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News From the Landmark College Institute for Research and Training (LCIRT)

Education Professionals Expanding their Horizons

Since 2006, Landmark College Institute for Research and Training (LCIRT) and the Lone Star College System (LSCS) in Houston, TX have worked together to identify the professional development needs of educators in the Houston area and deliver the training needed to support them. The Expanding Horizons Professional Learning Institute is one of many positive outcomes that represent the ongoing collaboration between LCIRT and the Lone Star College System.  

The Expanding Horizons Professional Learning Institute is an annual conference that brings together attendees representing a wide array of divisions including postsecondary, secondary, consultancies, and private institutions who are interested in gaining new insights on learning and discovering useful methods and strategies that may be readily applied to their own.

The 2012 Expanding Horizons Professional Learning Institute will be held, in collaboration with AHEAD in Texas, from November 15-16 at the North Harris campus of LSCS.  Among the list of presenters are two LCIRT Research and Education Specialists, Dr. Ibrahim Dahlstrom-Hakki and Dr. Sapna Prasad.  

The focus of Dr. Dahlstrom-Hakki’s current research is on exploring new ways of teaching Mathematics, Science, and Computing to students with LD, ADHD, and ASD.  Dahlstrom-Hakki’s is excited about sharing his latest research findings on how technology can be used to teach STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) to students who typically struggle with that content.

Dr. Sapna Prasad is currently the Principal Investigator of grants funded by the AT&T Foundation and the NSF Alliance for Access to Computing Careers aimed at increasing the participation of students with disabilities in the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). She is looking forward to presenting at Expanding Horizons to help educators better understand the neurology underlying learning and the best practices for teaching students with LD, ADHD and ASD.

In addition to participating in a Q & A Panel on Day One of the event, they will present on topics including: Transitions, Teaching STEM, Assistive Technology, Neuroscience of Learning and Autism Spectrum Disorders.

For more information and registration for The Expanding Horizons Conference.

TinkerPlots Grant Update

LCIRT has been working in collaboration with the Mathematics and Computer Science department on a National Science Foundation-funded project aimed at improving how we teach introductory statistics. The project team – consisting of Ibrahim Dahlstrom-Hakki, Michelle Bower and Frank Klucken – are nearing the end of their first year of work on this project. The team has developed an approach to teaching statistics that helps students explore and develop intuitions about data using the software TinkerPlots. Students then build on those intuitions as they are introduced to the statistical tools needed to formally analyze data. Preliminary results from the first semester of implementation indicate that students develop a greater degree of comfort working with numbers and statistics as a result of this approach and tend to exhibit a deeper conceptual understanding of the content. Plans are underway to complete further testing needed to fully assess these findings. The team plans to continue the testing here at Landmark College and to gather additional data in cooperation with our partners at Holyoke Community College during this coming year.

Complete details of the research and findings will be published here in the near future.

Read more about this NSF-supported research.

NEW Certificate Program in UD and AT Is Accepting Applications

Landmark College is offering an online, blended, low-residency Professional Development Certificate in Universal Design and Assistive Technology (UD/AT) starting on September 8th, 2012. The program is targeted towards professionals/educators and would-be professionals in special education and postsecondary disability services. The goal is to equip participants with comprehensive understanding and practical experience in Universal Design and its application through instructional and assistive technologies. The complete program is one year in duration and consists of five courses. Currently, course credits are offered through Marlboro College Graduate School. Noncredit options and individual course registrations are also available

Read more about the Professional Development Certificate in UD/AT and other Landmark College programs and degree options.

Mobile App Design Project Results in New Tips for the Educator's Toolbox

Research in STEM learning (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) indicates that a key factor in creating an effective STEM curriculum is to provide accessible opportunities to engage students in group problem solving. Such an approach allows for on-the-spot reasoning and discussion, and allows students to test their own understanding (Wieman & Perkins, 2005) through practical hands-on engagement. Read the entire article written by LCIRT research and education specialist, Sapna Prasad.

Presentation on "Memory" at Connecticut Association on Higher Education and Disability (CT AHEAD)

Dr. Manju Banerjee will be presenting on Friday, April 20, 2012 on the topic of "Memory: Help students with brain injuries, executive function disorders and learning disabilities strategize to recall information" to CT AHEAD conference attendees. The conference is being held at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) in New Britain, CT.

Chronicle of Higher Ed Interview of Manju Banerjee, VP and Director of LCIRT

The April 6, 2012 edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education featured an article entitled, "Manju Banerjee: an 'Amazing Opportunity' at a College Focused on Students With Disabilities." Read the article to learn more about Manju and what drew her to become the Director of the Landmark College Institute of Reseach and Training (LCIRT).

Join Us at Flint Hill School in August!

Landmark College Education Specialist Linda Hecker will be presenting workshops on a variety of topics at the Flint Hill School. The day-long workshops will take place August 13-16, 2012. Located in Oakton, Virginia, the Flint Hill School provides easy access to our nation's capital for those interested in combining business and pleasure this summer. Learn more about the Flint Hill Institute.  

Assistive Technology Presentation at "Learning Differences Conference"

Linda Hecker presented on assistive technology (AT) at the Independent Education's "Learning Differences Conference" on Wednesday, April 11, 2012. The conference location was at The Madeira School in McLean, VA. More information about this conference.

Landmark Staff and Faculty Present at UPenn's 11st Annual Disability Symposium

Manju Banerjee, the Director of LCIRT, presented a workshop entitled, "Non-Traditional Accommodations for Students with LD and Other Co-Existing Psychiatric Conditions." Landmark College faculty members Sophie Dennis and Dorothy Osterholt co-presented on "Bringing Conversation to the Classroom: The Collaborative Learning Approach." More information about this symposium.

There's an App for That! See what our researchers and students have been up to

Landmark College and the University of Maryland-Baltimore County joined forces to engage students directly in the design of Apps created to support procedural memory training, learning, scheduling and exercise. More information about Landmark students' role in these user-centered "participatory" design teams.

Join Us for the Putney Summer Institute in July!

Faculty and staff are pleased to present a variety of two and three-day workshops at the Landmark College campus in Putney, Vermont. This year's summer institute will take place from July 9-13, 2012.

Read the Latest Edition of LCIRT Matters

Landmark College Institute for Research and Training (LCIRT) is pleased to welcome Dr. Manju Banerjee as Vice President and Director. Read about Dr. Banerjee, recent grant awards and other Institute news in the Spring, 2012 edition of LCIRT Matters.