Students taking Anatomy and Physiology have many challenging and complex topics to navigate through. Some of the common areas where they may struggle include concept visualization, term memorization and learning how to apply their critical thinking skills within a real-world clinical setting.
Let’s explore MindTap for Elizabeth Co’s “A&P” and examine its suite of interactive features that improve engagement and comprehension, including Visible Body activities, author concept videos, clinical activities and personalized features.
Visible Body activities help students exercise factual and spatial knowledge
With Visible Body embedded into the MindTap Learning Path, students can access accurate visual representations, anatomically correct 3D models and immersive activities. Students can manipulate these 3D models and exercise their factual and spatial knowledge while reinforcing the concepts they’ve learned in Co’s “A&P.” Students can also check their understanding of these concepts by taking quizzes. With multiple Visible Body activities available in every chapter of the title, students can take advantage of a whole semester’s worth of 3D learning.
Visible Body activity in MindTap Learning Path
Author-driven content at students’ fingertips
“A&P” author Liz Co has always been passionate about supporting student learning and study skills. She currently serves on the HAPS (Human Anatomy & Physiology Society) learning objectives panel, is Committee Chair on Inclusive Pedagogy and Principal Investigator of Assessing Student Engagement and Efficacy of Remote Learning. Her wide-reaching experience has influenced new concept videos in each chapter, found under Learn Its in the MindTap Learning Path. Liz walks through what students have deemed to be the toughest topics in A&P, and breaks down those concepts using her pedagogical knowledge.
New concept videos with Dr. Elizabeth Co, author of “A&P.”
Clinical activities get students career-ready
Many students taking an A&P course are on the nursing/medical profession career track. With various opportunities to practice their critical thinking skills in MindTap for Co’s “A&P,” students can prepare for their future careers working in a clinical setting. Students can enhance those skills through Case Studies, activities which engage them with clinical scenarios and challenge them to achieve a higher-level of understanding with auto-graded assessments.
Study features reinforce key concepts/terms and personalize the learning experience
With over 8,000 anatomical terms to cover in the span of two semesters, A&P students need personalized solutions to help hone memorization skills and develop a better understanding of key concepts and terms. Students can improve these valuable skills with:
The Student Assistant, leveraging GenAI and exclusive Cengage content, delivers a personalized learning experience to students, available 24/7.
Mastery Training (powered by Cerego) uses cognitive science principles to help students learn key terms faster and more effectively. These activities help students make connections between terms and concepts, providing guidance until students have a full grasp of what they’ve learned.
Adaptive Test Prep helps students review and understand concepts and skills in the course. Students take a quiz and receive a customized set of study materials.
Today, I want to talk about an innovative and exciting tool for teaching and learning the subject of computer networking. I’ve been teaching and learning the expansive subject of computer networking for more than 25 years at the community college level. I also write networking and operating system textbooks for Cengage. I’ve always wished there was a tool available that offers accurate networking simulations while not being overly complicated for introductory students; that was focused first and foremost on teaching and learning the sometimes-difficult topic of networking. LabHUB Network Emulator from DTI Publishing is just such a tool.
I recently retired from full-time teaching, and I feel cheated that I will miss out using this tool in the classroom with my students. The good news for me is that I’m still writing networking textbooks, and this tool will be my go-to for developing virtual networking labs as a supplement to physical networking equipment labs.
What is LabHUB Network Emulator?
Network Emulator is a web-based networking simulation tool that anyone with a web browser and internet connection can access — no software installation required. For students, it’s easy to use. It visually shows the movement of network data through the network and allows students to configure network devices and topologies. It also gives immediate feedback as students work through lab exercises. For instructors, it’s fully customizable. While a library of pre-created, self-grading labs will be available with certain textbooks from Cengage, instructors can create their own labs to focus on the topics they feel are most important for students to grasp.
In addition, instructors can create self-check questions that provide immediate feedback with detailed explanations to validate learning outcomes as students work through lab steps. As I mentioned, this tool is focused on teaching and learning, so if a student gets stuck on a task, there’s a “Show Me” option that provides an explanation or plays a short video about the task at hand.
The vision behind Network Emulator
Every feature of Network Emulator was developed with teaching and learning in mind, and that has been the focus of the founder of DTI Publishing, Pierre Askmo, with all of DTI’s products. There are a few competing products in this space, and I asked Pierre why he decided to take on the competition and develop Network Emulator.
“We saw a need in the space between educational platforms with a fair amount of learning components but were static, and highly interactive professional network simulators geared towards engineers, which had hardly any learning features. The LabHUB Network Emulator merges the two to offer a highly interactive and educational network emulation platform.”
I pressed him further by asking what makes Network Emulator unique amongst the competition.
“It’s the ability to add educational features to a network emulation tool. Our tool was developed with students and instructors in mind. It enables instructors to insert questions, hints, and remedial texts while getting complete grading of the student’s actions. The LabHUB Network Emulator is an emulator developed for education.”
From what I have seen so far, that’s spot on.
Network Emulator has a clean, straightforward interface, as you can see from the figure. Moving from left to right in the figure, the lab written instructions are on the left, and you see a menu of devices and other options next, followed by the workspace. At the top are some controls including the Show Me option I mentioned before. The workspace can be pre-populated with devices as in the figure, and devices can be partially configured if desired depending on the learning objectives of the lab. The workspace can also be left completely empty so students can add and configure the necessary devices to complete the objectives of the lab.
Feedback in action: guiding students to understand networking concepts
One of the great things about Network Emulator is the feedback students get as they watch packets travel from device to device. The next figure shows a ping reply packet as it travels through the network from Computer B to Computer A. At the top right of the workspace, you see the current status of the packet, the source and destination devices, and the type of packet. At the very top of the workspace is the Network Log which is a running narrative of what is happening as the packet makes its way through the network.
