Putting Educational Innovations into Practice.

GRAPE Camp - Summer 2016

Please introduce yourself here so you can network with each other.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by James Sheldon on June 21, 2016 at 5:46pm

Hi everyone! My name's James Sheldon; I'm a second-year PhD student at the University of Arizona in the Math and Science Focus of the Teaching and Teacher Education Program.

I recently was selected as a CSU Chancellor's Doctoral Incentive Program Scholar, a program for preparing future CSU faculty, and my faculty mentor for that program suggested that I sign up as a Merlot reviewer and get more involved with CSU projects. I have my Master's in Equity and Social Justice in Education from San Francisco State (2010) and in Special Education (2014), as well as a Clear Professional Educational Specialist Credential from SFSU. In addition, I work closely with CSU faculty as a member (since 2012) of the Advocacy Committee of the California Association of Mathematics Teacher Educations. So MERLOT seems like a logical project to get involved with given my CSU connections.

As for what I do for paid work right now: I currently teach mathematics study skills to freshmen who hope to go on to STEM careers. I also work for Goalbook, Inc. designing activities and resources for grade 6-8 Math Teachers. I also used to teach high school mathematics and special education classes at a virtual charter school, so the idea of online resources is something near and dear to me.

I am also really interested in critical pedagogy; I recently submitted an article to a journal about a queer theory take on Paulo Freire's work and am nervously awaiting their feedback. (It could take 4-6 months, the editor says!)

As for MERLOT, I'm hoping to get involved with doing reviews on Teacher Education, particularly for Math methods and for Special Education.

Looking forward to meeting you all!

Permalink Reply by Cathy Swift on June 21, 2016 at 7:22pm

James, it is great to see you getting involved so early in your career. You'll be happy to know that the Editor of our Teacher Education Editorial Board is Jane Moore, who used to teach Math. She actually is now working for MERLOT as head of all the Editorial Boards. Her Board is terrific. They have calls every 2 weeks and they work very well together.

I think the experience of doing MERLOT Peer Reviews will help you with your eventual peer review for journals. You'll be well trained!

Permalink Reply by Gretchen Gibbs on July 19, 2016 at 4:12pm

Hi, James

It is nice to see another University of Arizona person in GRAPE Camp this summer. I work in the U of A Office of Instruction and Assessment. Your background in Equity and Social Justice and enrollment in the Teaching and Teacher Education program warms my heart. I hope that our paths will cross in the virtual or analog worlds.

Permalink Reply by James Sheldon on July 19, 2016 at 4:56pm

Hi Gretchen,

OIA has a lot of interesting projects, and the people in my program who have been involved have spoken very highly of y'all.

I hope our paths cross as well. Maybe we could do lunch sometime or something.

Permalink Reply by Cynthia Amber Tidwell on June 23, 2016 at 3:30pm

Hi there! My name is Cynthia Amber Tidwell, but I go by Amber. I am from Alabama, but I have lived in New Orleans, Nashville, and even spent a year teaching college in China, before finally landing in Fresno. I love to travel, and I love to teach.

I am an Adjunct English Instructor at 3 community colleges in California. I work at Clovis Community College, The College of the Sequoias, and West Hills College in Lemoore. I have a BS in English/Literature from Troy University, an M.Div. in Christian Education from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and an MFA in Creative Writing from CSU Fresno. I currently teach basic and transfer level courses, but my passions are literature and writing.

I am excited to have this opportunity to expand my own awareness of the various areas of study within my discipline. I am always looking for more chances to develop professionally. MERLOT is a wonderful resource that I use during classes, so when I became aware that I could become a reviewer, I jumped at the chance. As a lifetime learner, I look forward to the process!

Permalink Reply by James Sheldon on June 23, 2016 at 3:48pm

Nice to meet you Cynthia! I've only been to Fresno once; it was quite a change from the Bay Area where I grew up, have always been meaning to make it back but haven't yet.

What was the MDiv program like? It sounds fascinating!

Permalink Reply by Cynthia Amber Tidwell on June 24, 2016 at 3:36pm

Nice to meet you James!

I love the Bay Area and prefer it to Fresno, but I had to go where the work was!

The Mdiv program was pretty interesting. A lot of history and theology. I was a Children's Minister before I was an instructor, so it was a helpful degree in that line of work.

Permalink Reply by Melissa VanAlstine-Parris on July 18, 2016 at 7:16am

Hello

I am an Assistant (soon to be Associate, yeah tenure!) Professor at Adelphi University on Long Island in NY. My main teaching responsibilities are Organic Chemistry which I am the coordinator for. I also teach a course we call Research Seminars in Chemistry where students learn "soft" skills needed for research. On occasion I teach Medicinal Chemistry or Advanced Organic Chemistry.

I teach using an active learning environment and I am always looking for new teaching tools. I have two daughters, one is almost 3 years old and the other is almost 4 months. I find it harder and harder to find time to keep up with the new material that is being produced. I thought being a reviewer on MERLOT would help force me to spend some time looking at new material. I look forward to diving into this new adventure.

Permalink Reply by Cathy Swift on July 19, 2016 at 8:52am

Congratulations on your promotion and tenure, Melissa. You can now sit back and breathe a sigh of relief. Especially given that you have the two young children. That's an accomplishment.

I know our Chemistry Editorial Board will be very happy to have another peer reviewer. Welcome to MERLOT.

Permalink Reply by Dr. Stephanie LaPuma on July 18, 2016 at 1:18pm

Hello everyone! This is Stephanie LaPuma and I am the Dean of Health Professions at a private four-year college in Omaha, Nebraska. The name is Nebraska Methodist College. I am in charge of all of the degree awarding allied health programs and the healthcare business programs. We offer degrees from associate to masters with the division, however the College offers up to a doctorate.

I teach healthcare or business courses in many of the programs both in class and in the online format. I also am in charge of writing and teaching courses for the BS in Healthcare Management and the MBA in Healthcare programs.

I am interested in becoming a volunteer for MERLOT because my College does not have a big online presence, but we are moving more courses to online and based on my previous work at another university it is imperative to be creative using various methods to delivery material. I would love to be involved in the business area, as well as faculty development. These two areas are very important to me as I continue to facilitate change at an institution that is 125 years old and was initially started as a nursing school.

I look forward to this week's meeting and working with all of you!

Sincerely,

Stephanie LaPuma

Permalink Reply by Cathy Swift on July 19, 2016 at 8:56am

Welcome, Stephanie. It's rewarding to see a dean who is so supportive of online learning. Hopefully you can also help promote MERLOT among your colleagues.

We would be happy to welcome you to the business Editorial Board, We also have a Health Science Editorial Board, so as you look through the materials, you can decide what suits you best.

Permalink Reply by Dr. Stephanie LaPuma on July 19, 2016 at 9:27am

Hello Cathy,

Both of the those Boards sound interesting. In fact, yes at my college we are moving to more innovative and engaging online content. I am delivering a basic learning object presentation at Faculty Development Day in August. Have to plant the seeds in order to facilitate embracing new ideas...

Stephanie