Macmillan Learning recently partnered with the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services (RCAAS) to learn more about supporting employees and coworkers with autism in the workplace. The presentation was led by Giulietta Flaherty, a third year School Psychology doctoral student, and Jane Matto, a senior at Rutgers University and member of the College Support Program who has spoken at various events to discuss her experiences with Autism Spectrum Disorder. They were joined by Courtney Butler, M.S., BCBA, the Program Coordinator of the College Support Program (CSP) for students on the autism spectrum at Rutgers.  During the presentation, Giulietta and Jane discussed what autism is, provided strategies to best support employees and coworkers with autism, and emphasized autism as something to be acknowledged and celebrated. The event was organized and facilitated by Macmillan Learning’s employee resource group, AVID (Awareness of Visible and Invisible Disabilities). Here are the key takeaways from their presentation:   What is autism? According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5, 2013), autism is defined as a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social communication and restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interest, and activities.    What is the importance of language when considering people with autism?  Diagnostic labels can be important, but sometimes carry a stigma. What should one say when talking about a fellow employee: employee with autism or autistic employee? There is no wrong answer here because it depends on personal preference. In the past, clinicians used identity-first language (autistic employee), but members of the autism community then felt that they wanted to be identified as a person first and preferred person-first language (employee with autism). Thereafter, members of the autism community began to reclaim identity-first language, so it’s important to ask what different people prefer.    Why is understanding of autism important?  More people with autism are attending college and entering the workforce. Companies want to hire these individuals and just like other people, people with autism bring their own unique strengths and talents.    How can one best support autistic employees?  Employees with autism should be treated the same way that all employees are treated, though additional understanding of people with autism will create a more inclusive workplace. People with autism typically experience social situations differently or have social difficulties. For example, people with autism might struggle with:  Interacting with new people or places. If they’re a new employee, they may find it difficult to find their way around the office or fear asking for help.  Maintaining eye contact. For some people with autism, maintaining eye contact feels as intimate as kissing another person.  Demonstrating emotions with facial expressions. A person with autism may be happy but not actively smiling. Similarly, they may not readily recognize other peoples’ facial expressions.  Understanding differences in tone of voice. People with autism might also speak regularly with a neutral tone of voice.  Understanding sarcasm or exaggeration. This can include verbal and visual communication or messages via email.  Intensive pervasive interests. People with autism often have an interest or activity, which they can fixate their energy on.  Following social norms. A person with autism may not always say hello when entering a room or thank someone who has offered help or assistance.  All people with autism are different, and it’s important to remember that just because they don’t follow the exact social norms you may be accustomed to (like maintaining eye contact or greeting you), it does not mean that they are intentionally being rude.  Knowing that people with autism might have these social difficulties, employers and colleagues can make social interactions easier. The following can benefit all employees, not just those with autism:  Allowing time for breaks in social environments. Being literal. Remember that autistic people may not always understand sarcasm or exaggeration. Provide concrete deadlines and clear expectations.  Avoiding physical touch. People with autism may experience something such as a high five as being too intimate.  Being considerate when giving constructive criticism.  Not taking their behavior personally. As mentioned above, autistic people may not always follow social norms, so their response may not be directed at you personally.  In addition to social differences, people with autism also experience sensory differences. One difference in autistic people is what’s known as stereotypy, which is the persistent repetition of an act for no obvious purpose. This can be vocal stereotypy: humming, laughing, shrieking, or talking to oneself; or it can be motor stereotypy: hand flapping or a tic in the neck. It’s important to remember that everyone engages in stereotypy–things like cracking one’s knuckles or tapping their foot–but people with autism are typically more stigmatized for this type of behavior.  People with autism might also experience executive functioning difficulties. Executive functioning skills are the mental processes that people use to plan, focus attention, self-regulate, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully. So, when giving directions, it’s important to: Write out explicit steps and give these written instructions to your employees.  Assign tasks in order of most important to least important.  Check for understanding and clarity.  Provide visual examples and use modeling.  Many of the strategies for working with autistic employees are generally good management tips and advice for working with all types of employees. Managers should provide one-on-one support to employees who may be struggling, whether that be in social situations or with a specific work task; they should speak privately with employees about performance issues; and they should provide validation and encouragement. ... View more

“It’s a lot of work to write a textbook,” said Jamie Pope, co-author of Scientific American Nutrition for a Changing World , “Much more work than popular press.” As the author of both popular science books and an award-winning textbook, Jamie would know. Writing a textbook isn’t easy. Not only do authors need to have a wealth of experience and expertise in their respective fields, but their writing also needs to pass a rigorous editing and review process.  Macmillan Learning recognizes that the success of our textbooks and courseware is in large part due to our outstanding authors, many of whom are distinguished professors and academics at some of the most reputable colleges, universities, and institutions around the world. Our authors have remarkable careers that extend far beyond higher education; they are excellent teachers; and they are impeccable writers and storytellers.  Students don’t often think about the authors of the textbooks with which they spend so much of their time. What if there were an opportunity to get to know these extraordinary authors, to learn about their lives, their backgrounds, and how they got to where they are today? Now there is with our Author Spotlight Series. Each month, we will feature a different Macmillan Learning author, and we’re beginning this month with Jamie Pope.    Jamie Pope, M.S., R.D.N., L.D.N., F.A.N.D., Vanderbilt University There was no grand plan for Jamie. She didn’t know growing up that she was going to study nutrition; work in a hospital as a registered dietitian; contribute to some of the most popular weight-loss and dieting books of the 80s and 90s; serve as a consultant and spokesperson for several large food companies; develop one of the most successful open, online nutrition courses; and write an award-winning textbook – to name but a few of her many career accolades and achievements.  So, how did Jamie first become interested in nutrition? When I asked her this question, she told me it’s a story she tells fairly often. Jamie went to an all girls high school that did not have a traditional cafeteria. There were vending machines with limited options but no robust “hot lunch” for the students. As part of an assignment for her English class, Jamie needed to conduct a survey, and that was when she first thought more about what everybody was eating for lunch. “The two most commonly consumed items were Cheetos and Milky Way candy bars,” Jamie told me. “At the time I wasn’t thinking too much about vitamins and minerals, but when I considered the implications of this simple survey it made me more aware of why food choice and balance might really matter.”  A couple of years later, when Jamie was flipping through the pages of her university course catalog, she remembered thinking she needed to choose a major. “I saw a course on vitamins and minerals and thought it sounded interesting,” she said. To Jamie it ended up being more than just interesting. She loved it, and decided to major in nutrition.  “From there I had sort of the traditional path of a registered dietitian, working in a hospital setting with patients,” Jamie said. She lived in Boston at the time, specializing in the area of heart disease and obesity. One day in 1986, when she was leaving the hospital to catch a flight back to her hometown of Nashville, the medical director stopped her and told her to reach out to Dr. Martin Katahn, a health psychologist at Vanderbilt University writing popular science diet books. Jamie described this as her entry into publishing.  