Writing, math, science workshops offered at SPC Clearwater

The St. Petersburg College Clearwater Learning Support team is offering several workshops throughout the summer semester to help students strengthen math, science and writing abilities.

Writing and math workshops address different topics each week while statistics, chemistry, anatomy and physiology workshops review material covered in classes during the week.

• Algebra: Mondays, 4-5:15 p.m., LA 100
• Statistics: Wednesdays, 2-3:15 p.m., LA 100-D
• Writing: Tuesdays, 1:30-2:30 p.m., and Wednesdays, 4:30-5:30 p.m., LI 133
• Chemistry: Tuesday, 9-9:30 a.m., and Wednesdays, 9-9:30 a.m., LA 112
• Anatomy: Tuesdays, 1-3 p.m., and Wednesdays, 1-3 p.m., LA 112

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New course in Health Services Administration for Respiratory Care

St. Petersburg College now offers a regionally accredited bachelor’s degree in Health Services Administration with coursework in Respiratory Care. This program is completely online, accredited, transferable and specifically designed for practicing registered respiratory therapists. This degree is affordable, and financial aid is available.

There are many reasons for RRTs to consider obtaining a bachelor’s degree:

• Helps you work your way up the ladder in respiratory care
• Increases discipline-specific knowledge
• Opens up additional opportunities in the field of respiratory care such as education and management

Learn more at www.spcollege.edu/RC-HSA/ or call 727-341-3477.

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Paralegal Studies info session May 23

Attend our Paralegal Studies Information Session on Thursday, May 23, 5:30-7 p.m. on the Clearwater Campus, Room ES 104.

Learn more about SPC’s Paralegal Studies programs:

• Associate in Science
• Bachelor of Applied Science
• Post Baccalaureate Certificate

RSVP online or call 727-341-3172.

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College of Nursing Open House

Learn about St. Petersburg College’s bachelor’s degree in nursing on Friday, May 31, 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Caruth Health Education Center Library, 7200 66th Street N., Pinellas Park.

• Spend time with the advisors, faculty and dean
• Tour our state-of-the-art simulation center
• Speak with current students in the program

SPC’s R.N. to B.S.N. completion program has been equipping nurses to advance their career by earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing for 10 years.

RSVP online at www.spcollege.edu/bsn or call 727-341-3172.

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SPC is first state college to launch a MOOC

The college on Wednesday launched its free online course, Get Ready for College – Math, the first in what officials hope will be a series of self-paced courses aimed at helping incoming students refresh their skills and get ready for the placement test.

The course was developed over the past six months by a small committee of faculty and other administrators: Carol Weideman, Mark Billiris, Dan Fumano, Nancy Munce, Jesse Coraggio, Vicki Westergard, Wilma Norton, Jim Connolly, Audra Liswith, Jamie Ferrazano, Jimmy Chang and Martha Campbell.

The goal is to give potential students the help they need to improve their skills in math so that they can do well on the placement test or boost their confidence about returning to college.

The course is free to anyone, not just SPC students. It is self-paced and contains links to extra instructional videos and other resources.

The plan is to develop similar MOOCs for reading and writing instruction.

MOOCs are a hot topic in education. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed and many national media outlets have had numerous stories about the courses.

The Tampa Bay Times featured a story about SPC’s MOOC last month.

For more information and the registration link, go to www.spcollege.edu/ready. As of Wednesday afternoon, just a few hours after the launch, more than 40 students already had registered and begun the course.

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National biological honor society to launch new SPC chapter

Beta Beta Beta National Biological Honor Society, dedicated to improving the understanding and appreciation of biological study and extending boundaries of human knowledge through scientific research, will start a new chapter at St. Petersburg College. The TriBeta chapter’s installation ceremony will be held on May 2 at the Clearwater Campus.

Since TriBeta’s founding in 1922, more than 200,000 persons have been accepted into lifetime membership. More than 553 chapters have been established throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. The society is for students, particularly undergraduates.

Sixty students in the college’s baccalaureate program for biology have been invited to become charter members of the new Tau Delta Tau chapter at SPC. The installation ceremony starts at 7 p.m. in the Arts Auditorium on the Clearwater Campus with a reception to follow. Dr. Lee Sutton, District Director for Region 1 of the Southeast Division of Beta Beta Beta, will officiate the installation ceremony. All are welcome.

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SPC hosts workshop on civics education in Florida State College System

SPC hosted a civics education workshop in the Collaborative Labs at the EpiCenter on Tuesday, April 2.

Representatives from other colleges, universities and state organizations, as well as SPC students, met to assess the status of civics education in the Florida State College System and to identify any best practices, practical applications, incentives and impediments to the promotion and expansion of civics literacy on the state college level. They also discussed an action plan through which to accomplish these goals and help students and citizens become more engaged.

“It was a great lab,” said Jeff Kronschnabl, Instructor in Charge for the College of Policy, Ethics and Legal Studies. “It provided structure and an exciting exchange between the participants. It also provided the collaborative networking and partnership required to make this an effective initiative.”

The idea for the meeting stemmed from meetings last year with former Florida Gov. Bob Graham, who served on the state’s Education Committee and has always had a strong interest in education. SPC Policy Consultant Tom Furlong, whose long-term relation with Graham goes back many years, was instrumental in helping the event come together.

“There is a renewed interest in civics education in this country,” Susan Demers, Dean, College of Policy and Legal Studies, who referred to man on the street-styled interviews where adults appear to lack an understanding of the country’s political system. “As a result, it is of particular interest to Gov. Graham that we have a civics initiative here in Florida.”

“It was a really great discussion because we had people at all levels and with all kinds of interests represented,” she said. “It provided a nice checklist of things to do and how we’re going to partner in the future.”

