Author Archives: Ron Rogers

Thinking about Law School?

This message is posted on behalf of Dr. Rita Manning (Pre-Law Advisor).

Our first event of the semester is a law school visit complete with a mock law class. Come and see what law school is like and what you need to do to be a successful applicant. A flyer is attached. This event will be on Thursday, 2/13 from 4-5:45 in ART 133.

Here are other events to put on your calendar:

Monday, March 17 noon – 1:00 — former Record Clearance Project clients talk about the importance of expungement and second chances (room TBD)

Monday, March 17 4:30 – 5:30 — Judge Erica Yew talks about the criminal justice system, the role of “problem-solving” courts like Family Wellness Court and her path to becoming a judge (room TBD)

Tuesday, March 18 3:00 – 5:00 — Record Clearance Project hearing, Department (=courtroom”) 66, Terraine Courthouse, 115 Terraine Street (x-street: St. John), San Jose, Judge Shawna Schwarz presiding over expungement cases for 8 RCP clients

Thursday, March 20 noon – 1:00 (time tentative) — Judge Ed Davila talks about the criminal justice system, some ideas for those just entering the field, and his path to becoming a judge

Thursday, March 20 4:30 – 5:30 — law students talk about applying to and being in law school (Room TBD)

GENERATE: Pathways to a Career in Counseling

This workshop will give you more information about the paths to your own career in counseling. Come learn about the different types of counseling and the ways to make it your future career.  These workshops are part of a series designed to support students who are the first in their family to attend college. http://www.sjsu.edu/studentaffairs/current_students/first-generation/

Please register because space is limited and workshops with low registration may be cancelled. We will accept walk-ins if space is available.  This workshop is for SJSU students only and is wheelchair accessible. If you need other accommodations, please contact: Counseling Services, Administration Building, Room 201, 408-924-5910, www.sjsu.edu/counseling.

The registration deadline for this event is 2/27/2014 11:59 PM

Start Date: 2/27/2014 Start Time: 5:30 PM
End Date: 2/27/2014 End Time: 7:00 PM
This workshop will take place in MOSAIC, located in Mod. A.

Contact Information:

  • Name: Jennifer Lynne Morazes
  • Phone: 408-924-5910
  • Email: jennifer.morazes@sjsu.edu

Apply to Pre-Law Boot Camp!

Application Deadline: Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Follow your dream…become a lawyer.

At no cost to the participant, Boot Camp participants attend and/or receive:

  • Workshops on the law application and financial aid process
  • Presentations by law school professors, attorneys or law students
  • Individual pre-law advising including their own pre-law action plan
  • Critiqued writing assignments focused on the personal statement and résumé

Applicants must be either first-generation college students and/or face economic hardship, and fulfill all other eligibility criteria.

The UC Davis School of Law Pre-Law Boot Camp is designed to assist high potential undergraduate students from underrepresented communities seriously considering attending law school with their undergraduate performance and preparation for admission to law school. The program consists of a series of full-day Saturday presentations and workshops throughout the spring semester. During the program, participants prepare for the law school application process, gain insight into the law school experience, and receive exposure to legal fields.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD APPLICATION MATERIALS!
 

Visit the King Hall Community! 

For info on upcoming events for

prospective law students, visit:

http://www.law.ucdavis.edu/prospective/JD/index.html

* Live Web Chats (Dec. 6 and Jan. 8)

* Admission Info Sessions (Dec. 14 & Jan. 4)

* Guided Tours & Class Visits (by appointment)

Remembering Mike Abrams

Photo: Dr. Michael Abrams

 

Mike, an instructor in the Psychology Department at San Jose State University, passed away suddenly at the age of 69.

Mike was born and grew up in Chicago, Illinois, the middle of three sons. He received his undergraduate education at Northwestern University and went on to earn his Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of Toronto. Early in his career as an experimental psychologist he taught at the University of Manitoba and at Ohio University.

Switching to the high tech field, Mike at first went to work for NCR in Dayton, Ohio, designing computer simulation experiments, and later worked for 13 years at Hewlett-Packard in San Jose as a software engineer.

