CAFE Creative

How often are students cheating?  What are the motivations behind cheating, and can it be reduced?  Questions like these are covered in our first episode of the this 3 part series on academic dishonesty.  We take a deep dive into this complex issue to get a pulse on what's going on exclusively at S&T.

In our final episode of the academic dishonesty series we'll consider different perspectives of the "new normal" for higher education, especially when it comes to thinking about assessment structure.

In Episode 2 of our academic dishonesty series, we cover the processes a student who has been penalized for academic misconduct will go through.  We also learn from Dr. Cindy Blackwell and Dr. Jeff Cawlfield on practical ways to reduce cheating in your classroom.

“I want students to really learn it, not just learn it and forget it.” Instead of memorizing and retaining the knowledge just for an exam, Dr. Katie Shannon, Teaching Professor of Biological Sciences, was looking for ways her students could reach deeper levels of learning. When she decided to partially flip her Cell Biology class 7 years ago, she found the flip helped her reach those learning goals she had for her students.

Research mentioned:

https://www.learningsciences.com/blog/why-is-student-engagement-important/

Ever wonder what it looks like to redesign your class from start to finish? Dr. Theresa Swift shares how she did a full flip of her Circuits II class, and what her results look like 7 years later.

Risk. Failure. Success. “Risky research” may feel as dangerous as putting out a fire, especially for an early career faculty member.

Dr. Benjamin Kwasa, assistant professor of engineering management and systems engineering, discusses some of the pressures he faces as an early career faculty member doing “risky” research, and why he believes failure is a valuable part of the process.

What do emergency responders and virtual reality have in common?  Assistant Professor of Engineering Management & Systems Engineering, Dr. Benjamin Kwasa, shares with CAFE how he is bringing the two together.  Dr. Kwasa shows how his innovative research strategy in creating new possibilities for emergency responders, will possibly enhance their current training operations.

Thought your labs were impossible to put online? Talk to Explosives Engineering Emeritus Professor Dr. Paul Worsey, who has been able to successfully convert his demolition labs to online formats.

Dr. Worsey, who has used the fully online environment since 2010 and producing his classes as distance classes, says that video capturing labs and virtual quizzes are key to the program's success. This enabled him to launch a successful master's program in Explosive Engineering in addition to his undergraduate classes.

For the video version: https://youtu.be/8MRBWaXf-vg

New to Canvas and not sure what features to use?  With her expertise in both web design and online teaching, Dr. Jossalyn Larson, Assistant Teaching Professor of English & Technical Communication, gives us some of her pro tips on how she started moving fully online.  Dr. Larson emphasizes, from her experience, the value of constant communication with students and a couple common pitfalls to avoid while moving your material online.

To view the video portion of this episode:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMqUQ3uiZndizlbrUe2Xgo7rhr6qQMV1L

Dr. Klaus Woelk, Associate Professor of Chemistry shares how he took his traditional lab and made it a fully online synchronous experience, including using Zoom breakout sessions to have students form lab partners.