The University of Minnesota is a large public research university with five campuses that provide undergraduate, graduate, and professional education to 67,000 students. Given the university's diverse community, a dedicated campus climate effort helps ensure that the campus is welcoming of all persons. Because the student information system (SIS)…

Twenty-first century teachers must embrace innovative practices and tools for relevant instruction that motivate and prepare students for the future. However, a gap between available technology, such as geospatial technologies, and those used for instructional technologies prevails. This study set out to discover if high school geography teachers'…

Preparing learners for the future requires twenty-first-century teaching that integrates professional tools in the classroom. Geospatial technologies (GST), which represent geographical professional technologies, lack robust integration in high school geography. Researchers continue to ask why educators teach about rather than with GST.…

Since Minnesota passed the first charter school law in 1991, charter schools have become one of the most prominent school reforms in the U.S. While charter schools educate a small portion of public school enrollments, their existence has prompted various responses from traditional public school (TPS) districts. This paper explores education…

Electronic resource access troubleshooting is familiar work in most libraries. The added complexity introduced when a library implements a web-scale discovery service, however, creates a strong need for well-organized, rigorous training to enable troubleshooting staff to provide the best service possible. This article outlines strategies, tools,…

The goal of having a robust discovery system is a priority of the libraries the authors serve (both work at the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities). Given the current fiscal situation facing public higher education in their state, the current commercial systems were not affordable for most of their libraries. They decided to implement and…

Curricula content and structure that encourages interdisciplinary learning, inter-level organization, cross-institutional study supports innovation and inspires new ideas about curricular design in higher education. The purpose of this article is to discuss a collaborative effort of two classes on different campuses to map play in the culturally…

The ubiquitous spreadsheet in some version has been the sole and unrivaled instrument of financial management for decades. And it has served well. The spreadsheet provides the flexibility to design a unique business process. It allows users to create formulas that execute complex calculations, and it is available in the globally standardized Excel…

Computer Science is a rich field with many growing application areas, such as Health Information Systems. What we suggest here is that multi-disciplinary threads can be introduced to supplement, enhance, and strengthen the primary area of study in a course. We call these supplementary materials "threads," because they are executed…

In undergraduate geography programs in the United States there is increasing demand for students to be prepared for real-world project management and to possess strong GIS technical skills and cartographic communication skills upon graduation. There is, however, limited time and opportunity within the framework of traditional undergraduate…

This is the fourth and final installment in a series of articles presenting a new outlook on the methods of instructional design. These articles examine the nature of the process of instructional design and are meant to stimulate discussion about the roles of designers in the fields of instructional design, the learning sciences, and interaction…

This article discusses some of the premigration tasks at Minnesota State Mankato in preparation for migration to a new integrated library system, ALEPH. The authors describe the review of circulation policies to make sure that only relevant, current data and practices were carried over. There is emphasis on the need for ongoing review of policies…

This summary of a recent evaluation of the Minnesota Management Information System (MIS) focuses on problems encountered during its evolution and on options available to solve those problems. A delineation between state and district information needs is provided, with an emphasis on statewide standards for reporting educational needs. (MER)

GeoThentic, an online teaching and learning environment, focuses on engaging teachers and learners in solving real-world geography problems through use of geospatial technologies. The design of GeoThentic is grounded on the technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge (TPACK) framework as a metacognitive tool. This paper describes how the TPACK…

Describes school-level K-12 revenue and expenditure data collection in California, Texas, Florida, and Minnesota. Neither California nor Minnesota collects school-site fiscal data. Florida's highly advanced district and school-level data collection system has inconsistently reported standardized test scores. Texas has developed a good database to…