Don't Just Cover; Uncover

Last quarter, I took a class called "Advanced University Pedagogy" with other grad students in various departments here at UCR.  This quarter, I am working on putting together a teaching portfolio, which consists of essays, teaching statements, teaching evaluations, annotated syllabus, presentation, and so on.  We read from a number of books as part of the course and I thought I'd share something interesting I learned about being an effective professor.  The following passage is taken from Student Engagement Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty by Elizabeth Barkley:

For those of us accustomed to teaching data-intensive courses, it is difficult to shift the emphasis from the learning of information to learning how to find and then use the information.  Information recall is easier to teach, test, and maybe even to learn.  Nevertheless, changing the focus of your course from content coverage (which is usually information-driven) to uncovering the content (which is usually process- and application-driven) is more relevant to the changed environment in which students must function both during and after college. (p. 87 Barkley)

This is powerful.  All the information we learn and teach in college can easily be found in books and on the Internet.  So why do people keep coming to college?  Not so they can learn the information, but so they can learn how to find and use information.  In my mind, thinking about this should change the way a lot of professors teach.  We’ve all been in classes with “information overload”.  Professors should be less concerned about covering all the material and more concerned with teaching students how to uncover the material on their own. 

Weddings and Marriage

I wholeheartedly agree with the institution of marriage and highly recommend it.  This last week, I have had a wonderful opportunity to reflect on my own marriage to my beautiful wife, Liz.  We were able to witness the union of Haley Felton and Logan Merkley in the Provo Temple on April 25, 2014 and celebrate our own 3 year anniversary on April 30.

After an eventful plane ride from Ontario ahem...Irvine to Salt Lake, we made it to the temple approximately 30 minutes before the sealing was to begin.  Gathered in the sealing room with my parents, siblings, and spouses, along with all my living grandparents was a special moment.  It made me appreciate the legacy of all the wonderful marriages in my own family and starting a legacy of my own with my wife.  The important thing is that they both said 'Yes!'  I now only have one brother that is not married.  That's ok, though.  Brandon is only 17.

We had a great time sharing Logan and Haley's special day and enjoyed catching up with old friends and family over the weekend in Utah.  Yesterday, we celebrated our wedding anniversary.  It was a very windy day, much like the day we got married in the Redlands temple.  We had work responsibilities during the day, but did get to go out for dinner together at the Cheesecake factory.  We took our anniversary pictures, reviewed our predictions from last year, and made new predictions for the 4th year of marriage.  It's gonna be a great one!

PA system gone

So, yesterday I finally sold my PA system on Craigslist for the same exact price I bought it for about 6 years ago: $200.  During that 6 years, I had many great memories with this mixer and set of speakers.

I originally bought it from Craigslist from some guy in Provo that had been storing it in his garage, so we could actually hear the vocals as my band, By The Exit, had practices.  My first memories of the system date back to our days in the Sinclair Mansion in the summer of 2008.  I don't know if any pictures of these times exist, but it was a magical summer.  We lived on 800 North, right across from the Sinclair gas station (pretty close to J-dawgs and south side of BYU campus).  3/4 of the band lived in the house: Me, Jordan Rasmussen, and Mika Parmley.  We also lived with our good friend, Dan Barlow.  Lars Shurilla was already married by this time, but he was an essential part of By The Exit as well.  We set up the drums, guitar amps, and PA system in Mika and Jordan's room in the basement.  We had a black light, along with laundry detergent to write our band name and other things on the wall.

One thing I do recall that summer is not having any air conditioning, so we spent a lot of time on the porch or in the front yard.  We would bring out the couches, TV, and hook up the DVD player to the PA system and watch movies and Planet Earth on the front lawn.  Whoever was walking by on the street was welcome to stop by and chat or watch the movie with us.  I also remember one particular day that we had a shirtless black-light jam session in the basement.  When Mika took his shirt off, we knew it was a magical moment.  Mikachu!!

Each of us used to fill a gallon milk jugs of water and stick it in the fridge.  We would just chug them when we got too hot.  That was our AC system.  Also, it was much hotter upstairs, so Dan ended up sleeping on the floor of my bedroom in the basement halfway through the summer.

The PA system has been used as the primary sound system for approximately 6 weddings, including my own.  I wrote and played a song for my wife at our wedding reception on this system.  Lots of fun dancing and music was provided through these speakers.  It was used for acoustic house parties and many church functions.  I will miss it, but I'm not too attached to objects and I know I can always buy a much nicer system someday.

Transportation Adventure

On a recent trip back from visiting family in Utah for my grandfather's 80th birthday, I decided to test out the transportation network in LA.  My day started off with my mom driving me to the airport in Salt Lake City.  I could've taken the Frontrunner/Trax connection, but I'll save that for another trip.

-My flight left SLC around 10:30am and I arrived at LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) at around 11:15am (Total cost: $2.50, I had frequent flyer miles so I only had to pay a small tax).

Somewhere in the sky over Utah

-When I landed, I had to take a shuttle to the main part of the airport (I was in one of those little planes).  I went down to the ground transport area to take the LAX flyaway bus to Union Station in downtown LA, which arrived around 11:40am.  After being crammed in the small airplane seat, this bus was luxury.  It is a coach bus with leather seats and foot rests.  (Total cost: $8).

Union Station in downtown LA

-I arrived at Union Station in downtown LA, which is the main hub for subway, train, and bus lines.  As Lizzy and I found out when we visited here in December, it is a great place for people watching.  I took the 12:40pm Metrolink train to Downtown Riverside.  The train was peaceful and I got to kick off my shoes for a while and stretch out.  So much better than fighting LA traffic (Total cost: $13.25).

A fuzzy view of LA from the train

-I got to Riverside at around 2 pm and got on the #1 RTA (Riverside Transit Authority) bus that drops me off a short walk from our house. (Cost: Free because UCR students ride free on RTA).

It was definitely an adventure of walking, trains, planes, busses, shuttles, and automobiles.  If only I could've rode my bike and swam across some body of water, it would've been perfect.  And the whole experience cost me less than $25!