Professor Wolfe Edits American Science Fiction Collection

Professor Gary K. Wolfe is editing two volumes of American Science Fiction forthcoming from The Library of America in October 2012. Titled Nine Classic Novels of the 1950s, they will include the following works:

Volume 1: 1953–1956: 

• Frederick Pohl & C. M. Kornbluth, The Space Merchants
• Theodore Sturgeon, More Than Human
• Leigh Brackett, The Long Tomorrow
• Richard Matheson, The Shrinking Man

Volume 2: 1956–1958

• Robert Heinlein, Double Star
• Alfred Bester, The Stars My Destination
• James Blish, A Case of Conscience
• Algis Budrys, Who?
• Fritz Leiber, The Big Time

Wolfe also continues his podcasting with Jonathan Strahan, recently including Ellen Kushner to join them.

RU Professor Part of International Surveying Team on Gorongosa Mountain

During August 2011, Professor Julian C. Kerbis Peterhans, along with researchers from Loyola University and the Field Museum of Natural History, combined efforts with the University Eduardo Mondlane (in Maputo, Mozambique) and the scientific department of Parque Nacional da Gorongosa to conduct surveys of birds, mammals, and their parasites on Gorongosa Mountain.

Valuable specimens of birds and mammals were collected and surveyed for the diversity of organisms that live on and within them. The parasites found in the fur, feathers, blood, intestines, and other organs of these animals will provide an important measure of the presence of diseases in these wild populations. Many of the diseases that affect humans often are derived from pathogens that infect other species so these data on the natural prevalence of these pathogens will be useful in the future to understand how disease-carrying agents might shift hosts to infect other species.

Professor Julian C. Kerbis Peterhans with a bat (Rhinolophus sp.) that was captured in Mozambique on Mt Gorongosa.

Despite a short time on the mountain, more than sixty species of birds, twenty-seven species of mammals, and thousands of ecto- and endo-parasites were sampled.  Some of the birds observed during this survey were species not known to occur in this region before, therefore expanding the geographic ranges of these species.

Another goal of the expedition was to train local students and technicians in these surveying techniques.  Students from the forestry college in Chimoio and technicians in the scientific department of the Gorongosa Restoration Project learned the methods used to collect and prepare specimens of birds and mammals.

A real treat during the expedition was to have a videographer to document the entire process.  Federico Pardo was on hand to take photos and videos and conduct interviews.  He will be producing these into short videos to appear on the FMNH and PNG websites in both English and Portuguese.

The trip was also worthwhile in building collaborations and fostering future research opportunities across multiple institutions and countries.  Specimens collected on this trip are crucial to study the fauna on Mt. Gorongosa and will be valuable for decades to come.

Buckley Named Interim Dean of College

Associate Professor Greg Buckley was officially named Interim Dean of the ETSCPS college this morning. Buckley succeeds John Cicero who is leaving Roosevelt to become Dean of the School of Engineering, Technology and Media at National University in San Diego.

New Interim Dean Gregory Buckley, shown here at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, in 2010.

Buckley has a strong history within the college, first as an adjunct professor teaching the PLS Seminar in Natural Sciences (while he also was on staff at the Field Museum of Natural History), then joining the full-time Professional and Liberal Studies faculty in 1999. Buckley was tenured in the college in 2006, subsequently, also becoming an Associate Dean.

Last May, Buckley taught a fascinating National Parks course in the Sustainability program, which had an astounding field component: Buckley and eight students traveled to North Dakota’s Theodore Roosevelt National Park for a 9-day excursion.

CJ Society Gives Christmas to Children of Incarcerated Moms

RU’s Criminal Justice Society, an organization for students interested in the field, shared the principles of hope, social justice, and happiness with fifteen children, whose mothers are currently in prison, by helping make their Christmas morning just a bit more special. With help from Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers and two CJ assistant professors, the student group shopped, wrapped, and delivered presents for the children. As the Chicago Tribune reported in their coverage of the event, children of incarcerated mothers are often forgotten, and even basic needs can go unmet. When this was brought to the attention of the CJ Society via a speaker, a former inmate who is also a mother, they went into action. Criminal Justice professors Tana McCoy and LaDonna Long both coordinated the plan, while the students joined forces to get everything ready before the holiday break began. From dress-up clothes to cold weather essentials, the presents were located and spiritedly wrapped, then delivered to the children’s homes. By sharing their time and energy (and finding donations to cover the costs), these RU students and faculty shared the true spirit of social justice to children at one of the most important times of the year.