A man of many interests and activities, Mike was never at a loss for something to do. He was an avid tennis player and also an accomplished bridge player. He enjoyed golf and sailing and the Oakland A’s. He baked his “famous” scones for everyone he loved. He never stopped reading in his field and could speak about a myriad of topics with knowledge and passion. He was a faithful volunteer for several community organizations, including Second Harvest Food Bank and Hospice of the Valley.

Mike’s greatest joy was spending time with his wife June, whom he adored and encouraged for 20 years. Besides June, he is survived by daughter Allyson and son-in-law Amir Kats; daughter Ilana and son-in-law Steven Hyman; son Aaron and partner Elaine Poon; stepsons Kevin and Paul McCullough; grandchildren Adam and Danielle Hyman; brother Steven Abrams and sister-in-law Abbe Alpert; and brother Sheldon and sister-in-law Mickie Abrams. We all love him and will miss him greatly.

A memorial event will be held Sunday, December 8th, 2:00 PM, at the SJSU Memorial Chapel. Donations in Mike’s honor may be made to Second Harvest or Hospice of the Valley.

Published in San Jose Mercury News/San Mateo County Times on Nov. 8, 2013

Online Partnership with Udacity: What have we learned two semester into the relationship?

 

SJSU Plus: Fall 2013 Update

 

Media contact: Pat Lopes Harris, 408-656-6999

The following can be attributed to SJSU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Ellen Junn.

With summer drawing to a close, we would like to provide everyone with an update on the SJSU/Udacity partnership. SJSU Plus began in January with just under 300 students in three courses. In June, we added two more courses, with 2,091 students enrolling in all five classes.

What do these courses have in common? All are entry-level classes most students need to graduate. This matches the project’s goal, which is to provide high-quality, low-cost college courses for credit to everyone.

SJSU and Udacity learned quite a bit over the past six months. The spring pilot study funded by the National Science Foundation will be published online September 4. Meanwhile, we would like to share some lessons learned.

Here’s what worked:

  • Learning by doing works. Online video allows us to stop every few minutes and offer students the opportunity to try what they’ve learned with an online exercise. Instructors have found this so effective that some are incorporating SJSU Plus materials into their campus-based courses.
  • Student interaction remains strong. Does online learning stifle conversation? We found the opposite. Students are connecting with each other, instructors and instructional assistants through every means available: text, email, phone calls, chats and meetings.

Here’s where we’ve improved:

  • Students need help preparing for class. With SJSU Plus reaching well beyond the SJSU campus, we are enrolling a growing number of students who are unfamiliar with the demands of college courses. This summer, 89 percent of our SJSU Plus students were not California State University students. So SJSU Plus now offers orientation in various forms in all five courses.
  • Students need help keeping up. Everyone needs a little encouragement to stay on track. So we’ve added tools that help students gauge their progress and we’re checking in with individual students more often.
  • We need to communicate better with students. Although SJSU and Udacity try to be as clear as possible with our online instruction, we know we can do better. Student feedback has been immensely helpful in refining SJSU Plus materials. We’re also sending less email and more messages while students are “in class” online.

Here’s what happened:

We’re still analyzing summer results. As you know, it can take a while to double check the numbers and understand cause and effect. But SJSU and Udacity are encouraged by improvements in student performance across the board. The following chart shows the percentage of students who earned a C or better.

Spring Pilot 2013 Summer Pilot 2013 SJSU On-Campus
(based on past 6 semesters)
Elementary Statistics 50.5% 83.0% 76.3%
College Algebra 25.4% 72.6% 64.7%
Entry Level Math 23.8% 29.8% 45.5%
General Psychology not offered 67.3% 83.0%
Intro to Programming not offered 70.4% 67.6%

(*Represents students who scored a C or better)

The overall retention rate dropped to 60 percent this summer, compared with 83 percent this spring, reflecting SJSU’s decision to be more flexible when students signaled to instructors that they needed to drop the course.

