What if students had classes that helped them earn better grades and that they liked better than traditional classes?  At the University of Iowa, thousands of students now have an opportunity to do just that as they experience a very active style of learning through tech-infused TILE classrooms.

TILE stands for Transform, Interact, Learn, Engage.  Since 2010, the UI has created five of these student-centered learning spaces, which support in-class collaboration, inquiry-based learning, peer instruction, and more interaction with faculty.  TILE rooms accommodate 27 to 81 students and are equipped with round tables, laptops, and whiteboards to facilitate hands-on projects and small-group discussions.  Multiple projectors and screens around the room allow them to share their work.

To date, instructors have taught 148 TILE courses in an array of fields, including STEM disciplines, foreign language, education, political science, theater arts, business, urban and regional planning, and more.

DID YOU KNOW?

ITS-Instructional Services is assessing the difference in learning outcomes in TILE and traditional classrooms.  All other things equal, students in TILE classrooms earned slightly higher grades than students taking the same courses in regular rooms?an outcome consistent with prior research about similar classrooms at M.I.T. and the University of Minnesota.

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Sample comments from UI students who took TILE classes: "It compels collaboration." "It gives us a chance to learn from each other." "It's more of a facilitator's classroom versus a lecturer that holds all of the knowledge and bestows it on us."

In Iowa, geography does not determine opportunity.

The Iowa Online Advanced Placement Academy (IOAPA) provides Advanced Placement (AP) courses to every high school in Iowa with a focus on small/rural schools ranging from Denison to Danville.  AP courses are college-level and nationally recognized for their rigor and as indicators of college readiness.  High scores on the national AP exams in various academic areas can provide a high school student with college credit.

IOAPA is part of the University of Iowa College of Education's Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development.

IOAPA is completely online and gives every Iowa student the opportunity to take AP courses and exams regardless of the size of school or community.  IOAPA is currently funded by the Iowa Legislature and underwrites the cost for the student.  Since the start of IOAPA in 2001, more than 10,000 students from communities across the state have taken AP courses.  The course completion rate has been over 90 percent, which is remarkable for online courses.  Also, Iowa students taking courses through IOAPA have consistently scored above the national average on AP exams.  The message is simple:  Give Iowa students a chance at a high-level academic challenge, and they will not only step up to the challenge, but will perform at a high level.

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Zane Scott-Tunkin, a teacher and mentor at Colfax-Mingo High School: "The IOAPA is a great resource for schools that do not offer an on-site AP Program."

DID YOU KNOW?

IOAPA was selected by the U.S. Department of Education as one of the nation's top six programs to feature in its report, "Connecting Students to Advanced Courses Online: Innovations in Education" (2006).  To find out more about IOAPA, visit http://www.iowaapacademy.org.

Preserving fragile historic documents requires control of a range of environmental variables, including temperature, humidity, and light.  But what about the surface on which the priceless papers rest?

The United States government has turned to the University of Iowa Center for the Book for the answer.  The center is a unique program that combines training in the technique and artistry of bookmaking with research into the history and culture of books.

In 1999, the National Archives commissioned the Center for the Book's Timothy Barrett and his UI papermaking facility to fabricate soft, unbleached, acid-free paper on which to lay the parchment originals of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence.  The facility worked for months to create cotton paper in which every fiber was perfect.

This year, the Archives again turned to Barrett and the Center for the Book to provide a friendly base for a 700-year-old copy of the Magna Carta during public display in the nation's capitol.  The document, which went on display in February, is one of just four surviving originals and the only one in the United States.

DID YOU KNOW?

Papermaker Timothy Barrett, the Center for the Book's 2009 MacArthur "Genius Grant" winner, was recently profiled in the New York Times Magazine.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/timothy-barrett-papermaker.html?_r=2&ref=magazine

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Tim Barrett: "Sometimes I worry about what a weird thing it is to be preoccupied with paper when there's so much trouble in the world, but then I think of how our whole culture is knitted together by paper, and it makes a kind of sense."

The Executive MBA program through the University of Iowa helps health care professionals improve the quality and delivery of health care products and services to Iowans.

Nearly 20 percent of the 100 students taking EMBA classes in Iowa City, Cedar Rapids and Des Moines work in health care or health care related fields, including ten physicians, CEOs of healthcare facilities, and leaders in medical device and pharmaceutical industries. They learn how to better manage the business of today's increasingly complex health care practices and services so they can be delivered more affordably to Iowans.

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Alex Taylor, associate director of the Tippie EMBA Programs: "Health care makes up 17 percent of US Gross Domestic Product, so it's not a surprise that 20 percent of our students work in health care."

DID YOU KNOW?

The Tippie Executive MBA program is the only program of its type in Iowa.  To find out more go to http://tippie.uiowa.edu/execmba/.