Marion Addresses Academic Research Skills Gap in GoodCall
Jul 12, 2017
Sebastien Marion, virtual services librarian at the NYIT Manhattan campus, explains to GoodCall why only one-third of students enter college with the necessary skills to perform academic research. As Marion explains, this is largely due to the convenience of search engines:
“Students are Google-centric, they research using shallow strategies, snacking on search engines…They arrive unprepared for the complexities and rigor required when accessing and evaluating scholarly information,” Marion explains. “As a result, their problem-solving skills and ability to develop conceptual knowledge suffer.”
Although he mentions the skills gap is expected to grow, Marion also offers solutions, suggesting students go out of their way to interact with librarians who are both allies and sources of mentorship, among other useful tips.
Jonesboro Faculty Member Lends Pediatric Expertise to Public Radio Discussion
Jul 11, 2017
Arkansas Public Media quoted Andrea Read, D.O., pediatrician and assistant dean of Academic Affairs at the NYITCOM Jonesboro campus, in an article discussing the dangers of childhood heart disease. Among the top five causes of death for children and teenagers in Arkansas, heart disease can develop in children with hardening of the arteries at an early age, presenting no symptoms or problems in childhood or adolescence, until the patient experiences a heart attack in early adulthood.
“These days we are seeing it as early as 30’s,” states Read.
Research from NYITCOM Anatomy Department Shared on The Academic Minute
Jul 10, 2017
Brian Beatty, Ph.D., discussed the findings of NYITCOM heart disease research on a segment of The Academic Minute, a radio show broadcasted by WAMC Public Radio and shared with Inside Higher Ed audiences. In the segment, Beatty explains how his team of researchers, which included an NYITCOM student, may have discovered a solution to assess the development of atherosclerosis, the hardening of arteries which can cause deadly coronary heart disease and carotid artery disease, and pose a serious risk potentially leading to heart attack and stroke.
“Our team of researchers set out using histopathology, the study of changes in tissue caused by disease,” said Beatty. “After examining the arterial tissues of 48 cadavers, probing vessels from three groups: carotid arteries, central arteries, and peripheral arteries, we found a number of correlations in peripheral arteries to many of the arteries associated with diseases resulting in restricted blood flow, including the carotid arteries. One in particular, the radial artery in the wrist, proved to be an accessible location. Based on this finding, we strongly recommend further investigation into the radial artery as a measurement tool for assessing heart disease.”
Balentine Lends Legionnaire's Disease Expertise to U.S. News & World Report and Health.com
Jul 07, 2017
Jerry Balentine, D.O. and vice president for Medical Affairs and Global Health at NYITCOM, has been positioned as a Legionnaire’s disease expert in the Time Inc. outlet Health.com as well as U.S. News & World Report. In the articles, Balentine reminds vacationers that while summer is a time for vacation and making memories with the family, it is also a time when patients must be aware of the dangers of the disease.
“If your summer plans include travel, please be mindful that this disease has been linked to contaminated water supplies in hotels and cruise ships,” states Balentine.
For those whose plans may not include travel, Balentine also warns patients that rising temperatures provide a better habitat for the bacteria, and everyday hot-weather habits may unwittingly expose them to the germs. “With more air conditioners being turned on, and beachgoers visiting bodies of water where the bacteria may live naturally, people are more at risk," says Balentine.”
Meyland Discusses How NYC Plan Could Jeopardize Long Island Drinking Water in LI Herald
Jul 05, 2017
The LI Herald recently quoted Sarah Meyland, associate professor, School of Engineering and Computer Sciences, on New York City’s plans to re-authorize groundwater wells in Queens. As mentioned in the article, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection is currently petitioning the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to renew the water withdrawal permits for 68 wells scheduled to expire at the end of this year.
