Live. Learn. Grow. Repeat.
Heather Rae Thomas,
RDH, BS, M.Ed
Dental Hygienist, Educator, Artist, Athlete, Musician, Mom, Writer, Sports Reporter, Innovator...
Written Works
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Below you will find links to some of my written work as a master's candidate at Northern Arizona University, as well as a description for why the piece is meaningful to me as an educator, both now and in the future.
“Education is the movement from darkness to light.”
~Allan Bloom
This paper was written for CCHE 680-Higher Education in the U.S., and discusses the need for change in the current paradigm of traditional educational delivery. With the advent of online learning and the vast increase in mobilization of today's society, new avenues for higher education have become paramount. In addition to these shifts in society, are the challenges of ever-increasing tuition costs pitted against an economy still on the mend, and the escalating number of high school graduates who are not college-ready. This paper discusses roadblocks to traditional higher education modalities, and also offers thought for innovative solutions.
The advent of accreditation in higher education is not new, however, the importanced placed upon it is an ever-increasing necessity for the establishment and success of community colleges. This paper was written for my CCHE 580-Community College course, and details some of the challenges and advantages of accreditation in community colleges, particularly those falling under the jurisdiction of the Higher Learning Commission (HCL).
This paper was written for CCHE 687-Professional Development Seminar, which disscused the ways in which institutions of higher education examine themselves through the collection of assessment data, and through the completion of program reviews and accreditation self-studies. One Good Egg, summarizes these ideals along with some of the challenges and advantages of assessment in colleges and universities in the U.S. and conveys my support of purpose-driven, meaningful institutional assessment work.
This paper was written for CCHE 650-Social Entrepreneurship in Higher Education, and is divided into two parts, the first a reflection on contemporary Social Entrepreneur Jacqueline Novogratz's reshaping of modern philanthropy, the second, exploring the variances of social entrepreneurship vs. social innovation. I find this particular paper meaningful because it discusses the humanity and call for greater social good that drives these movements.
This sample college course syllabus was created for CCHE 688-College Teaching, and showcases my ability to write a clearly-stated, well-outlined course syllabus with articulated student learning outcomes that are observable, measurable, and achievable, by utilizing measurable verbiage from Bloom's Taxonomy and best practices in syllabus construction. The college course syllabus is an extremely important document from a pedagogical and legal standpoint, and must be created with great care and forethought.