- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock /news-archive/tag/amar-kanekar/ ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Mon, 29 Aug 2022 12:49:53 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Kanekar Publishes New Book Chapter to Engage Online Students /news-archive/2022/08/29/kanekar-book-chapter-2/ Mon, 29 Aug 2022 12:49:53 +0000 /news/?p=82001 ...]]> The book chapter, “,” was published in August in the book, “ICT and Innovation in Teaching Learning Methods in Higher Education” by Emerald Insight. Kanekar has been teaching online and researching his experience with online education for more than a decade. With the constant rise in online learning, Kanekar wanted to share his knowledge of using group-based learning projects to engage online students. “The entire chapter contains tips and tricks for higher education instructors about the use of group-based teaching and how it helps online learners,” Kanekar said. “It will be very useful for anyone who wants to design online group projects that engage students with active learning.” Kanekar’s book chapter includes a comprehensive prototype application of a group-based learning project for an online class as well as some examples of rubrics designed by instructors to assess a group-based learning project. Additionally, the chapter discusses the roles of instructors and students in group-based learning, the challenges of group-based learning in an online class, and how instructors can utilize social media to design group-based learning projects.]]> Kanekar Publishes Book Chapter on Teaching Public Health With a Sense of Humor /news-archive/2021/12/09/kanekar-book-chapter/ Thu, 09 Dec 2021 15:25:03 +0000 /news/?p=80319 ...]]> Dr. Amar Kanekar, associate professor and graduate coordinator of health education and promotion at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, has published a chapter in a book, which will soon be published by Curious Academic Publishing, that is helping educators to be funnier and more effective in the classroom. “I felt that there is a need for humor in teaching in my area, particularly since the pandemic started, and humor can be a great pedagogical tool when used correctly,” Kanekar said. “It’s also an innovative strategy for teaching topics which are inherently tedious or serious, like statistics.” The book, “Teach Public Health With a Sense of Humor: Why (and How to) Be a Funnier and More Effective Public Health Teacher and Laugh All the Way to Your Classroom,” will be released this month. It is a recommended professional development guide for public health educators to minimize teacher burnout and improve teaching effectiveness. “This book is not about boring academic theories,” said Dr. Kishor Vaidya, editor of the book and associate professor at the University of Canberra, Australia. “The Public Health teachers will get a better appreciation for humor. Not only will they learn how to discover practical humor techniques and teaching strategies to dramatically improve their sense of humor, they’ll have plenty of healthy laughs along the way.” Kanekar wrote his book chapter, “Using Humor as a Pedagogical Tool in Public Health,” with Dr. Manoj Sharma, a professor at the University of Nevada – Las Vegas. Their chapter covers teaching strategies such as using funny stories with a moral, telling jokes to lighten up the serious art of teaching, and using simulation games, YouTube videos, movies, and websites to build humor into lessons. “I decided to contribute a book chapter to this book as I felt that there was a dearth of literature related to use and application of humor as a strategy and a tool for public health faculty across the nation and beyond,” Kanekar said. “I hope that with this chapter, along with my colleague Dr. Sharma, we can cover some ideas and strategies applicable to not only face-to-face format but online as well.” The Kindle Edition of the book is .]]> ��Vlog��ý Little Rock offers fall courses dealing with how to study and cope with pandemics /news-archive/2020/08/21/ua-little-rock-offers-fall-courses-dealing-with-how-to-study-and-cope-with-pandemics/ Fri, 21 Aug 2020 22:13:49 +0000 /news/?p=77412 ...]]> The fall 2020 semester is right around the corner. If you are still looking for an interesting class to take, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock has some unique options: studying the science of epidemiology and pandemics and coping with a pandemic: mind-body communication and yoga. HHPS 4300: Epidemiology in Health Education will be held online and is a required course in the Health Education and Health Promotion Program. “It’s extremely important to understand the distribution of diseases in planning a health program,” said Dr. Amar Kanekar, associate professor of health education and health promotion. “It gives a strong background for community health specialists.” The class is open to all undergraduate students. Students will discuss the basics of epidemics and pandemics and how to investigate disease outbreaks. Students will learn what an epidemiologist does, how diseases are transmitted, how to prevent the spread of diseases, and how to describe and interpret data from disease outbreaks. “Epidemiology is one of my research interest areas,” Kanekar said. “Everything is so applicable to what we are experiencing right now with the pandemic. There will be examples that involve COVID-19, but the class doesn’t focus entirely on the coronavirus, though I am sure everyone will be talking about it. The class is mainly about the conceptual understanding