Dr. Katahn had a lot of success. He was featured in People Magazine and appeared in many national talk shows, but Jamie noticed something missing from his team of researchers. “I couldn’t believe he didn’t have a dietitian on his team,” she said. “He was conducting all of this diet related work, but he didn’t have anybody with a nutrition background.” Soon after Jamie returned to Boston, Dr. Katahn asked her to come work with him at Vanderbilt, where she’s been located ever since.  Initially, Jamie was doing weight-loss research and consulted on some of Dr. Katahn’s books. One of these books was The T-Factor Diet , for which Jamie compiled an extensive appendix including thousands of foods with their grams of fats, calories, sodium, and other nutritional information. The book sold millions of copies and quickly became a bestseller. “One day,” Jamie said, “on a call with our publisher, they told me they wanted the appendix to be its own publication because so many people were copying it and carrying it around with them.” The little spin-off fat gram “counter” that she co-authored sold over seven million copies and spent more than three years on The New York Times bestseller list.  Jamie’s success with popular press opened the door to many opportunities. When I asked her about the most interesting roles she’s had, she told me about her time as a spokesperson or consultant for a few different food companies. “One of the fun things about my career were the media opportunities,” Jamie said. “I did a media tour with Chick-fil-A releasing their Gallup poll on fast food nutrition in the 90s. I’ve gone on book tours. I appeared on the Today Show a couple of times.” Chick-fil-A provided her with media training, where she learned media strategy and etiquette. “That was a lot of fun!” “Getting to do those types of things was scary, but there was also always a lot of adrenaline pumping,” Jamie said as she reminisced about the different people she met during this part of her career. “I remember sitting in a green room and being interviewed by Katie Couric.” Jamie also did some consulting for Super Bakery, which was owned by Franco Harris. “Have you ever heard of him?” she asked me with a smile. Jamie admitted she’s not much of a football person, so she hadn’t recognized that he was a multiple-time Super Bowl winner with the Pittsburgh Steelers.  “One day I had to pick him up at the airport, and I thought his name was Frank O’Harris, not Franco Harris,” Jamie said. “I had a sign with his misspelled name on it and was looking for someone who I thought probably looked Irish,” she laughed. “All of a sudden he comes up and tells me ‘I think you might be looking for me.’” Franco thought it was funny, and Jamie’s brother, who is a football fan, couldn’t believe his sister had done that. Thereafter, when Franco would call, he would keep the joke alive and tell Jamie “Hey, this is Frank.”  In 2000, after gaining experience in research, publishing, media, and consulting, Jamie started teaching her introductory nutrition course at Vanderbilt University. “Out of all of the things I’ve done in my career, teaching is what I love most,” she said. Jamie doesn’t expect students to leave her course as nutrition experts. Instead, she described her course much like a music or art appreciation course. “When you take an art class,” she said, “you never walk into a museum the same way again. You look at things differently, you have new questions, and you have a greater appreciation for artists of all types.” She wants her students to appreciate the evolving science  of nutrition. “I want them to be better consumers and be equipped to better evaluate and question what they read or hear about food and nutrition in the media, from friends, and on food products.” Writing a textbook gave Jamie an opportunity to reach even more students. Macmillan Learning approached Jamie in 2012 to ask her about the possibility of writing a textbook. She remembered wondering why the team was asking her, and they provided three reasons. “The first was that I had a publishing history. The second was that I had good reviews on Rate My Professors, which I thought was funny because at the time I had never heard of that before,” she said. Jamie then looked immediately afterward at the website. “And third, they told me that they heard good things about my introductory nutrition course at Vanderbilt.”  The same day Jamie agreed to write the textbook, she was boarding a plane back to Nashville from New York and received an email from her provost and dean at Vanderbilt. They asked her to teach one of Vanderbilt’s inaugural MOOCs ( M assive O pen O nline C ourses). Although feeling overwhelmed, she agreed to teach this MOOC, which aligned with her introductory nutrition course and involved creating course content, filming over 80 videos, and managing the course. “At first I thought maybe 300-400 people might enroll, but then it just kept growing!” she said. “Once we got over 50,000, I remember one of my colleagues telling me that we just filled Nissan Stadium.” The course was offered three times ultimately enrolling more than 175,000 participants from all over the world.  Jamie credits her career opportunities for providing her the experiences necessary to write a textbook. “My co-author, Steven Nizielski, and I make a good team,” she said. “Our textbook follows a story-based approach with science weaved into relevant stories.” Jamie said that what sets their book, Scientific American Nutrition for a Changing World , apart from others on the market is the fact that it’s written by two authors who bring different perspectives, allowing different types of readers to connect to the material. “As a registered dietitian nutritionist I bring my nutrition background and practical experience and Steven brings his nutrition and biochemistry expertise, so he provides much of our scientific backbone for the book,” she said.  While Jamie admitted that balanced, sound nutrition is part of how she lives her life, she loves to eat, experience new foods, and eschews restrictive “dieting”. “I made an incredible chocolate cake yesterday,” she said. “I love to bake, which doesn’t always go hand-in-hand with nutrition, but it's another form of creative expression for me.” She also enjoys long walks as her main form of exercise, and she listens to audiobooks on those walks; her favorite genre is historical fiction. She lives with her husband, her younger of two daughters, their big dog, Stanley, and their two cats. Jamie Pope, M.S., R.D.N., L.D.N., F.A.N.D. currently serves as Adjunct Assistant Professor in Nutritional Sciences at Vanderbilt University, is a registered dietitian nutritionist, Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and academic author. Jamie came to Vanderbilt in 1986 and has worked in the areas of obesity research, health promotion, and heart disease prevention. Teaching since 2000, her popular classes have reached over 6,000 undergraduate students from a wide range of majors to learn about nutrition science and its application to their personal and professional lives. Beyond the classroom, Jamie adapted portions of her nutrition courses to produce a Massive Open Online Course or “MOOC” which earned her an Innovation in Teaching award from the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. Jamie is the co-author of the award winning textbook Nutrition for a Changing World . Jamie is a recent recipient of the 2021 Outstanding Dietetics Educator Award from the Tennessee Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and has served on the executive leadership committee for Nutrition Educators of Health Professionals Dietetic Practice Group. Jamie has authored or contributed to numerous scientific and popular press publications. She has held several corporate positions including at Chick Fil-A and Smart Balance, serving as nutrition consultant and media representative. ... View more

