Article 1:

Can Computer Technology Improve the Quality of Science Education at Urban Universities?

Corresponding author:

Maryam Bamshad, Assistant Professor

Department of Biological Sciences, Lehman College

Maryam Bamshad is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Lehman College with degrees in Biology and Zoology from the University of Massachusetts. Her research focuses on the neural basis of parental behavior in social mammals. She is a member of the Wiley Faculty Network and a member of the Title V Supplemental Instruction Implementation Committee
Contact info:

E-mail: Maryam.bamshad-alavi@lehman.cuny.edu

Co-Author

Gina Rae Foster, Director, Lehman Teaching & Learning Commons

Title V Project Director & SI Coordinator, Lehman College/CUNY

Gina Rae Foster has taught at universities and colleges across the United States and has worked with many educational and community relief non-profit organizations. She specializes in improving best practices in teaching and learning through connections with resiliency theory, project management principles, and learning technologies. She has worked at Lehman College since 2006 and is currently directing the new Lehman Teaching and Learning Commons.

Contact info:

E-mail: gina.foster@lehman.cuny.edu

Co-Author

Paul G. Kreuzer, Associate Director

Title V Office of Supplemental Instruction and Technology

Lehman College/CUNY

Paul Kreuzer has been an academic administrator and humanities instructor at Lehman College since 1983. He has been the Project Director on all three of Lehman’s USDE Title V Grants. Now semi-retired, he continues to work with the Title V Program on assessment, institutionalization, and curriculum.

Contact info:

E-mail: paul.kreuzer@lehman.cuny.edu

Article 2:

COBIMET Library Consortium: the experiences of a collaborative project of four Hispanic Higher Education Institutions in Puerto Rico.

Correspondent author:

Carlos A. Crespo-Santiago

Virtual Library Coordinator,

Consorcio de Bibiliotecas Metropolitanas (COBIMET)

Carlos Crespo is the Virtual Library Coordinator for the Consorcio de Bibliotecas Metropolitanas (COBIMET) since 2007. He has researched new technologies for the consortium virtual library and presents it to members for implementation. Also, negotiates renewal of journal database with vendors. Provide databases use and collection development reports to consortium members and director. Furthermore, he markets the consortium membership to academic institution through Puerto Rico.

As an information specialist he worked in the pharmaceutical industries Merck, Sharpe and Dohme and GlaxoSmithkline for seven years. There he led the design, coordination and maintenance of the document control system. Also, he worked in the quality assurance departments implementing standard operating procedures and supervising as a team leader the document control area.

As a librarian, he has worked in the University of Puerto Rico and the University of the Sacred Heart. Cataloging library resources in different formats using OCLC Database and MARION. There he developed policies and procedures of cataloging processes. Also worked providing research support to library users.

Contact Info:
Phone: 787-726-1709
Skype: c_crespo2000
E-mail: ccrespo@cobimet.org

Article 3:

An ePortfolio Virtual Learning Community within a Traditional Classroom Space: The Student in a Global Social Networking Community

Author:

Michele Cuomo, MFA

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Queensborough Community College

Michele Cuomo was appointed Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in 2010, after a two year appointment as Assistant Dean following a year spent in the Office of Academic Affairs as a Faculty Fellow. She became a member of the Queensborough Community College faculty in the Fall of 2003, and was promoted to the rank of associate professor in the department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts five years later. Previous positions included of Head of Acting at The University of Mississippi and Interim Head of Acting at The University of Georgia, where she was also a member of the select Graduate Faculty.

Michele Cuomo earned the B.A. degree in English at the College of New Rochelle, and the M.F.A. degree in Acting at The Ohio State University. She attended the Harvard Institute for Higher Education’s Management Development Program in 2008. She is an Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework, a Certified Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors and an Experienced Yoga Teacher with the Yoga Alliance. She is a board member of the Voice and Speech Trainer’s Association after year of service as an officer. She received one of the first Emerging Leaders Awards from the American Association of University Administrators in 2010.