Students can click the arrow at the top right of the screen and see the narrative history to better understand what occurred to get to this point in the packet’s journey. TheSendcontrol at the top of the workspace sends the packet so students can watch it traverse the network automatically. The Move to next devicecontrol simply forwards the packet to the next device, allowing students to click on the packet to see the packet details at any device.
The next two figures show packet contents and a partial view of the expanded Network Log. You can use the scroll bar to see the full log. When a packet reaches its destination, you’ll see a green checkmark and the status line reports “Successful.”
So, what happens if something goes wrong? For example, what if a student tries to send a ping packet, but the devices are not properly configured for a successful transmission? Again, feedback is the key. In the next figure, a ping was attempted between Computer A and Computer C. But, since a router is in between the computers, more configuration is required. The status bar at the top reports that the packet cannot be sent and if you hover your mouse over the exclamation point, you see a message: “No default gateway configured.” This type of feedback is excellent for students who are learning the basics of networking.
How instructors can build a personalized learning experience with Network Emulator
For instructors, Network Emulator allows them to create their own labs. Instructions can be written in Edit LabMode and audio instructions can be included. This is also where instructors can include a Show Me which can include a text narrative, a video, and audio.
In Studio Mode, instructors can design the topology with an initial state that students will see when they start the lab, and a correct state which is the state of the topology when the student completes the lab step.
Studio Mode is also where you can create self-check questions and configure grading criteria. After each step, instructors can create a self-check question to reinforce the learning objective for the lab step. Students will get instant correct/incorrect feedback and an explanation for the correct answer. In the Grading Settings, instructors can choose which configuration tasks are graded for each step. The next two figures show the grading settings and a self-check question.
There isn’t room on this blog post to show all the features of LabHUB Network Emulator, but what I’ve seen so far has me excited to incorporate Network Emulator labs into my Guide to Networking Essentials book. It has the right mix of accurate networking simulation capabilities and teaching and learning features for most introductory networking courses and certifications. And development is ongoing, so new features and capabilities are being added based on instructor and student feedback.
Speaking of development, I had a conversation with the chief architect of Network Emulator and asked him what was the most challenging aspect of developing the tool. He said, “I’d say the most challenging aspect was providing a SaaS platform where authors could create a multitude of diverse labs visually that students could access from anywhere in the world.” I bet that was a challenge! And it’s one of the things that makes Network Emulator so unique; whether you’re a student or instructor, if you have a web browser, you can use it.
Coming soon: the LabHUB Network Emulator will be available in MindTap for our next edition CompTIA Cloud+ and CompTIA A+ titles. In the meantime, visit our Computing & Information Technology page to find more engaging course materials from Cengage.
This is a question every educator has faced before. To be fair, it’s a valid question. Students are naturally curious, and it’s normal for them to wonder about the knowledge that they’re acquiring. The real issue is how we, as educators, choose to respond to them.
In my experience, teachers have two standard replies to this question:
They’ll try to explain the subject in detail, which results in a long-winded answer that confuses their students and doesn’t satisfy them.
They’ll argue that the information is important because it’s on an upcoming test, which typically leaves students feeling frustrated and disengaged.
Either way, the result is the same: Students lose all legitimacy in the lesson and they’re unable to connect with the content.
If we want our students to engage with the material in a way that’s memorable, meaningful, and fun, then we need to help them discover why it is important. Teachers can accomplish this by introducing real-world connections into the lesson, which reveal how the information that students acquire can be practically applied to real-world problems.
Without building these connections between the concepts our students learn and real-world applications, students lose interest in what they are learning. Using the strategies below, you can start to build student investment into your classroom content.
The everyday enigma
Use everyday items that operate with mystery and frame your lesson around them. Your students’ curiosity will drive them to learn more about the object and how it functions. This allows students to see that the small concepts they are learning are leading to the understanding of an object that they interact with daily. When choosing an item, pick one that is familiar and one that has multiple STEM elements. For example, you could use a copper wire to discuss electrical currents, a piece of an automobile to explore chemistry and combustion, or shark teeth when teaching about animal adaptations and food chains.
Interest intersect
Connect your students’ personal hobbies to the subject matter. For instance, if you have a student who is really passionate about soccer, try having them create a mini poster that connects the sport to the concepts learned in class. This gets them to think creatively about the purpose of content. This strategy has the additional benefit of helping teachers learn more about their students, creating opportunities to build communication and rapport.
Get an expert
Invite professionals (scientists, engineers, etc.) to talk with your class. This gives students a first-hand account of how the concepts they are learning can be applied to different careers. If you’re teaching chemistry, consider inviting a nurse or doctor to share how this subject applies to human health. If you’re teaching math, a local architect can expound on how angles and equations literally shape the homes in which students live. Not only does this provide a real-world example of students, but it helps schools connect with their community, creating vital relationships in the process.
Problem to progress
Create an engineering investigation based on a local, real-world problem. For instance, I once knew a music teacher who was frustrated because pencils would regularly fall off his music stands. I challenged my 5th grade students to create a solution using the engineering design process. Not only did they succeed, but the experience allowed my students to see the real-world results of the inventions they created. When students understand that their work can make a tangible difference, it completely changes their relationship with the material.
Project-based learning
Project-based learning is driven by inquiry and student ownership. This allows students to make contributions to the real world through hands-on investigations. What makes these inquiry-focused lessons so useful is that students are the driving force behind them. They choose how to approach the information, what questions to pursue, and what solutions they want to test. This makes the learning intensely personal while taking advantage of students’ natural curiosity, creativity, and critical-thinking skills. If you need a little help getting started, consider using one of these Blue Apple projects from Inquiry Outpost.
By linking our STEM lessons to real-world experiences, teachers can provide a meaningful answer to the age-old question of, “Why are we learning this?” We can equip our students with the skills to not only navigate everyday challenges but also create positive change within their own communities. So, let’s empower young learners to see the relevance of STEM in their lives, and lay a strong learning foundation that will support them well beyond the classroom.
Michael Grieb, Van Andel Institute for Education
Michael Grieb is a Learning Specialist at Van Andel Institute for Education, a Michigan-based education nonprofit dedicated to creating classrooms where curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking thrive.