Higher education has always been about broadening horizons and exploring a diversity of thought and experiences. I met people of all backgrounds and perspectives when I went to college and those experiences had a profound effect on my thinking about education. To this day, I feel I learned as much in my freshman dorm room at Daniels Hall at University of Cincinnati as I did in the upper-level literature courses in McMicken Hall.  Those formative experiences have also informed my nearly-30-year career in educational publishing and software, where I have been seeking to amplify the impact of learning products for all students.  It is complex work, with an equal balance of research, development, design, and testing. At Macmillan Learning, I’m fortunate to lead a team of product managers, user experience designers/researchers, and learning science researchers as we tackle these complex challenges. I am most proud that our new learning platform, Achieve, has already proven to positively impact outcomes for students, no matter their background, ethnicity, or income level. We began our Achieve design process in 2017 with a series of co-design sessions in which we paired a diverse group of students and faculty. We armed them with post-it notes and markers at a whiteboard to share ideas, and learn what was most important to them. The observations of campus life and learning experiences from those sessions broadened our horizons to the needs of all learners, including the most underserved and vulnerable. Because our impact researchers obtain two levels of Institutional Review Board approval from each institution we work with, we are able to use demographic data–with strict and appropriate privacy and security measures in place–to measure the impact of Achieve for all learners. I’m especially proud of the research we do to measure the impact Achieve has on underserved populations. While we have seen evidence that underserved populations see better outcomes when they use Achieve, our work is far from done. By pairing our impact researchers with Achieve product managers and user experience designers, we continue to improve the product. It is this commitment to impact research and continuous product improvement that brought Macmillan Learning to a conversation with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. We’ve taken the first steps in a new research project to better understand how courseware products such as Achieve can be used to help support Black, Latin, Indigenous and low-income students’ success. I’m interested in discovering more about how we can produce an impact that is “greater than the sum of its parts” between all education institutions who share the mission of serving these traditionally underserved populations.  While we are justifiably proud of the progress we’ve made with Achieve, we always have an eye on continuous improvement. Our goal has always been to support the ongoing success of all learners, and we are all glad that Achieve is helping to do that.    ... View more

In the summer of 1980, my family moved into our first home. I was six years old and was excited to have my own room, two floors to scamper through, and a yard. That home would be where my sister and I would spend the remainder of our childhood. It would serve as the anchor to a young life filled with school commutes, church functions, community service, summer jobs, and family outings. We had a sense of permanency in a world that constantly demanded our attention with each passing year.   That same summer that we moved into our new home, my father, who taught sixth grade at the elementary school we attended, accepted an assignment to teach New Jersey’s Migrant Education Program. We thought that it was odd that during the summer, when most teachers took a break from the challenges of the urban classroom, my father drove out each morning to help educate a much-forgotten population of students - the children of migrant workers. These children came from Black and Latinx families from the rural south who made their way to New Jersey to work the Garden State’s tomato crops.   For most of the school year, I’d watch my dad struggle with the challenges of educating our city’s urban youth, many of which came from single parent homes or foster home environments in poor neighborhoods. By the end of the school year, he would come home exhausted and depleted from playing so many roles all year long- surrogate father, life coach, and disciplinarian all in one.  I didn’t understand why he wanted to give his summers, his only reprieve from the chaos of the inner-city public school, and give his time to the children of migrant workers.   One day during that summer of 1980, I asked my father why. He told me that my mother had told him stories of the work she had done as a high school student volunteering as part of the Interfaith Youth Council to prepare food and provide clothing to migrant worker families.  Her stories about the tough conditions that these families endured, on the job and in their home life, had lit a spark in him to do something intentional about it as a young teacher.  He learned that there was a national movement to bring attention to the work standards and quality of life of farm workers that was being led by a charismatic and powerful organizer named Cesar Chavez.   My father described the justice and equality that he was fighting for as an extension of the foundational civil rights work done by Dr. Martin Luther King.  He and my mother were teaching me through their work, that there is always a marginalized group in our society that deserves the sense of permanency and promise that comes from a quality education, decent housing, and fair pay.  I learned that the wave of protest, awareness, and legal action that Cesar Chavez had sparked while organizing farm labor in California in the 60’s was alive on the East coast by the early eighties, inspiring a new generation of activists, organizers and educators like my father and mother.   My parents represented the realization of Cesar’s dream to protect the most vulnerable populations in our society- the American family with no permanent residency, no job security, and little formal education. I looked at the new house that my sister and I were so excited to now occupy as a privilege never to be taken for granted. I learned that there were courageous leaders, like Cesar Chavez, who dedicated their lives to fight for the basic rights of America’s forgotten families.  During this year’s observance of Cesar Chavez Day, I’m honored to know that his enduring legacy of selfless service continues to inspire generations of activists, advocates and educators to fight for a more inclusive and equitable America where all have the right to a meaningful and fulfilling life.   ... View more

Throughout the history of the United States, women have shaped efforts to gain greater rights and achieve economic and social justice. But it wasn’t until the late 1980s that the whole of American history began to be included in textbooks, when Mary Beth Norton and a team of co-authors wrote the first American history textbook that attempted to integrate the history of women, African Americans, immigrants and American Indians alongside that of men and white Europeans.  Since then, contextualizing history through different perspectives and offering a greater representation of diverse peoples has become much more common. This Women’s History Month, Macmillan Learning Author, Professor Nancy Hewitt, spoke with Macmillan Learning about some of those complexities and the women and movements that sought to gain greater rights and achieve economic and social justice -- all of which can be found in her textbook co-authored with Steven Lawson, Exploring American Histories .  “Stories of women and girls from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, classes, regions and religions now appear in every American history textbook,” noted Professor Hewitt, co-author of Exploring American Histories and Emerita Professor of History and Women’s Studies at Rutgers University. Within those different stories, women's activism is an important theme that helps to illustrate the complexity of American history over time. There were different perspectives from the activists on topics like the intersection of gender and race as well as which movements should be addressed first.  Here are some of the stories that Professor Hewitt shared: In the 1830s, social justice movements were almost always segregated by race and sex, and women had limited roles . That started to change with women like Amy Kirby Post, who became involved in anti-slavery and women’s rights movements. Amy was raised in a Quaker farming community, and moved to Rochester, NY in the 1830s. While Quakers’ activism was generally limited to testimonies within the Society of Friends, Amy and her husband, Isaac, became active members of the Western New York Anti-Slavery Society, which was among the early efforts within social justice movements to create truly interracial and mixed sex organizations.  As part of that effort, she circulated anti-slavery petitions and forged more personal relationships across the color line by hosting Black activists in her home. The Posts also hosted traveling lecturers, including Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth, and participated in the underground railroad. In 1849, she joined with members of the city's African American Union Sewing Society to host an interracial dinner with the goal, according to Hewitt, of “persuading their white neighbors to embrace equality individually as well as philosophically.” These efforts contrast with the goals of other activists of the time, such as Reverend Charles Grandison. His evangelical religious views led him to promote social reforms, such as abolition and equal education for women and African Americans. However, while denouncing slavery, he opposed women's participation in the abolition movement along with other activities he considered “political”, including expanding women's rights. But the complexity of women’s movements and the fight for equal rights doesn't end there. Despite ratification in 1920 of the 19th Amendment, which stated that women could not be denied the right to vote on the basis of sex, the need for women's activism continued. Large percentages of Black women – like Black men – were denied the right to vote until Congress passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Women like Pauli Murray helped make the case for equal rights for Black people and women.  