and underlying concepts of epidemiology as applicable to chronic and infectious diseases. I think the students will understand more of the science behind disease prevention after living through a pandemic.” The second course, ACOM 4313/5313: Seminar in Communication – Coping with a Pandemic: Mind-Body Communication and Yoga, will be held online and will equip students with essential life skills that probe the mind-body communication as connected to yoga. “A lot of the students are going through mental and physical stress from COVID-19,” said Dr. Avinash Thombre, professor in the Department of Applied Communication and a certified yoga and Ayurveda instructor from the Kaivalyadham Yoga Institute. “My area of specialty is health communication, and I wanted to offer theory and praxis related to mind-body communication and my practice of yoga.” The class will cover self-care techniques during COVID-19, the need for mind-body communication during a pandemic, yoga as a pathway to mind-body communication, and personal self-transformation opportunities through mind-body communication.��]]> Kanekar’s online course recognized for quality course design /news-archive/2020/02/12/kanekars-online-course-recognized-for-quality/ Wed, 12 Feb 2020 15:25:04 +0000 /news/?p=76132 ...]]> Organization and Administration in Health Education and Promotion Programs, HHPS 4378/5378, is an online undergraduate and graduate course taught during a 5-week summer session. It covers the principles and practices of organizational management and administration in health education programs. “An emerging health education specialist needs education and training in applying these principles in their practice as health education specialists as most of them work in various health care organizations,” Kanekar said. “It’s a very important course in our health education and health promotion program. Having good quality online courses for students greatly helps in student recruitment and retention.” The certification is an internationally recognized symbol of online and blended course design quality and represents Kanekar’s ongoing commitment to create learning environments and provide learners with a clear pathway to success. The certification is the result of Kanekar’s dedication to continuous improvement. The course is now listed on the . “The Quality Matters Official Review provided the opportunity to reflect on this course and examine it from the learner perspective,” Kanekar said. “From accessibility to learner engagement to assessments, the review used internationally-recognized standards and best practices to examine critical course components related to the learner experience and ultimately learner success.” The QM Official Review provided independent validation of the quality, learner-focused course design found in HHPS 4378/5378. Reviews are conducted by QM-Certified Reviewers and use the Quality Matters Rubric and associated Standards, which are based on research and best practices. A course earns the QM Certification Mark once it meets QM Rubric Standards at the 85 percent threshold or better and meets all essential standards. Kanekar is well known for innovation in online course design and development. In addition to several courses earning the QM certification, the professor is the recipient of the 2017-18 Blackboard Exemplary Course Program Award, has been a lecturer for Blackboard’s Innovative Teaching Series, and received a presidential citation for dedicated service and contributions from the National Society for Public Health Education.]]> Chancellor Drale gifts $25,000 to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty professional development�� /news-archive/2019/09/25/chancellor-drale-atle-gift/ Wed, 25 Sep 2019 17:27:19 +0000 /news/?p=75277 ...]]> The new chancellor of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock has started her term with an investment in the future of faculty members at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock.�� Dr. Christina Drale, named the university’s eighth chancellor by University of Arkansas System President Donald Bobbitt on Sept. 12, will donate $25,000 over two years to create an endowed fund to support the university’s Academy for Teaching and Learning Excellence (ATLE). Drale made the announcement at the University Assembly on Sept. 20. Drale, who has 34 years of higher education experience, noted that it was important to invest in faculty members who give so much to provide an education for ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s students. “While we make our way through the budget planning process and adjust to the new normal, it is vitally important that we not lose sight of the need to invest in our strengths,” Drale said. “As your chancellor, I make this commitment to you that I will keep that goal front and center. I am pleased to announce that I’ve started an endowment fund for the Academy of Teaching and Learning Excellence in the amount of $25,000 — a modest token of my commitment to the university.”�� The Academy for Teaching and Learning Excellence promotes professional development for ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s faculty members. Its mission is to foster excellence in teaching and learning through sharing ideas, collaboration, and building a strong community of engaged teachers and learners.