 (Field Biology Minicourse) to biological field work. Students are required to choose a topic that can researched in the woods near the Greenway section on Museum Road. This research culminates in a research paper and presentation. Some examples of BIO 145 research topics last fall included an examination of the population of coyotes based on howling responses, an examination of bird diversity, an examination of insect diversity, and an examination of the competition between two species of owls. Students taking BIO 143 this spring experience no lecture; rather, they meet entirely in the woods. Examples of BIO 143 projects include the continuation of the barred owl project, the continuation of the bird diversity project, and a new project on the behavior of crows. Check out the two Project Greenway blogs at theecologyproject.tumblr.com/ and mccfieldbiology.blogspot.com/ —Submitted by Todd Martin (04.04.12)
   
• Managing the Care of the Whole Person: An Experiential Learning Model of Human Services
  This week’s featured CTL project is entitled "Managing the Care of the Whole Person: An Experiential Learning Model of Human Services." This project requires students in Human Services courses to utilize interviewing and case management skills in a simulated client helper scenario. Specifically, students in HSE 123 (Interviewing Techniques) videotape interviews with HSE 110 (Introduction to Human Services) students who are playing the role of clients in need of services. The HSE 123 students then generate bio/psycho/social evaluations of these clients. Students in HSE 220 (Case Management) use these evaluations to develop client centered service plans. The project has been associated with positive outcomes. Fewer students in HSE 110 and HSE 123 have failed or dropped out since implementation of the project. Surveys from Spring 2011 indicated that 100% of project participants believed that they learn more from hands-on activities and 98% believed that they will use what they have learned in their careers. —Submitted by Todd Martin (03.28.12)
   
• "Big Math and Fries" Project
  This week’s featured CTL project is the "Big Math and Fries" project. This project is being used to help MAT 060 students enhance their understanding of decimals and percentages by providing a realistic context that requires them to apply arithmetic and then convert decimals into percentages. Specifically, groups of students must use menus from fast food restaurants to plan a day of meals that meet the guidelines of the Zone Diet (40% carbohydrates, 30% protein, and 30% fat). The "Big Math and Fries" project has been associated with positive results. Students tend to do well on it, with 91% achieving a score of 85 or better when the project was implemented in Spring 2011. In addition, performance on two homework assignments improved the semester the project was implemented. One instructor reports that an additional benefit is that the project shows students that it is almost impossible to maintain a diet on fast food! —Submitted by Todd Martin (03.21.12)
   
• Career Interview Project
  This week’s featured CTL project is the career interview project. This project was implemented by Benjamin Pressley in 2011-12 to help ENG 111 students enhance their writing ability and organizational capacity. Specifically, the career interview project requires students to interview someone in their career of interest. Students ask a series of questions such as "What’s it like to do this? What did you learn after getting into the field that they didn’t teach you in school?" The career interview project has been associated with positive results. Students tend to do well on it, with a class average of 85. Most students seem to enjoy the project. They also learn information that has a potentially significant impact on their futures. For example, several students reported that their interview with a professional facilitated a change in their career path. Several professionals noted that they were pleasantly surprised to be asked about what they do. —Submitted by Todd Martin (03.07.12)
   
• The Recipe Project
  This week’s featured CTL project is the recipe project. This project was implemented in 2008-09 to help MAT 060 students enhance their understanding of ratios and fractions by providing a realistic context that would require the use of multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction of fractions. Specifically, the recipe project provides a recipe for Chex mix to serve six people. Students are told that they need to adjust the recipe to serve different numbers of people (e.g., 3/4 of the original number, 2/3 of the original number, etc.). The recipe project, which has continued to be utilized each semester in MAT 060 since its inception, has been associated with positive results. Students tend to do well on it (87% proficient in Fall 2008, 87% proficient in 2009-10, and 82% proficient in 2010-11). During the pilot year, students listed the group work and hands-on activities as being the most fun aspect of the project (87%). —Submitted by Todd Martin (02.29.12)
   
• The MCC CSI Project
  This week’s featured CTL project is the Mitchell Community College Crime Scene Investigation (MCC-CSI) project, which was developed and implemented by Daniel Breuer. The MCC-CSI project is used to help MAT 151 (Statistics I) students understand how to apply the concepts of correlation and regression to make statistical inferences. Students are told that Dr. Eason’s "Citizen of the Year" trophy has been stolen. The only evidence is an 11.5 inch shoeprint found near the glass case. Students are given the height of each suspect. From this data, they utilize the correlation between height and shoe size to determine the most likely culprit. Because the introduction of the MCC-CSI project coincided with the introduction of MAT 151 being taught online, additional data are needed to determine the effects of this creative and fun CTL project on student learning. —Submitted by Todd Martin (02.15.12)
   
• HUM 120: Race in America
  This week’s featured CTL project is a variant of HUM 120 entitled "Race in America." Taught by Rita Taggert and Roxanne Newton, the course utilizes the arts and humanities to help students understand the cultural, social, economic, political, and personal aspects of race in the following cultures: African-American, Asian-American, Latino/a-American, Native-American, and European-American. "Race in America" is based entirely on CTL principles, incorporating meaningful projects that extend the students’ learning beyond the classroom: a collaborative multi-media project; a research paper on a race-related work of popular culture; field trips to museums, festivals, universities, and theatre productions; personal experience papers; and individual assessments, such as the "Talk Back Box" for weekly anonymous feedback. Surveys indicate that most students believe they will use information from Race in America in their personal lives and careers, and that they would enjoy taking more courses like this one. —Submitted by Todd Martin (02.08.12)
   
• The "Can You Build It?" Project
  This week’s featured CTL project is the "Can You Build It?" project, which was developed and implemented by Shawn Fraver. The "Can You Build It?" project is used to help DDF 252 (Advanced Solid Modeling) students acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to create duplicates of physical parts through the process of reverse engineering. Teams of three or four students are given Lego modeling kits to recreate. They measure the Lego pieces using calipers, and then enter the information into a rapid prototype machine (a 3D printer) using Solid Works software. Students are expected to produce products with the appearance and functional capability of the original Lego pieces. In feedback from surveys, most of these students report that the work they complete through this project is an accurate representation of their knowledge, and that they benefit from hands-on projects such as this one. —Submitted by Todd Martin (02.01.12)
   
• The Titanic Project
  This week’s featured CTL project is the Titanic Project, which was developed by Mark Smalley, and is being implemented by Mark Smalley and Phil Holleran. The Titanic Project is used to help BUS 115 (Business Law I) students see legal concepts come to life while learning about courtroom procedures and the U.S. judicial system. The project involves a mock trial of White Star Line, the operator of the HMS Titanic, vs. Carla Jensen. The case involves true details of the Titanic’s tragic maiden voyage. Students are assigned roles including plaintiff, defendant, witness, court reporter, and jury member. After reviewing fact sheets containing relevant information, students submit legal briefs. Finally, a mock trial is performed in the classroom. Results indicate that the majority of students have consistently demonstrated proficiency in the areas of historical accuracy, their assigned role, and courtroom etiquette, with feedback indicating that students believe the project is an effective way to learn the material. —Submitted by Todd Martin (01.25.12)