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Hancy Maxis spent 17 years incarcerated in New York prisons. He knew that he needed to have a plan for when he got out.
“Once I am back in New York City, once I am back in the economy, how will I be marketable?” he said. “For me, math was that pathway.”
In 2015, Maxis completed a bachelor’s degree in math through the Bard Prison Initiative, an accredited college-in-prison program. He wrote his senior project about how to use game theory to advance health care equity, after observing the disjointed care his mom received when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. (She’s now recovered.)
When he was released in 2018, Maxis immediately applied for a master’s program at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. He graduated and now works as the assistant director of operations at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. He helped guide the hospital’s response to Covid.
Maxis is one of many people I’ve spoken to in recent years while reporting on the role that learning math can play in the lives of those who are incarcerated. Math literacy often contributes to economic success: A 2021 study of more than 5,500 adults found that participants made $4,062 more per year for each correct answer on an eight-question math test.
While there don’t appear to be any studies specifically on the effect of math education for people in prison, a pile of research shows that prison education programs lower recidivism rates among participants and increase their chances of employment after they’re released.
Hancy Maxis spent 17 years incarcerated in New York prisons. He now works as the assistant director of operations at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. Credit: Yunuen Bonaparte for The Hechinger Report
Plus, math — and education in general — can be empowering. A 2022 study found that women in prison education programs reported higher self-esteem, a greater sense of belonging and more hope for the future than women who had never been incarcerated and had not completed post-secondary education.
Yet many people who enter prison have limited math skills and have had poor relationships with math in school. More than half (52 percent) of those incarcerated in U.S. prisons lack basic numeracy skills, such as the ability to do multiplication with larger numbers, long division or interpret simple graphs, according to the most recent numbers from the National Center for Educational Statistics. The absence of these basic skills is even more pronounced among Black and Hispanic people in prison, who make up more than half of those incarcerated in federal prisons.
In my reporting, I discovered that there are few programs offering math instruction in prison, and those that do exist typically include few participants. Bard’s highly competitive program, for example, is supported primarily through private donations, and is limited to seven of New York’s 42 prisons. The recent expansion of federal Pell Grants to individuals who are incarcerated presents an opportunity for more people in prison to get these basic skills and better their chances for employment after release.
Alyssa Knight, executive director of the Freedom Education Project Puget Sound, which she co-founded while incarcerated, said that for years, educational opportunities in prison were created primarily by people who were incarcerated, who wrote to professors and educators to ask if they might send materials or teach inside the prison. But public recognition of the value of prison education, including math, is rising, and the Pell Grant expansion and state-level legislationhave made it easier for colleges to set up programs for people serving time. Now, Knight said, “Colleges are seeking prisons.”
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Jeffrey Abramowitz understands firsthand how math can help someone after prison. After completing a five-year stint in a federal prison, his first post-prison job was teaching math to adults who were preparing to take the GED exam.
Fast forward nearly a decade, and Abramowitz is now the CEO of The Petey Greene Program, an organization that provides one-on-one tutoring, educational supports and programs in reading, writing and now math, to help people in prison and who have left prison receive the necessary education requirements for a high school diploma, college acceptance or career credentials.
The average Petey Greene student’s math skills are at a fourth- or fifth-grade level, according to Abramowitz, which is in line with the average for “justice-impacted” learners; the students tend to struggle with basic math such as addition and multiplication.
“You can’t be successful within most industries without being able to read, write and do basic math,” Abramowitz said. “We’re starting to see more blended programs that help people find a career pathway when they come home — and the center of all this is math and reading.”
Abramowitz and his team noticed this lack of math skills particularly among students in vocational training programs, such as carpentry, heating and cooling and commercial driving. To qualify to work in these fields, these students often need to pass a licensing test, requiring math and reading knowledge.
The nonprofit offers “integrated education training” to help students learn the relevant math for their professions. For instance, a carpentry teacher will teach students how to use a saw in or near a classroom where a math teacher explains fractions and how they relate to the measurements needed to cut a piece of wood.
“They may be able to do the task fine, but they can’t pass the test because they don’t know the math,” Abramowitz said.
Math helped Paul Morton after he left prison, he told me. When he began his 10.5 years in prison, he only could do GED-level math. After coming across an introductory physics book in the third year of his time in prison, he realized he didn’t have the math skills needed for the science described in it.
He asked his family to send him math textbooks and, over the seven years until his release, taught himself algebra and calculus.
The recent expansion of federal Pell Grants to individuals who are incarcerated presents an opportunity for more people in prison to get these basic skills and better their chances for employment after release. Credit: Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via Getty Images
“I relentlessly spent six hours on one problem one day,” he said. “I was determined to do it, to get it right.”
I met Morton through the organization the Prison Mathematics Project, which helped him develop his math knowledge inside prison by connecting him with an outside mathematician. After his release from a New York prison in 2023, he moved to Rochester, New York, and is hoping to take the actuarial exam, which requires a lot of math. He continues to study differential equations on his own.
The Prison Mathematics Project delivers math materials and programs to people in prison, and connects them with mathematicians as mentors. (It also brings math professors, educators and enthusiasts to meet program participants through “Pi Day” events; I attended one such event in 2023 when I produced a podcast episode about the program, and the organization paid for my travel and accommodations.)
The organization was started in 2015 by Christopher Havens, who was then incarcerated at Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. Havens’ interest in math puzzles, and then in algebra, calculus and other areas of mathematics, was ignited early in his 25-year- term when a prison volunteer slid some sudoku puzzles under his door.
“I had noticed all these changes happening inside of me,” Havens told me. “My whole life, I was searching for that beauty through drugs and social acceptance … When I found real beauty [in math], it got me to practice introspection.”
As he fell in love with math, he started corresponding with mathematicians to help him solve problems, and talking to other men at the prison to get them interested too. He created a network of math resources for people in prisons, which became the Prison Mathematics Project.