According to Meyland, who educates NYIT students on groundwater issues in her classes, the plan could potentially compromise sources of Long Island drinking water. As mentioned in the article, if the 68 wells drain an increasing amount of water from the aquifers, the water table would sink, and more salt water from the Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean could infiltrate the aquifers, including the Lloyd aquifer, the deepest of Long Island’s aquifers which is already on the cusp of saltwater intrusion. If the city were to utilize these wells as a backup water supply, they may be pushed over the limit by New York City’s drainage of the aquifer.
“It would be catastrophic for the City of Long Beach because all their water comes from the Lloyd aquifer,” Meyland states.
American Institutions Attract UAE-Based Students
Jul 05, 2017
NYIT is named in a discussion of the influence of U.S. educational institutions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Noting that American institutions in the UAE offer “the best of practical and theoretical guidance to students from all over the globe,” Dubai’s Khaleej Times discusses student preferences for American education in both K-12 schools and higher education. The story by reporter Farhana Chowdhury also states that enrollments at American institutions are expected to rise in the coming years.
NYIT is described as “the first American university in the UAE to be licensed by the Ministry of Education and Scientific Research.”
Anatomy Research on Evolution of Filter Feeding in Whales Featured in Daily Mail and The Economist
Jun 29, 2017
How baleen whales, some of the largest vertebrates to ever live, became filter feeders is a widely debated topic among paleontologists, but new findings from NYITCOM faculty members may finally solve this mystery. As seen in multiple publications, including The Economist and Daily Mail, NYITCOM Anatomy department chair Jonathan Geisler and associate professor
Brian Beatty explain how the remains of an ancient whale discovered in a South Carolina river could provide vital clues in understanding the origins of filter feeding.
“We know from the fossil record that the ancestors of baleen whales had teeth,” says Geisler in Daily Mail. “However, the transition from teeth to baleen is controversial. Our study indicates that early toothed whales used spaces between their large complex teeth for filtering and that baleen gradually replaced teeth over millions of years.”
Dean Gabrielle St. Léger on “Belonging” for College Success
Jun 28, 2017
Gabrielle St. Léger, dean of students at NYIT-Long Island, discusses a sense of belonging as a factor in academic success in a recent post on GoodCall.
“Belonging is defined as a feeling of mattering to others, of being important to a greater whole,” says St. Léger. “Students need to know that they matter to their institution and to particular communities within an institution – however we specifically define ‘community’.”
NYIT School of Architecture and Design Discusses IPAL Program with Architectural Record
Jun 26, 2017
NYIT School of Architecture and Design’s decision to offer the Integrated Path to Architectural Licensing (IPAL) initiative was recently featured in Architectural Record. The program will enable students to obtain Architectural Experience Program (AXP) credits while still in school, and allow them to take all divisions of the Architectural Record Exam (ARE) prior to graduation. In the article, Robert Cody, department chair and associate professor, NYIT School of Architecture and Design, credits the input of architecture students as a driving force in the decision to offer the IPAL program:
“Of course, the impetus to join IPAL came from our students wanting to get their licenses as soon as possible,” he states.
Cody also mentions that IPAL has benefits for the university, and will help draw students with four-year degrees to the School of Architecture and Design’s upcoming Master of Architecture program, a three-and-a half-year program projected to begin in 2019. Under the initiative, students will work part-time during the school year and full-time during the summer to fulfill the AXP requirements.
Hsu Explains How to Teach Difficult Concepts
Jun 07, 2017
In an exploration of why Americans don’t pursue STEM professions at a rate to meet market demand, GoodCall.com cites Hui-Yin Hsu, chair of the Teacher Education Program in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies & Education, on the topic of teaching to various learning styles.
For some students, it’s easier to memorize solutions to specific problems than to learn the concepts the solutions are based on. To see the connection, Hsu says, “students need time to digest the concept itself and to practice the concept in various contexts.” Teachers can help by approaching the concept via a wide range of examples. Eventually, she says, “The students will be able to make connections or association to the concept even outside familiar contexts.”