Education Connection Blog

Jewish Family Service Association Helps College Dreams Come True

Dan — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:24:31 +0000

With college tuition rates on the rise, many students find that they cannot reach their educational goals even with help from federal student loans. In an attempt to alleviate this problem and help students reach their educational goals without placing themselves in debt, some organizations are increasing the amount of money that they award in annual college scholarships, grants, and interest-free loans.

One such organization, the Jewish Family Service Association, has committed to awarding close to $1 million in financial aid in 2012. Becky Rocker, a spokesperson for the JFSA, understands the difference that private scholarships, grants, and interest-free loans can play in making a student’s educational prospects brighter. “It’s really a great resource for students,” said Rocker. “I’ve talked to many high school graduates who are now in college. Many of them have said the aid we provided them has made a significant difference in their financial picture.”

The awards do, in fact, make a difference in the lives of students. Liz Jones, now a freshman at Yale University was a recipient of a 2011 JFSA scholarship. She receives $2,000 per year for four years of higher education. Attending Yale has made it possible for her to participate in the school’s Birthright Program, for which she is travelling to Israel this spring.

“JFSA is an incredible organization that does a lot of good for people who may not be able to go to college if they do not obtain financial assistance,” said Jones.

In 2011, the JFSA gave out $953,000 in financial aid awards. This translated to about $4,000 per recipient per year. Deadlines for this year’s awards are approaching, with the March 1 application deadline for both the Jack W. & Shirley Berger and Yoda Newton Scholarships. These scholarships have no requirements pertaining to religion, race, or ethnic background.

There are a number of other awards available from the JFSA for which the application deadline is March 14. For more information on these financial awards available from the JFSA, visit the “Services” page of the Association’s website, jfsa-cleveland.org or call the Financial Aid Program Manager at (216) 378-3429.

If Information is Power, is Free Information More Powerful?

Dan — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:20:15 +0000

It has been said that information is power, and that those who hold the information hold the power. In a modern world where technology is being utilized in new and exciting ways literally every day, the field of online education has experienced rapid expansion in recent years. The application of technological advancements to the area of higher education has made it possible for students to receive an education from literally anywhere in the world.

Unfortunately, cost factors often prohibit students from the United States and around the world to attend online courses to earn a degree in their chosen field of study. To address this inequality of access to information, many institutes of higher learning have chosen to make their educational materials available online free of charge.

One example of this trend is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Open Courseware project. This respected institution has been making over 2,000 courses available online for nearly 11 years, and has recently announced that they will now be offering certificates of completion to students who demonstrate mastery of given courses. The certificates will cost only a nominal fee, and although they do not carry the same weight as a degree, they can still indicate to potential employers that a student has a thorough knowledge of the subject area in question.

Another online venue for free education is the University of California at Berkeley’s Webcast database. Since 1995, the University has been offering free audio and video of undergraduate courses online. This means that anyone with an Internet connection has access to the same course materials as a UC Berkeley student. In fact, the program has become so popular that a Creative Commons license has been applied to the materials, and they are now available through such services as YouTube and iTunesU.

These are just two examples of major institutions that are pioneering the movement to provide equal access to information in the form of higher education materials. They have been joined by other educational institutions, such as Tufts University, as well as other, less traditional ventures such as Wikiversity, University of the People, OpenLearn, Academic Earth, and the OpenCourseWare Consortium in a truly revolutionary view and approach to learning.

Brains vs. Brawn: Football’s Smartest Players

Maelie — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:20:45 +0000

The closing of football season is here, unfortunately. On Sunday the Giants are looking for another super bowl win, while the Patriots are looking for revenge against a near perfect season back in 2007.

Most NFL players get drafted while in college, but many of them manage to find some time between all the practices to get their study on. It’s always surprising to find out that some of these players not only graduated in a short amount of time, but also managed to have an SAT score higher than you!

Myron Rolle, Safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Rolle initially joined the NFL with the Tennessee Titans but is now part of the terrible towel clan. He studied at Florida State University where he majored in exercise science, graduated in 2.5 years and then went on to receive a master’s degree in medical anthropology from Oxford University. He was also awarded the Rhodes scholarship.

Peyton Manning, (possibly retired?) QB for the Indianapolis Colts. Peyton graduated with a speech communications degree in three years with a 3.61 GPA. He also speaks English and French.

Matt Birk, Center for the Baltimore Ravens. The six-time pro bowl selection graduated from Harvard in 1998 with a degree in Economics. In interviews he has mentioned he was offered a job on Wall Street ,but decided to stick to football.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB for the Buffalo Bills. Fitzpatrick is another Harvard alumnus who majored in Economics. As all players do Fitzpatrick took the Wonderlic Test and it was reported he finished the exam in nine minutes, and scored 48 out of 50. That is impressive to say the least.

