Eric Stoller's Blog

Jim and I went up to Portland in July to present at the AACRAO Admissions Institute. We presented on Technology and Admissions. The presentation went really well. Jim and I had never presented before so it was nice to see that our styles meshed well. He is very serious while I like to inject a bit of levity. The audience seemed to enjoy our presentation. The evaluations were very positive.

I was in charge of editing the powerpoint that we used for the presentation. It was originally created in 2004 and the technology section needed several updates on accessibility, usability, and web statistics. The powerpoint section that I edited was used by presenters in Georgia, Massachusetts, and Texas.

AACRAO Admissions Institute 2005 Presentation

I’m a tall guy. 6 feet 4 inches to be precise. I need a tall shower head! Most showers hit me below the sternum. I have a very clean mid section but the upper torso could use some cleaning. The new apartment needs a new showerhead and shower head riser. (I have not moved yet. I’m just prepping. You’ll find out soon!)

Wendy and I went to the Home Despot this past weekend to search for a solution. I selected a 10 inch “S” curve riser with a nice multi-flow Delta showerhead. The landlord is going to pay for the parts and install.

Related aside: The shower at my parent’s house was raised to unbelievable heights to accommodate me and Shaun. We’re both over 6 feet tall and the showerhead is a fully extended arms reach away even for me!

Here’s what it looks like:

I think the verdict is in, students who attend study tables (even once) achieve higher gpa’s than their non-attending peers

It gets even better when you look at their placement scores. Study table attendees had lower placement scores than their non-attending peers yet they earned higher grades…hmmm…I think the Academic Success Center (ASC) might have a successful program on their hands

I did a lot of Data Warehouse and Excel crunching to get this data sorted out. I was chatting with W about my experience and we both agreed that it hasn’t been typical.

First, the ASC gave me a sweet office. It has high ceilings, a window, a door w/mail slot, and huge desk.

Second, W and I meet up and chat every 1.5 weeks. I’m pretty good with the self-directed stuff at this point but I do appreciate our one-on-one think tank sessions. I’m learning a lot about the joys of worthwhile assessment.

Third, the ASC is in Waldo Hall (pic 1) (pic2) and it has so much character. The building looks like a castle. Plus, the staff have been extremely accommodating. My name is actually on the building directory sign on the first floor when you enter the building. They gave me a phone and a number too!

W and M really care about student learning and they care about my practicum experience. Okay, time to stop gushing. Anyway, it’s been great. Now I am off to work on Zoology. The pre-test data for Zoology will be the fall term versus the spring term in a cage match to determine seasonal superiority.

[READ THIS IF YOU LIKE DATA]

*********************************************
Study Table Assessment Project — MATH 111 Results

Entering Scores:
SAT Math:
Average score of students who did not attend any study table sessions: 510
Average score of students who attended at least one study table session: 491
(does not include regulars)
Average score of students who attended at least one study table session (Includes all study table attendees): 493
Average score of students who attended for 5 or more weeks: 496

Math Placement:
Average score of students who did not attend any study table sessions: 11.7
Average score of students who attended at least one study table session: 11.2
(does not include regulars)
Average score of students who attended at least one study table session (Includes all study table attendees): 10.3
Average score of students who attended for 5 or more weeks: 8.8

GPA Differences:
Average grade points (on 4 pt scale) -
Students who did not attend any study sessions: 1.88
Students who attended at least one study table session (does not include regulars): 1.94
Students who attended at least one study table session (Includes all study table attendees): 2.40
Students who attended 5 or more weeks (Regular attendees): 2.92

Total study table hours: 495
Total # of study table participants: 89
Total # of students in Math 111: 270

Note: When calculating average GPA, grades of I, S, U, and W are not included.

Flonase. Zirtec. Claritin. Unlike kryptonite and Superman, these meds have virtually no effect on me. I’m constantly “nasing” and “popping” but to no avail. That scratchy feeling in the back of my throat — allergies. They are caused by Willamette Valley grass seed pollen and 29th Street dust. (My apartment windows all face the road. Please honk when you drive by…)

In pondering my allergic state I realized that I needed a vacuum. The first thing that popped into my drug addled brain was the yellow and bad-as-any-vacuum-could-be Dyson. I had read about the Dyson via the manufacturers website and I thought a new Dyson would clear the air in my apartment (*A new apartment is in the works…).