Here are a few things we’d like to clarify:

  • Over the summer, there were many comparisons made between our SJSU Plus and face-to-face courses. What many people failed to realize is this was not an apples-to-apples comparison.
  • On campus, we have students who are well acquainted with the rigor of college-level work. With SJSU Plus, most students are just beginning or resuming their college careers.
  • Also, the SJSU students enrolled in the SJSU Plus math courses this past spring failed the campus-based versions once before. Normally, these students would have been required to return to community college.
  • And that goes right back to our mission of increasing access. A 30 percent pass rate does sound low, until you stop and think that most of these students would not otherwise have had access to the course at all.

Here’s where we see things going in the future.

  • After taking a breather this fall to set the stage for student success in the future, we will resume offering SJSU Plus courses in January 2014. One major question we need to address is how to better sync our courses with our students’ busy schedules.
  • Many students have asked for greater flexibility in pacing, enabling them to speed up or slow down outside the confines of a conventional semester schedule. Customized scheduling is unprecedented at SJSU, but we would like to explore this option.

Welcome Back from the Career Center!

by Moira Kolasinski, M.A.
Employer Services Lead and Liberal Arts Employment Specialist
San Jose State University Career Center

 

Welcome back!  I hope that everyone had a restful summer!  Fall 2013 is off to a running start, with lots of great programming from the Career Center to support students’ success, in every phase of their career development!  This semester we are launching a new Career Webinar Series, hosted on WebEx.  Students can log in from anywhere to engage in discussion about topics from “Making the Most of the Job Fair” to “Landing Your Ideal Internship”.  If they miss the webinar, no problem! They are all recorded and housed on our website, the one stop shop for all things career and internship related.

In addition to our webinar series, we have our live career series, hosted every week!  Please note that our workshop location has moved to the Administration Building, Room 250, which can be accessed though the Career Center.  Students are strongly encouraged to RSVP on SpartaJobs to secure a seat, as space is limited and workshops fill up quickly!

Below I have highlighted the top ways for students to get started with us this semester, as well as key programs and services for students to take advantage of.  Please feel free to forward through your department listserv, or print out the attached .pdf for your offices. As always, thank you for your support and partnership! I look forward to working with you this fall to support students’ success!

Warm Regards,

Moira

 

LET THE CAREER CENTER HELP YOU GAIN YOUR COMPETITIVE EDGE THIS FALL!

Welcome back!  This fall is off to a fast start; do you have your competitive edge?  Here are the top 5 things to know about taking advantage of the Career Center as the semester starts!

 

  1. Update your profile! Is your SpartaJobs profile up to date?  Before classes get busy and assignments pile up, make sure your information is correct so we can let you know about hot jobs and internships, employer events, and other exciting opportunities to connect.
  2. Get to know us. Attend our open house on August 29, where you can learn about our services and resources, win some prizes and see our NEW workshop room location!
  3. Keep your Tower Card handy! Now when coming to the Career Center instead of signing in when you arrive, all you have to do is swipe your Tower Card to check in. Convenient, right?
  4. RSVP to get a seat. With our new workshop location, RSVP-ing is key.  Be sure to secure seats at our workshops by logging in to SpartaJobs and registering to attend.  Your RSVP is good until the start of the workshop, so be sure to arrive on time!
  5. Our virtual resources have grown! Check out our great new virtual services for connecting with our career consultants including our live interactive WebEx Webinar Series and our live chat feature for quick career questions.  As always, our fabulous website where you can find it fast, find it easy and find success is there for you 24/7.

 

The Career Center offers a wide variety of programs to help YOU gain your competitive edge. Be sure to check out our program calendar for our full menu of services, events, employer connections and more. Don’t miss out!

FALL 2013 PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS

EMPLOYER CONNECTION EVENTS
Fall Job & Internship Fair
Get Connected!  Meet with employers anticipating internship and/or career opportunities in business and technical fields.  Open to SJSU students and registered alumni in all majors.  Complete the online job fair success webshop to increase your marketability and to obtain an Early Bird Pass. Business casual or professional business dress strongly recommended.
Wed.     10/2     noon-2:00 p.m.* (SJSU students and registered alumni with early bird pass only) SJSU Event Center
2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. (Open to all SJSU students & registered alumni)  SJSU Event Center

WORKSHOPS
Take advantage our workshop series to help you with everything from making the most of your major to launching your job or internship search!