Alex Smith, QB for the San Francisco 49ers. Smith attended University of Utah where he earned his bachelor’s degree in economics in two years while retaining a 3.74 GPA.

Eli Manning, QB for the New York Giants. Brother and shadow in some cases to brother Peyton, Eli Manning graduated from University of Mississippi with a degree in Marketing.

Tom Brady, QB for the New England Patriots. The three-time super bowl champ went to the University of Michigan and earned a degree in organizational studies.

5 Steps to Help Solve Student Debt

Matthew Watts — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:02:57 +0000

As a student considering college for the first time, there are many benefits and hurdles to be aware of. In particular, it might be discouraging to consider the amount the debt that college requires for many and that it may require for you.

Luckily, we have experts such as Mark Kantrowitz of Finaid that are hard at work on the issue. So don’t go giving up hope of an affordable college education yet! Here are some of Kantrowitz’s ideas:

Alter the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The code exists to ensure that people are protected from outstanding debts they cannot repay by allowing them to declare some form of bankruptcy. However, the code also contains provisions regarding exceptions and situations from which people cannot declare bankruptcy, so as to protect creditors. The current code exempts student loan debt, so students cannot get away from their obligations to pay them. Kantrowitz suggests that we remove the exemption and allow other provisions to ensure creditors are not punished.

Increase the power of the Pell Grant. The Pell Grant is a federally-funded student loan program specifically designed to help low-income students pay for education. Unfortunately, in recent years, the grant has seen severe cuts in its budget. If the power of the Pell Grant to lend money were increased to previous levels, a higher percentage of low income students would be able to properly afford an education.

Income-based repayment plans for all! The federal government allows income-based payment plans for certain types of loans. The plan allows people to pay back the loans based on the amount of money they earn. This process ensures that students are not making payments way out of proportion to their ability to pay. But currently, the plan is only available to some borrowers and even fewer are taking advantage of it. If the income-based repayment plan were available to all, it would help students with their debt.

Help students understand financial information. Finance is complicated and there are plenty of college courses for that if you’re going down that road. But what if you’re not? Many students borrow money without understanding exactly what is meant by their debt plans and what is expected of them. Colleges should help students make better decisions by providing mandatory instructions for borrowers and by making applications more clear.

Colleges should reject students that require too much debt. It sounds harsh, but the fact is that colleges don’t ask themselves or students tough questions when looking at affordability. If a student is unlikely to make the proper payments, the college should be forward-thinking and reject them. As a student, you can always seek a less expensive education. But when students get in over their heads and can’t pay down their debt, it serves no one’s best interests.

The situation for student debt is not hopeless. If some of the ideas above are enacted, it could make a significant impact on the problem. But there is no substitute for good judgment on behalf of the student and the school. With careful planning, you can help your own debt!

Mathematics and STEM Education Is About To Get a Whole Lot Better

Matthew Watts — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:48:26 +0000

The government and the people agree: a mathematics education is important. More of our economy is dependent upon sound mathematics skills than ever and includes subjects such as computer science, finance, engineering, and database administration. Any job requiring analysis will likely also reduce to number crunching based on hard data—and it all requires mathematics.

But for a long while, truly effective education in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines has been lagging. The problems are many, but the principle reason is that the education has been lagging behind the internet and computer technology. If Wolfram has anything to say about it, that issue might change.

Adapting lessons to current technology is about more than putting computers in the classroom. It’s about changing the lessons so that the education reflects the change. For example, many traditional courses in mathematics rely on teaching students how to calculate. Problems on mathematics tests often rely on the correct answers to computation problems but without being allowed the aid of a calculator or computer.

It’s time that we stopped pretending that computers aren’t changing how we think and what’s important. Human beings on the whole have never been particularly good at performing calculations. Computers live to do it. However, human beings are very good at understanding complex problems, applying reasoning skills toward solving them, and dealing with abstract notions. Computers are very bad at those.

We need to allow computers to do what they do best and free us humans to do what we do best. A marriage of the two is appropriate and it’s a long time coming.

The people behind the Wolfram Education Portal understand the issues well. And they are attempting to provide a solution. The education portal is still in beta, but it provides a number of interesting services to students and teachers alike. Students can access online tools through a format called the CDF (computable document format).

The format allows students to interact with mathematical concepts in a fluid and dynamic way. They can solve or change problems and see representations of the mathematics in many forms changing as they alter the data. It’s a beautiful new way to learn, as well as for teachers to teach, and courses are so far provided in algebra and calculus, though others should be coming soon.

Even without the lessons or apps themselves, the Wolfram Education Portal also links to various resources that can help students and teachers today with the skills required for the STEM disciplines that have become so important in our day age.

