Renton Technical College
Instructional Improvement
April 2007
Volume 5, No 8.
The second word in our title is faculty and the focus is on items of interest in the technical college classroom. This includes
what faculty are doing well in their programs, timesaving tips, and proven resources. We encourage articles from faculty and
will help you present an idea if writing isn’t your cup of tea. So don’t hide your light under the proverbial bushel, let it shine.
Contact us to share news we can all use.
How to interpret Student Evaluations
Eric Palo, RTC Library Director suggests this article concerning faculty responses to student evaluations.
http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2007/03/2007030501c/careers.html
Tips for Teaching ESL students in Technical Classrooms
Marcia Arthur, ESL Instructor, suggests this link with tips for technical instructors with students who are still acquiring
English language fluency. http://www.nwrel.org/request/2003may/general.html scroll down to ‘Ten Things the
Mainstream Teacher can do Today to Improve Instruction for ELL Students,” for some great tips!
QUIA
Zefire Skoczen from the Massage Therapy Program reports that her students really enjoy using QUIA. She reports, “It’s
neat that they actually request me to put certain things up on it now. I’ve also started making QUIA activities and extra credit
quizzes on the site.” Pamela Meyers, the other program instructor also posts to the site. Visit the
site at: http://www.quia.com/pages/rtcmassageprogram.html Zefire also put together a collection
of HTML commands you can use to duplicate some of the features on her site. You can access the
document at T:\Shared\Instructional Improvement\Adding HTML codes to your QUIA
Webpage.doc And as an additional bonus, she has shared some neat .gif files she has found on the
web that you can add to your site to point out what is new T:\Shared\Instructional Improvement\QUIANew-22-june T:\Shared\Instructional Improvement\QUIANew-12-june
T:\Shared\Instructional Improvement\QUIANew-19-june
T:\Shared\Instructional Improvement\QUIANew-09-june
Larry Bovard got his Quia page started and Ophthalmic Assistant students are learning terms with
matching, hangman, and battleship! He finds the hangman game is perfect for learning abbreviations and
acronyms. The students all improved their score over last-year’s students after Quia-based practice.
www.quia.com/pages/rtceye.html Larry has also done a great hands-on activity where
Student eyeball & commercial
The Eyes have it!
the students build models of the muscle system that controls the eyeball with pipe
model
cleaners and Styrofoam balls.
Discounts for Teachers
As a teacher you are eligible for discounts from many sources. A site that centralizes information on discounts on everything
from classroom materials to entertainment is Teachers DisCount. Find out more at:
http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2007/03/01/05pennies.h18.html
A Goldmine of Information
The Texas Collaborative for Teaching Excellence site is a gigantic compendium of resources, online modules in
on many topics from automotive to nursing, and many professional self-assessments and resources. We will be
spotlighting some of the features in subsequent issues. http://www.texascollaborative.org/teachlearnresources05.htm
Free Flashcards for Student’s Cellphones
At this site, featured in several periodicals for educators, students can create or download flashcards to study from
their cell phone, for free.www.studycell.com
Hippocratic Oath for Teachers
Based on the traditional oath for medical personnel, this instructor created oath covers our responsibility in
the classroom. What do you think?
http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2007/01/30/14tln_cody.html
Understanding Math Anxiety
Researchers are gaining a better understanding of the self-esteem and confidence issues that undermine student achievement
in math. http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2007/02/21/ew_math.html
Tough Love
Bill Cosby talks about what teachers need to do better.
http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2007/01/01/04cosby.h18.html
Classroom Capture and Broadcast
Does it lower attendance at lectures? While some RTC instructors have been piloting different methods to share their
PowerPoints, capture and play back PowerPoints with voice, or to record classroom lectures, Temple University has gone into
the capture and podcast arena in a big way. They seem to have avoided the “it’s recorded so I don’t have to go to class”
syndrome too. link http://campustechnology.com/articles/45216/
Another Great Portal to Educational Resources
Here’s a useful educational portal, put together by a high school instructor to link you to sites for everything from graphic
organizers to rubric makers.
http://www.bhsu.edu/education/edfaculty/lturner/index.html
Don’t Worry, Be Happy!
Claremont Graduate University is starting a new PhD. Program in positive psychology— believed to be the
first doctoral program that will focus on how people get happy. http://www.pr.com/press-release/32819
UDL Project Update:
Check out the 3 minute video clip of Donna Maher from the Medical Office Programs on the UDL project faculty
webpage. Donna is demonstrating a kinesthetic activity for teaching students to remember the conduction system of the
heart, but you could use the same strategy for any system. http://webs.rtc.edu/ii/DSDP%20Grant/Donna%20Maherfinal%20heart-040307.wmv
The data analysis of the UDL project performance so far is in and looks very good.
 All students made gains but students with disabilities in Pilot classes had the greatest gains in completion rates and
grade point averages—almost a full grade point gain!
 Students disclosing disabilities increased from less than 1 percent of our total student population in 2001 to 5 percent
in 2006! We believe this is because students are more comfortable now telling us about their concerns!
 Go to this document for more highlights from the report from Applied Inference: T:\SHARED\DSDP\Since 2002
performance highlights.doc.
The new Online UDL Course is starting! Thanks very much to Shannon Sharpe and Donna Maher of Medical Office
Programs for running it. Also thanks to Lindy Peterson, LPN and Michele Lesmeister, Basic Studies for use of their
Quia pages and Jack Devine, ITEC, Mike Biell, Computer-Aided Drafting and DeEtta Ryan, Basic Studies for video
clips.
Quote of the Month
"Make sure you have finished speaking before your audience has finished listening.”—Dorothy Sarnoff
Renton Technical College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, or age in its
programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: HRD
Director, 3000 NE 4th Street, Renton, WA 98056, 425-235-7873