Progressive Junior College of New YorkWhere The Learner Comes

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Presented to you by: Jennifer Boisvert, Liza Cope, and Shelli Failing 1

710 ETAP Road Malta, New York 12020 1-800-PJCNY4U

Table of ContentsMission Statement……………………………………..…………………..……...3Our Vision…………………………………………………….…………………………4Our Philosophy…………………………………………………….....……………..5Our Purpose……………………………………………………………….…………..6Demographics Location………………………………………………….……………...7

Students………………………………………………...……………....8 Faculty…………………..……………………………….…..………….9Curricular Framework…………………………………………………………..10Goals…………………………………………………………………………………….11Overview of Courses………………………………………………………..12-13Partnerships………………………………………………………………………….14Exemplar of Integrated Lesson

Part I (Description)………………………………………………..15

Part II (Activity)……………………………………………………..16

Reference List…………………………………………………………….….17-192

More information may be found by visiting our website.

Our mission is…

…to inspire, challenge, and educate life-long learners through a rich and responsive curriculum that focuses on the individual, the community, and the world. We believe that by integrating mathematics and science as a part of career development students will be challenged to become critical thinkers and problem solvers. In creating a diverse learning community, partnerships will be created and conflicts resolved in a manner that will benefit the student as they venture into a culturally diverse world. These abilities to think critically, problem solve, resolve conflicts, and form partnerships will ensure their success as they venture into an internship position, and ultimately, their career.

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Our vision is…

…that the Progressive Junior College of New York (PJCNY) will become the most respected junior college in the United States. Our graduates will demonstrate high levels of academic achievement through admission to four year schools and/or gainful employment. We will strengthen the region's social and economic vibrancy. We will have strong local and global partnerships with business, industry, labor and the public making the College a respected contributor to community vitality.  Our faculty will be renowned as educators and scholars, thereby increasing the value of our students’ degrees.

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The values and beliefs that guide the Progressive Junior College of New York in all activities and serve as our basic foundation are:

*A learner-centered curriculum that enhances critical thinking skills, has real world applications, includes cross curricular connections, and provides our students with a choice in what they study, the method of study, and how they are assessed.

*Well-planned and executed, andragogically* sound classroom, laboratory, and outdoor educational activities.

*Life-long learning that is modeled by our faculty through their history of being professionally active and productive scholars in their perspective fields.

*Research and internship opportunities that allow students and faculty to create new knowledge and to apply prior knowledge learned in the classroom. These experiences will also build students' proficiency in critical thinking, problem solving, decision making, and communication.

* Andragogy refers to the methods or techniques used to teach adults (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/andragogy)

 

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What is our purpose?

The purpose of the Progressive Junior College of New York is to provide young adults with the skills and knowledge that they will need to meet their personal and professional potential in the 21st century.  At the Progressive Junior College of New York learners have the opportunity to choose their courses - from our college's mathematics, science, and career preparation departments – and to explore research interests within the parameters of the science/math/technology course in which they are enrolled. Each course's title and description are springboards, not boxes for the curriculum of the course. None of our courses are taught as isolated subjects. Rather, every course incorporates cross curricular connections and real world applications, and therefore, technology is an integral component of all of our courses.

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Our Location

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Our school is located in the Luther Forest Technology Campus, just minutes from New York State’s capital city of Albany. We chose this location for our school due to its proximity to many large companies (GE and Knowles Atomic Laboratories) as well as being minutes from some of the largest nanotechnology companies in the industry (Sematech and Global Foundries), a field which is rapidly expanding. The relationships that PJCNY has made with these, and other, companies will provide many opportunities for students during and after college.

In addition to the partnership opportunities, this location in the County of Saratoga is in the heart of New York’s Tech Valley. Saratoga County is rich and diverse in its offerings to its citizens and its visitors. From the season of horse racing to winter festivals to spring garage sales, each season has a life of its own and is welcomed by all. By choosing this location for our school we are able to offer our students safe housing in close-knit communities and short travel distances to stores, shopping malls, and various forms of transportation-train, plane, and bus.