Finally, STEM disciplines everywhere may gain a boost as students and teachers adopt new and better methods of learning and teaching. At long last mathematics may change to be less about the numbers and more about what the numbers mean.

Critical Thinking Can Help You During College and After It

Stephanie — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:50:37 +0000

If you’re feeling burnt out on school and trying to get a fire lit under your you-know-what, here’s a compelling reason to find a way to commit to class. A new report by the Social Science Research Council, released at Wednesday’s annual meeting of the American Association of Colleges and Universities, has identified that students who have low academic engagement and critical thinking skills in college have an equally difficult time getting started in post-graduate life as adults.

This may seem obvious, but the figures are striking. Graduates who scored in the bottom 20% of a critical thinking test were three times as likely as those in the top 20% to be unemployed. They were also twice as likely to be living at home with parents and significantly more likely to have amassed credit card debt. The study also found that graduates of colleges with tougher admissions standards tended to have fewer debts and were less likely to live with their parents.

If the phrase “critical thinking” sounds mysterious, you’ve actually heard it in another form: “question authority”. Students who use critical thinking don’t just memorize material by rote and regurgitate it back to the professor. They don’t just sit through their psychology course, they question it. They engage with the material, deciding where they agree and disagree, and why. They may also come up with ways of revising what they’ve learned to make it more efficient or effective. Since this process doesn’t really work for more factual, black-and-white disciplines (“no, I don’t agree that 5+5=10” doesn’t work so much), it’s generally utilized in the liberal arts.

“Academic engagement” encompasses critical thinking, and more. It refers to taking classes that challenge you and inspire you, and participating actively in the classroom. It involves exploring your role as a student and considering how what you’re learning may impact and shape your future. Engagement within an academic setting prepares you for engagement in the larger world, so take advantage of the opportunities you have now and explore your college as a training ground.

English 101: To Blog or not to Blog

Pamela Rossow — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:43:56 +0000

English majors, how would like to write 500-1500 word blog posts for Lit. 101 instead of those term papers you’re accustomed to writing? Yep, thought so. This “trend,” if you’d like to call it, has already begun and the champion is Cathy N. Davidson, a Duke English professor.

Professor Davidson’s methodologies regarding students and writing have some people in an uproar. Others, like many of her students, are probably pretty happy. She argues against what she calls ‘mechanistic writing’ in her book, Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn. She says that formal writing like “the academic paper” is a “real disincentive to creative but untrained writers.”

She prefers the public interaction of blogs to draw students in. She isn’t alone. Within the United States, blogging has become the writing wave of “now.” Other professors must feel the same way since it is becoming mandatory in many different type classes from business to English.

Some experts are not thrilled with the new writing strategies. Douglas B. Reeves, founder of the Leadership and Learning Center and American School Board Journal columnist, agrees and disagrees with Professor Davidson. He agrees with her in seeing term papers as a ‘dying art’ but he disagrees with her deduction because he believes students who write papers have advantages in ‘critical thinking’ and ‘argumentation.’ These qualities are important, not only for college educations, but for future employment, too.

William H. Fitzhugh, founder and author of The Concord Review, thinks students aren’t writing as much because they are reading less and this snowballs into have “less substance-whether historical, political or literary-to focus a term paper on.” He agrees with Professor Davidson and states that ‘writing is being murdered.’ He differs with her when it comes to solutions. He suggests that children be required to follow a ‘page a year’ system. When a little one is first grade, she writes a one page paper that uses one source and by fourth grade, four pages and sources.

Another professor, Andrea A. Lunsford, an English professor at Stanford, has her own way of engaging her students. Her students, who are in their second years, write fifteen page papers at the beginning of the term. Then, they use them as frameworks to create Web sites, blogs, and other media platforms. What shocks her the most by the end of the semester? Her students often “plead to revise their essays.” Hmm . . . sounds like something’s working.

We don’t know if the fifteen page paper will kick the bucket any time soon. We are aware that more professors are incorporating new media in the form of blogs or other platforms into their curriculums. Who knows what will happen in your next British lit. class? Try not to look surprised if your professor has you creating web sites about Mr. Darcy,Elizabeth Bennett and the conventions of marriage.

Music and Medicine: More Gain, Less Pain?

Pamela Rossow — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:38:04 +0000

The next time you’re at the doctor’s office or hospital waiting to have any procedure done from an MRI to a routine physical, listen closely. Do you hear it? Lionel Richie? Phil Collins? Duran Duran? Maybe it is more like elevator music or strains of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. Whatever the band’s name, composer, or orchestra, chances are the music is being played for a specific purpose: to help soothe your jittery nerves and/or to alleviate pain.