A descendent of white, African American, and American Indian ancestors, Pauli Murray grew up in North Carolina and moved to Washington D.C. in 1940 to attend Howard University Law School. There she led demonstrations against segregation in restaurants and on buses. She also wrote an important book on state segregation laws and her analysis was used to support the successful arguments in the 1954 Supreme Court Case Brown v. Board of Education. She went on to help launch the National Organization for Women (NOW). There she focused her attention on equal rights for all women, regardless of race or class.  Eventually, Murray’s support for NOW waned, as she believed that it became too focused on the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. She believed most NOW leaders failed to see that, as Hewitt explained, “race and class oppressions were deeply intertwined with inequalities of gender.” The era dealt with sex discrimination, but ignored the ways that Black and working-class women were discriminated against. The ERA also sparked a strong conservative movement, led by Phyllis Schlafly. She was a conservative activist from California who gained popularity among housewives by claiming feminists disparaged them and wanted to do away with “natural” differences between the sexes. She also appealed to Christian women, whose values she claimed were under attack from feminists. These groups kept the ERA from being ratified.   In exploring American history, scholars now focus on the importance of women's activism across the entire span of American history. They illustrate the complexities of the various movements and the diverse goals of the participants. As with men, many of these differences were informed by the activists’ race, class, ethnicity, religion, region and political party affiliations. “Women activists embrace different, even opposing views about the kinds of change that would best serve their communities and themselves,” Hewitt said.  Because of this diversity, we find women involved in every important movement for social change, past and present. Hewitt said, “We can trace the deep roots of current campaigns to transform our nation back to its founding decades. Fully integrating these stories into American history textbooks can help to transform both the faculty who assign them and the students they teach.” ... View more

As our working life has evolved over the past two years, I have been thinking about the experiences and jobs I have had throughout my publishing career.   Although I did not necessarily love every job, nor was I the best fit for every one, what I know to be true is that each step built on the last one and each one helped me grow as a person and as a professional. A common thread for me as I built my career has been the ever present role of my mentors. Mentoring is widely considered a critical component to career success, and today, w omen are focusing much more on networking and mentorship. This often provides help for us as we navigate our lives as working women, and we are better for it.    Throughout much of its early history, the publishing industry had a reputation for being a “gentleman’s profession;” one in which women like the first female newspaper publisher Elizabeth Timothy could only be found behind the scenes. At the turn of the century, women who wanted to work in publishing found themselves in secretarial roles because the editorial roles they coveted were dominated by men. As the 20th Century progressed, the industry started to see editorial positions and other roles open up to women. In fact, a 2019 study on the US publishing industry revealed that 74% of employees are women.  At Macmillan Learning, women are a majority of our employees. Much of the reason for the change can be attributed to support and mentorship of women. Elizabeth Timothy relied on her partnership with Benjamin Franklin to publish the South Carolina Gazette , and many women who had ambitions to work in publishing relied on their connections within the industry to get their first roles. Mentors can be invaluable to helping support and nurture women for a career in publishing, no matter where they are in their career journey. Early in my career I never thought I was ready for the next position. In fact, I remember having to be talked into applying for some new roles. Thankfully, my managers and mentors believed in me. My doubts made me one of the 75% of women who manage their imposter syndrome, second guessing whether I was ready for a new role, and to take the next step in my career. And like 72% of these talented women, I relied on a mentor to help me manage and move past those feelings. And as it turns out, they were right. We all have a part to play in helping women grow and nurture their careers both inside and outside the publishing industry. While informal mentorships are a critical part of growth, they’re just one piece of the mentoring puzzle. More and more, companies are recognizing the significance of having a diverse workplace, and an important part of that is gender equality.  But I didn't just rely on mentors early in my career -- they have helped me progress throughout my career. My mentors have been male and female. But unlike what one would think a typical mentorship looks like, many of these were informal relationships that formed organically. I worked on nurturing those connections by asking questions and seeking advice. As my responsibilities grew, I also grew my network of people I could rely on for advice, for empathy and sometimes some tough talk. Today, I’m paying it forward by being a mentor to other women inside and outside Macmillan Learning. I am part of a Women’s Leadership Network, and I sit on the Board of Directors of the not- for- profit organization Reach Out and Read of Greater NY.   I’m proud that I’m part of the company’s mentorship program, and the Executive Sponsor of Proud@ML, one of the company’s Employee Resource Groups.  This Women’s History Month, I wanted to take a moment to recognize those who have mentored me and countless other women to develop their publishing career. For me, being a mentor has brought such joy and pride helping those early in their careers grow and stretch themselves when they are not sure they can.   For those who might be reticent, I encourage you to think about those that inspire you, or spark your curiosity and start having those organic conversations that can oftentimes grow into lifelong mentorships.   ... View more

When instructors and students are used to in-person learning, the switch to online, remote learning can be a difficult one. It’s not unusual to feel rather disconnected, and it can be a challenge to form meaningful instructor/student and peer relationships. Macmillan Learning’s new digital platform Achieve can help facilitate this sense of community that many might feel is lacking in the virtual classroom.  The Achieve platform includes an interactive e-Book as well as extensive learning materials with pre-class, in-class and post-class activities. In addition to these materials, Professor of Psychology Dr. Michael Poulakis finds the Goal-setting and Reflection surveys to be the biggest advantage of Achieve. Through the use of this key function, Dr. Poulakis feels he can better understand the needs of his students and track their progress throughout his courses. Macmillan Learning asked Dr. Poulakis what other features of the new digital learning platform he found helpful.    What have been some challenges with teaching–especially with online learning–since the pandemic started? How have you addressed them? I think one of the main challenges is knowing how I should reach out to and communicate with my students to make sure that they understand the material. I teach psychology at the University of Indianapolis, so teaching online I need to ask myself: Do they understand the material? And, do they feel safe and comfortable enough to reach out to me if they don’t? Can they raise their hand virtually, so to speak, and say “Dr. P. I need your help with this”? Lastly, can I provide them with the tech experience that they need to be successful students? For me, Achieve has achieved that. Achieve has done that for my students.  How do Achieve and LaunchPad differ? Achieve is LaunchPad on steroids. I think that Achieve is what Windows 10 is to Windows 7. One of the advantages is the ability to do online surveys. This way I can gather some confidence about my students regarding how they feel about the class and their performance. How are they doing? How are they performing? These are the questions I ask myself, and with Achieve, I get data. I get to see what challenges my students face, including individual data from each student based on their responses, and that gives me more information about each student.  Another thing I like about Achieve is the plurality of assignments for each chapter. That is one of the major advantages, and the reason I believe that is because I can use current events, and I can also make sure that I capture different learning styles. That has been very helpful to me.  