Academics

The December 2018 graduates of the College of Education celebrated the end of their student-teaching experiences on Monday night, reflected on what they learned and expressed their appreciation for the COE faculty who thoroughly prepared them to teach. “I knew teachers did a lot and I knew how much I loved and appreciated them, but you don’t really, truly understand how much you love teachers until you have to be in the position to teach,’’ said elementary education aspiring teacher Sarah Schalick.

GCU senior Xanthia Clow shined a light on the opioid crisis en route to winning first place in persuasive speech at the Pacific Southwest Collegiate Forensic Association Fall Championships  on Sunday at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif. Teammate Tommee Gleason placed third in three events and Keliann Nash finished third in impromptu speaking at a tournament featuring 38 college and university teams.

When GCU biology professor Dr. Galyna Kufryk saw that some of her microbiology students were struggling with the math in her course, she turned to GCU math professor Dr. Filippo Posta, who helped her put together a self-paced math lesson students could take that targeted the microbiology concepts she was trying to teach. After three years of collecting data, the results are impressive. Exam scores went up by 10.5 percent, on average, in the group of students using the math guide. Kufryk and Posta presented their findings at the recent Association of American Colleges & Universities conference in Atlanta.

“There’s real science going on … there’s real innovation,” Provost Dr. Hank Radda said during Wednesday’s Undergraduate Learning Community and Research Symposium. Student presenters spoke to the audience about everything from the Desert Owl Population Improvement Project to the Bible Virtual Reality Project and one team’s attempt to help nonprofits digitize their paper surveys.

Dr. Howard Carlson, an adjunct GCU professor in the College of Education and the reigning Arizona Superintendents Association Superintendent of the Year, shares experience and insight in his new book, “Accelerated Wisdom: 50 Practical Insights for Today’s Superintendent.” Carlson, the superintendent of the Wickenburg Unified School District, shared several of the book’s main points in a question-and-answer session with GCU Today.

“Why is There a Robot in My Operating Room?” We’re not sure why, either. But high school students found out why on Health Sciences, Engineering and Technology Day, where they learned about biomedical engineering (the reason there’s a robot in your operating room), discovered “The Unseen but SHOCKING World of Engineering,” stopped by a suture station, toured the cadaver and DNA labs and more. More than 950 high school students attended HSET Day Wednesday on the GCU campus.

Albert Einstein introduced a whole new game in physics with his general theory of relativity, proposing new concepts of space and time. He imagined the existence of gravitational waves rippling through the fabric of space and time and saw black holes as bottomless pits of such gravitational intensity that not even light could escape from them. His concept about gravitational waves is something he said existed, but he didn’t think it could be proved. Then in 2015, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detected two black holes colliding 1.3 billion light years away, confirming Einstein’s theory about gravitational waves. Amber Strunk spoke about the engineering marvel that is LIGO recently to students in the College of Science, Engineering and Technology.

Students tutored by the Academic and Career Excellence centers don’t have to worry about missing out on instruction from adjunct professor Martin (Dion) Benes. Morning, night and day — Monday through Sunday — Benes dedicates his time to tutoring while he’s outside the classroom. He’s been around students for 40 years and loves being a Lope. One administrator called Benes a staple of the University’s tutoring efforts. “I plan on staying until they kick me out of here,” Benes said. “I think the people around her are outstanding.”

The Leap to Teach & Lead Career Expo and Networking Event, a collaborative effort by Grand Canyon University’s College of Education, Career IMPACT Center and Strategic Educational Alliances was mutually beneficial. “Lopes Leap to Teach is a win-win for both our students and the school districts,” said Dean of the COE, Dr. Kimberly LaPrade as she walked among dozens of employers and potential employees along the Promenade.

The growth of the Educators Rising Arizona Fall Leadership Conference was evident last week when high school students joined their college brethren on campus, attending opening remarks and the keynote speech, along with breakout sessions between dining on Lopes Way and in the Student Union. With 641 attendees, participation has doubled in less than three years.