PURSUITS: June 2016

Dr. Doug McConnell (School of Music & Theatre) worked with colleague Dr. Ruth Morrow of Midwestern State University to carry out a music accreditation visit of Providence College in Rhode Island for the National Association of Schools of Music.

In addition, Doug traveled to the New England Music Camp in Sydney, Maine, where he participated in rehearsals for his new song cycle, Langston's Lot: Song is a Strong Thing. Commissioned by saxophonist Gail Levinsky and pianist Jackie Edwards Henry, the new work is a successor to an earlier song cycle written by Doug in 1996. Both cycles feature the poetry of Langton Hughes. 

Joan McConnell (School of Music & Theatre) was one of several organists from the Toledo chapter of the American Guild of Organists who performed mini-recitals at the Peristyle Auditorium, for the Toledo Art Museum on Saturday, May 21. Patrons

were invited to visit the galleries and take a musical break at the Peristyle. Joan played several works during her concert stint, including two pieces by Dr. Doug McConnell. 

As part of their fellowship with the Science Case Network, Dr. Justin Pruneski (biology) and Dr. Nate Beres (chemistry) attended the National Academies Special Topics Summer Institute on Quantitative Biology at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C., from June 19-24. This was a joint meeting of the BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium, QUBES and the Science Case Network. Justin presented a poster based on work that was co-authored with two Heidelberg students, Enya Granados and Kaylee Wilburn, titled Aisles of Confusion: A Case Study Exploration of Food Production and Labeling Practices. Nate presented a poster titled The Mermaids and the Globins: A Case Study of Hemoglobin Binding and Regulation. During the workshop, they started a collaboration with several other science educators that will continue over the upcoming year. Their project is to build tools and activities to develop and assess the ability of students to evaluate the evidence behind scientific claims.

Dr. Justin Pruneski (Biology) had an original piece of science education curriculum published in the online Case Collection at the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (NCCSTS). The peer-reviewed publication includes a Case Study titled Desperate times call for desperate measures: Sporulation in Bacillus subtilis, which he developed to teach Microbiology students about an important developmental pathway in bacteria, along with accompanying Teaching Notes and Answer Key, so other instructors can implement it in their courses. The case is available here.

Dr. Michele Castleman (education) recently presented a paper at the Children's Literature Association's annual conference. Her topic was multimedia resources that enhance the Better Nate Than Ever series by Tim Federle.