The group’s website says it helps people in prison use math to help with “rebuilding their lives both during and after their incarceration.”
But Ben Jeffers, its executive director, has noticed that the message doesn’t connect with everyone in prison. Among the 299 Prison Mathematics Project participants on whom the program has data, the majority — 56 percent — are white, he told me, while 25 percent are Black, 10 percent are Hispanic, 2 percent are Asian and 6 percent are another race or identity. Ninety-three percent of project participants are male.
Yet just 30 percent of the U.S. prison population is white, while 35 percent of those incarcerated are Black, 31 percent are Hispanic and 4 percent are of other races, according to the United State Sentencing Commission. (The racial makeup of the program’s 18 female participants at women’s facilities is much more in line with that of the prison population at large.)
“[It’s] the same issues that you have like in any classroom in higher education,” said Jeffers, who is finishing his master’s in math in Italy. “At the university level and beyond, every single class is majority white male.”
He noted that anxiety about math tends to be more acute among women and people of any gender who are Black, Hispanic, or from other underrepresented groups, and may keep them from signing up for the program.
Sherry Smith understands that kind of anxiety. She didn’t even want to step foot into a math class. When she arrived at Southern Maine Women’s Reentry Center in December 2021, she was 51, had left high school when she was 16, and had only attended two weeks of a ninth grade math class.
“I was embarrassed that I had dropped out,” she said. “I hated to disclose that to people.”
Smith decided to enroll in the prison’s GED program because she could do the classes one-on-one with a friendly and patient teacher. “It was my time,” she said. “Nobody else was listening, I could ask any question I needed.”
In just five months, Smith completed her GED math class. She said she cried on her last day. Since 2022, she’s been pursuing an associate’s degree in human services — from prison — through a remote program with Washington County Community College.
In Washington, Prison Mathematics Project founder Havens is finishing his sentence and continuing to study math. (Havens has been granted a clemency hearing and may be released as early as this year.) Since 2020, he has published four academic papers: three in math and one in sociology. He works remotely from prison as a staff research associate in cryptography at the University of California, Los Angeles, and wrote a math textbook about continued fractions.
Havens is still involved in the Prison Mathematics Project, but handed leadership of the program over to Jeffers in October 2023. Now run from outside the prison, it is easier for the program to bring resources and mentorship to incarcerated students.
“For 25 years of my life, I can learn something that I wouldn’t have the opportunity to learn in any other circumstances,” Havens said. “So I decided that I would, for the rest of my life, study mathematics.”
The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.
Imagine a classroom in which young students are excitedly discussing their future aspirations and a career in medicine feels like a tangible goal rather than a distant dream. Now, imagine that most of the students come from historically marginalized communities — Black, Hispanic and Indigenous populations — that disproportionately face higher rates of chronic illness, shorter life expectancies and poorer health outcomes.
For many students from underrepresented backgrounds, a medical career feels out of reach. The path to becoming a doctor is daunting, full of obstacles like financial hardship, lack of mentorship and systemic inequities in education. Many students are sidelined long before they consider medical school, while those who persist face an uphill battle competing against peers with far more resources and support.
To mitigate these disparities, we must look beyond our hospitals and medical schools and into the places where young minds are shaped: our K-12 classrooms. Early exposure to health care careers can ignite curiosity and show students that they belong in places where they have historically been excluded.
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Organizations like the Florida State University College of Medicine, with its “Science Students Together Reaching Instructional Diversity and Excellence” (SSTRIDE) program, are leading the way in breaking down barriers to medical careers for underrepresented students. SSTRIDE introduces middle and high school students to real-world medical environments, giving them firsthand exposure to health care settings that might otherwise feel distant or inaccessible. Then, the program threads together long-term mentorship, academic enrichment and extracurricular opportunities to build the confidence and skills students need to reach medical school.
The 15 White Coats program in Louisiana takes a complementary but equally meaningful approach: transforming classroom environments by introducing culturally relevant imagery and literature that reflect the diversity of the medical profession. For many students, seeing doctors who look like them — featured in posters or books — can challenge internalized doubts and dismantle societal messages that suggest they don’t belong in medicine. Through fundraising efforts and scholarships, other initiatives from 15 White Coats tackle the financial barriers that disproportionately hinder “minority physician aspirants” from pursuing medical careers.
The impact of these programs can be profound. Research shows that students exposed to careers in science or medicine at an early age are far more likely to pursue these fields later in life. And medical students who belong to underrepresented groups are the most likely to return to underserved communities to practice. Their presence can improve communication, foster patient trust and drive innovation in addressing health challenges unique to those communities.
These programs can even have a ripple effect on families and entire communities. When young people pursue careers in medicine, they become role models for siblings, friends and neighbors. This creates a culture of aspiration in which success feels both possible and accessible, shifting societal perceptions and inspiring future generations to aim higher.
But programs like 15 White Coats and SSTRIDE cannot thrive without sustained investment. We need personal and financial commitments to dismantle the systemic barriers that prevent students from underrepresented groups from entering medicine.
Policymakers and educators must step up. Federal and state educational funding should prioritize grants for schools that partner with hospitals, medical schools and health care organizations. These partnerships should offer hands-on experiences like shadowing programs, medical summer camps and health care-focused career fairs. Medical professionals also have a role to play — they can volunteer as mentors or guest speakers, offering valuable guidance and demystifying the path to a medical career.
As a medical student, I know how transformative these experiences can be. They can inspire students to envision themselves in roles they might never have imagined and gain the confidence to pursue dreams that once seemed out of reach.
Let’s be clear, representation in medicine is not about optics. It’s about improving health outcomes and driving meaningful change. Building a stronger, more diverse pipeline to the medical profession is not just an educational priority. It’s a public health imperative.
An investment in young minds today is an investment in a health care system that represents, understands and serves everyone. Equity in health care starts long before a patient walks into a doctor’s office. It begins in the classroom.