The discussion has led to the idea of a statewide conference that will include all 28 state colleges, Demers said. The conference will be headed up by SPC’s Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions in collaboration with Julie Alexander, Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs, Florida Department of Education.

Civics Education Workshop participants included: Name Title Organization Julie Alexander Vice Chancellor, Academic and Student Affairs Florida Department of Education Paul Baumann Director, National Center for Learning and Citizenship Education Commission of the States Kasongo Butler Vice-Chancellor Florida College System Anne Cooper Senior Vice President, Academic and Student Affairs St. Petersburg College Susan Demers Dean, College of Policy and Legal Studies St. Petersburg College Christopher Denny Model United Nations student St. Petersburg College Douglas Dobson Executive Director, Lou Frey Institute of Policy and Government University of Central Florida Earl Fratus Social Science Faculty and Model UN Instructor St. Petersburg College Tom Furlong Policy Consultant, President’s Office St. Petersburg College Lisa Garcia Representative, Student Government Association St. Petersburg College Randy Hanna Chancellor Florida College System Emma Humphries Assistant in Citizenship, Graham Center for Public Policy University of Florida David Klement Executive Director, Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions St. Petersburg College Jeff Kronschnabl Lead Instructor, Public Policy and Administration St. Petersburg College Bill Law President St. Petersburg College Tara Newsom Associate Professor, Social and Behavioral Sciences St. Petersburg College Anja Norman Academic Department Chair, Social and Behavioral Sciences St. Petersburg College James Olliver Provost, Seminole Campus St. Petersburg College Suzanne Preston Professor, Social Science St. Petersburg College Jackson Sasser President Santa Fe College Jacqulyn Schuett Project Coordinator, Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions St. Petersburg College Joseph Smiley Dean, Social and Behavioral Sciences St. Petersburg College Pam Stewart Chancellor, Division of Public Schools Department of Education

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Cinema, robotics, more at SPC Honors College conference

Students tackled topics from the effects of scientific theory on the works Salvador Dali to the use of robotics in future medicine at the SPC Honors College 6th Annual Collegiate Research Conference Wednesday.

More than 50 students lectured and made presentations on a variety of topics in areas of literature, humanities, medicine and social sciences at the conference. Approximately 100 people attended the event that was held at the EpiCenter.

Professor Roy Slater with Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Clearwater Campus gave the keynote speech at the conference.

Photos from the conference are posted on the college’s Facebook page.

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SPC students take critical thinking for a spin

Stagecraft I students, from left: James Barber, Kiersten Hurst, Amanda Bedinghaus and Adam Rose.

When Center of Excellence in Teaching and Learning and the Quality Enhancement Plan faculty came up with the idea to present the elements of critical thinking through a “Wheel of Fortune” style game show, students in the SPC Theater program at the Clearwater Campus put their talents to work.

James Barber, Amanda Bedinghaus, Kiersten Hurst, Keegan Lee and Adam Rose fashioned the “Wheel of Thinking,” which was used at the Critical Thinking Institute held in early October. Faculty contestants spun the wheel and were asked questions based on the category upon which the wheel stopped.

Stagecraft I students are introduced to the technical aspects of theater operations, and gain skills in the fundamentals of scenery construction, painting and rigging, so designing and building the wheel provided a real-world learning opportunity.

“We let them use their own critical thinking skills in designing and constructing the wheel,” said Scott Cooper, Director of the theater program. “It was a great addition to my normal class assignments.”

Li-Lee Tunceren, CETL Lead Faculty Associate, contacted Cooper in late August to ask if theater students could construct the wheel. Cooper, along with Fine Arts Tech Mark Bunting, then laid out the expectations for the completed project, leaving the design and construction to the students.

Tunceren said the wheel of thinking exceeded her expectations.

“Students were engaged in critical thinking at every turn,” she said. “It is another area in which creating partnerships and sharing college resources has benefited faculty, staff and students at SPC.”

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SPC program receives Chancellor’s Best Practice Award

Martha Campbell

The college’s My Bridge to Success program is one of three statewide winners of the 2012 Chancellor’s Best Practice Award by the Florida Department of Education.

My Bridge to Success, a program in developmental writing, reading and mathematics designed to reduce the amount of remediation time and tuition costs for students, is headed by Martha Campbell and Sharon Griggs, deans of Communications and Mathematics, respectively. It is funded by a three-year Florida Development Initiative grant that was awarded in spring 2010. SPC was one of five colleges to receive the grant.

“SPC has always been a leader in state initiatives and so when the grant opportunity came along, the college agreed to match the funds we were awarded by the state,” Griggs said. “Faculty volunteered to lead the efforts and our students found the new approach to be just the lifeline they needed. We were the only Florida college to redesign Math and English and Reading at the same time.”

Unlike traditional developmental courses at the college that are 16-week, 4-credit courses, the My Bridge courses—ENC 0990, MAT 0990 and REA 0990—are 8-week, 2-credit courses.

Sharon Griggs

Campbell said the increased success rates speak for themselves. For example, in academic year 2011-12, 1,653 students enrolled in the traditional 16-week, 4-credit hour Developmental Writing II courses completed at a rate of 58 percent. The new 8-week, 2-credit ENC 0990 courses had a 69 percent passing rate with 328 students.

“The focus is on only asking students to work on areas where they’re not already meeting the competency standards,” Campbell said. The targeted instruction is offered in computer labs and involves a lot of diagnostic work. “If students are proficient in an area, they do not need to work on that skill. This targets the instruction so that it is provided when students need it and only the skills that they need to remediate.”

Campbell and Griggs will receive the Chancellor’s Best Practices award during the Association of Florida Colleges 63rd Annual Convention at the Innisbrook Resort on Wednesday, Oct. 31.

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