Whether or not it has been scientifically proven to help calm anxious people or produce analgesic effects has yet to be proven but some preliminary findings are reassuring. A recent study published in December’s Journal of Pain describes 153 people who volunteered to experience painful shocks on their hands while listening to selected music. They were told to “identify certain notes and tones” and to focus on the songs. Scientists from the University of Utah measured brain activity and pupil dilation during this study. They discovered that when the participants concentrated on the music they experienced more pain relief. The people who were the most anxious to begin with received the greatest, overall relief.

Now, don’t think that the music played was what you’d hear at an NHL game. We’re not talking Let the Bodies Hit the Floor, Remember the Name, or Thunderstruck. More like the aforementioned singers, composers, and bands peppered with some more sonatas and symphonies. Another study published in 2009 that took place in Sweden found similar results. Children participated who were having minor surgeries and the children who were exposed to the music needed less morphine after the surgical procedures than the children who didn’t listen to music. Interesting.

For those of you pursuing medical degrees, these studies should be taken into careful consideration. While the overall data collected on this issue doesn’t indicate a huge effect, the “potential usefulness in clinical practice” is still ‘unclear.’ This finding doesn’t mean that music can’t facilitate positive responses in lessening pain but more research must be conducted prior to making that particular claim. In the meantime, when you are waiting to have that cavity filled, listen and focus. It might, at the very least, relax you so you aren’t thinking about that extra-large needle filled with Novocain looming closer and closer to your mouth. If it helps lessen the pain, that’s all that matters!

The Time Is Right For An Online Degree

Dan — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:47:49 +0000

There was a time when earning a degree online was somewhat of a risky undertaking. The resources for online learning were less than remarkable, the course and degree offerings were often slim, and to top it all off, many employers viewed degrees earned online as less substantial than traditional college degrees.

All of that has changed in recent years, however, thanks to the rapid advancements in technology and the increased interest in and demand for quality online courses and degree programs. The increase in quality and number of online degrees being offered from major institutions has also led many employers to change their opinions about what an online degree really means.

In fact, a recent U.S. News & World Report study found that around 75 percent of professionals in academia actually felt that online degree programs are just as good, if not better, than their traditional counterparts. Over half of the hiring managers in the workforce also report that they see no difference between an online degree and one earned on a physical campus.

Even fields that traditionally required students to attend classes on campus are finding ways to use technology to allow for an entirely online learning experience. In the field of nursing, for example, Georgetown University has created a degree program in which students attend classes online and gain clinical experience in a medical facility located near their homes. The University of Southern California uses video of students in their teaching degree program to help instructors assess the students’ teaching abilities and provide feedback and mentoring, even though the student in question may be hundreds of miles or more from the campus.

In fact, many would argue that the use of technology in online learning actually creates a more complete learning experience for students. Utilizing social networking technology to form study groups, contacting instructors for assistance via email or video chat, and even using mobile applications to enable learning on-the-go are just a few examples of how advancements in technology have made online degrees the most attractive option for a growing number of students.

How To Join The 1%

Dan — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:15:44 +0000

There has been a lot of talk recently about the “one percent.” And let’s be honest… students don’t attend classes, write papers, work on projects, and take exams for a degree simply because they enjoy the challenge and the stress that comes with it. Okay, maybe some do, but for the most part students earn degrees that they hope will lead them to a rewarding career, both emotionally and financially.

So what are the college degree programs that give students an advantage in trying to join this top one percent of earners? According to the United States Census Bureau, the most likely to attain this income status in their careers are those that study a pre-med program. Economics is the next most likely degree program to lead students into a career in the top one percent. Biochemistry, zoology, and biology round out the list of the top five majors for earning potential.

According to 2010 Census Bureau data, of the over 140,000 students who completed a pre-med program, nearly 12 percent joined the top one percent of earners. For those who earned a degree in economics, just over 8 percent became a part of the elite earners. About 7 percent of biochemistry program graduates joined the top-earning bracket, as did around 7 percent of zoology as well as biology degree earners.

Many experts seek to emphasize, however, that one doesn’t have to complete a degree in one of these five fields of study in order to be in the top one percent of earners. They explain that a lot of the earning potential of a given degree is derived from how and where a student chooses to apply that degree.

For example, studying law can lead you to a position in the one percent club. Census data also showed that one out of every eight lawyers is in this demographic. The chances rise to one out of every three for lawyers in Wall Street practices. Chief executive officers are also eligible for membership, with approximately one in five earning in the top one percent. If the company the CEO works for is a medical supply or drug company, the chances are even greater that he or she will earn in the top one percent.

Joining the fabled “one percent” doesn’t just have to be a fairy tale. Students who apply themselves and know what degree to pursue and how to apply it to a successful career may just be well on their way to attaining this lofty goal.