Author Archives: Ron Rogers

Putting Your Degree in Experimental Psychology To Work

SkyView Helps Fliers Avoid Gadget-Related Neck Strain

By 

Bloomberg Businessweek

Image: Airline passenger using an electronic device

Walk down the aisle of any airplane and you’ll see passengers in a pose best described as “gadget crane”: necks bent downward at an acute angle so they can view their tablets or phones in their hands or resting on tray tables. Bryan McClain and Demetrius Madrigal have invented the SkyView Travel Tray Mount, an accessory meant to help fliers juggle their drinks and devices without straining their necks. SkyView hooks over the plastic latch of the tray table and can support the weight of an attached mobile device. While the idea is simple, the pair’s winding, years-long journey from conception to marketplace speaks to the sometimes quirky nature of invention.

McClain and Madrigal met at San Jose State University while pursuing master’s degrees in experimental psychology. They bonded over their studies of communication patterns in hostage situations and went on to train policemen around the world in negotiation techniques. In 2005, after struggling to keep that business going, they founded Metric Lab, a tech design firm that has consulted on products for Microsoft (MSFT), EBay (EBAY), BAE Systems (BAESY), and NASA. They put their behavior research to work, camping out at homes and taking notes as residents handled their remotes or computers. “We look for things that take a lot of time or that frustrate people,” says McClain. “They might not even notice the frustration, but we notice.”

McClain conceived of SkyView during a 2010 flight home to California from Costa Rica. He and Madrigal went on a months-long search for old airline seats so they could test their device. Most collectors of old plane parts were suspicious of their intentions, they say, but the pair finally connected with Interface Aviation, a seller of seats and other equipment for plane interiors in Hollister, Calif. Nestled among vineyards an hour’s drive south of Silicon Valley, its supermarket-size warehouse is stacked to the ceiling with old seats. The Metric Lab founders haggled with Peter Shamy, Interface’s director of sales, knocking the price of their first pair of seats from $800 to around $200.

From there, McClain and Madrigal brought in an industrial designer and an attorney to mock up the device, patent the design, and help pitch it to mobile accessory makers. Through LinkedIn (LNKD), McClain reached out to Griffin Technology, which licensed the device based on a prototype and specs for other models of airplane seats. “They came to us with a full incarnation of their idea rather than just a drawing on a napkin,” says Scott Naylor, director of product development at Griffin, which also sells cables, cases, and speakers.

Griffin sold out its first two production runs of SkyView through direct sales, which began in February. Now it’s also selling the device at Amazon.com (AMZN) and Wal-Mart Stores’ (WMT) website. The company says it plans to sell them in airport shops and other stores, but wouldn’t release a timeline or sales figures. Naylor says it’s “selling how we expected.” Gartner (IT) analyst Carolina Milanesi suggests that airlines could sell or rent SkyViews to passengers.

While McClain and Madrigal say they’ll return to consulting, they’re also planning another invention. (They wouldn’t say what it is, but their office is stocked with old seats from a baseball stadium.) Recently they drove back out to Hollister to give Shamy one of their devices. “This is really quite something,” he said. Then he swapped them 10 tray table latches for it.

 

The bottom line: Silicon Valley design consultants have created an accessory to make air travel less of a pain for mobile users.

 

Vance is a technology writer for Bloomberg Businessweek in Palo Alto, Calif. Follow him on Twitter @valleyhack.

Behind the Scenes of a MOOC

Behind the Scenes of a MOOC
by The Network, Cisco’s Technology News Site

May 12, 2013

MOOCS, or massive open online courses, have been making headlines in higher education over the last year, with many colleges and universities jumping into the game. That includes San Jose State University, which recently partnered with Silicon Valley-based online education startup, Udacity to offer college classes for credit, at an affordable $150 per course. We take a look at the technology used in this partnership, and show how the startup and San Jose State say they are changing the face of higher education.  (Transcript available here.)

Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Complex Psychology Systems

The University of Cincinnati has recently received funding from the National Science Foundation to conduct a 9 – week summer training institute: Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Complex Psychological Systems.  They are looking to find the most diverse and well–qualified group of applicants possible. Learn all about this exciting opportunity at:  http://www.artsci.uc.edu/collegedepts/psychology/undergrad/reu/

Some program highlights:Image: Poster session at REU program

  • 9-week summer research program, May 28, 2013 – July 26, 2013
  • $4,500 stipend for the 9-week program, plus travel stipend
  • On-campus food & lodging included
  • Work one-on-one with nationally and internationally known faculty mentors
  • Conduct research projects in complex psychological systems within a range of research labs across cognitive, developmental, social, community, organizational, and clinical psychology
  • Interact with community organizations and local companies
  • Participate in weekly professional development programming
  • Enjoy weekly social programming
  • We will begin reviewing applications April 8, 2013 and will continue until all positions are filled.

