COLLEGE NEWS
- Sign up for distance education series, starting Feb.
11
- Russian agricultural leader to speak Monday, Feb.
3
- Help offered to revise research grant proposals
- Enhancing communication in large classes: a workshop
- Request for proposals for new Fund for Rural America
- Share comments or concerns on advising
- Shadow an employer in new Vision 2020 program
- FFA breakfast on Feb. 19 in Curtiss Hall
- Vision 2020 staff offers to facilitate meetings
- Deadlines & Reminders
COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
- To you and you and you and you . . . Try sending "Bcc"
INFOGRAZING
- Experiment finds benefits of learning on Internet
- Software for teaching on the Net
EXTERNAL VOICES
- Research that keeps up with the times
MARGINALIA
- Cyber-Chem Lab: All of the fun, none of the mess
C O L L E G E N E W S
SIGN UP FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION SERIES, STARTING FEB. 11
Agriculture faculty and staff are invited to participate in five
satellite-downlinked programs on improving distance teaching and
learning. The Brenton Center will host the programs on consecutive
Tuesdays, 1-3 p.m., in Pearson Hall. Programs and dates are: The
Distance Learner (2/11); Planning Instruction (2/18); Presenting
Instruction (2/25); Developing Innovative Multimedia Presentations
(3/4); and Models of Effective Distance Teaching (3/11). Three
will originate from ISU; the other two originate from Alabama
A&M University and Arkansas State University. If you're interested
in participating in one or more of the programs (there is no cost),
e-mail your name, department and office address to Wade Miller,
wwmiller@iastate.edu. Only 25 people per program can be accepted.
For more information, check out the website.
(On related topics, see "Infograzing" items in this issue.)
RUSSIAN AGRICULTURAL LEADER TO SPEAK MONDAY, FEB. 3
Ag faculty and staff are invited to a public address by Russian
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zaveryukha at 3 p.m., Monday,
Feb. 3, in the Campanile Room, Memorial Union. Zaveryukha is responsible
for agriculture, natural resources and the environment. He is
visiting Iowa before participating in the Gore/Chernomyrdin Commission
meetings in Washington, DC. The commission works on issues of
economic and technological cooperation between the U.S. and Russia.
For more information: Elena Polouchkina, 4-8493/elenap@iastate.edu
or David Acker, 4-8453/dacker@iastate.edu.
HELP OFFERED TO REVISE RESEARCH GRANT PROPOSALS
Faculty with Experiment Station appointments or sponsored research
who are planning to revise and resubmit a favorably reviewed,
unfunded research proposal are invited to apply for proposal revision
assistance. The Experiment Station is offering the consultation.
Applications are due Feb. 10. Details are available at the college's website.
Or contact Susan Lamont, 4-3629 or sjlamont@iastate.edu.
ENHANCING COMMUNICATION IN LARGE CLASSES: A WORKSHOP
Agriculture faculty members will share practical ways to encourage
interaction in large classes in an ag communications workshop,
noon to 1:30 p.m., Feb. 18, 229 Curtiss. Lunch is provided. RSVP
by Feb. 14 to Norma Hensley, 4-6614 or nhensley@iastate.edu.
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR NEW FUND FOR RURAL AMERICA
The USDA has released the request for proposals for its new Fund
for Rural America. The fund will provide $100 million in each
of three years for rural development programs and a competitive
grant program for research, education and extension activities.
Planning grant applications must be received on or before March
24. Standard project grant applications must be received on or
before April 28. More information can be found on the college's website.
SHARE COMMENTS OR CONCERNS ON ADVISING
The College of Agriculture's Academic Affairs Committee invites
advisers to share comments or concerns on advising. Ron Deiter,
committee chair, says input is welcome on any advising-related
topic. Contact Deiter, 4-5771 or rdeiter@iastate.edu, or your
department's committee representative.
SHADOW AN EMPLOYER IN NEW VISION 2020 PROGRAM
Vision 2020 has a new educator/employer job shadowing program,
Express Partnerships for 2020. The program offers ISU faculty
and employers a chance to explore areas of mutual interest. Vision
2020 will fund exchanges in which faculty interact with partners
at their business, industry, government, community or community
college. An application form can be found online.
Or for more information, call 4-2092.
FFA BREAKFAST ON FEB. 19 IN CURTISS HALL
College faculty and staff are invited to the annual FFA Breakfast
to honor FFA students at ISU. It will be held 7:30 a.m., Wednesday,
Feb. 19, on the second floor of Curtiss Hall. For more information:
Gaylan Scofield, 4-0045 or ggs@iastate.edu.