Michele has served as the Principal Investigator for the MDRC Learning Communities Study, as well as the project director for the Queensborough NEA Big Read grant. Leading the operations of the Freshman Academies has focused her inquiry into high impact practices for student success, and she participates as a faculty member in the Student Interdisciplinary Wiki Project, which incorporates global and diversity learning in a virtual learning community using an Epsilen platform. She continues to pursue creative research as a theatrical director and playwright, with most recent performances of her work at the Joyce Soho Theatre and the Theatre for the New City.

Contact Info:
Address: Administration 503, Queensborough Community College
222-05 56th Ave.
Bayside, NY 11364
Phone: (718) 631-6344
Web: www.qcc.cuny.edu

Author:

Dr. Jean Darcy,

Associate Professor in the English Department at Queensborough Community College

Dr. Jean Darcy is Associate Professor in the English Department at Queensborough Community College which funded her participation in three grants that are fundamental in forming this project: In “Learning to Look” at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center faculty learned how to access and incorporate into lesson plans all the digital artifacts now circulated on the web by museums, government agencies, and universities. At the Georgetown University “Crossroads” project faculty learned how to form interdisciplinary groups to provide students with active learning projects using technology. At the “Making Connections” institute at La Guardia Community College faculty learned how to use the ePortfolio platform at a student learning center.

Contact Info:

jdarcy@qcc.cuny.edu

Author:

Joan Dupre,

Assistant Professor English Department,

Queensborough Community College Bayside, New York

Joan Dupre is as Assistant Professor in the English Department at Queensborough Community College in Bayside, New York, where she teaches courses in composition, literature and popular culture. She received her Ph.D in English at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City.

Contact Info:
E-mail: JDupre@qcc.cuny.edu

Article 4:

Using Classroom Clicker Technology to Enhance Student Engagement Student engagement is essential in ensuring students’ success in the classroom.

Author:

William Jefferson, Associate Professor, Kutztown University

Chairperson, Department of Learning Technologies

William Jefferson is an Associate Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Learning Technologies at Kutztown University. He is responsible for designing and delivering faculty workshops on a wide variety of educational tools, including online survey tools, learning management systems, Web 2.0 applications, and audio and video-based multimedia applications. He holds Master degrees in Educational Technology and Library Science. He has worked in the instructional technology field for nearly twenty years, and has published a variety of articles about teaching and learning using classroom technologies, including several classroom clicker system articles.

Contact info:
Address: 27A Rohrbach Library,Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA 19530
Phone: (610) 683-4757
E-mail: wjeffers@kutztown.edu

Author:

Kathleen Hartman, Professor, Kutztown University

Advising Center for Undeclared Students

Kathleen Hartman is a Professor in the Advising Center for Undeclared Students at Kutztown University. She earned a doctorate in education from Lehigh University and has taught writing courses, education courses, and first-year seminars utilizing technology to engage students. She received national and regional outstanding advising awards in 2007 from NACADA (National Academic Advising Association). She has published several articles and has presented at national and international conferences on first-year students and college success. She is the author of 35 Ways to Discover a Major, 2nd ed. and the co-author of Investing in Your College Education, 2nd ed. (both published by Cengage Learning, 2010).

Contact info:
Address: 119 Stratton Administration Building, Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA 19530
Phone: (610) 683-4735
E-mail: hartman@kutztown.edu

Author:

Vera Brancato, Professor, Kutztown University

Chairperson, Department of Academic Advisement

Dr. Vera Brancato is a Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Academic Advisement at Kutztown University. She is also a faculty advisor and Director of the Advising Center for Undeclared Students which supports the University’s mission through its commitment to the success of undeclared students, preparing them to meet lifelong career challenges and responsibilities. As the Director, she oversees the development and implementation of programs, services, and resources for undeclared students. She is a member of NACADA (National Academic Advising Association). She previously served as the Director of the Center for the Enhancement of Teaching at Kutztown University. As the Director, she coordinated new faculty orientation programs and organized professional development workshops and meetings focused on the teaching-learning process and incorporating technology in the classroom. She completed her Doctorate in Higher Education, Administration and Leadership from Widener University and has over 30 years of experience in higher education. She is an author of several articles, book chapters, and textbooks and has presented at numerous regional, national and international conferences.

Contact info:
Address: 119 Stratton Administration Building, Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA 19530
Phone: (610) 683-4218
E-mail: brancato@kutztown.edu