What’s Cooking With Our Graduates? Meet Eric Carter

Eric Carter, Santa Cruz County Stories: Cabrillo College culinary director serves up passion for cooking, student success

By Bonnie Horgos
Santa Cruz Sentinel
Posted:   03/17/2013 05:05:01 PM PDT
Updated:   03/17/2013 07:35:49 PM PDT

APTOS — For leisure reading, Eric Carter turns to the cookbooks of Thomas Keller, the famed restaurateur of the Michelin-starred French Laundry.

Photo: Eric Carter

Eric Carter, chair of the Culinary Arts program at Cabrillo college and… (Matthew Hintz/Sentinel)

“I like reading them for the sheer pleasure,” Carter said of the tomes. “They’re challenging recipes, but they’re fun to read.”

The La Selva Beach resident’s reading choice makes sense, though.

Carter is director at Cabrillo College’s Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management program, shaping students into budding chefs in and out of the kitchen multiple days per week. He also helped reboot the community college’s Pino Alto Restaurant at the Sesnon House, where eager pupils get hands-on experience running the kitchen and floor Wednesday through Friday.

In the past few years, Carter has taken an initiative to increase student success. Since then, the number of students receiving degrees and certificate in Cabrillo’s culinary program has tripled.

While Carter has taught at Cabrillo for 17 years, his personal training in the kitchen was baptism by fire. He never studied at a culinary school, learning instead by working side jobs to support himself through college at San Jose State.

His first gig was at age 18 washing dishes at Villa Fontana Retirement Community in San Jose, though he doesn’t really flaunt it on his resume.

“It was dish-washing slash putting parsley on the plate for garnish,” Carter said with a laugh.

After that, he trained as a saute cook, where he cooked up food and sauces up to 60 hours per week.

“You need to multitask, and I like that,” Carter said. “I enjoy the pressure of cooking on the line.”

While Carter enjoyed working in various kitchens through the years, he decided to hang up his apron and start teaching when his four children started attending school. He had to take a pay cut, but the hours and summer vacations were ideal.

While demo kitchens and lecture halls are a change of pace, Carter said he fostered skills early on that he incorporates into his lesson plans. Last year, there were 265 students enrolled in the Culinary Arts program.

“You’re always teaching when you’re cooking,” Carter said. “I think you have to be a lot more patient as an educator, though.”

So what about cooking at home? Carter hits up the Aptos Farmers Market at Cabrillo College every Saturday, looking for fresh, local ingredients such as salmon and salad greens. It helps that his wife, who he met in his class, likes to cook as much as he does — she generally makes a salad every night, and he tackles the main course.

“I love to cook at home,” Carter said. “I cook at home more now than when I was a chef.”

Follow Sentinel reporter Bonnie Horgos on Twitter at Twitter.com/bhorgos

Getting to Know Eric Carter
Born: May 30, 1958, in San Jose
Family: Wife Peggy Chandler-Carter; children Peter, 29, Mary, 28, Sarah, 24, and Tom, 22
Education: Bachelor’s degree in psychology, San Jose State, 1981; master’s degree in education, San Jose State, 2008
Bonding: Carter taught his children how to cook, and gave his daughters a binder full of his favorite recipes one year for Christmas. ‘The boys were jealous, so I made them binders, too.’
Hobbies: When Carter isn’t poring over cookbooks, he likes to surf and kayak fish.
Taste: Carter said he likes to eat everything except for orange circus peanuts. ‘I don’t like them, but I’m a pretty adventurous eater.’
Community: Carter moved from Saratoga to La Selva Beach 10 years ago. ‘I absolutely love that little community. We know our neighbors, and we’ll have a glass of wine with them, or watch the sunset together at the bluff.

How To Succeed In An Online Course

Posted by Robyn Gee for Youth Radio
March 1, 2013 at 03:48pm

Image: Screen capture of Udacity course

A recent study out of Columbia University shows that certain groups of students, specifically African Americans, males, and those who have low grade point averages, do poorly in online courses compared to other students. An article in the Chronicle of Higher Education warns that online learning could widen the existing achievement gap between white and African American students.

Associate Professor Sean Laraway at San Jose State University in California is concerned about this trend, especially because the primary goal of the online elementary statistics course he teaches is to increase accessibility to the material. He teaches this course in partnership with Udacity, a provider of free online college courses. Laraway currently teaches approximately 4,000 students, which is actually small for an online course.

Ideally, this course serves students who would be otherwise waitlisted for the in-person course. It’s called a “bottleneck course” because it satisfies general education requirement. In addition, the course is open to community college students and high school students for credit, as well as to the public.