I went to the Corvallis Sewing and Vacuum Center (what a lovely name!). I saw a salesperson and a Dyson. It was perfect. I walked over to her and said that I needed a vacuum and I wanted it to be a Dyson. BAM! WHOOSH! KACHANG! When I woke up I asked what had happened. Apparently Dysons are the worst vacuum in the world (all hype and marketing — they don’t suck!) and the sales lady had nailed me with the stainless steel wand of a Miele Bahama Blue Canister Vacuum. The wand was left untainted much to my surprise. I have a rather large head and I’ve been called “hard headed”.

To my dismay, the store was out of Miele BB’s. (Miele is pronounced, Mee Lah) They informed me that the floor model was for sale. It had a ding it but I didn’t care. I was smitten.

Wendy gave me a ride back to my apartment with my new purchase. I immediately plugged it in and started cleaning. I vacuumed my area rug with the power nozzle. It sucks! The hardwood floors were next. I switched attachments and started moving like an ice skater with the horse hair wood floor attachment firmly attached.

The Miele has a HEPA filter and the output air is supposedly almost 100% free of particulates. Time will tell as to whether or not this thing will decrease my allergy symptoms. I needed a vacuum anyway and this thing is super cool. It moves gracefully around objects with its smooth 360 degree wheel system. I guess the moral of the story is that Dyson’s look cool and are marketed well but they can’t hold a candle to a nice piece of German engineering.

Stayed tuned for a whirlwind of updates. Vacuums, OSU websites, cellphones, pdas, showers, apartments, data crunching, team liberation, SAT scores, and the debut of a new website! I hope you’re excited!!!

It’s 10pm and I am finally finished with my portion of the OSU Admissions web site re-design. I think I created about 130 pages with custom includes and clean (for the most part ) code. I am super tired and I am glad that I don’t have to do this anymore for a living. It just turns me into a zombie. I can sing and even have a conversation when I’m doing this sort of thing. Just don’t expect me to remember anything you say or what I sang. My brain switches into “computer mode”.

Goodnight people! I hope the future students and current graduate students appreciate all of the coding I’ve done for them (and my bank account) this summer. I can’t wait until school starts. Student contact is something that I’ve missed during my 40 hours of coding, stats crunching, and OSU “Successing”. Good night peeps.

Okay, so it’s 4pm and I need a break from OSU code. If i don’t stop soon I’m going to get walleye vision!

I’m teaching a class at OSU for first year students. It’s called Odyssey. It looks like I have a full class of 20 students. It’s going to be a lot of work but it will be a lot of fun and a great experience.

Practicum update: The Data Warehouse and I are now friends. After a quick tutorial/lesson from CS, I am now a zen master of the DW. Well maybe not a master, but I at least was able to extract data for my assessment project. I successfully “pulled” student names, ID’s, grades, math placement scores, and SAT Math scores. I also extracted information from several other classes including: 2 sections of Physics, Zoology, and Economics. The DW is an amazing tool.

After gleefully using the DW for hours I then proceeded to fire up MS Excel. My practicum is a lot more fun now that I can actually start manipulating data! It is so rewarding to see, via the data, how effective the study tables have been. Several students who had low math placement/SAT Math scores did very well for their M111 grade. So let’s see, a student gets a low score on an incoming test (MP or SAT) and then attends 10 hours worth of study tables and viola — they earn a C! What happens for a student with a similar pre-test who did not attend a Study Table? Time will tell. I’ll be crunching the numbers this week. My gut tells me that students who attended Study Tables will score higher than their non-study table attending peers.

My marketing brain just checked in…what would happen if we gave the study tables a new name…something like “Grade Enhancer 5000″ or “As seen on TV, do better, feel better, score better!” Just trying to add a little levity to my practicum posts

Wow. I am so excited about the RENT movie. After seeing RENT in New York City in July, I am so stoked about the upcoming film. 6 of the original cast members are starring in the onscreen adaptation. I’ve been spinning the soundtrack from the musical on my home computer, my work computer, and my I-River. It’s ironic that I used to detest the soundtrack to RENT. I had never seen the show. The songs had no meaning to me and now I can’t get enough. I downloaded a version of “Seasons of Love” that has Stevie Wonder as the soloist. It’s the shizzle! Frenchie Davis (from American Idol) was the principle soloist for the NY City show. So many thoughts and and emotions are connected to these songs. What a rush!

For anyone not familiar with RENT, please check out this link: “What is this RENT thing all about?”

• RENT Official Movie Website
• High Quality Teaser Trailer
• RENT Seasons of love music video
• RENT Cast Blog

This is a pic from my cell of the actual stage in NY City’s Nederlander Theater.

I actually kept my ticket stub! Ouch, that was an expensive show!!