Surya Pulukuri is a member of the class of 2027 at Harvard Medical School.
This story about health equity was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Hechinger’s weekly newsletter.
The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.
Historic Foust Elementary School has had a game changing start to the year. School and district leaders, parents, and community members were eager to get inside one of Greensboro’s newest elementary schools for their ribbon cutting ceremony on Feb. 3, 2025 to witness an innovative progression in the school’s history. They were greeted by students and the school’s robotic dog, Astro.
Foust Elementary School, part of Guilford County Schools (GCS), is the country’s first public gaming and robotics elementary school, according to the district. The school still sits on its original land, but the building has been rebuilt from the ground up. They began welcoming students into the new building at the start of 2025.
Foust Elementary School’s history goes all the way back to the 1960s. Foust student Nyla Parker read the following account at the ribbon cutting ceremony:
“Since its construction in 1965, Julius I Foust Elementary School has prided itself in serving the students and families of its community, with the goal of creating citizens who will leave this place with high character and academic excellence. … Now, almost 60 years later, we welcome you to the new chapter of Foust Gaming and Robotics Elementary School. As a student here at Foust, I am excited about various opportunities that will be offered to me as I learn more about exciting industries such as gaming, robotics, coding, and 2D plus 3D animation. Thank you to the voters of our community for saying yes to the 2020 bond that allowed this place to become a reality for me and my fellow classmates. Game on!”
Foust is a Title I school in a historically underinvested part of Guilford County. Several years ago, the district conducted a master facility study, which resulted in Foust getting on the list to receive an entirely new building.
“Foust was one of the oldest buildings in the district and it was literally falling apart, so we were on the list to have a total new construction,” said Kendrick Alston, principal of Foust.
“During that time, we also talked with the district and really thought about, well, building a new school. What can we also do differently in terms of teaching and learning, instead of just building a new building?”
The mission of Foust is to “envision a future where students are equipped with the skills, knowledge, and tools to lead the new global economy,” according to their website. The new global economy, featuring high projected growth in fields that include technology, was a driving factor for planners as they decided to focus the school on gaming and robotics.
There are many jobs that can come from learning the skills necessary to build video games and robots. Looking at recent labor market trends, many of those jobs are growing. Web developers and digital designers have an 8% projected growth rate from 2023-2033 with a median pay of $92,750 per year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“We looked at a lot of studies, we looked at research, and one of the things that we looked at was something from the World Economic Forum that looked at the annual jobs report. We saw that STEM, engineering, those kinds of jobs, were some of the top fastest growing jobs across the world,” said Alston. “When we think about school looking different for our students and being engaging, well, let’s make it something that’s relevant to them but is also giving them a skill set that they can be marketable in the global workforce as well.”
The team at Foust, including teachers and staff, have spent several months in specialized training on a new and unique curriculum designed to help prepare students for the ever evolving world of work. The building, designed to bring 21st century learning to life, is part of the first phase of schools constructed from a combined $2 billion bond.
“I am excited for what this new space is going to produce,” said Hope Purcell, a teacher at Foust. “With the continued support from our robotics curriculum, students will have the opportunity to tap into a new world of discovery that will prepare them for the future.”
Many community and education leaders were present at the ribbon cutting, including several county commissioners and Guilford superintendent Whitney Oakley. Oakley shared excitement about the new school and reminded everyone that the leaders who came before her who advocated for the passing of the bond and were open to the vision of a school like Foust were a huge part of making this new school a reality.
“Today is not just about celebrating a building,” Oakley said. “It’s about celebrating what this building really represents, and that’s opportunity and access to the tools of modern K-12 education. It represents the culmination of years of planning and conversation and design to make sure that we can build a space that serves families and students for decades to come. The joy on the faces of the staff and the families and the students is just a reminder that teaching and learning is more effective when everybody has the resources that they need to thrive, and that should not be the exception, that should be the rule.”
Students sometimes need different levels of support and resources in order to thrive. Foust hopes to be a place where all students can succeed. Another school district in New Jersey, the Morris-Union Jointure Commission, is using gaming and technology to engage students with cognitive and behavioral differences. They have created an esports arenadesigned specifically for students with cognitive challenges, like Autism Spectrum Disorder. This is just one example of how gaming can create an inclusive learning environment.
As Foust settles into its brand new building, they are already planning for new opportunities ahead, including partnerships with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University for innovative programming for students and parents.
This article first appeared on EducationNC and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background (current title, professional milestones, professional history, education, research works, hobbies, etc.)
Tiffiny D. Rye-McCurdy: I am a lecturer in chemistry and the Administrative Manager of the Academic Success Center at The Ohio State University at Marion, where I assist students in learning concepts of chemistry and biology both inside and outside the classroom. I currently teach GOB chemistry, general chemistry, organic chemistry and biochemistry. Prior to this position, I taught general chemistry as well as introductory biology courses. I received a B.A. in biochemistry from Ohio Wesleyan University and received my Ph.D. from The Ohio State University Biochemistry program. I am involved in community outreach as the co-coordinator of Ohio State Marion’s science and engineering camps for high school and middle school students. I enjoy visiting local parks with my family and gardening in my free time.
Ryan J. Yoder: I am an Associate Professor at The Ohio State University, serving the regional campus in Marion, OH. I previously taught GOB chemistry at Marion before joining the full-time faculty in 2013. I currently teach organic chemistry lecture and laboratory courses in addition to serving the campus and university community. I received my B.A. in chemistry from Ohio Wesleyan University and received my Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. I mentor undergraduate research students at Marion and Columbus. I am also currently pursuing chemical education research. I live in central Ohio with my wife and two children where I enjoy family time, travel, cooking, golfing and following sports from around the world.
Tell us about the GOB course at OSU Marion. What are the most rewarding aspects of teaching the class and the biggest challenges?
Tiffiny: The most rewarding aspect of teaching the GOB course is getting to show brand-new college students how basic chemistry relates to their health and physiology. In other general chemistry courses, we never get to emphasize the connection between chemicals and their extensive roles in the human body, and I think that delays student interest in chemistry until much later in their academic careers.