One part of Achieve that instructors and students have really responded to are the Goal-setting and Reflection Surveys. Are you using those? If so, how has that student information changed your class–for you and your students? I’ve used Goal-setting and Reflection surveys since I started using Achieve. One of the main advantages is that I get additional information about each one of my students. I’m a qualitative researcher, so the ability for me to know what is going on for each student–and I taught a class of 45 students this past semester, dealing with COVID, dealing with financial issues, dealing with relationships, dealing with medical issues, working full time (many of them work full time). The surveys gave me information about how I can best reach them, especially during off-hours when I’m not teaching class to ask them “What can I do for you?” or “How can I help you?” and I think that helped me realize that each one of them had their own particular set of challenges. I think it also reinforced that they can reach out to me, and it gave me a good idea of how they’re doing in class. They respond well to that because you can assign the different surveys throughout the semester, and that gives you data–baseline to an output–about how they’ve done, how they have progressed, and also how successful they feel about reaching their goals.  Why did you first decide to use online tools in your class?   All of my students used digital in high school, and that’s a shift that I have seen. Because of COVID, they’re already predisposed to that model. So for me, in terms of teaching, I knew that I needed to have a robust technology platform like Achieve to reach them. There were no technology issues, and that is such a blessing. I did not have to play tech support; I did not have to refer them to the tech side. The worst problem that happened was for me to teach them how to disable pop-ups and ad-blockers–for Achieve to work–and that was the worst scenario the whole semester.    This interview is part of a series focusing on how digital learning is being used in college classrooms and, in particular, what the transition to Achieve has been like. Interested in hearing more from Dr. Poulakis? Register today for the webinar "Connecting with Students to Improve Learning" where he'll share more about his experience using Goal-Setting and Reflection Surveys in Achieve. About Achieve: Macmillan Learning built it’s new digital learning platform Achieve to help students of all abilities and backgrounds succeed. It offers the content, tools and insights about student success to do just that. Achieve was designed with active learning in mind, and can be used in traditional, online, hybrid, blended, or a fully “flipped” classroom, with options for both synchronous and asynchronous learning to support engagement. It was co-designed with more than 7,000 students and over 100 leading educators and learning scientists both at our company and on our independent review boards. Learn more about Achieve . ... View more

For many students, accessibility is not a nice-to-have, but a need-to-have for their learning journey. And that shouldn’t be a journey students have to embark on alone. Macmillan Learning has long invested in tools and services that make learning more accessible for all learners, regularly sharing best practices, including with publicly available checklists and guidelines . The upcoming “Accessibility in Action” panel on March 7 at SXSW EDU brings together industry leaders for an important conversation on the accessibility journey including Macmillan Learning Senior Director of Accessibility Outreach and Communication, Rachel Comerford; Anaya Jones, Elearning Librarian & Assistant Professor at Southern New Hampshire University; Southeastern Oklahoma State University student Madison Saunders; and Benete ch Account Manager Ashley Wells Ajinkya. Ahead of the panel, our team spoke with Rachel Comerford about her role, what accessibility means in education, and important advancements that are being made. What does it mean to have "accessible" learning materials? There are two sides to making something accessible - meeting the requirements outlined by standards like WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) and meeting the needs of users.  Guidelines are important for establishing a consistent experience for students and in making materials work across the many platforms that students use. Assistive technology does a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to introducing variation in how educational content is displayed on a screen or delivered, but it can only do that work if the appropriate accessibility standards are met. The user experience, however, is more nuanced. Learning scientists discover more every day about how students learn and how unique the learning experience is. This goes for all students - checking off the accessibility to-do list is a great starting point, but every student is different and may need materials in different formats or styles. This is where flexibility plays a part in educational design. Making accessible learning materials also means being willing to re-make them according to user need. It’s in this spirit that Macmillan Learning offers alternative formats for all of its learning materials for students with disabilities. Macmillan Learning became the first publishing firm to be "global certified accessible" in 2019. What, in practical terms, does that mean? For Macmillan Learning, as it will be for most publishers participating in the certification program, this meant revisiting our eBook publishing workflow from the ground up. The first step was enormous; we made a format switch from PDF to EPUB3, which is widely considered to be a more accessible eBook format. From there, we made incremental improvements from adding alternative text to every image, to establishing accessible design templates, to tweaking our code until it reflected the best practices in the industry. We were supported on the journey by our partners at Benetech, who went through countless reviews with us to highlight challenges. We also worked with Tech for All, who trained employees and authored support documentation throughout the process, along with various industry organizations who have helped us create, maintain, and communicate these standards. We are very proud of the accomplishments we have made, but we also recognize that this is a journey that is ongoing. What do you consider to be some of the most important advancements in moving forward accessibility? People are the driving force behind accessibility. We are at a time where there's unprecedented awareness of the need for accessibility worldwide, which has led to widespread knowledge of the techniques necessary to make content accessible. Standards like WCAG and EPUB A11Y, certification programs, and an infrastructure of organizations, documentation, and training makes it easier than ever before to find out what still needs to be accomplished. How has the pandemic-induced shift to digital and remote learning impacted students that need accomodations? There were pros and cons to the sudden switch to remote learning. In a sense, the change was incredibly helpful to students in need of accommodations. Suddenly, students with chronic illness, pain, fatigue, and mobility issues had access to their ‘classroom’ when and where they needed it. And for many of these students, it worked. There was a downside as well though. When digital materials weren’t born accessible, students faced long waits from understaffed disability services offices for alternative formats. As the pandemic wore on, we saw an increased investment from procurement offices at universities in adopting accessible materials, which in turn led to students with disabilities getting the materials they needed at the same time as their peers and relief for accessibility offices.    What's something that would be surprising about accessibility in education? It’s disappointing that we still hear from some professors that students with disabilities are not “their” students. Educators need to understand that there are students with disabilities in their classrooms, either in-person or virtual. Refusing to consider these students when choosing educational materials, however, will delay or halt these students’ studies. This cannot be a chicken or egg argument: if we create an inaccessible environment for all students, then some students will be unable to complete their studies, and in the long run, society misses out on the valuable contributions these students might make in their fields. Every educator has the chance to make a difference for every student. It starts with them. The SXSW EDU Accessibility in Action panel  is scheduled for Monday, March 7, 2022 from 3:30pm-4:30pm CT. It will provide context from various stakeholders about what goes into making an eBook, a textbook, or other course materials fully accessible.  ... View more

