July 23, 2008
WELCOME
Teams from
our six universities recently spent an exciting two days learning about Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and how it will be used in the redesigned
teacher education programs. The PBL workshop is part of our work to redesign teacher preparation as part of the statewide Teaching
Quality Initiative (TQI). Dr. Michael
Hosokawa, Professor of Community and Family Medicine
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Dr. Sandy Smith from Tennessee Tech and Dr. John Johnston from the University of Memphis discuss
problem-based learning with Dr. Michael Hosokawa (center) | in the College of Medicine at the University of Missouri-Columbia, led our sessions.
Since the MU College of Medicine began PBL over 13 years ago, the student average on the United States Medical Licensing Examination has risen
and remains consistently above the national mean.
During our pilot year, teams will be
designing Problem-Based Learning cases around core teacher competencies related to student performance. These cases will become
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TQI Team members working with problem-based
learning | the core experiences for our teacher education students, integrated into the
site-based experiences in schools. If the results of our redesign are similar to those found in medical education with the use of
Problem-Based Learning, we will achieve our TQI goal to improve the quality of
teaching in Tennessee.
Please feel free to forward this newsletter to your colleagues or others who
will find the information
useful.
Paula Myrick Short
Paula Myrick Short, Ph.D.
Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
paula.short@tbr.edu
Tennessee Tech’s Business Media Center Achieves
Success, Visibility with Ollie Otter Campaign
A furry, seven-feet-tall otter is poised to make an impact on the safety of
our nation like no other mascot since Smokey Bear, thanks to Tennessee Tech's Business Media Center and partners. Ollie Otter, who
has championed seatbelt and booster seat usage to Tennessee school children in the past year, may live in an orange, roadside barrel, but he's proving
to be the most visible champion for child safety in the state. The innovative private-public partnership has directly impacted more than 55,000
Tennessee students, and all in its very first year.
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Ollie Otter champions for child
safety |
Northeast State Welcomes Second Building Project of the Kingsport Academic
Village
Northeast State
Technical Community College officials welcomed the newest segment of the Kingsport Academic Village during a recent groundbreaking ceremony for the
Kingsport Center for Higher Education (KCHE). The 54,000-square-foot facility is the second educational complex of the Village and
includes the Regional Center for Health Professions (RCHP) and the Regional Center for Advanced Manufacturing (RCAM). The City of
Kingsport is funding land acquisition and building costs of the $12.9 million project. Construction is expected to be completed by fall
2009.
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Northeast State President Bill Locke (left) and others
break ground |
Northeast
State will manage the Center and offer two years of college instruction.
The University of Tennessee, Carson-Newman University, and Lincoln Memorial University have committed to be participating
institutions offering baccalaureate degrees in specific majors. The Center features a 220-seat auditorium, lecture halls,
classrooms, and science laboratories.
The Center for Health Professions will house the College’s Division
of Nursing and health-related professions programs. Construction began last year on RCHP, which will open to students this fall.
A joint venture of Northeast State, Domtar, and Eastman Chemical Company,
RCAM will provide training for existing and future manufacturing employees. Construction on this facility will begin later this
summer. |
Visit the Regents Online Degree Program web site at http://www.rodp.org/
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Rapid Prototyping Summit
Held
Tennessee Technological University in cooperation with Tennessee State University and Nashville State Technical Community College held a
summit on rapid prototyping (RP). The international summit was supported by a National Science Foundation grant led by Dr. Ismail
Fidan, Professor of the College of Engineering at Tennessee Tech. The summit brought together representatives from high
schools, colleges, universities, and industry. Participants rotated through “labs” where they learned new technology,
heard best practices, and had hands-on experience with the latest
products.
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Participants with rapid prototyping models
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Rapid prototyping is one of the tools expected to keep Tennessee and the
USA competitive in a global market. Speed, accuracy, and flexibility are characteristics of rapid prototyping and are hallmarks of
successful, profitable manufacturing. In today’s global market, the window for meeting market dates is
shrinking. Likewise companies cannot afford to make mistakes when they are bringing a product to market. Rapid
prototyping allows quick turnaround times from concept to floor production. Protyping allows 3-D modeling of products that helps
identify possible product flaws and therefore assists the company in quality management control.
Rapid prototyping has application in such diverse industries as
manufacturing, nanotechnology, medicine, pharmaceuticals, engineering, prosthetics, construction, art, gaming, automotive racing, archaeology,
forensics, clothing design, and photonics. For example, East Tennessee State University uses rapid prototyping to let students see
anatomical structures and practice procedures related to those structures.
More information about rapid protoyping and the lab at Tennessee Tech can
be seen by clicking on the following video:
RP video link  .
Austin Peay Education Professor Receives
Top Distinction
A faculty member in the Austin Peay State University School of Education
has been named a distinguished member of the Association of Teacher Educators (ATE). Professor of Education Dr. Thomas J. Buttery recently received the honor. He also is the former dean of the Austin Peay
College of Professional Programs and Social Sciences.
The association selects a distinguished member annually based on career
service to the organization. Dr. Buttery is a past president and board member. He twice was recognized with the association’s
Distinguished Research Award for academic papers.
Dr. Buttery was editor of the second edition of the ATE-sponsored
Handbook of Research in Teacher Education, for which he received the Outstanding Writing in Teacher Education Award from the American
Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE). To facilitate new writers and researchers, he has presented the Writing for
Professional Publication Workshop at both ATE and AACTE for nearly 20 years.
Volunteer State Featured with Science in Action
Some courses at Volunteer State Community College take students out of the classroom and into
the real world. Practicums and directed research topics sound quite formal, but they help students earn credit for unique projects in their major or
program area.
Dr. Timothy Farris, Associate Professor of Astronomy, coordinated a recent research project
that not only had students looking to the sky but also participating in a project that was published in the July issue of Sky and Telescope magazine.
Dr. Farris organized a student team to study the total eclipse of the moon last February. Other observers were stationed
throughout the U.S. and in Brazil. The researchers timed the eclipse from start to finish with telescopes and compiled data.
“We all learn better by doing than by watching,” said Dr.
Farris. “These types of projects help students actually ‘do’ science. In the process, they learn that science
is a developing, active endeavor and not just a collection of facts. They also have the satisfaction of knowing that they have
contributed in some tangible way to helping us understand our world better. ”
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