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Our Students

Our school prides itself in its diversity. Our enrollment currently includes students from 47 of the 50 U.S. States, Puerto Rico, and over 100 other countries. We have a student body of 500 students, with 150 of them falling into the “exceptional senior category.” Due to the small student body size the administrators and faculty are able to gain personal knowledge about each of their students. The students here at PJCNY truly form a unique learning community due to their motivation to work collaboratively and to learn from each other and about each other’s differences. Diversity of Students

CaucasionAfrican-AmericanAsianHispanicOther

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Our Faculty

Our faculty is the heart of our college. Our faculty is well blended due to the fact that they come from almost as many diverse backgrounds and training as our students. Our professors have taught at every level of school-elementary, middle, and secondary-both in the private and public sectors, and most have taught at many different college levels. Eighty-two percent of our faculty possesses a doctoral degree in their field of expertise, 12% are currently working towards their doctorate degree, and the remaining 6% hold at least one Masters degree.

Our faculty model life-long learning through their requirement to obtain a minimum of 50 hours of professional development every two years (not necessarily in their field of expertise) in order to ensure that they remain current with the most up-to-date instructional techniques and ever-changing technological advances.

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Curricular Framework

Curriculum should be engaging to the students and should not be designed in a step-by-step framework, but instead should consist of generative topics that are multi-disciplinary (Blythe, 1998). Once the concept is revealed to the students, a discussion should follow about how that specific topic relates to each student individually (Applebee, 1996). From there, students will be able to guide the instruction. Although the teacher acts as a facilitator in this type of learner-centered framework, the teacher is still responsible for the knowledge that each student gains through the discussions and investigations into the topic, therefore the role of the teacher is also to lead the students in the right direction through scaffolding. The direction may take different paths to the same endpoint, however, and that is where the true learning occurs.

A goal of the learner-centered curriculum is that of self-realization. As a curriculum goal, self-realization implies that “the school experience should be such that each individual has the freedom and opportunity to aspire to what he or she dreams of becoming” (Ellis, 2003, p.41). The curriculum at PJCNY allows students to choose their own unique path of learning that will prepare them for their culminating activity of completing an internship and submitting a portfolio of their learning experiences.

Our Goals…

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• to offer coursework and active learning experiences appropriate to the prerequisites of a baccalaureate program,

• to offer coursework appropriate for employment related to departmental majors or minors. We will utilize the wealth of business and educational institutions in the Capital Region by requiring all students to spend their final semester engaged in an internship experience,

• to offer well-planned and andragogically sound learning exercises in courses and in research projects,

• to provide coursework and research opportunities that include opportunities to use technology,

• to recruit faculty with theoretical and practical experience, reward good teaching, encourage faculty to conduct funded research and publish results, and to participate in professional organizations.

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Course Overview

Our courses are designed by our faculty to be integrated with at least one other course that a student is taking each semester. For example, our exemplar allows students to connect similar ideas across the different disciplines by integrating the following courses: Pattern: An Interdisciplinary Course in Textile Design and Elementary Group Theory, Nanoscale Science and Chemistry I, and Technology of the 21st Century.

Our faculty understands that PJCNY allows “learner-generated” curriculum and instruction therefore they question each student about other classes they are enrolled in and the faculty works together to create “well-planned learning experiences” that integrate the various courses. For this reason, the same course will never be taught in the same manner over different semesters-the material is always new, current, and meaningful to each student.

Through our accreditation, we are able to remain current with the ever-changing world of education for the benefit of both our students and faculty. By being accredited PJCNY is constantly reviewing the programs offered, the mission statement, purpose, and philosophy to be sure that we are in-line with the global changes taking place.

