Innovation Journal Authors are authors from the Montgomery College Community (Faculty, Staff, Students, or Community Members) who are passionate about innovation in higher education.
By Dr. Caroline F. Toscano Caroline Toscano is Professional Development Director at Montgomery College. Her doctorate is in Educational Psychology and MA is in TESOL from the University of Minnesota. Her academic interests include microaggressions, equity, diversity and inclusion, with a particular interest in invisible disabilities. I used to teach international graduate students at the University […]
A Note from the Editors: This article and video is the first of many we hope will highlight how Montgomery College faculty, staff, and administration are recognizing and responding to the impact of food insecurity and homelessness on student success. Are you doing something in classroom, in your department or office, in your area of […]
Montgomery College recognizes that the costs of college impact our students our students’ success well beyond the classroom. Food insecurity and homelessness impact our students’ ability to succeed in the classroom on an immediate basis by impacting learning, attendance, and access to learning materials, and in the longer term, impact retention and completion. During […]
The Raptor Tank was established with the goal of providing Montgomery College students funding to support business ideas for new or existing business ventures. The competition emphasizes student empowerment as part of the Macklin Business Institute’™s (MBI) experiential learning initiative. Students lead and implement the program throughout the year with faculty advisement. Notably, students generate […]
On Saturday, March 4, 2017, ELITE and Montgomery College Innovation Works sponsored a mini-conference, “Creating Success-Relying on Failure.” The focus was on shifting our beliefs about failure. The event touched on several important themes: the power of stories- the stories we tell ourselves and the stories we tell about others; the connection between growth mindset […]
Is learning art or science? With advances in technology and learning sciences, we have the opportunity to understand how people learn better than ever before. However, the question of whether learning is an art or if it can be scientifically facilitated or, if it is both, is before us. Is learning a product of belief? […]
Montgomery College was awarded an ATD OER grant to develop z-degree pathways for the General Studies Degree. For MC Open and the General Studies Program, Open Educational Resources (OER) are an opportunity to : Promote student success by encouraging faculty to redesign courses using Open Educational Reso urces(OER) and pedagogies that engage, connect, and […]
By Art Grinath and Bruce Madariaga Introduction As the cost of hard-copy college textbooks continues to rise, calls from students and administrators for professors to instead adopt free or low-cost online course materials have risen in volume. Understandably, many instructors have resisted such calls, not wanting to adopt uncoordinated and incomplete collections of online material […]
Thinking about applying for an Innovation Grant but not sure what project to propose? Here are some examples of what others are doing across the country to help improve student and institutional success: New Challenges to Active Learning Initiatives What makes a successful, active learning course, beyond faculty training and a well-designed classroom? This […]
“The Science and Application of Team Neurodynamics” Does brain-imaging provide us with any special insights into the mystery of high-functioning teams? Can we get members of the team to operate “on the same wavelength,” and perhaps more importantly, is that even what makes for a high-functioning team? Join us for this special presentation March 9th, […]
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Ground Up Interdisciplinarity: A Multifaceted Pedagogical Approach to Business Studies for College Freshmen
By Professor Ali Alavi The integration of interdisciplinarity in learning continues to generate a great deal of interest in academia. Educators are innovating experiential learning activities for their students to explore topics in their programs of study in larger, richer, and multifaceted contexts, thereby accomplishing the learning outcomes of their courses more effectively while allowing […]
“The Flap of a Butterfly Wing”: From Incarceration to College Access
By Sharon Anthony, Elizabeth Benton, Schai Schairer, Jarvis Slacks In August 2021, then-president of Montgomery College, Dr. DeRionne Pollard recommended that several deans meet with Ms. Schai Schairer, a graduate of Montgomery College who had started a nonprofit organization that focused on working with incarcerated women at the Maryland Correctional Institute for Women (MCIW). By […]
Math and Art in Islamic Geometric Patterns: Creating and Teaching in Collaboration
By Rebin Muhammad, Ph.D. In first grade when I was in Iraq, I took my first art class. Given that my parents weren’t well-educated, and my dad was embroiled in the Iran-Iraq war, art had never been a part of our home life. I do not recall that we ever had colored pencils while I […]
With Time to Listen, a Montgomery College Professor Finds New Voice
By Esther Schwartz-McKinzie, Ph.D. I offer this advice for my colleagues who are eligible to apply for a sabbatical project at Montgomery College but have not done so yet: Ask yourself where you need to grow and do it. Sabbaticals create opportunities for personal expansion and self-challenge that are unique among the professions. I have […]
Some Departing Thoughts: On the Privilege and Responsibility of Inclusive Teaching
By Professor Tuere Marshall, Professor of English, retired As I retire this summer from my faculty position in the English department, reflections on my teaching career are flooding in. The seed for teaching was first planted during those twelve years of my early education when my teachers up through high school were nuns of the […]
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Robert L. Giron
Elizabeth Benton
Deborah A Dessaso
Beverly Stryker
Tuere Marshall
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