  • Advanced Resume
    Take your resume to the next level.  Strengthen your accomplishment statements and learn how to tailor your resume for specific jobs. (Pre-requisite: review the online webshop and create a resume).  Check calendar for dates and times
  • Launching your Job and Internship Search
    Gain job search strategies and techniques that are key to finding a job or internship. Limited seats available.  Check calendar for dates and times
  • Making the Most of the Job Fair
    Take your skills to the next level at this interactive practice session.  Perfect your one minute commercial and stand out to employers. Check calendar for dates and times
  • Rock Your Interview
    Get over your interview jitters. Learn proven techniques to present yourself like a professional before, during and after an interview. Check calendar for dates and times
  • Making Major Decisions
    Discover how to choose and make the most of your major, as well as methods and resources for exploring areas of study at SJSU.
    Tues.     9/10     3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.     ADM 250
  • Embarking on Your Social Job Search
    Enhance your job search through the use of social media tools (LinkedIn, Facebook, blogs and more). Learn how to research industries and employers, and build new networks. Check calendar for dates and times

WEBEX WEBINAR SERIES
Log in to WebEx to get your burning job, internship or career exploration questions related in these live, interactive webinars!  Checkout our WebEx page for topics, dates and times!

CAREER COACHING – LIVE AND VIRTUAL!

  • Rapid Resume Reviews
    Be confident that your resume gives you the competitive edge and clearly represents your experience and skills on paper.  Bring your resume for drop-in group resume review sessions and learn important strategies you can apply.  Viewing the online Resume Webinar prior to attending is recommended. Remember to bring your Tower Card, or Career Center Membership Card.
    Tues.     2:00 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.     ADM 250
  • By Drop-in
    (no appointment necessary) First come, first served. Available for currently enrolled SJSU students. Check calendar for dates and times
  • By Appointment
    Schedule an appointment by signing into SpartaJobs and clicking on “Request an Appointment
  • Virtual Chat (NEW EASY TO ACCESS FORMAT!)
    Join our virtual chat sessions to get quick answers to your career-related questions!  Click on the virtual chat image on our homepage
    Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

VIRTUAL RESOURCES – THE CAREER CENTER WEBSITE! FIND IT FAST. FIND IT EASY. FIND SUCCESS.

  • Job Fair Success Webshop
    Learn job search strategies that help you succeed at job fairs, employer events and more. Complete this online tutorial and receive your early bird pass registration. Completing this online tutorial is required to attend the Job Fair during the Early Bird Hours.
  • Interviewing Webshop Series
    Discover the steps to prepare and succeed on the interview. Part I – Prepare for the Interview; Part II – Handling Different Types of Interviews; Part III – Difficult Questions & After the Interview
  • Big Interview
    Awesome and free online training: interview strategies and practice with questions from over 20 industries.
  • Job Search Tool Kit
    Take the steps to help you launch your job search: Step 1 — Identify and Market Your Skills; Step 2 — Research Industries, Fields and Positions; Step 3 — Find Employers; Step 4 — Develop Your Plan; Step 5 — Start Building your Network.
  • The SJSU Career Center Blog
    Get the inside scoop on careers and internships from employers, our staff, and students. Also features convenient links to 24/7 Career Center resources and relevant websites and blogs
  • Career Center Facebook Fanpage
    View event listings, links, videos/photos, and other information that will keep you updated on the latest services and trends.

 

Tools for Success – The 2013 Schedule of Events

Want to make sure you remember an event? Set a reminder on your phone using our mobile app (download Guidebook at http://guidebook.com/getit and then search schools for SJSU. Download the Ultimate Spartan Guide and you will see an icon for Fall Welcome Days or download the Get INvolved Guide and find the Fall Welcome Days calendar within the Orientation and Transition folder.

You can also view and register for many of these events at http://events.sjsu.edu/

Not sure where everything is on campus? Check out a campus map!

