Joliet Junior College

To save the liberal arts, we need to abandon efforts to “modernize” them or make them more appealing to students. Instead, the author argues that we consider restoring the sense of rigor that has until recently defined such fields as philosophy, English, and math. Hundreds of years ago, philosophers were the scientists of the world, making new discoveries and inventing mathematical disciplines such as geometry and calculus. The undemanding nature of contemporary philosophy has resulted in endless squabbles over hypothetical thought experiments that are largely irrelevant to everyone else. A similar fate has befallen their colleagues in English and mathematics, who would rather teach classes in video games and comic books or design courses in “checkbook” math than hold themselves and their students to the high standards that formerly prevailed in those fields. Making the liberal arts more rigorous is the only way to ensure their survival for another thousand years—at least in a form that can still be recognized as fit for free, and free-thinking, individuals.

This article was published open access under a CC BY licence: https://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0 .

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Standards-based assessment and reporting is a method of grading in which each student is responsible for demonstrating mastery of a set of course objectives called standards. In this course, students are assessed on each standard using short assessments that resemble a quiz, usually one or two pages long. Each standard is assigned a rating on a 5-step scale. The student's ratings throughout the semester determine the final grade the student will earn. If a student is not satisfied with a rating on an assessment, they are allowed to reassess the standard to demonstrate they have developed a fuller understanding of the topic. This method of student assessment is intended to encourage students to develop intrinsic motivation for learning the course material. Students are also not penalized for having a bad exam or quiz score due to unforeseen circumstances. Students often report that they need time at the start of the semester to get used to the grading system but that they ultimately see the benefit to their learning.

The concept of acoustic impedance is often difficult for students in introductory acoustics courses to make sense of, especially students without advanced mathematics backgrounds. This work summarizes a laboratory activity for students in a general education musical acoustics class where a simplified brass musical instrument is examined, focusing on how the geometry of the air column affects the input impedance of the instrument. Students are guided through making bore profile measurements for use in a computation of the input impedance. Options for making experimental measurements of the simplified instrument are explained. The laboratory activity was successfully used with students who reported their increased understanding of the acoustics of brass musical instruments.

One of the most significant acoustic instruments developed in the 20th century was the Caribbean steelpan. The steelpan family originated from the islands of Trinidad and Tobago when the islands were a British colony. Because musical traditions on the island were heavily reliant on percussion, local musicians quickly adopted the new drum type. Other factors contributing to the development of the steelpan family include the oil drilling industry and the use of the islands as naval facilities leading up to the second world war. The steelpan has primarily always been tuned by hand by individual tuners, as attempts to mass-manufacture the instruments have largely failed. The most recent innovations in steelpan construction contributed to the development of the instrument known as the Hang, a hand-played instrument. The popularity and scarcity of the Hang have given rise to a new percussion instrument known as the handpan.

Many educators have faced the challenge of teaching in a world with COVID-19. Not everyone has the same amount of difficulties to work through, but each of us has the pandemic's unspoken weight affecting our daily life and work. After teaching for over a year through the pandemic, several lessons have shaped my approach to this time of emergency remote teaching. Some adaptations made to course delivery will survive in a post-COVID classroom if not entirely intact, at least with a considerable influence from the current situation. The variety of teaching modalities that have emerged have shown the possibilities of how courses can be delivered. Although there are aspects of online courses which we may never wish to repeat post-COVID, some aspects of our current situation could be useful in the future. We can continue to use remote collaboration tools when being together in a room is not an absolute necessity. We can help our students develop collaborations using these same technologies. Forming positive relationships with students and supporting how students work with their classmates has never been more important than during the pandemic. We should continue to prioritize relationship-building in a post-COVID future.

Aim: The aim of this short term prospective study is to present a data on the clinical and functional outcome of total knee arthroplasty done for primary osteoarthritis.Method and Material: It is a Prospective study was conducted at Bapuji and Chigateri General Hospital attached to JJM Medical College, Davangere for a period of two years from July2018 to July 2020. Patients with primary Osteoarthritis of the knee joint, undergoing TKA were included in the study. Patients with less than 6 months follow up and patients lost to follow up were excluded from the study.Result: A total of 30 knee replacements performed in 22 pateints were included. The average age is 62.4 yrs at the time of surgery. There were 17 females and 5 males in our study. 12 Pateints had unilateral total knee replacements. 6 pateints underwent simultaneous bilateral total knee replacements in a single stage. 3 pateints had staged bilateral total knee replacements. 22 Knees (73.33%) were completely pain free at final follow up, 6 knees (20%) had mild (or) occasional vague pain, 2 knee (6.66%) had pain for climbing stairs only. Average Pre op ROM was 86.4 degrees which improved to 99.6 degrees. All the 30 knees were stable anteroposteriorly both pre & post operatively. 4 knees were unstable mediolaterally which was corrected post operatively. 28 knees had varus deformity of avg 11.08 degree and 2 knee had valgus deformity of 20 degrees. All the knees were correctable to an average postoperative valgus of 4.4 degrees. Knee society clinical scoring system the average score for all the 30 knees was 35 points preoperatively and average score was 93 points at final follow up with 26 knees (86.66 %) had excellent final scores. The average preoperative functional score was 36 which improved to an average functional score of 90 postoperatively at final follow up with 25 knees (83.33 %) had excellent functional scores. No evidence of malalignment (or) loosening in the femoral and tibial components was noted.Conclusion: This is a study with a short term follow up ranging from 6 months to 26 months. Functional results have been good irrespective of the severity of the preoperative deformities. Patient satisfaction in terms of pain relief, and improvement in walking and stair climbing ability is good following total knee arthroplasty for osteoarthritis.

Abstract Colleges and universities around the world were forced to move their classes online in 2020 March due to the coronavirus pandemic. Because of the rapid transition to remote teaching, instructors received limited professional development to teach online. As the pandemic continues, many classes continue to be offered online. Institutions are providing training in teaching online and designing courses beyond what was given in 2020 March, but it is unlikely to be the formal training given to those planning to teach an online class. In this note, I provide key recommendations to developing and teaching introductory astronomy online during this time of limited professional development. I also briefly describe my experience of teaching during the pandemic in the Spring 2020 term, which motivated me to compile these recommendations.

A familiar acoustics laboratory experiment is finding Chladni patterns using flat plates of various geometries. Another method used in musical acoustics to find mode shapes of vibrating objects is electronic speckle-pattern interferometry (ESPI). We introduced students in a general education acoustics class to ESPI in addition to the traditional Chladni plate laboratory activity. A variety of ways to implement ESPI in the class were developed including: comparing traditional Chladni patterns to ESPI, examining traditional musical instruments with ESPI, and an advanced investigation of a well-known acoustics demonstration. A classic acoustics demonstration is rubbing the rim of a wine glass to create a musical tone. A coffee mug, unlike a wine glass, has an asymmetry due to the mug handle. ESPI can be used to study the effects of filling the mug with water in terms of the mug's natural frequency, amplitude, and mode shapes. Results from ESPI showed that the mode shapes do not change with the addition of water. Filling the coffee mug with water lowered the natural frequencies of the lowest modes in a manner similar to that of a wine glass.