The biggest challenge is that, in covering general chemistry, organic chemistry and biochemistry in one semester, the breadth of knowledge you must communicate is vast. To complicate things, the majority of my class consists of first-year students who may not have developed college-level study habits yet.
How has the GOB course changed over the past few years? How have you adapted your teaching to reflect those changes?
Tiffiny: When I taught this course in 2015, it was a scaled down general chemistry course with an introduction to functional groups and a side of biochemistry at the very end. Now the course gives students a foundation in the core concepts of general chemistry, an extensive dive into not only functional groups, but their physical properties and chemical reactions, as well as an extensive coverage of biomolecules and how they all tie into human nutrition and metabolism. It’s very different from the course it used to be!
Ryan: These developments are influential to the way we wrote the book itself. Since it’s an integrated text, students learn about concepts early on that show up again and again in different contexts in later chapters, which helps reinforce core concepts. For example, the textbook teaches students about molecular shapes, polarity and intermolecular forces in the first third of the book. Then we talk about those intermolecular forces and how they affect the physical properties of organic molecules, learning about them again when we discuss how attractive forces are responsible for the 3-D structures of biomolecules like DNA and proteins. We believe this approach is the most appropriate to balance the tremendous breadth of the course while going into enough depth for faculty to be able to teach students these fundamentals of chemistry properly.
Tiffiny: Despite our differences, Ryan and I are both very methodical in our teaching approaches. We incorporated our teaching pedagogy into this text by presenting a cluster of related concepts, followed by an example problem which is solved step-by-step to show students a logical way to break down more complex problems, and show them the thought process. We follow these in-chapter worked examples immediately with a Learning Check to reinforce what the students learned, allowing them the opportunity to build those critical problem-solving skills.
Ryan: This text not only breaks down complex problems with a step-by-step approach, but the importance of the chemistry is constantly being shown with real-life examples of how it relates to the world around us. Not only is this evident in the way we introduce the concepts themselves, but we also provide extra features throughout each chapter to highlight connections between the chemistry we’re learning and the larger world. We begin each chapter with a Career Focus feature, to show our students that not everyone in health care is a doctor or nurse. And, in fact, many of the topics we cover in each chapter are directly related to a variety of careers in health-related fields. Also, throughout each chapter, we have several Health Connections and Environmental Connections to make the material come even more to life.
How does WebAssign connect to your text? How do you use it in your course? Do you have any suggestions for professors getting started with WebAssign?
Tiffiny:WebAssign for Chemistry, Cengage’s online learning platform, serves as an excellent tool for instructors to create graded assignments using a mixture of end-of-chapter and learning check exercises. I currently use it to assign homework to help students understand the concepts taught during lecture, and next semester I will use it to create extra review assignments (outside the hard-copy review packets I provide now).
Students love the Practice Another feature, which allows them to do a similar problem to those assigned. In fact, sometimes my students do those first to ensure they understand the concept before getting graded on their assignment. They also like the Ask Your Teacher feature, which allows them to ask me a question on specific problems and helps me see where students are struggling to understand when they are on their own. Lastly, WebAssign will soon include videos of Ryan and I working through specific exercises, showing how to approach each problem in a stepwise manner. These will be a great resource that students can watch in addition to the lecture with their own instructor.
How do you see this text deepening students’ engagement with chemistry and fostering more active engagement with core concepts? What is the most significant takeaway students will carry with them after using this textbook?
Tiffiny: I think tying general chemistry to our physiology really helps students connect to the material, when they might otherwise “zone out.” I really think students will have a basic, introductory understanding of chemistry in the body that they can build on when going into a science education or health and medicine field. Examples include conversion in the context of medical dosages, pH in the context of blood buffers, dilutions in the context of medication, REDOX reactions and the role of electron carriers in cellular respiration, how glycolipid antigens determine our blood types, the central dogma and chemicals that serve as micro and macronutrients.
Ryan: I think, in general, students who use this text will see how all of chemistry is connected to itself and how chemistry is connected to their broader world. On that latter point, I believe it’s critical that we included such cutting-edge technologies as COVID vaccines and CRISPR, which are sure to be a part of the health care landscape well into the future. Seeing chemistry in action through such relevant advancements and challenges will allow for more active engagement with the rest of the material. I think the way we scaffold the later organic and biochemistry material also gives students the best opportunity to carry that relevant knowledge further into their academic and professional journey.
Tiffiny D. Rye-McCurdy is the Administrative Manager of the Academic Success Center and a lecturer in chemistry at The Ohio State University at Marion. Dr. Rye-McCurdy currently has a rotational schedule teaching GOB chemistry, general chemistry and organic chemistry. Prior to this position, she taught biochemistry and introductory biology and physiology courses. She received her B.A. in ACS-certified biochemistry from Ohio Wesleyan University and her Ph.D. from The Ohio State University Biochemistry program.
Ryan J. Yoder is an Associate Professor at The Ohio State University, serving the regional campus in Marion, OH. Dr. Yoder previously taught GOB chemistry at Marion before joining the full-time faculty in 2013. He currently teaches organic chemistry lecture and laboratory courses in addition to serving the campus and university community. He received his B.A. in chemistry from Ohio Wesleyan University and his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. Dr. Yoder mentors undergraduate research students at Marion and Columbus, examining protein-ligand interactions toward therapeutics against threats from chemical weapons and cancer.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background (current title, professional milestones, professional history, education, research works, hobbies, etc.)
I am currently an Adjunct Professor in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, where I conduct research on various aspects of Paleozoic palynology, specifically the study of acritarchs. I am also a Professor Emeritus of Geology at Central Michigan University, where I taught undergraduate classes in physical geology, historical geology, prehistoric life and invertebrate paleontology for 39 years.
I earned my B.S. degree in geology from San Diego State University in 1969 and my Ph.D. from UCLA in 1973. I was also a Postdoctoral Fellow at UCLA in 1976.