“Come Together!” Third Annual Family, Friends and First-Generation College Students Evening

Thursday, August 22nd
6:30pm-8:00pm (please RSVP at http://www.sjsu.edu/counseling/students/First_Generation_College_Students/)
Martin Luther King Jr. Library, Room 225/229

“Come Together!” Third Annual Family, Friends and First-Generation College Students Evening is a welcoming and fun opportunity for students, family members, friends, peers, and supportive SJSU staff and faculty members to enjoy good food and company, discuss the college experience and increase sources of support for academic success.

Presented by Division of Student Affairs, Counseling Services, and MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center

Passport to Success @ SJSU

Tuesday, August 27th
11:00am-2:00pm
Boccardo Business Complex 032

Explore creative learning experiences while enjoying a quick lunch. See some fun educational videos and posters created by students in courses that include travel abroad, consulting for a local community or multi-national organizations, or pitching an entrepreneurial venture. Join team and leadership activities and learn about exceptional interdisciplinary programs.

Presented by the College of Business

Peer Connections Carnival

Tuesday, August 27th
3:00pm-4:30pm
Smith Carlos Lawn

Want to kick up your college game, but you’re not sure where to turn? We have the answers you’re looking for, including how to balance your time, take notes, or get involved! Play games, meet Peer Connections mentors and tutors, and discover resources on campus that your never knew existed.

Presented by Peer Connections

Student Health Center Open House

Wednesday, August 28th
10:00am-2:00pm
Outside the Health Center

The Student Health Center Open House will link students to vital health services through interactive games. Come meet the Health Center staff and get your questions answered. Know where to get free condoms, a chair massage, and excellent health & wellness care.

Presented by Student Health Center

Student Organization Fair

Wednesday, August 28th
11:00am-2:00pm
Tower Lawn

As an opportunity to get involved at SJSU, the Fall Org Fair is a “must do” annual tradition. Organizations have a chance to recruit new members and showcase their activities, while students can explore ways to get involved and add more fun to their SJSU experience. The event is free and open to the entire SJSU student community! Don’t miss it!

Presented by Student Involvement

MOSAIC Open House

Wednesday, August 28th
12:00pm-3:00pm
MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center (Module A)

The MOSAIC Open House is for students and families to come and learn about MOSAIC while mingling with current students, staff, and faculty. Learn how to get involved with MOSAIC. There will be food and prizes.

Presented by MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center

Social Justice BBQ

Wednesday, August 28th
3:00pm
Associated Students Rec Lawn

Be the change. Learn about ways that you can get involved: from community service to leadership, advocacy and activism. Learn about social justice and ways you can make a difference in San José.

Presented by AS César Chávez Community Action Center

Spartan Squad Kick-Off

Wednesday, August 28th
6:00pm
Campus Village Quad

The Annual Spartan Squad Kick-Off will be celebrating the first home football game of the 2013 season. Spartan Squad will be handing out their coveted Spartan Squad shirts and will help SJSU students prep for the game! Be on the look out for other great prizes and activities!

Presented by Associated Students

Career Center Open House

Thursday, August 29th 1:00pm-3:00pm Administration Building Room #154

Need a job? Access opportunities to earn money or to prepare for your career! We welcome all students to visit the Career Center to learn more about our services and events. Come in to activate or update your SpartaJOBS account to begin applying to jobs NOW!

Presented by Career Center

Healthy Tailgate

Thursday, August 29th
3:00pm
Fan Fiesta Tailgating Area

Come tailgate for the first home football game! Play the “Wellness Super Bowl” with Peer Health Educators and the LGBT Center to get FREE FOOD! Find us in the Fan Fiesta tailgating area under the blue tent.

Presented by Student Health Center-Wellness and Health Promotion & LGBT Resource Center

First Home Football Game of the 2013 Season

Thursday, August 29th
6:00pm
Spartan Stadium

Come Support your 2012 Military Bowl Champion Spartan Football team as they take on the Sac State Hornets in the home opener on Thursday night. Start the year off right! Spartan Up!