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Course Overview (continued)

Our faculty understands that students have hectic lives and our courses are designed to facilitate learning, not hinder it. Therefore, each of our courses are offered in three different formats: online, traditional, and hybrid (a combination of online and traditional styles).

Here at PJCNY we also feel that a student’s ability to express themselves is one of the most important attributes an individual can possess. For this reason, our students are required to take at least one writing intensive course each semester and since all of our courses are offered as writing intensive, this requirement is easily achieved.

Although the Humanities are not covered as individual topics, every class offered in the Applied Mathematics Department connects math to the various humanities disciplines.

As a culminating activity, each student must create a portfolio that is reflective of the learning process and knowledge they gained over their two years spent at PJCNY. While taking the course titled Progressive First Year Experience in their first semester students are taught to maintain a journal. This journal will be the basis for their portfolio due to the fact that each student will be required to reflect on each course throughout the four semesters that they attend PJCNY as well as their internship experience.

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Partnerships

PJCNY understands that companies require their employees to possess specific skill sets to ensure the continued success of each company. PJCNY feels that technical companies are looking for employees who will create the next bigger, better, faster, item for them. Our students are encouraged to research whatever interests them (lipstick, cancer, sneakers) and connect it to their in-class instructional learning objectives. In our courses, students are free to do research on topics that interest them within the parameters of the course’s main topic of study, therefore, the experiences are “learner-generated,” but within parameters.

We are also affiliated with the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education and once a year we hold an open house to collaborate with representatives from the companies that we have partnerships with (new companies are also invited). This collaboration allows PJCNY to better serve our students and allows us to get first hand knowledge of what companies are looking for in an employee, which allows us to strengthen our partnerships.

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Exemplar of

Integrated Lesson

Part I

This integrated lesson on Tessellations is representative of the cohesive nature of our curriculum. Like all topics studied at PJCNY, Tessellations have cross-curricular and real-world applications. Additionally, like all of our lessons, this hands-on activity engages learners and allows them to utilize their creativity. We believe that the skills that our learners develop during this lesson will prepare them for their internship experiences and future careers. Tessellations in Mathematics Shapes which tessellate cover the plane without gaps and without overlapping. There can only be three regular Tessellations on the Euclidean plane (2D plane) which are made from copies of a single regular polygon meeting at each vertex. These are of equilateral triangles, squares or regular hexagons. There are only three because the inside angles of the polygon must be a factor of 360°. A triangle has 3 interior angles and 360 is divisible by 3. A square has 4 interior angles and 360 is divisible by 4. A hexagon has 6 interior angles and 360 is divisible by 6. Why must the interior angles add up to 360? So that the polygons can line up at the points leaving no gaps. There are also eight semi-regular tessellations which consist of two or more regular polygons which meet at each vertex and also do not overlap or leave gaps. Tessellations in Art The original word tessellation comes from its use in art. The Ancient Greek words “Tessera” or “Tessella” referred to the small dice sized pieces of stone that were used in mosaics. Therefore, the original tessellations were mosaics. Mosaic tessellations date back to about 3000 BC in Ancient Mesopotamia. One of the greatest practitioners of the use of tessellations in art was the Dutch graphic artist M. C. Escher (1898-1972). Although he is more famous for his drawings of optical illusions, he also worked extensively on tessellations. Tessellations in Chemistry The arrangement of the atoms and molecules, or building blocks, in some solids are random. However, crystals are comprised of a regular repeated pattern of molecules. The exact same arrangement of a collection of atoms, called the Unit Cell, is repeated over and over throughout the crystal. Therefore, tessellations are found in crystals.

Tessellations in Technology of the 21st Century In this course we use TesselMania!™, a stand-alone tessellation creation program. This software runs under DOS, Windows 3.1 ~ WinXP, and Macintosh. It is a drawing toolkit that contains many of the same tools as MS Paint. This software allows you to alter your tile's height, width, tilt, color, fill, and pattern/design. You will be able to create M.C. Escher quality tessellations in minutes.

