News2013April

CCT News

22 April 2013
See also previous news and alum news and exchanges. Please use this form for all inquiries, notice of events, contact updates, career updates, web/wiki glitches, suggestions, resources for us to put in news/calendar, request to be emailed when there's a new monthly news compilation, or request to be removed from such mailings.
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Contents: Student matters, CCT community, CCT events, alums, other events, opportunities, resources, food for thought, humor
All students, alums, and others in the CCT community: please use our main contact form for all inquiries, notice of events, contact updates, career updates, web/wiki glitches, suggestions, resources for us to put in news/calendar, etc. Any items of interest to be shared with the wider community will be posted in the upcoming month's CCT Newsletter and Calendar.

Student Matters

Commencement is Friday, May 31st. See details here: http://www.umb.edu/commencement
Main ceremony to begin at 9:30, with individual college diploma ceremonies to follow. Check the web site for updated details as they become available.

Summer courses: http://caps-courses.umb.edu/courses/summer/cr/gr/crcrth/
Current students: please register as soon as possible and contact your CCT advisor for assistance.

CCT Summer Institute (July 15 - August 3):
Take any combination of these face-to-face/hybrid courses:
CRCRTH 611 Seminar in Critical Thinking, Theme: Design for Complexities of Life (MTuWTh 4:00-7:00pm)
CRCRTH 612 Seminar in Creative Thinking, Theme: Creative Thinking at Work (MTuWTh 7:00-10:00pm)
CRCRTH 618 Creative Thinking, Collaboration, and Organizational Change (FrSa 9:00am-4:15pm; face-to-face only)
CRCRTH 688 Reflective Practice (July 26-27 only, 9:00am-4:15pm)

Fully Online courses:
CRCRTH 611 Seminar in Critical Thinking, Theme: Critical Thinking in Business (July 15 - August 22)
CRCRTH 612 Seminar in Creative Thinking, Theme: Exploring Creative Blocks (May 28 - July 11)
CRCRTH 619 Biomedical Ethics (July 15 - August 22)
CRCRTH 627 Issues and Controversies in Antiracist and Multicultural Education (May 28 - July 11)

CCT Community
CCTers are facilitating a "A 60-minute MOOC: Making sense of collaborative learning in open, digital education", a session at the UMass Boston CIT/Ed. Tech. annual conference on May 16th. See under "Events" for full details.

CCT Events
CCT Community Open House: Spring 2013 Synthesis and Reflective Practice presentations
Monday, May 6, 5:00-9:00pm, Campus Center 3540 at UMass Boston.
Presentations by students completing projects in both the Synthesis and Reflective Practice courses. All are welcome to join us and hear from students about a variety of topics that can be explored through a study of Critical and Creative Thinking. Participation at a distance by Google Hangout possible: RSVP to cct@umb.edu for details and instructions.

Alum and CCT associates Notes
CCT alum Catherine Weber will be participating in these upcoming art exhibitions:
8X8 Show , April 11 - May 19, Fountain Street Fine Art, 59 Fountain Street, Framingham, MA
Fountain Street Open Studio , Friday, April 26, 5:30-9 PM, Sat. & Sun., April 27 & 28 11 AM -5 PM, 59 Fountain Street, Framingham, MA

Events
Critical Thinking and Critical Realism Conference
Lonergan Institute, Boston College, April 26-27, 2013
Friday, April 26: Stokes Hall, 295S Boston College 3-7pm
Saturday, April 27: Stokes Hall, 195S Boston College 9am-5pm
See the list of presentation topics and the full agenda for more details.
Free and open to the public. Registration not required, but RSVP requested if you attend the Friday dinner session.
For more information: (617) 552-8095, croninki@bc.edu

Three Voices on Community-Engaged Research: Scientia e Praxis
April 29, 5:00-7:00pm, Alumni Lounge, Campus Center, 2nd Floor
An exploration of community-engaged research of interest to the UMass Boston and local community. Free and open to all.
For more information: http://www.umb.edu/news_events_media/events/three_voices_on_community-engaged_research_scientia_e_praxis

Conference: Academic Communities of Practice: Collaboration, Learning and Support Outside of the Classroom
Sponsored by the NERCOMP.
May 2, 2013; 9:00am - 3:00pm, with registration starting at 7:30am.
Four Points Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center, 1125 Boston Providence Turnpike, Norwood, Massachusetts
For registration information and schedule, see http://nercomp.org/index.php?section=events&evtid=218
In academia we have a rich tradition of supplementing in-class learning with extracurricular lectures, field trips and internships. We also have a tradition of helping our peers, be they fellow students, fellow staff members of fellow faculty. With the expansion of online learning, and social networking, the possibilities for creating, fostering, and expanding, Academic Communities of Practice to support learning opportunities outside of the confines of the classroom (physical or virtual) are virtually endless. This SIG aims to explore the various means of enabling the creation and the sustainability of such communities in institutions of Higher Education. CCT Assistant Director Jeremy Szteiter will be presenting a session on "Challenges in Establishing Community and Collaboration Among Online Adjunct Faculty"