Presented by Athletics

SJSU Frosh Service Day

Saturday, August 31st
10:00am-12:30pm
Location: Veggielution
647 S. King Road. San Jose, CA 95116

(If you need transportation please meet at the AS House by 9:15am with your Tower ID and VTA sticker)
Want to start the semester on a positive note? Join us for a community service project. Meet new people and feel good about supporting others. Everyone can make a difference, because everyone can serve.

Presented by AS César Chávez Community Action Center

Community Connections Fair

Wednesday, September 4th
10:00am-2:00pm
San Carlos Quad

The 9th Annual Community Connections Fair allows all SJSU students the opportunity to know the services offered by non-profit organizations and ways in which they can volunteer and be involved in service-learning.

Presented by Center for Community Learning & Leadership

Stress Less for Success

Wednesday, September 4th
3:00pm- 5:00pm
Martin Luther King Jr. Library, Room 225/229

College can be exciting but it can also be stressful because of all the different things students have to balance in their lives. Come to this fair and participate in several interactive stations to learn how you can stress less for success. There will be free food and giveaways available!

Presented by Counseling Services

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Welcome Reception

Thursday, September 5th 4:00pm-6:00pm Umunhum Room, Student Union

Join us for an exciting community event where there will be plenty of opportunities to see old friends and make new ones. This is your opportunity to meet and connect with the SJSU LGBT Community. All SJSU students, staff, and faculty are welcome! Door Prizes! Light refreshments will be served.

Presented by LGBT Resource Center

MOSAIC Open Mic

Thursday, September 5th
5:00pm -7:00pm
Café Pomegranate

This event is an open MIC space where students and community members are welcome to share their talents; whether that is spoken word, poetry, song, instrument, comedy, etc. A great place to hang out and support our local performers!

Presented by MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center

Engage: New Student Leadership Immersion Experience

September 5th, 12th, 19th & 26th
5:30 pm
Location: TBD, Please apply for this program at the link below

Who is a leader? What does it mean to lead? The term leadership gets used all of the time, but have you ever stopped to think about what it actually means to you? Over the course of the seminar you will engage fully in an exploration about what YOU believe leadership to be. This interactive experience will give you greater awareness of leadership as theory and in practice. Open to all new students, no leadership experience required. Engage – with the concept of what leadership actually is. 80 applicants will be accepted. For more information and to apply today go to http:/bit.ly/engagesjsu

Presented by Student Involvement

Women’s Social and Tea Party

Tuesday, September 10th
4:00pm-6:00pm

Umunhum Room,  Student Union

Join us for an exciting community event where there will be plenty of opportunities to see old friends and make new ones. This is your opportunity to meet and connect with support for women identified students. Light refreshments will be served.

Presented by the Women’s Resource Center

Dugdug.com interviews Dr. Cary Feria about her research

 

Speed haPhoto: Dr. Cary Ferias an effect on multiple-object tracking independently of the number of close encounters between targets and distractors

Interviewed by and Posted on dugdug, August 2013

Dr. Cary Feria is Associate Professor of Psychology and of Human Factors and Ergonomics at San Jose State University. Dr. Feria received her doctorate in Psychology from the University of California, Irvine, where she explored depth and distance perception. More recently, her research interests have centered around visual attention and human factors. Dr. Feria’s primary research focus is “multiple object tracking,” which refers to the ability to visually track several moving objects simultaneously. Her recent paper, titled “Speed has an effect on multiple-object tracking independently of the number of close encounters between targets and distractors” was published in the journal Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics.

Background of the study

The ability to visually track objects around us is essential to our capability to navigate our environment. The limitations of humans’ attentional capacities are most evident in cognitively taxing situations, such as when a driver navigates through a congested street, and when an air traffic controller attempts to prevent collisions while monitoring numerous aircraft. Understanding multiple object tracking has practical applications in the design of controls and displays for automobiles, airplane cockpits, and air traffic control systems.