I have published 61 professional papers, 34 geology textbooks of six different titles, including subsequent editions and given numerous presentations at professional meetings. I am currently involved in writing the fourth edition of “Geology: Earth in Perspective.”
I was the recipient of the Central Michigan University Outstanding Teaching Award and the President’s Award for Research and Creative Activity.
What was your driving force behind the creation of Physical Geology: Investigating Earth, and what aspects of this first edition are you most passionate about?
The driving force behind the creation of “Physical Geology: Investigating Earth” was to write a geology textbook in an easy-to-read style with current examples and stunning photographs, connecting students to geology in the world around them. Having taught geology to undergraduates for 39 years, I’m aware of what students find interesting in an introductory science course, especially if they’re taking it to fulfill their general education requirements. This text illustrates why geology is an exciting and ever-changing science with direct links to all of us.
In addition to covering the various topics of geology, this text integrates the current and relevant issues of climate change and environmental concerns throughout the book in a balanced approach, while emphasizing how these issues affect all of us.
Physical geology encompasses such a vast array of topics and locations. In what ways does your textbook offer something truly unique and differentiating to the field?
Besides the usual coverage of topics, this text offers several features in a visually engaging and text-friendly format to help students understand the topics covered and relate them to current events:
Virtual Field Trips, available in Cengage’s online learning platform, MindTap, offer students immersive, interactive experiences that take them beyond the classroom to some of the most iconic geological locations in the United States. These locations include Yosemite to study igneous rocks, Capitol Reef to examine sedimentary rocks and Hawaii to compare volcanoes, just to name just a few.
Virtual Field Trips feature a variety of media including video, high-quality animations and images, and GigaPan photography that allows students to zoom to a location up close, often closer than if they were physically there. Here’s an example of one such image where students can view the Grand Canyon to explore geologic time up close.
Concept Visualizations Animations are specifically designed to help students understand geological concepts in a visual format, such as Bowen’s reaction series and the formation of unconformities, two concepts that many students find challenging to understand from text and illustrations alone.
High-resolution photos have been chosen to highlight the visual nature of geology, particularly recent geologic events, contributing to the currency and relevancy of the examples discussed, as well as reinforcing the global nature of geology.
Given the ever-evolving nature of geology and the earth itself, how does your text discuss the complexities of current events and modern issues to remain relevant and impactful for students, and what are they?
Each chapter has been written to clarify the geologic concepts and topics covered to emphasize the understanding of the underlying principles and processes of geology.
Geology in the Spotlight is a feature found in 16 of the 18 chapters and focuses on current issues in geology as they apply globally, and with an emphasis on natural resources, energy issues, environmental concerns and effects of a changing climate. Examples include Windmills and Wind Power, Glaciers and Global Warming, Engineering and Geology, Hydraulic Fracturing: Pros and Cons and Rare-Earth Elements and Critical Minerals as Geopolitical Weapons.
Text, figure and table data reflect the most current published source information from internationally recognized and reputable institutions.
How do you see this text deepening students’ understanding and fostering a more active engagement with its core concepts?
Three examples illustrate an active engagement of the core chapter concepts:
Learning Objectives focus on the important concepts discussed in the chapter and are designed to develop critical thinking skills.
Some of the figures contain “Critical Thinking Questions” that are intended to encourage students to apply or analyze the material illustrated in the figure.
At the end of each chapter is a “What Would You Do?” question that is open-ended so students can apply the chapter material learned to a real-life situation.
With learners from diverse academic backgrounds, how does your text accommodate both those specializing in geology or earth science, and those encountering it through general education?
This text is designed for an introductory geology course and is focused on understanding the different aspects and specialties of geology and how they relate to each other as part of a continuously dynamic and evolutionary planet.
For those planning to major in geology, all of the basic concepts and topics of physical geology are covered and provide the foundation for the more specialized courses that follow.
What do you hope instructors will take away from this textbook that will enhance their teaching?
Hopefully, instructors will see how the many features of this text, including the spectacular photos, critical thinking skills and MindTap features, like Virtual Field Trips and animations, are all features that will provide the tools to stimulate active learning for the students.
Lastly, what do you hope is the most significant takeaway students will carry with them after using your text?
It is our hope that when students finish their physical geology course, they will come to appreciate the many connections between geology and their everyday lives, such as the causes and results of natural disasters like volcanic eruptions, landslides and earthquakes, as well as the less apparent, but equally significant links between geology and economic, social and political issues.
Reed Wicander is Professor Emeritus of Geology at Central Michigan University, where he taught physical geology, historical geology, prehistoric life and invertebrate paleontology. Currently, he is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Dr. Wicander earned his B.S. degree in geology from San Diego State University and his Ph.D. from UCLA
Welcome to “System Dynamics and Controls,” 1e by Dr. S. Graham Kelly — a new first edition and comprehensive guide to understanding and controlling interdisciplinary engineering systems. The goal of this text is to provide the reader with a general understanding of how to mathematically model a linear engineering system and how to control it effectively.
The fundamentals
Engineering is inherently interdisciplinary, and successful engineers often navigate and work in multi-disciplinary teams. Whether you’re a mechanical engineer learning about electrical systems or an electrical engineer diving into chemical processes, understanding diverse disciplines is key. All engineers should have some familiarity with the modeling of physical systems of any kind, as well as with the time-dependent responses of these systems. This knowledge isn’t just theoretical, it’s integral to designing control systems that guide these systems’ operations.
Take robotics, for example. Designing a robot requires expertise in both mechanical and electrical systems. A control system for the robot, usually an electrical controller, is designed to make the robot respond appropriately to certain inputs.
The prerequisites
Before diving in, it’s important to come prepared. This text is meant for those with a background in:
Single-variable calculus, including ordinary differential equations
Engineering physics, with a focus on mechanics, electromagnetism, and thermal systems
Core concepts from statics and dynamics, especially rigid body dynamics in planar motion
For more advanced sections, knowledge of multi-variable calculus will be helpful. Additionally, while not essential, prior or concurrent study in chemistry, circuit analysis, fluid mechanics, and thermodynamics will enrich your understanding of specific topics and examples.