Laraway says that instead of talking about a black and white achievement gap, the focus should be on a student’s previous preparation for the course. “Studies show that students who aren’t prepared for in-class courses, are doubly unprepared for an online course,” he said. And most likely, students who are unprepared for online courses, have been failed by in-class education their whole life, he added.

Laraway said that there are certain traits that contribute to a student’s success in an online course. First, a student has to be able to follow written directions, often in English. Secondly, a student must have time management skills. “Because you’re not physically scheduled to show up somewhere, it’s easy to say, ‘Oh yeah, I’ll get to it.’ Also when you’re taking a class at home, there are all kinds of distractions going on, sometimes family responsibilities… You have to be in an environment that supports sitting down at a computer and working really hard on some challenging concepts,” said Laraway.

While the content of Laraway’s online statistics course is exactly the same as it would be in the classroom, the experience is intentionally different. In a traditional classroom, a student will often listen to a lecture twice a week, and then complete homework. “You’re not forced to engage in the material, except in a passive way,” said Laraway. “What we hope to do with our course is present bite-size pieces of information and then immediately have some activity where they can assess their knowledge, or provoke their thought. It requires a lot of interaction,” he said.

Ultimately, Laraway says that online education is not going away — and his course is an experiment that should be evaluated. “All we can do is make sure [online courses are] evidence-based, have empirical data to support what we’re doing, that we continue to try to make it better, and keep getting student feedback on how to make it better,” he said.

Chaparral’s Cunnigan emerges as a leader for struggling San Jose State

image: Ta’Rea Cunnigan playing basketball

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Christopher Hadorn   JAN. 10, 2013

Reprinted from U~T San Diego: http://www.utsandiego.com/

Ta’Rea Cunnigan is a psychology major at San Jose State, so she’s intrigued by the processes of the brain.

The Chaparral High graduate knows to keep a positive mindset when circumstances sour on the basketball court.

That hasn’t been easy this season, as her Spartans women’s basketball team has labored to a 4-11 record, including 1-3 in the Western Athletic Conference.

“I am trying not just to dwell on what we haven’t been able to, but focus on what we can do,” Cunnigan said. “We have a lot of basketball left to play. I have been trying to remain positive and just keep encouraging my teammates.”

Cunnigan, a sophomore, is the Spartans’ lone returning player. San Jose State might be the greenest team in Division I women’s basketball — it has zero seniors, one junior, two sophomores and six freshmen.

“(Youth) does play a factor, but we don’t really use that as a crutch, either,” Cunnigan said.

The 5-foot-9 guard has been a torchbearer for her young teammates. Entering this week, her 19.9 points per game ranked second in the WAC. Her 3.53 steals per game were also second in the conference and 14th in the nation.

With her ability to drive to the basket and create havoc as a press defender, Cunnigan is realizing the promise that was foreseen from her when she was named a preseason all-conference selection.

She is playing at a higher level this year after leading all WAC freshmen in scoring with 11.6 points per game in 2011-12.

Cunnigan credits some of her improvement to offseason strength and conditioning. But she has always believed that she had the athleticism to play at an elevated status in Division I. And she thinks most of her gains should be attributed to Spartans coach Tim La Kose and his staff for helping her with the mental approach.

“(They emphasized) staying positive and being a leader on the court — also off,” Cunnigan said. “Not being too down on myself when I do make a mistake or when I do mess up. Just move past it and keep going. I think that’s where the maturing comes into place, being able to make a mistake and responding different to it in a more positive manner.”

Cunnigan aspires to be a sports psychologist. Certainly, her chances weren’t hurt this week, when she learned she was nominated for an academic All-American honor. Cunnigan holds a 3.61 grade-point average.

“It’s time to just come together, get some wins from here on out,” Cunnigan said.

The D’Arpino Essay Contest in Psychology

“Who am I?”  –  This deceptively simple question was the inspiration for this year’s D’Aripino Essay Contest.  In fact, Brook Hammond answered the question in the first sentence of her winning essay.  “Who am I? A daughter, a sister, a Photo: Brook Hammondfriend, a student, an athlete. Just a girl in a universe of billions.”  Of course, the subtle complexity of this question showed its face immediately with Brook’s second sentence.  “The real question is who I think I am.”  What followed was an honest and thought-provoking reflection on thoughts, opinions, beliefs, and experiences; the result of which comprise who Brook thinks she is at this moment in time.

This reflection on one’s self was exactly what Emilio (Chick) D’Arpino had in mind when he began funding these essay contests over a decade ago.  Chick is a retired bricklayer turned “explorer” who has been pursuing answers to deep questions through essay contests at San Jose State University and Stanford University since the late 1990s.