Intuition tells us that the more quickly objects are moving, the worse we will be at tracking them (and research as evidenced this intuition!). However, it is also known that when the objects we are tracking pass close to one another, we tend to confuse the objects and have more difficulty tracking them. When objects are moving faster, they pass close to each other more often — So potentially it could be that fast motion does not actually make tracking harder, but that tracking is just worse at higher speeds due to the objects coming close to each other more often. Our study tested this possibility by using computerized displays in which the speed of the objects could be increased without increasing the frequency of objects passing close to each other.

Results and findings

Our study found that the faster the objects moved, the worse people tracked, even though the objects were not passing close to each other more often at higher speeds. So we concluded that higher speeds indeed make it more difficult to track objects. We also found that the greater the number of objects that had to be tracked, the larger the effect the speed had on people’s tracking ability. This suggests that when objects are moving faster, we need to use more of our attention in order to track each object; so when there are a large number of objects to track and they are moving quickly, we don’t have enough attentional resources to be able to track all the objects accurately.

About the department

The Department of Psychology at San Jose State University has Bachelors degree programs, as well as Masters programs in Experimental and Research Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Industrial/Organizational Psychology. The faculty of Psychology are highly dedicated and student-oriented, and have a wide variety of basic and applied research interests. The San Jose State University Human Factors and Ergonomics Masters program is an interdisciplinary program that prepares students for careers involving the design of machines and equipment to be compatible with the human body and humans’ cognitive abilities and limitations.

 

dugdug log

 DugDug bridges the gap between academic journals (that are written by academics, for academics) and mainstream publications (that are written by “us,” for “us”). They seek to take the cutting edge research occurring at academic institutions, and delivering key insights in a way that is easily understandable to casual readers.

 

Online courses fail the mid-term at San Jose State, but what about the final?

image: picture of classroom
by Sabri Ben-Achour
Marketplace Morning Report for Wednesday, July 24, 2013

San Jose State University is about two semesters into an experiment with MOOCs — also known as massive online open courses. The plan was to increase access to education by offering cheap online courses for university credit ($150 per course, free if you aren’t taking them for credit).

Then came the preliminary data, and the grades weren’t good:

Intro Statistics: 49 percent of San Jose students taking the class failed, as did 55 percent of non SJSU students.

Remedial math: 71 percent of the SJSU students failed. 88 percent of non SJSU students failed.

College Algebra: 56 percent of SJSU students failed, as did 88 percent of non-SJSU students.

“It’s not necessarily a failure at all,” says Provost Ellen Junn. She says the remedial math course was made up of students who had already failed it once, and up to half of the students in other courses were from economically disadvantaged high schools. There are very little data on how to adapt MOOCs to this population, so “part of our initiative was to study would this methodology help student success or not.”

According to Udacity, the company that partnered with San Jose State to put on the courses, the failure rates of the San Jose students in the online math course was  lower than the failure rate of San Jose students who took remedial math in a classroom. Even so, nearly three-quarters of the online students failed.

One problem, Junn says, is that may of the high school students didn’t have access to Internet at home and fell behind. Other students complained they had difficulty keeping up because they were also working full time.

Michael Horn heads the Christensen Institute, which supports innovation in education. He says the jury is still out on MOOCs, but says the type of experimentation taking place at San Jose — despite it’s early results — will be necessary to find ways to adapt the courses to students.

“What we’re learning very clearly is that simply because something’s on an online platform doesn’t make education better.”

Conversely, students need to adapt to MOOCs. Ron Rogers heads the psych department at San Jose and helped develop the statistics course. While online courses “are a work in progress,”  he says by nature “they are a slightly different beast, and students may not be aware of that.”

Rogers says many students were unprepared for college level work and didn’t know how to manage their time. His first assignment for the summer semester was to have students develop a time management schedule, and to impress upon them the scheduling and discipline requirements.

Another factor is class size, he says. Classes are larger for the summer for most MOOC subjects, and two new courses were added.

“I think we’ve reached a critical mass of students this semester, that’s allowing them to self-organize into study groups online,” he says.

The school will be working on these things while the MOOC program is on hold, and full data, due in August, will flesh out how round two of San Jose’s MOOCs fared.