The best designs are often the ones we don’t think twice about because they blend so seamlessly into our environment and benefit everyone who uses them. While it may go unnoticed, creating purposeful, accessible design often takes input from a variety of stakeholders; without consideration for and input from everyone, rather than from one specific user, accessible design can fail to hit the mark. Creating a seamless environment that supports all learners – with the input of a variety of stakeholders – is what Macmillan Learning strives to do as we develop our products and services.  To learn more about accessible design, Macmillan Learning recently sat down with Senior Development Editor, Sherry Mooney, and Associate Marketing Data Analyst, Vera Sticker, who also serves as the Cultural Awareness and Education Committee Lead for Macmillan Learning’s AVID (Awareness of Visible and Invisible Disabilities) Employee Resource Group. In our conversation, Sherry and Vera explained what the Curb-Cut Effect is, and they offered several great examples of architectural and product designs that benefit everyone - not only those with disabilities.  “We’ve all been there,” Vera said, “trying to push open a door designed to be pulled because of a misleading handle.”  “Or trying to get a stroller, wheelchair, or suitcase over a curb,” Sherry added.  Design problems like these might not just be irritating, they might even prevent people from being able to do simple things like accessing a building, enjoying a movie, or making dinner.  “People with disabilities face these obstacles regularly, sometimes on a daily (or even hourly!) basis,” said Sherry. “Over the years, as disability awareness has grown, many commonplace things have been modified or redesigned to enhance accessibility.”  “And this has led to a very cool discovery: time and again, the more accessible the design, the better it tends to be for everyone, with and without disabilities,” said Vera.  Such consistent results have warranted a name for this phenomenon: the Curb-Cut Effect. The discovery of the Curb Cut Effect led to a new design philosophy known as Universal Design, for which the University of Washington offers a lengthy but usefully precise definition .  Sherry and Vera provided three great examples of the Curb-Cut Effect in architectural design and products that people encounter or use on a daily basis. Accessibility Wins  The Curb-Cut Effect Curb-Cuts “Obviously, we have to start here,” said Vera. According to Sherry and Vera, c urb  cuts started appearing on American sidewalks in the 1940s and 1950s, when a few communities decided to invest in  more a c cessible environments for disabled veterans. Thereafter, with the pressure from disability rights activists, the America ns with Disabilities Act of 1990 led to curbs being cut in every corner of the country.  “It was a big win for people in wheelchairs, but they were far from the only ones to benefit,” said Vera. “Curb cuts made life easier for anyone navigating with a stroller,  shopping cart, rolling luggage, and just about any other thing on wheels.”  OXO Good Grips “Another great example is the ‘Good Grips’ line of kitchen tools by OXO ,” said Vera. “Although Good Grips products can be found in many kitchens (and almost every home goods store), the first product was created by Sam Farber with just one person in mind: his wife, Betsy, whose arthritis made it difficult to use a standard peeler.”  Farber founded OXO to create a line of tools that were easier for everyone to use, regardless of ability. The company applied universal design principles from the beginning, rather than trying to retrofit existing products.  Automatic Sliding Doors “The first modern sliding doors weren’t created for people with physical disabilities,” explained Sherry, “but for a different group of people who still had trouble in their environment: the residents of Corpus Christi, TX, which is one of the windiest cities in the US.” In 1954, Lew Hewitt and Dee Horton recognized this community’s struggle to open and close swinging doors, so they invented the automatic sliding door.  “They’re great for people carrying groceries, using wheelchairs, walking with guide animals, and those juggling multiple small children or strollers,” said Sherry. “In short, automatic sliding doors are a simple solution that makes buildings more accessible for everyone.”  Helping Everyone When it’s successful, we often don’t even notice universal design in action. Unfortunately, good intentions don’t guarantee success in universal design when it isn’t applied appropriately.  It’s not enough to only consider certain groups of people and to think of solutions based only on that group. In other words, adding accommodation for whomever might be deemed as the “default” user is not the same as removing barriers and increasing accessibility for all.  Universal Design is not limited to architectural design and products, but can be extended to the ways in which society as a whole is organized. Some companies offer their employees the flexibility to shift their working hours or to work longer on some days and shorter on others.  This would make jobs more accessible to those with chronic concerns like pain or fatigue because those individuals would be able to work when they feel best and rest when they need to. Many jobs offer this option as an accommodation when it’s specifically requested, but offering this sort of flexibility can make things better for everyone in terms of work/life balance. A good example of this benefiting everyone would be how it would allow those with different sleep schedules to be more productive during the times of day when they are feeling most energized and motivated.  “Obviously, this sort of approach wouldn’t work everywhere – for instance, in a retail or restaurant position* – much the same way that we don’t all have automatic sliding doors in our houses,” said Sherry.  There are requirements for particular places and roles that necessitate particular design choices. Whenever it is possible, however, universal design can point to better solutions for all users – and a better society for everyone.  *Sherry and Vera note that the most limiting positions are often held by those with fewer options because of structural economic, racial, or educational discrimination. Therefore, even as we acknowledge the challenges of universal design in these more constraining situations, we also embrace the challenge of trying to find ways to continue to apply universal design and to improve access and quality of life unilaterally.   ... View more

Like millions of Americans, I found myself glued to my television screen this past Sunday in hopes of witnessing a memorable Super Bowl.  From the onset of the event, I got more than I actually expected.  At the opening of Super Bowl LV, gospel duo Mary Mary gave a powerful rendition of James Weldon Johnson’s “ Lift Every Voice and Sing ”, commonly known in the African American community as the Black National Anthem.  I was moved to see the thousands in attendance, and know that millions more were standing, singing, and listening to this most sacred hymn in honor of Black History Month.   For more than one hundred and twenty years, the Black National Anthem has been sung in churches, auditoriums, at family reunions, and during moments of reflection as a source of unity during our difficult journey towards social progress in America.  When I heard the first words ring from Mary Mary in harmony, without thinking about it, I stood up on my feet at attention. With my head raised high, I whispered the words aloud. I was compelled to do what I had done every day during morning assembly at my predominantly Black elementary school in Trenton, New Jersey.   In school, after the flag salute and before the morning announcements, all students and teachers would stand and sing the Black National Anthem with pride. Every morning, regardless of who didn’t eat that night and came to school hungry, regardless of what violence was waiting at home, in spite of the general perceptions of African American students and their ability to learn, we stood proudly at 8:00 am with our heads held high and sang.   There was a stillness in the room and throughout the school as our hearts grew heavy for those morning moments. It felt like we were singing to ourselves as a reminder to never forget the struggle for freedom and the price of dignity in the face of adversity.  We were singing as a way to motivate our hearts to never give up on any meaningful pursuit in life.  We offered ourselves to a sad reality that hope itself is not secure, but must be evoked by remembering our past and those who came before us while committing to the path they envisioned for the future of a people. We stood there in a fear and reverence, hoping that we were in some way worthy to be the benefactors of abolitionists, activists, entrepreneurs, educators, inventors, and explorers who dared to contribute to the American experience in face of injustice and discrimination.   Last Sunday, while singing the Black National Anthem aloud, I felt what I hadn’t experienced in a long time- a sense of belonging and shared purpose.  I realized that church burnings and public threats couldn’t keep my forefathers and mothers from the difficult task of raising families, protecting communities, and contributing to the building of our nation.  I understood there, on my feet with the heavy heart of hope, that if they could accomplish so much with so little, then I could navigate a pandemic and the challenges of a virtual office space en route to realizing my own dreams of making a difference in the lives of others.    This Black History Month, I remember with pride those morning assemblies with Principal Morgan and the students and teachers at Joyce Kilmer Elementary School.  My hope now is that, in some way, the lifting up of my own voice brings honor to the African American elders who came before me and might serve as a source of inspiration for the emerging generation that will stand on the foundation of my generation of Black leaders.   ... View more