�� “The gift from Chancellor Drale speaks volumes about her commitment to higher education and ��Vlog��ý Little Rock,” said Christian O’Neal, vice chancellor for university advancement. “Dr. Drale highly values the time, dedication, and hard work of the university’s faculty members. As the new chancellor, she wishes to encourage others by leading by example, and her generosity serves as an inspiration to us all.” Faculty Senate President Amanda Nolen commended the endowment as a way to underscore the importance of faculty development in student success. “Professional development for faculty is an often underfunded afterthought across the academy,” Nolen said. “In spite of a small budget, ATLE has grown to play a central role in the vitality of this institution’s instructional force. This infusion of resources will add to the sustainability of ATLE as its leadership continues to develop the quality programming available to faculty across campus.”�� Three faculty members serve as ATLE co-directors: Michael DeAngelis, associate professor of Earth Sciences, Amar Kanekar, associate professor of health education and promotion, and Laura Barrio Vilar, associate professor of English. “Chancellor Drale has always been a strong advocate and supporter of the Academy of Teaching and Learning Excellence, and this generous gift is another clear example of her strong commitment to the professional development of faculty of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock,” DeAngelis said. “ATLE strives to provide ��Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty with unique and innovative teaching and learning opportunities. This gift and its legacy will help to ensure its continued growth and the development of innovative, diverse and content-driven programming opportunities. The ATLE co-directors and fellows want to express our most sincere gratitude to Chancellor Drale.” Every month, the academy hosts two lunch-and-Learn events for faculty members to network and learn about teaching techniques and student success programs, and a teaching moments event for members to have direct learning experiences in a variety of classroom settings. These events serve as a powerful way to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty members to learn best teaching practices that they share with their colleagues. ATLE also sponsors teacher mentorships, community engagement opportunities, workshops, and an awards program for faculty. “I have been attending ATLE events since starting as a new faculty member at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock,” said Bailey Oliver, assistant professor of applied communication. “These events are not only fun and offer networking opportunities across disciplines at the university, but they provide insightful and necessary discussions on best teaching practices for our students. I have loved growing in teaching by attending these events, and frequently bring my notes from these events back to my faculty and department to prompt additional discussions as well.”]]> ��Vlog��ý Little Rock researchers showcase benefits of using open educational resources in the classroom /news-archive/2018/10/23/open-education-symposium/ Tue, 23 Oct 2018 13:24:14 +0000 /news/?p=72382 ...]]> University of Arkansas at Little Rock faculty, staff, and students shared their experiences using open educational resources during the Open Education Southern Symposium held Oct. 1-2 at the University of Arkansas. The symposium, co-sponsored by the University Libraries and Global Campus, connected supporters of open education for presentations, lightning talks, and panel discussions. Open educational resources (OER) are educational materials in the public domain or introduced with an open license, meaning they can be used freely. Educational materials like textbooks, curriculum, lecture notes, syllabi, assignments, and tests would be open to the public and could be used by students and faculty without cost. Carol Macheak, research and scholarly communications coordinator, said there is an OER Taskforce on campus that encourages ��Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty to consider using open educational resources as a replacement for textbooks and/or supplemental readings. “Many ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students cannot afford to purchase textbooks at the beginning of the semester, which means they are not able to read their assignments for the first 2-4 weeks of class,” Mackeak said. “Other students just can’t afford their textbooks, so they do without or they borrow and make copies or they buy an older edition.” Edma Delgado-Solozano, assistant professor of Spanish, and students from the Spanish Introduction to Literature and Cultural Studies Class gave a presentation describing their development of materials for an OER textbook, the Antología abierta de literatura hispana. Students who participated in this project include Heather Rodriguez, Daisy Vasquez, Nallely Lopez, and Bryana Herrara. The textbook is the brainchild of Julie Ward, assistant professor of Spanish from the University of Oklahoma. The textbook is produced with student-generated content through the development of critical editions of canonical texts from Hispanic literature. The goal of this project is to crowd source entries including introductions, annotations in the text, and discussion questions of important literary texts in the public domain. Additional ��Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty and staff to present include:

��Cori Schmidtbauer, instructional designer, “Applying Instructional Design Strategies to Incorporate OER and Alternative Textbook Materials into Online Classes”
��Robert Belford, professor, “Developing a LibreText and the Application of Hypothes.is Web Annotations to Enhance Student Learning”
