By Laura Morgan RN, BSN-BCThe winter weather prevented the Nursing class from attending their first week of classes. This lost face-to-face time put the students behind in a complex and difficult course. By using the Tegrity video recording system I was able to give the students the information that would have been provided in class. Most of the students were able to navigate the My Heritage website and find the video lecture with simple written commands but others were not. I made a few errors as well that I was able to correct when I reviewed myself before posting the video. One recommendation that I pass along is to show the students where the Tegrity feature is located on the webpage in person. Also, websites and word documents need to be enlarged so the students can see information clearly. I found that zooming in twice for websites and 150% for word documents allowed students to see information without difficulty.

How did you use technology to keep your classes rolling during the snow days?Laura Morgan...

Revising and Recommitting



How refreshing and revitalizing it was to have the privilege to see colleagues from throughout the University working together as a “Learning Community!” In an on-going process of commitment to the Heritage University themes of academic excellence, community engagement, access, equity, and diversity, and sustainability many members of the University took information gathered and compiled from 13 different discussion groups referred to as the “Meeting of the Minds,” and sought to determine the most important aspects of the themes and how success in achieving these aspects could be measured. In looking out into the future as far forward as 2018, it was important for members to clearly understand the definition of the themes and their meaning for Heritage University so that the focus will not be ambiguous.

It...

Professor Mala Barik, Adjunct Faculty in Chemistry, is one of the recipients of the 2011 Heritage Adjunct Recognition and Appreciation Teaching Award (HARATA). Her blog entry describes her efforts to integrate sustainability principles and community engagement in her undergraduate chemistry classes. Thank you for sharing, Mala.

                                       

                 Mary James (right) of CILT presents HARATA award to Mala Barik, Adjunct Faculty in Chemistry.

Introduction: I have developed six projects related to chemistry and environmental science for my undergraduate chemistry and physical science classes at Heritage University. The main goal of assigning these projects to my students is “to enrich the quality of life for students and their community”—Mission of Heritage University. Furthermore, I make a connection between my curriculum...

Heritage University Faculty have long appreciated the extraordinary service the University receives from its adjunct professors. In 2006 the Faculty Senate created an award to honor our part-time colleagues.  Annually, Department Chairs nominate adjuncts to receive the award based on their outstanding teaching and the longevity of their commitment and service to Heritage.

These adjuncts exemplify the high standards to which Heritage holds its faculty. They are professionally well-prepared and knowledgeable in their fields. They care about students and celebrate diversity. Their nominators have described them as “dedicated,” “supportive,” and “holistic” educators who have challenged students by setting high standards and then mentored them to succeed in achieving those standards. Students are at the center of their work.

Coincidentally, the acronym “HARATA” describes a Maori belief that we are "spiritual beings having an earthly experience, with the ability to use the powers of nature to heal ourselves.” ...

Dr. Charles Wheaton, who joined the Graduate Program this Spring, has submitted a rich reflection on the College of Ecuation's Conceptual Framework entitled,"Do Those Served Grow as Persons?". In linking the framework to a number of research perspectives, he weighs the potential for student growth. He includes in his reflection a number of diagrams, which beautifully support the reflection, but which also make it difficult to incorporate it into the blog. Please follow the link above to read Charles' reflection and leave a comment here. Thanks, Charles.

I assigned Stephen Covey’s ‘7 Habits of Effective People’ in an advanced business class (BADM 384). I gave the students a choice of either a midterm (which I would design) or a paper (theme: chosen by student). No one chose the ‘paper’. Hmmmm. Ok, so I developed a midterm. Lesson one came by leaving my office (where there are frequent interruptions) to carve out some priority time to think, plan and reflect (something suggested by the Covey text!! J ). During that time, I stumbled upon an idea: Design a variety of essay questions and allow the students to choose which one to answer in each of seven sections. I constructed the exam in a way that it would be far more effort (and benefit) than either the paper or a multiple choice approach. I expected some ‘protest’ about the amount of work necessary to accomplish the midterm. And so I was prepared to make a ‘counter-offer’ and let the students have an extra week.Instead of a revolt or protest, I...

The midterm feedback form that is used by some of the faculty to evaluate their teaching style has been beneficial to me as a new nursing instructor. I used it in the first semester courses I taught and received multiple responses by the students about things that I could change and things that they found worked for them. The suggestions were then combined and triggered a class discussion. I made changes to my teaching methods such as adding alternative media and class activities. The students shared different learning techniques that they had discovered worked for them and other students initiated these methods as the course progressed.



I am currently obtaining my Masters in Nursing from Washington State University and I have discussed this evaluation tool with my peers. This initiated a great group discussion and several soon to be Nursing Instructors stated that they wanted to use this tool in their own classes. The...

On October 1, when I heard Russell Jim talk about the loss of Celio Falls and his dream that the Dalles Dam might be removed and the Falls reclaimed, I decided to share these thoughts developed during the NEH faculty development grant.

Early in my time at Heritage, I visited the Yakama Nation Museum and learned about the destruction of Celio Falls, a place sacred to the tribes and bands collected together under the Treaty of 1855 with the Yakamas. I came to understand the cultural clash, in which the river conditions for Salmon, essential to the Yakama traditional way of life, were destroyed for electricity, essential to the industrial and farming way of life.

This information was especially personal because my grandfather had been active in the Grange, an organization that lobbied for the Rural Electrification Act. My father had left the life of farming at my grandfather’s suggestion to become an electrical engineer. I came to know that our family way of life and subsequent economic success were...

Heritage University is a small, private, liberal arts institution in rural central Washington dedicated to providing quality undergraduate and graduate education for a multicultural population.

The Center for Multicultural Learning and Teaching(CILT) at Heritage University provides faculty support to improve student learning, with particular emphasis on intercultural strategies and meaningful use of technology. The culminating point in CILT's mission statement highlights the need to "make visible the Heritage Story of effective intercultural learning by gathering and disseminating illustrative stories." The CILT Blog provides a platform for sharing those faculty and student stories that might inspire and inform further innovation by other faculty.

We wish to express our gratitude to the National Endowment of the Humanities and to Dr. Michel Keenan, who wrote the NEH grant application that made this website possible. Faculty members who participated in this grant will share how they are using what...