Longtime Adjunct Professor Dies

Terry Anderson, a favorite part-time professor in the Evelyn T. Stone College of Professional Studies, passed away on November 20th, in Evanston. After teaching for many years at The American School, one of the country’s oldest correspondence high schools, Anderson began teaching at Roosevelt in 1980, and quickly became a sought-after instructor. After becoming a familiar adjunct at the downtown campus, Anderson taught for many years in the College’s External Studies Program (a precursor to RU Online), and later taught at the Schaumburg campus, primarily in the Seminar in the Humanities and Senior Thesis courses.  He enjoyed using short stories in his humanities courses, noting especially that he liked discussing “the surprise of story” with students and colleagues. One of his more popular themes in the humanities seminar was the horror story, which inevitably led to student evaluations that began with “I thought I was going to hate this class” and ended with “I loved it!” Anderson was also a visiting Assistant Professor in 2000-2001, and again in 2006-2007. His kindness and quick wit will be missed by many.

Second Online Teaching Forum Proceedings Available

The second Online Teaching Forum, hosted by the College of Professional Studies, was held October 20, 2011. These proceedings are available as follow-up guides.

Session 1: Thinking Critically about Online Learning

Professor Steven A. Meyers shared his ideas on “Civic Engagement and Social Justice in Online Teaching.” Meyers discussed that this means moving beyond simply creating student awareness of issues and toward calling them to action and activism. Meyers offered several examples, such as registering to vote, reaching out to elected officials, and promoting public awareness.

Professor Carolyn Wiley offered a framework for creating online courses, which included 1) creating a friendly and energetic learning community, 2) planning the entire design upfront, and 3) including regular and meaningful assessments. She also shared her inclusion of lectures via audacity. Wiley also requires students to take a Blackboard training course with RU Online.

Associate Professor Michael A. Bryson detailed his experiences “From the City to the Farm: Pedagogy and Logistics of Field Trips in Online Courses.” Fields trips enrich student learning by building community and providing hands-on experiences to complement online or in-class discussion. Bryson also offered ideas on alternate virtual field trips, for those who cannot attend in-person.

Session 2: Practical Ideas for Innovative Teaching

RU Online Distance Learning Specialist Lynette Washington and Director Kristin Broadwell shared the newest features of Blackboard 9.1, which Roosevelt will be upgrading to in the Spring 2012 semester. Washington also shared that training–both online and in-person on each campus–is available prior to the start of the semester.

Associate Professor Amanda Putnam presented information on online peer review, which can help improve the quality of student papers. While reviewing the work of another student, students find themselves reflecting on the quality of their own work.

Within Blackboard, rather than using formal groups or discussion board forums for peer review, Professor Putnam uses the PeerMark feature within TurnItIn. PeerMark helps to automate and control the process: instructors can assign pairs or have PeerMark distribute pairs randomly. To learn more about PeerMark, Professor Putnam recommends that instructors take the free, recorded training webinars available from TurnItIn. Access the webinars and then scroll down to the PeerMark group.

Librarian Geoff Greenberg shared his experiences in the Embedded Librarian program, which is available for all online courses. Despite the best intentions of everyone concerned—instructors and librarians– students enrolled in online courses with embedded librarians rarely took advantage of the help available to them, until the Research Guides and guided worksheets were introduced. As shown in the accompanying figure, research guides provide students with a path to locating and evaluating pertinent research. He would like to add an assessment or feedback portion to assure that the Research Guides are achieving their goals. Other ways in which embedded librarians have contributed to online courses:

• Online, instant-message chats with students
• Conducting research/writing forums within online courses

For more information about incorporating embedded librarians in your course, please contact Geoff Greenberg at ggreenberg@roosevelt.edu.

Associate Professor Vince Cyboran also shares his ideas on enhancing online teaching with easy-to-use technologies. This is a bonus presentation!

Online Teaching Forum Offers Innovative Ideas

Professor Steven Meyers shared ideas on connecting course material to the social justice mission more actively via civic engagement.

RU’s second Online Teaching Forum was held by the College of Professional Studies this past Thursday, and it created, once again, many excellent discussions on innovative teaching. About 25 faculty and staff members attended the event. There were two panel sessions, in which faculty members from several colleges presented material on encouraging civic engagement, planning class field trips, and utilizing resources, such as an embedded RU librarian, and Blackboard 9.1′s newest features. The day ended with two roundtable discussions on social media and communication issues within the classroom.

Attendees listen to Professor Carolyn Wiley's presentation about frameworks for creating online courses.

Associate Professor Carl Zimring introduces Kristin Broadwell and Lynette Washington (from RU Online) for their presentation of Blackboard 9.1's newest features.

Specifics of each session will be posted soon via an online proceedings so that those unable to attend can also benefit.