News

Back up SPARK course materials by Dec. 21

SPARK, one of the learning management systems (LMS) for on-campus courses at UMass Amherst, is going away at the end of the fall 2012 semester. Academic Computing recommends that SPARK course materials be backed up by Friday, Dec. 21.

Blackboard Vista, the software behind SPARK, is no longer supported by its vendor, Blackboard Inc. After the campus’s license expires on Dec. 29, files and data stored on SPARK will no longer be accessible.

Users have several options available for backing up SPARK course materials:

Manually Download Files from Spark to Your Computer

Use SPARK's File Manager to

Hatch to lead Blended Learning Faculty Forum

Heath Hatch, senior lecturer in Physics, will lead a discussion on "The Best of Two Worlds: Blended Course Design and Implementation" on Thursday, Nov. 29 from 1-2 p.m. in the Teaching Commons on the 26th floor of the Du Bois Library.

The space has been reserved until 3 p.m. for attendees who want to continue the discussion.

The Faculty Forum is a series of faculty-led discussions on the challenges, rewards and opportunities of teaching with technology, sponsored by the Office of Information Technologies, the Libraries and the Center for Teaching and Faculty Development.

Researchers use biomarkers from prehistoric human feces to track settlement and agriculture

For researchers who study Earth’s past environment, disentangling the effects of climate change from those related to human activities is a major challenge, but now campus geoscientists have used a biomarker from human feces in a completely new way to establish the first human presence, the arrival of grazing animals and human population dynamics in a landscape.
 
Doctoral student Robert D’Anjou and his advisor Raymond Bradley, director of the Climate System Research Center, with colleagues Nick Balascio and David Finkelstein, describe their findings in the current online edition of

Roche selected for Scripps Howard Journalism Entrepreneurship Institute

B.J. Roche, senior lecturer in Journalism, has been selected as one of 12 fellows to the 2013 Scripps Howard Journalism Entrepreneurship Institute held at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University in Phoenix.

The weeklong institute, which is held in January, is designed to help journalism educators build their programs' curriculum in entrepreneurial journalism.

Kinesiology graduate students receive awards at regional meeting

Two Kinesiology graduate students received presentation awards at the New England American College of Sports Medicine (NEACSM) Conference held Nov. 8-9 at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence.
 
Thomas Longyear (left) received the Outstanding Masters’ Student Presentation Award for his presentation titled “The Molecular Mechanism of Fatigue: Examining the Role of H+, Pi, and Ca2+.” Jeffer Sasaki received the Outstanding Doctoral Student Presentation Award for his presentation on “Validation of the Fitbit Wireless Activity Tracker® for the Prediction of Energy Expenditure.”
 
The

Young chairs panel on Jewish culture in New York City

Distinguished University Professor James Young, of English and Judaic Studies, will chair a roundtable discussion on “What is Jewish Culture?” on Nov. 28 at the 92nd Street Y in New York City.
 
The panelists will be novelist Amos Oz, architect Daniel Libeskind and historians Fania Oz-Sulzberger and Deborah Dash Moore.
 
The event is part of the launch of The Pozen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization: An Anthology in Ten Volumes, of which Young is the editor-in-chief. The publisher is Yale University Press.
 
On Oct.

Syracuse scientist speaks on specification, patterning of spinal cord neurons

Katharine Lewis, associate professor of biology at Syracuse University, will speak about specification and patterning of spinal cord neurons at a Neuroscience and Behavior colloquium on Wednesday, Dec. 5 at 4 p.m. in 222 Morrill Science Center II.

STEM talk by Yuretich examines technology and team-based learning

Geosciences professor Richard Yuretich will present a STEM talk titled “Technology and Team-Based Learning (TBL) in Introductory Oceanography” on Tuesday, Dec. 4 at 4 p.m. in 138 Hasbrouck Laboratory.

Team-based learning (TBL) is an active-learning strategy that uses class time primarily for investigations conducted by formal groups kept intact for the semester. Prior research has demonstrated that TBL increases student engagement, allows for a more flexible and dynamic class environment, fosters critical thinking and analysis and elevates student performance.

Brennan elected regional representative for National Student Exchange

Sheila Brennan of Undergraduate Advising & Learning Communities has been elected to a four-year term as Northeast Council representative for the National Student Exchange program.

She will represent Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Nova Scotia, Pennsylvania, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Rhode Island and Vermont. Brennan, who has coordinated the domestic exchange programs for the campus since 1993, has been with the university for 22 years.

The National Student Exchange

Omasta to perform wth Valley Rock Choir

Lynn Omasta, contract and purchasing manager for Facilities Planning, will be performing with the Valley Rock Choir on Saturday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. at Helen Hills Hills Chapel in Northampton.

Eighty singers strong, the choir will perform a mix of rock and pop songs, from "Mr. Blue Sky" (ELO) to "Chain of Fools," Aretha-style. The concert is directed by award-winning Tony Lechner, and will be accompanied by a backup band led by Mitch Chakour. Tickets are available at the door for $12 general public and $10 for seniors and students.

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