7th Annual CIT/Library/EdTech Conference: Innovating Teaching & Learning through Partnerships and Collaboration
May 15 and 16, 2013 at UMass Boston, Healey Library, various locations. Keynote speech on Wednesday evening, with full day of sessions on Thursday.
Registration (free and open to all, includes lunch): http://citedtech2013.eventbrite.com/#
Full agenda with session descriptions: http://www.umb.edu/news_events_media/events/innovating_teaching_learning_through_partnerships

A 60-minute MOOC: Making sense of collaborative learning in open, digital education
Session at the UMass Boston CIT/Ed.Tech. conference.
May 16th, 2013
11:20am - 12:20pm in Healey Library, Lower Level, Presentation Room 1
2.2 MOOCs and Collaborative Learning
Peter Taylor, Jeremy Szteiter, Felicia Sullivan
In this session, in-person participants join with an international google+ community for an hour to explore ways to make sense of the possibilities and limitations of learning and collaboration within communities that emerge around c-MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), where "c" stands for "connectivist" (in contrast to transmission of established knowledge in x-MOOCs). The panel members, who have participated in recent c-MOOCs, coach and pace the exploration and posting of results, which, it is hoped, will form the basis of further research and discussion on this rapidly evolving and hyped area. In-person participants bring a laptop or tablet if you have one; online participants should join http://bit.ly/11jVZ8c where the hangout URL will be posted 10 minutes before the session starts.


Opportunities
Call for Proposals for the League of Innovations' STEMTech Conference to be held in late October, 2013.
Proposals accepted through May 4, 2013.
The STEMtech conference is an international convening focused on increasing student access, success, and completion in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Over 400 sessions emphasize improving STEM education, better aligning educational systems with local workforce needs, and exploring technology's role in the teaching and learning processes.
Submit proposals to: http://www.league.org/2013stemtech/cfp/cfp_page1.cfm
For more information: http://www.league.org/2013stemtech/

Resources
The UMass Boston community is reminded of the several resources available in support of students, particularly after recent tragic events in Boston:
University Health Services will be providing a series of small group conversations on the topic of coping in the aftermath of trauma on the following dates and times in the UHS Conference Room, 2nd Floor, Quinn:
Thursday, April 18th 10:30am-12:00pm; Thursday, April 18th 1:00pm-2:30 pm; Friday, April 19th 11:00am-12:30pm
Counselors in the UHS Counseling Center are also available for individual consultation with students, Monday through Friday, from 8:30 am – 4:30 pm. To make an appointment or to learn more about our services please call 617-287-5690. If you or someone you know needs immediate assistance, you can also call the Disaster Distress Helpline for information, support, and counseling at 1-800-985-5990. It's free and it's confidential.
The staff of Interfaith Campus Ministry, located near the Ryan Lounge, on the 3rd Floor of McCormack, are available to converse with any member of the UMass Boston Community. Reverend Adrienne Berry-Burton and Father Paul Helfrich can be reached at interfaith.campusmin@umb.edu or by calling 617-287-5838. The Interfaith Chapel is available for individual meditation and prayer throughout the week. Special group prayers and reflection will be led by the chaplains on the following dates and times:
Monday, April 23rd 11:30am-12:30pm; Tuesday, April 24th 1:00pm-2:00pm
The Office of the Dean of Students is another resource for students in distress, providing advocacy and support. Contact Associate Dean of Students, Mark Jannoni at mark.jannoni@umb.edu or 617-287-5899 to arrange an appointment or make a referral regarding a student of concern.
The Human Resources Department offers an employee assistance program for faculty and staff through Ceridian Lifeworks. For more information, visit http://www.umb.edu/hr/employee_health_wellness/eap
We do ask that you remain vigilant about safety in our community and report any suspicious activity to the Department of Public Safety at 617-287-7799.

The Leadership in Urban Schools doctoral program has launched a new program newsletter. See the first edition here.

Background on Luminosity (an effort to help you train your brain):
and to try it out: http://www.lumosity.com/landing_pages/188


Food for Thought
Video: Monkey with a sense of unfairness
Video: Constance Steinkuehler on Interest-Driven Learning
Article: Women Students Can Skip Morning Classes to Primp, Says Professor
Article: African grannies go solar
Article: Combining Robotics With Poetry? Art and Engineering Can Co-Exist
Opinion: Time to help college professors be better teachers
Article: A Pipe and a Ping Pong Ball
Article: One way to curtail a wandering mind during class: more testing
Article: People Are Awesome: Teenager Designs Device to Clean 7 Million Kg of Plastic From the Ocean
Article: What I Learned Sitting in Washington Square Park With a Sign That Says 'Free Advice'

Additional web links to items of interest to the CCT community can be found on our program Diigo pages:
Critical, Creative, and Reflective Practice themes: https://groups.diigo.com/group/ccreflect
Science in a Changing World themes: https://groups.diigo.com/group/sicwumb

Humor
On brainstorming: http://editorial.designtaxi.com/tfs-pwideas2703/1.jpg
source: Tom Fishburne's marketoonist: http://tomfishburne.com/