Student engagement remains a hot topic during the ongoing pandemic. How are instructors, who normally offer their classes in-person, managing to keep students engaged in their fully or partially virtual classrooms? For William Curington, instructor of English at Rio Hondo College, it's important to make sure his students feel they are part of a community - even if it’s an online, digital community.  William Curington, Instructor of English at Rio Hondo College Successful online teaching makes use of the best digital learning platforms, and in his classroom, William has used Macmillan Learning’s Achieve platform with his teaching of A Writer’s Reference . The Achieve platform includes an interactive e-Book as well as extensive learning materials with pre-class, in-class and post-class activities. Macmillan Learning asked William Curington about his experience switching to this new digital platform.  People are hesitant to embrace change, but what would you say are the benefits of moving to Achieve vs your experience with LaunchPad?  I think change is difficult for anyone. While I enjoyed using LaunchPad, I have found Achieve to be more “customizable” for my individual class needs. The pandemic kind of forced instructors everywhere to become more tech savvy and I was able to use some of that transitional time to find new and creative ways to use the platform.  How do Achieve and LaunchPad differ?   I feel like Achieve gives more options to me as an instructor when customizing it for the needs of my own course. LaunchPad certainly worked, but it felt more pre-packaged. With Achieve, I have more control of how I’m utilizing it and what features I’m using to connect with my class. Most recently, I have worked with integrating Achieve into our LMS, Canvas, which I’ve found very effective.  We know that student engagement–especially now–is a large issue and so important to student success. How do products like Achieve fit into that? As a community college instructor, I have students of various levels in all my classes, and one of the things I’ve found very helpful are the adaptive quizzes (LearningCurves) Achieve offers. It is nice to know that students can work at their own pace and the adaptive quizzes will identify areas students need work on so they can adjust accordingly. This kind of individualized, self-paced, non-threatening practice of concepts is exactly what many college students need.  How have students responded to Achieve overall?   Students have responded well to Achieve and have taken the time to tell me it has really helped them develop their writing skills. Class time is limited, and I think Achieve is extremely helpful because it allows an instructor to make sure that students are getting reinforcement and feedback on concepts outside of traditional class meetings. I can dedicate more class time to things like discussion and peer review and still know that my students are receiving the self-paced support they need for concepts that are foundational for their writing skills.    This interview is part of a series focusing on how digital learning is being used in college classrooms and, in particular, what the transition to Achieve has been like. About Achieve: Macmillan Learning built it’s new digital learning platform Achieve to help students of all abilities and backgrounds succeed. It offers the content, tools and insights about student success to do just that. Achieve was designed with active learning in mind, and can be used in traditional, online, hybrid, blended, or a fully “flipped” classroom, with options for both synchronous and asynchronous learning to support engagement. It was co-designed with more than 7,000 students and over 100 leading educators and learning scientists both at our company and on our independent review boards. Learn more about Achieve . ... View more

Student attrition is an unfortunate reality for many universities. For students, that can mean accumulating debt, but without the added income that a degree can bring to their lifetime earnings. For colleges, it can harm their ability to support students who need support the most -- including first generation students. This is a significant concern for many colleges, as more than one million students drop out of college every year.   So what’s a college to do to help support students' ability to persist and ultimately retain the students so that they complete their degree? Rochester University, an open enrollment liberal arts institution, asked that very question. To answer it, they created new programs to support student success initiatives and better retain their students.  For the last decade, first-time student retention at Rochester University has remained in the low to mid-60s.The university has set a goal of increasing retention by 7%. To increase the impact of the university’s student success efforts, Rochester implemented tools from Pharos Resources and iClicker Insights by Macmillan Learning to better understand the challenges students faced and how to support their needs. Although Rochester University is still in the early stages of integrating their use of Pharos and iClicker Insights, they have already experienced positive results. Fall 2021 to Spring 2022, persistence/retention for first year college students was 81.88%, a 3.3% increase over the prior year. To learn more about what the university discovered, and how they implemented the insights, download the free white paper. ... View more

The cover of Macmillan Learning’s first edition of Preparation for Calculus features a picture of Olympic skateboarder and X Games champion, Lizzie Armanto. For many students, Lizzie’s image provides a point of entry into the course; math can be cool, and everyone should feel welcome to enroll.  Macmillan Learning asked Lizzie what it meant to her to be featured on the cover of a textbook, to reflect on her own schooldays, and if she had any words of encouragement for students pursuing something new or challenging.    Photograph by Anthony Acosta. You were the first female featured on the cover of Transworld SKATEboarding. You’ve been featured on the cover of Thrasher Magazine, and you’re also a playable character in several skateboarding video games. Did you ever imagine you’d be featured on the front cover of a textbook? Not at all. I think people are more excited about the cover of Preparation for Calculus than they were about Transworld .  Lots of students on social media are saying that seeing you on the cover is the first time they've felt represented by a textbook, and it's inspiring them to consider the course. What would you say to them? Studying/learning new things can be challenging and maybe even daunting. Applying math to skateboarding is a fun way to make learning and practicing new 'math things' relatable. Hopefully it makes the work seem less like work and more fun. Can you describe for those of us less knowledgeable about skateboarding the maneuver or trick you’re performing on the front cover of this book? The trick is called a “frontside invert” aka “frontside handplant”. You basically go up the wall forward and as you approach the lip, or “coping” of the ramp or bowl, you reach out with your leading hand to grab the lip while at the same time grabbing the toe side edge of your board with your trailing hand. Your body will instinctively turn towards the direction you turn your head and the forward momentum combined with looking over your forward facing shoulder as you leave the bowl (hands still holding the lip and board respectively) will naturally bring you back around towards the ramp or bowl. You have to pull your weight in sometimes in order to make sure you do not land on the deck of the ramp. Once you’ve come all the way around and have spotted your re-entry point, you bend your knees and begin to slowly stand as you’re entering back into the ramp or bowl. This sounds complicated but once you see it, the trick is actually pretty simple.  What’s a fond memory that you have of your school days, high school or college, outside of skateboarding?  Still to this day, when I walk through the history building in Santa Monica High School, I can remember feeling a cesspool of emotions in ninth grade. Everything was new to me, the classes, campus, teachers, and kids. I knew I wanted to pursue skateboarding but at the time it felt like some far off dream. There were a few teachers that made my high school years pretty enjoyable. Their passion for what they did or the subject they taught had an impact on me. Teachers don't get enough credit and the bad ones really give the rest a bad rap.  You competed for Finland in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games. What have you learned while training for the games that may help students as they face their own challenges? Aside from rehabbing a serious injury nine months prior to the Olympics, I didn’t really change anything as far as training or preparing for the Olympics. In all actuality, the Olympics was one of the easier contests for us as professional skaters are concerned. Due to the quota system, no country could send more than three qualified skaters and with the majority of top pros being from three countries (USA, Brazil, Japan) there were quite a few top skaters who could have medaled but were not able to compete in Tokyo because they fell outside of the country quota. X Games and Vans Park Series (pro tour) are much more competitive than the Olympics were. You’ve been described as a trailblazer in the sport of skateboarding. Less than twenty years ago, women were earning less than 5% in winnings compared to men's event winners in the X Games. When you won skateboard-park gold in your first X Games in 2013, the prize amounts were equal. What advice would you give to other women and girls pursuing their dreams in male-dominated fields or spaces? Don’t be afraid to go for it or fail. Everyone has to start somewhere. Be patient with yourself and just keep at it, eventually you'll get to where you want to be if you keep at it or may be even end up somewhere better. You’re passionate about promoting the sport of skateboarding in lesser developed countries, and you’ve helped run skateboarding workshops, clinics, and demos. Why is it important to share skills with others?  Skateboarding is such an amazing lifestyle and teacher of things on and off the skateboard. Skateboarding teaches resilience like when you fall, you get back up. Little things like this go a long way when you start applying it to other areas of life. You can follow Lizzie on her Instagram and see her on the cover of Preparation for Calculus here. ... View more