I knew I was in for fun the first time I met Chick.  With a smile as big as the day, a joke always chambered, and a handshake that lets you know he’s listening, Chick brightened my day immediately.  He explained that he is motivated to fund these contests because he is “profoundly aware that there is a correct answer to each question.”  Chick feels that these questions are applicable to everyone at a most personal level.  He wants to do what he can to support such reflection, and to affirm the unique human trait of self-identity.

As Chick left my office, I looked down at his “business card” and noticed his stated profession as “Senior Citizen.”  Another good chuckle before I turned back to the avalanche of emails slowly consuming my inbox.  While it may be true that he is a senior citizen according to AARP, I couldn’t help scratching out the phrase on his card and replacing it with, “Explorer.”

 

APA Summer Science Fellowships for undergraduates

The Science Directorate of the American Psychological Association (APA) will sponsor its Summer Science Fellowship program, hosted by the Psychology Department at George Mason University, June 8 – July 20, 2013.  Up to twelve students who are current juniors will be selected for this six-week, paid summer research internship.  Students will be selected for experiences in one of several areas of psychology, including biological, applied developmental, applied cognitive, neuroscience, clinical, school, and industrial/ organizational.

Students currently enrolled in US or Canadian colleges are eligible.  International students at US or Canadian institutions may apply; US citizenship is not required. Students from underrepresented groups are especially encouraged to apply.

Please visit the Summer Science Fellowship page for more information about the program.  Contact ssf@apa.org or call 202-336-6000 if you have questions.

The application deadline is February 11, 2013.  Please encourage your best students to apply for this outstanding program.

SJSU VITAL program reaches out to student vets

by Natalie Cabral
Spartan Daily, Nov 7, 2012
http://spartandaily.com/90412/sjsu-vital-program-reaches-out-to-student-vets

 

Arriving back in the United States after seven years of service in the U.S. Army was not an easy transition for global studies major Dustin Delzell.

“It was hard,” Delzell said, “It sucked and it still sucks. You leave a place where everybody thinks and acts like you do and then come here where nobody thinks or acts like you do.”

The grant program Veterans Integration to Academic Leadership (VITAL) initiative has been put into place on campus since early 2012 in order to help veterans such as Delzell successfully transition to college.

Damian Bramlett, the program’s veteran coordinator, said the purpose of the initiative is not only to provide a major source of veteran information regarding recent GI bills, but to assist with the unique struggles a veteran faces transitioning into the college atmosphere.

“These veterans need a climate where they’re not getting flack for being a veteran too,” Bramlett said.

The initiative, according to Bramlett, was a grant opportunity discovered last December that had already been successfully established at five colleges and universities in the U.S.

After submitting a proposal created by Annabel Prins, an associate professor of psychology, SJSU was one of 15 colleges and universities that was granted the funds to run the initiative, according to Bramlett.

“In March we began the foundations for the program,” he said, “That included every little thing from business cards and brochures which aren’t paid for with the grant money.”

According to Bramlett, the initiative’s grant only includes funding for his salary and a student assistant’s.

“We’ve used outside donors to help us out and that’s been great,” he said.

Since the program’s establishment on campus, Bramlett has worked to reach out to each and every veteran on campus through word of mouth, emails and advocacy.

“This initiative helps them with trying to finish their goal of finishing college,” Bramlett said.

The initiative allows him to provide information about physical and mental health counseling, financial help regarding the GI bill and housing assistance to all veterans on campus, according to Bramlett.

According to psychology professor Elena Klaw, the initiative helps create the type of community that can be a solution for veterans who feel a sense of isolation at SJSU.

In addition, Klaw also teaches a class through the Veterans Student Organization (VSO) titled Warriors at Home.

The course discusses issues relevant to veteran life such as post traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries, depression, anxiety and healthy relationships, according to Klaw.

“It creates a community of veterans and mutual support,” Klaw said, “We know veterans are at a higher risk of things like suicide and violence in relationships, but social support is an important remedy.”

Mark Pinto, vice president of the Veterans Student Organization, served 20 years in the Marine Corps as a helicopter pilot and said veterans can use this initiative to gain a sense of visibility on campus.

“A lot of these young soldiers come back with traumas and issues,” Pinto said, “They feel isolated and they’ll find reasons to just drop out.”

Pinto said the importance of providing information to veterans about scholarships, work study, financial help and grants is crucial to feeling involved in the veteran community.

“Anything we can do to make people find a location to connect and reach out will create a sense of community,” Pinto said, “It’ll also bridge that gap of veterans and students.”

For Delzell, it is a gap that is all too real.

“We have different needs than a regular student,” he said. “The job title Damian holds is indispensable.”