VISION 2020 STAFF OFFERS TO FACILITATE MEETINGS
At your request, Vision 2020 staff will facilitate meetings or
retreats to inform people about the Vision 2020 program and promote
collaboration and interaction with business, government, communities
and community college faculty. For more information, call 4-2092.
DEADLINES & REMINDERS
Feb. 3: Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zaveryukha speech,
3 p.m., Campanile Room
Feb. 3: Nominations deadline, Floyd Andre and Henry A. Wallace
awards, 134 Curtiss; and Excellence in International Agriculture
Award, 104 Curtiss
Feb. 6: Minimizing Environmental Effects of Animal Production
on Water Quality, Stu Melvin and Jeff Lorimor, ag & biosystems
engineering, 7:30 p.m., Brenton Center (sustainable ag seminar)
Feb. 13: Protecting Iowa's Water Resources in the 21st Century:
A Producer's Perspective, Ralph Neill, John Greig and Leroy Stoltenberg,
7:30 p.m., Brenton Center (sustainable ag seminar)
Feb. 18: Ag communications workshop, 229 Curtiss, noon
Feb. 19: FFA Breakfast, 2nd floor, Curtiss Hall, 7:30 a.m.
C O M M U N I C A T I O N S K I O S K
TO YOU AND YOU AND YOU AND YOU . . . TRY SENDING "BCC"
"Blind carbon copy" -- the "Bcc" field in
Eudora and other e-mail programs -- prevents multiple recipients
of your e-mail from knowing who else received the message. It's
useful when you're sending messages to many people or to an e-mail
list and you'd don't want a long list of recipients to appear
in the "To" field. Also, it can be used to ensure anonymity
of recipients. Simply fill in the "Bcc" field with the
e-mail addresses separated by a comma. In Eudora, you can put
recipient lists, or nicknames, in the blind carbon copy field
through Address Book (found under the Special menu).
I N F O G R A Z I N G
EXPERIMENT FINDS BENEFITS OF LEARNING ON INTERNET
An experiment with 33 sociology students at California State University
found that students who learned on the Internet scored 20 percent
higher in exams than those taught in the classroom, according
to New Scientist magazine. None of the students knew they were
part of an experiment. Professor Jerald Schutte said the online
group spent more time on classwork, understood the material better
and collaborated more. "I would say the collaboration resulted
from the panic of having no face-to-face interaction,'' Schutte
said. He stressed that this was a small experiment and larger
studies on the benefits or drawbacks of Internet learning are
needed. (From a Jan. 29 Reuters news service story)
SOFTWARE FOR TEACHING OVER THE NET
A computer scientist at British Columbia has designed a set of
software tools called WebCT (for Web Course Tools) that allows
instructors to design online courses, create their own Web sites,
hold interactive and bulletin-board-type discussions and administer
exams, all on the Internet. Professors simply enter their own
material into pre-prepared forms and the virtual classroom takes
shape. WebCT is already being used in more than 70 courses at
the University of British Columbia, and the program is available
for testing to faculty members outside the university. Once testing
is completed, the program's authors plan to charge a fee for its
use. Check it out in Chronicle of Higher Education, Jan. 24.
E X T E R N A L V O I C E S
RESEARCH THAT KEEPS UP WITH THE TIMES
"To be successful in food safety and everything else we do,
we have to modernize our research. We have one of the most productive
research operations in government, but we have to keep up with
the times. We are already becoming a government leader on many
issues of the technological revolution -- terrestrial applications
of space-age technology, called precision farming for you non-sci-fi
types, technology transfer and rural economic development. We
have to do even more. Feeding the world without scarcity means
the research pipeline must continue to provide breakthroughs that
maintain productivity growth." Secretary of Agriculture Dan
Glickman in a Jan. 15 speech at the National Press Club, in which
he outlined USDA efforts in the next administration.
M A R G I N A L I A
CYBER-CHEM LAB: ALL OF THE FUN, NONE OF THE MESS
Now for parents of insatiably curious kids, Corel's ChemLab CD-ROM
for Windows offers a virtual lab, complete with chemicals, all
sorts of tools, an online chemistry textbook and an interactive
Periodic Table of Elements. Users can tinker with acids, bases,
evaporation, enzymes, radioactivity and kinetics. The kit includes
a 3-D molecule viewer and a gas lab that explains the four variables
of gas (temperature, pressure, volume and quantity). The $60 product
combines experiments with video clips, animations, quiz games
and other learning tools. Best of all, there's no danger and no
cleanup. (Popular Science, January)