Students taking economics courses are expected to learn about traditional finance and intermediaries that impact the economy, like supply and demand, trade, stock markets and hedge funds. These are critical topics that help them to understand individual markets, the impact of government policies and the overall economy. But what, if anything, should students learn about decentralized finance, like cryptocurrency? Why is or isn’t it important to learn about these peer-to-peer transactions and their impact on the economy? We asked the popular economist and co- Alex Tabarrok author of  Modern Principles of Economics and Marginal Revolution Alex Tabarrok about decentralized finance ahead of his webinar next month on the topic. What is decentralized finance? Traditional finance involves many financial intermediaries like stock markets, hedge funds and banks. Banks, for example, stand in between savers and borrowers and, as we explain in Modern Principles, they perform useful services like evaluating borrowers and creating easy means of payments like credit cards and checks. Naturally, financial intermediaries also take a cut of the proceeds, about 8% of GDP! Decentralized finance replaces some of these intermediaries with code, smart contracts, that allows buyers and sellers, borrowers and lenders and others to interact more directly and we hope at lower cost and with greater innovation. Loosely speaking, decentralized finance is to finance what Facebook and Twitter are to newspapers and magazines; namely, replacing a centralized authority with a more decentralized peer-to-peer interaction, for better or worse! How do cryptocurrencies fit into decentralized finance? Right now, "DEFI" is mostly used to borrow, lend and trade cryptocurrencies. And frankly it's very risky, hard to do, and pretty weird.  What we are seeing, however, is a very rapid evolution in the DEFI sector and this may turn out to be a fantastic example of Clayton Christiansen's disruptive innovation; namely, an innovation with a smaller company at the bottom of the market that traditional players ignore and discount until it moves up market and disrupts established competitors before they even know what is happening. Frankly, every stock exchange in the world ought to be very fearful of DEXs, i.e. decentralized exchanges. You’re covering cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance in an online chapter in the next Edition of Modern Principles of Economics. Why did you choose to include it? Students ask us about crypto all the time! I don't expect there's a lot of time to teach this material, but a teacher should always know a little bit more than their students! So we thought teachers might be interested in this material to help them answer questions and they can always include some of this material when talking about money or financial intermediaries. Right now BitCoin remains the most accepted and widely known form of crypto. Do you think that is the case going forward, and what other coins do you think may become more prevalent and accepted? Bitcoin has proven to be a good store of value, somewhat equivalent to gold as a store of value. It's not a good medium of exchange, however, and I don't think it ever will be. There are lots of other coins, including stable coins that are very useful in transacting online and a lot of coins tied to various products and projects. Most of these coins will fail and people will lose money. Still, the new tools that are being developed today at a rapid pace suggest the future of finance is going to be quite different than the past. To learn more about decentralized markets and how to teach students about it, sign up for the free professional development webinar hosted by Tabarrok on Feb. 23  here .   Alex Tabarrok is Bartley J. Madden Chair in Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Tabarrok is co-author with Tyler Cowen of the popular economics blog, Marginal Revolution. His recent research looks at bounty hunters, judicial incentives and elections, crime control, patent reform, methods to increase the supply of human organs for transplant, and the regulation of pharmaceuticals. His popular articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and many other magazines and newspapers. ... View more

In anticipation of Valentine’s Day, many students all around the world will be celebrating love with their romantic partners by sending cards, giving gifts, and sharing candlelit meals. While doing this, they will be demonstrating their interpersonal communication skills which help them to competently communicate, interact, and work with individuals and groups or, in this case, a romantic partner. According to Dr. Kelly Morrison, Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and co-author of Reflect and Relate , “love is defined and created by how we interpersonally communicate.”   Much of what’s learned about interpersonal communication is derived from social and mass media, family and peers, personal experiences, and cultural norms and practices. That includes the communication that’s used throughout romantic relationships. But that’s not where the learning needs to end. From combating stereotypes about love as depicted in the movies, to understanding the various stages of falling in love, students can learn a lot about the intersection of romantic relationships and interpersonal communication in a college classroom. From Hallmark and Disney movies to popular love advice books, misinformation about relationships is pervasive. For example, students often learn from these media that passionate love should be the ultimate relationship goal. In interpersonal communication courses, students learn that there is more than one way to demonstrate love, with passionate love being just one of them. “Our job as educators is to give our students trustworthy knowledge and help them apply it to their close relationship challenges,” said Dr. Steven McCornack, Professor at University of Alabama at Birmingham and co-author of Reflect and Relate . There’s also an opportunity for students to learn what love is -- and what it isn’t. According to Professor McCornack, it’s not uncommon to conflate physical intimacy with love, but the two do not always correlate. “Across the globe and throughout history, people have been physically involved with those with whom they’re not intimate; and intimate with those with whom they’re not physically involved.” Professor Morrison explains that love is “created and sustained, moment by moment, day in and day out, through our communication, what we share, and how we support one another.” Further, men aren't from Mars, women aren't from Venus, and there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all way to approach love. The different love attitudes expressed in a relationship lend themselves to vastly different communication styles. “If you possess a more practical, as opposed to a more romantic attitude about love, you likely will also see variations in what and how people communicate about love,” said Professor Morrison. In addition to tackling misconceptions about romantic relationships, interpersonal communication classes also discuss topics critical to building and maintaining successful relationships: from how to approach conflict to the importance of emotions. This kind of knowledge helps students to make more informed choices regarding how they communicate and respond to another person's communication. “We control our own romantic relationship destinies through the choices we make regarding how we communicate. Our choices determine our communication; and our communication creates our romantic relationship outcomes,” said Professor McCornack. Learn more about the intersection of romantic love and interpersonal communication from a webinar when the two Macmillan Learning authors and interpersonal communication professors spoke about “love attitudes and relationship maintenance.” The webinar is free for instructors and will provide a complimentary assignment for instructors to use on Valentine’s Day or when otherwise discussing romantic relationships. Access it for here. ... View more