MATLAB and Simulink
This text frequently uses MATLAB as a tool for the determination of the response of a dynamic system. MATLAB is used as a computational tool, a programming tool, and a graphical tool. From determining dynamic system responses to programming and graphical analysis, MATLAB is used extensively throughout the text. Some specific applications include:
Simulink, a MATLAB-developed simulation and modeling tool, is also integrated throughout this text. Simulink allows development of models, using either the transfer function or the state-space formulation, without the programming required for MATLAB.
This text’s comprehensive approach, combining theory with practical tools like MATLAB and Simulink, equips students to tackle the complexities of interdisciplinary engineering systems.
Written by Dr. S. Graham Kelly, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, University of Akron and author of “System Dynamics and Controls,” 1e.
Interested in this title? Dr. Kelly’s new first edition text is available for your engineering course now.
When I was in sixth grade, my homeroom teacher brought monarch caterpillars into our classroom. One of our homework assignments was to walk around our backyard and find milkweed (the only kind of plant monarch caterpillars eat) to feed our caterpillars. Now, over 25 years later, I still clearly remember the excitement of hunting around in my backyard to find milkweed and checking every day to see the metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly.
You might say that raising monarch caterpillars gave me the bug to want to be a biologist.
An early interest in biology sparks a lifelong dedication
As the years went by, my interest in biology didn’t wane. In college, molecular biology became my primary focus area. During graduate school and beyond, I trained in both molecular biology and the learning sciences, settling into a career in biology education. I taught Non-Majors and Majors Biology while running a research lab dedicated to understanding how people learn biology.
A lack of enthusiasm from students
When I taught Non-Majors Biology, I noticed a concerning trend among my students: All in all, they didn’t like biology.
That may be too gentle. The comments from an “introduce yourself” activity that I use in the first week of class revealed that most of my students were either afraid to take a biology class, thought the subject was boring, or didn’t think they could succeed at it. Some people even flat-out admitted they hated the subject.
Now, as a self-professed biology nerd, those comments took me aback. As a learning sciences researcher, I wanted to know why there were such pervasive negative feelings about biology. As a biology educator, I wanted to know what to do about it.
A common point of view
Negative perceptions around biology are common, driving people away from engaging with the big biology issues we face today. Lack of knowledge around scientific topics can make it easier to be duped by misinformation, leading one to potentially make decisions against their own best interests. We see this with issues ranging from climate change to vaccines.
Acknowledging that biology is all around us is important not only because it enriches our lives, but because it’s also important to the health and welfare of our society. Biology is everywhere, and engagement starts with reimagining how we think about biology’s role in our lives. It’s about reigniting wonder and emphasizing relevance. It’s about giving students the chance to learn biological material in a way that makes sense to them. When we start to make connections between the classroom and the real world, it becomes easier to engage with bigger concepts and ideas.
Connecting biology to the everyday
Let’s look at hand washing, as an example of how to relate lipid biochemistry to our everyday routines.
Okay, fine, we all know we’re supposed to do it, and yet nasty microorganisms like norovirus (transmitted mainly by the fecal-oral route, ahem) still tend to spread rampantly. Isn’t hand sanitizer sufficient? Or Lysol? The soap dispenser is out again — does it matter?
According to the Centers for Disease Control, hand sanitizer doesn’t work well against norovirus. Think of norovirus as wearing a protective coat — hand sanitizer doesn’t penetrate, and since the virus doesn’t readily dry out on surfaces, it remains ready to infect on the surface of the skin. In order to effectively remove the virus, you have to use soap and water and rub your hands together. Why?
Soap particles have water-repellant and water-loving components. Those water-repellant portions, combined with rubbing your hands back in forth, causes the virus to break apart. The soap particles surround the bits of virus, and water washes it away.
If I talked about the structure of soap as a fatty acid with a carboxylic acid functional group, sodium ion, and fatty acid tail, and how with other fatty acids, it forms a micelle in water, students’ eyes would glaze over. On the contrast, breaking down the basics of why hand-washing works to illustrate the biochemistry proves far more interesting.
Impacting student perceptions
When biological principles are applied to our daily lives, they become inherently interesting. When students realize they can understand the biological principles behind their daily experiences, it becomes accessible. By viewing biology through a personal lens, students learn to appreciate rather than hate the subject.
When students see biology everywhere, as an integral part of their lives, they are more likely to engage. As they engage, they realize they can understand biology, and that it’s actually interesting.
Think back to the opening example — my homework was looking in my backyard for milkweed to feed to the classroom caterpillars. Biology was relatable and accessible and that made it exciting. That’s the driving framework behind my biology education practice. I always consider the relevancy in students’ lives as the main touchstone in my teaching practice.
What is something that you can do in your classroom to bring your own excitement about the material in? What kind of real-world examples can you bring into your classroom? Come tell me about it on social media!
Written by Dr. Melanie Peffer,Teaching Assistant Professor and Research Scientist Level II at the University of Colorado Boulder, and author of “Biology for Life: A Guide to Our Living World,” 1e.
Interested in this first edition text for your biology course? Look for Peffer’s first edition text, “Biology for Life: A Guide to Our Living World,” 1ecoming spring, 2025, and check out other available biology titles on the discipline page.
Ryan J. Yoder is an Associate Professor at The Ohio State University, serving the regional campus in Marion, OH. Dr. Yoder previously taught GOB chemistry at Marion before joining the full-time faculty in 2013. He currently teaches organic chemistry lecture and laboratory courses in addition to serving the campus and university community. He received his B.A. in chemistry from Ohio Wesleyan University and his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. Dr. Yoder mentors undergraduate research students at Marion and Columbus, examining protein-ligand interactions toward therapeutics against threats from chemical weapons and cancer.