��Brian Ray, assistant professor, “Open Access, Open Development: Creating Local Educational Resources for First-Year Writing”
��Amar Kanekar, assistant professor, ��“Use of Education Resources in a Quality Matters Certified Community Health Course”
��Annie Childers, assistant professor, “OER in Online Developmental Mathematics Classrooms”
��Jim Vander Putten, assistant professor, “Move to Active OER Learning: Applying Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy in Education”
��Cole Williamson, research and scholarly communications librarian, and Carol Macheak, research and scholarly communications coordinator, “Faculty Incentives to Adopt OER”

]]> ��Vlog��ý Little Rock awards funding to six projects in Seed Grant Competition /news-archive/2018/09/21/seed-grant-competition/ Fri, 21 Sep 2018 14:22:04 +0000 /news/?p=71902 ...]]> The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has awarded funding to six research projects by ��Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty members through the 2018-19 Seed Grant Competition.�� This year, the competition accepted research proposals in two tracks. Four projects were awarded funding of $6,000 each in Track A, while two projects were awarded $12,000 each in Track B. The grant period for each award is from Aug. 16, 2018, to Aug. 15, 2019. The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Seed Grant Competition aims to kickstart compelling research projects that can later be funded by external support after the term of the seed grant. The Track A winners and their projects include:

Annie Childers and Liangfang Lu, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, “Placement and Retention in Developmental Mathematics at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock”
Amar Kanekar, School of Counseling, Human Performance, and Rehabilitation, and Joseph Williams, Department of Rhetoric and Writing, “Health Quest – A Training Simulation for Health Education Students and Workers”
Rebecca Glazier, School of Public Affairs, and Heidi Skurat Harris, Department of Rhetoric and Writing, “Identifying Reliable Indicators of Instructor-Student Rapport in Online Classrooms”
Fusheng Tang, Department of Biology, “Osh6-Mediated Sterol Redistribution Extends the Lifespan”

The Track B winners and their projects include:

Hirak Patangia, College of Engineering and Information Technology, “An Experimental Investigation of a Faster Voltage Equalizer for a String of Batteries in Electric Vehicles”
Shanzhi Wang and Brian Berry, Department of Chemistry, “Investigation of the Pre-steady State of MTANs from Borrelia burgdorferi”

Kanekar and Williams’ project involves testing a digital simulation that will train health education students in how to conduct public health initiatives by learning aspects of program planning and evaluation for preventing a condition/disease of public health importance. “My co-investigator, Dr. Joe Williams, and I feel great about winning this grant as we believe that this pilot project may open up doors for extending educational games for student learning in other health courses and looking into advanced gaming projects for student learning,” Kanekar said. Proposals were judged based on the significance of the research or creative activity, quality of the research plan, expected outcomes and direct impact to the community, strength of plan to seek external support, ability to enhance and acquire external support, and qualifications of the researchers. “The quality of the proposals for this year’s Seed Grant competition blew me away,” said Jerry Damerow, chair of the Dean’s Science Council for the College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences and one of judges for the seed grant competition. “The quality was so good it made judging very difficult.” Damerow said the judges looked for projects that would give ��Vlog��ý Little Rock a competitive advantage and projects that could lead to commercially viable products or services. “In this regard, Dr. Childers and Dr. Lu’s project to improve outcomes in developmental mathematics has the opportunity to give ��Vlog��ý Little Rock an advantage in retaining and graduating students versus other universities that use a more traditional approach,” Demerow said. “Dr. Patangia’s project aimed at improving the efficiency of charging a string of batteries has important potential in the rapidly growing field of alternative energy.”]]> Kanekar to present webinar as part of Blackboard’s Innovative Teaching Series /news-archive/2018/09/05/amar-kanekar/ Wed, 05 Sep 2018 13:40:08 +0000 /news/?p=71671 ...]]> Dr. Amar Kanekar, a graduate program coordinator of the Health Education and Promotion program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, will present a webinar on service learning in an online course as part of Blackboard’s Innovative Teaching Series.