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Exemplar of

Integrated LessonPart II

Creating Tessellations

Are you ready to apply your artistic creativity to a fun hands-on activity?

You will need the following materials: Square Notecard Scissors Scotch Tape A piece of 11" x 14" paper Crayons or Colored Pencils A black fine-tip pen Directions: 1. Begin your cut at a vertex (corner) on the shape, and cut any way you want to as

long as you exit from the adjacent vertex. 2. Slide the piece out that you have cut. Do not flip it over or rotate it. 3. Move the piece to the OPPOSITE side of the original shape.

This is your tile.

4. Remove the part you have cut and slide it away without rotating or flipping the shapes.

5. Slide the part to the opposite side and secure it there with tape. Be careful not to

overlap the piece or make a gap. It should fit perfectly at the seam. This is your tessellating tile.

6. Trace it repeatedly without flipping or rotating or leaving gaps and making overlaps. 7. Repeat this until you fill up the page. Do not worry about shapes that are cut off by

your paper's edge, remember a tessellation can go on forever on a continuous plane. 8. Decorate your paper after you have traced over the lines in black pen.

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Reference List

Applebee, A., (1996). Curriculum as Conversation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Albany Nano Tech. (n.d). Retrieved November 7, 2009, from http://cnse.albany.edu/

Blythe, T., (1998). The Teaching for Understanding Guide. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Bucknell University. (n.d.). Retrieved November 10, 2009, from http://www.bucknell.edu/x5184.xml

Dartmouth College Math Department. Retrieved November 8, 2009, from http://www.math.dartmouth.edu

Definition of Andragogy. Retrieved November 20, 2009, from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/andragogy

Ellis, A., (2003). Exemplars of Curriculum Theory. New York: Eye.

Excelsior College. (n.d.). Retrieved November 3, 2009, from http://www.excelsior.edu

Freelayouts [Software]. Available from http://www.freelayouts.com/templates/Green-Forest?preview=true

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Reference List (continued)

General Electric. (n.d.) Retrieved November 7, 2009, from http://www.ge.com/

Hewlett Packard. (n.d.). Retrieved November 7, 2009, from http://www.hp.com/#ProductLogo Ease. Retrieved November 7, 2009, from http://www.logoease.com/

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education. (n.d.). Retrieved December 5, 2009, from http://www.podnetwork.org/.

Rensselaer Nanotechnology. (n.d). Retrieved November 7, 2009, from http://www.rpi.edu/research/nanotechnology/index.html

Robert Half International Incorporated. (n.d.). Retrieved November 7, 2009, from http://www.rhi.com/

SeaMonkey (Version 2.0 ) [Software]. Available from http://www.mozilla.org/

St. Charles Community College. (n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2009, from http://www.stchas.edu

Tessellations Information. Retrieved November 11, 2009, from http://www.tessella.com/about-us/what-are-tessellations/

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Reference List (continued)

Tessellations Lesson. Retrieved November 12, 2009, from http://www.teachervision.fen.com/math/printable/3523.html?detoured=1

Tessellations in Chemistry. Retrieved November 19, 2009, from http://www.chemistry.co.nz/crystals_defined.htm

TesselMania. Retrieved November 19, 2009, from http://www.tessellations.org/tesselmania0.htm

Thomas College. (n.d.). Retrieved November 10, 2009, from http://www.thomas.edu/partnerships/default.asp

Sage Colleges. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2009, from http://www.sage.edu/sca/resources/advisementcareer/careerplanning/internships/InternshipCoursesSCA/

The American Mathematical Association of Two Year Colleges (2009). Retrieved November 4, 2009, from http://www.amatyc.org/Crossroads/CROSSROADS/V1/index.htm

Toyota. (n.d.). Retrieved November 7, 2009, from http://www.toyota.com/

University of Detroit Mercy. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2009, from http://www.udmercy.edu/cec/resources/courses/index.htm

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