�� In March, Kanekar was honored as a recipient of the 2017-18 Blackboard Exemplary Course Program Award for his class, “Health Education Program Evaluation,” a senior-level online course that focuses on health program planning and evaluation. Since winning the award, Kanekar was invited to present a seminar as part of Blackboard’s Innovative Teaching Series of webcasts. Kanekar’s seminar, “E-hybrid model: Service learning in a distance learning course,” will begin at 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25. Participants will learn about creating and implementing a service-learning course in an online environment and best practices in using reflections of service-learning work. Another interesting feature of this course is an option for a photovoice project to depict community needs. Kanekar has completed the Blackboard Learn Advanced training and served as a guest speaker for ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Summer Academy for Online Teaching Excellence in the past. He has also received a Quality Matters certificate for one of his online courses this year and received one of the first Open Education Resource mini grants from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock in 2017. In continuing his recent achievements, Kanekar has also been accepted as a peer reviewer for the Society for Public Health Education journal, “Health Education and Behavior.” Additionally, his article, “Designing an E-Learning Health Promotion Course: Meeting the National Benchmarks,” has been published in Volume 4, Issue 3 of the journal “Pedagogy in Health Promotion.” For more information and to register for the webinar, visit the]]> Kanekar receives presidential citation from National Society for Public Health Education /news-archive/2018/04/27/kanekar-presidential-citation-national-society-public-health-education/ Fri, 27 Apr 2018 13:37:19 +0000 /news/?p=70276 ...]]> Dr. Amar Kanekar, associate professor and graduate program coordinator for health education and promotion, received the National Society for Public Health Education Presidential Citation for dedicated service and contributions at the society’s annual conference April 5 in Columbus, Ohio.�� During his 11 years of teaching experience, Kanekar has taught more than 25 courses on public health, health education, and health promotion through distance learning, hybrid and face-to-face courses with web enhancement using instructional technology such as synchronous and asynchronous student interaction. Kanekar has received several honors related to online teaching in recent months. In March, he received certificate for his online course, Community Health Agency, from Quality Matters. Blackboard Inc., a leading education technology company for teaching, learning and student engagement, selected Kanakar as a recipient of the 2017-18 Blackboard Exemplary Course Program Award for “Health Education Program Evaluation,” a senior-level online course that focuses on health program planning and evaluation. He currently serves on the Society for Public Health Education Ethics Committee and Editorial Board for the journal Pedagogy of Health Promotion: The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. He is also on the review boards of the American Journal of Health Behavior and Journal of Health Education Teaching.]]> Amar Kanekar honored for excellence in online teaching /news-archive/2018/04/09/amar-kanekar-online-teaching/ Mon, 09 Apr 2018 17:50:28 +0000 /news/?p=70083 ...]]> When Nita Copeland first met Amar Kanekar in 2012, the new professor was not convinced of the merits of teaching online.�� “When Amar first came here, I asked him what he thought about online learning. He said, ‘Teachers needs to be in the classroom,’” said Copeland, senior instructor in the School of Counseling, Human Performance and Rehabilitation at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Copeland took Kanekar under her wing and taught him everything she knows about online education. Six years later, Kanekar, a graduate program coordinator of the Health Education and Promotion program, was honored as a recipient of the 2017-18 Blackboard Exemplary Course Program Award during a March 29 reception in the Donaghey Student Center. “Online learning was totally new, and Amar was always so positive. He saw that if you taught online correctly that you can have great results,” said Copeland, who has previously received a Blackboard Exemplary Course Program Award. “He has always jumped right in and would try anything.” The Blackboard awards program recognizes faculty and course designers from schools, colleges, and universities around the world who develop engaging and innovative courses that represent the very best in technology and learning. Kanekar won the award for his “Health Education Program Evaluation,” a senior-level online course that focuses on health program planning and evaluation. “I am deeply humbled by this big honor from Blackboard,” Kanekar said. “I would like to extend my thanks to my coworkers and family. I also want to thank the STAR (Scholarly Technology and Resources office) team for helping me with all my training. There is a very special person here, Nita Copeland, who always motivated me and encouraged me to go for this award.” Cori Schmidtbauer, an instructional designer in the STAR office who is friends with Kanekar, remarked that Kanekar has definitely earned the award through his dedication to teaching. “Amar is very student oriented,” Schmidtbauer said. “He is very passionate about learning and ensuring students get a successful learning experience, especially online students.” Kanekar has completed the Blackboard Learn Advanced training and served as a guest speaker for ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Summer Academy for Online Teaching Excellence. He has also received a Quality Matters certificate for one of his online courses this year and received one of the first Open Education Resource mini grants from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock in 2017. In the upper right photo, Amar Kanekar (right) and Nita Copeland (left) celebrate Kanekar’s recent award at a reception in the Donaghey Student Center Leadership Lounge. Photo by Marisa Perry.��]]>