They are represented on posters, songs, and films, and run over five million deep as a symbol of strength and feminism. They are the real-life war effort leading ladies. When the United States called for all hands on deck during World War II, traditional gender roles experienced a societal shift as women heeded the call to join the workforce. This created generational shockwaves and unmasked the untapped potential of women in the United States' war efforts. In 2017, the US Senate passed a national day of observance on March 21st to commemorate all these red-blooded riveters. And their names? Well, you can just call them Rosie. Rosie, the Poster Here’s a bandana twist: the image we have all come to associate with Rosie the Riveter was a prototype! The imagecreated by Norman Rockwell for The Saturday Evening Post's May 1943 issue was seen by millions at the time of release and was the most common image of Rosie during the war. Today, we collectively recall the image titled  “We Can Do It” by J. Howard Miller. Comparatively, at the time, this image was seen by very few, as it was used for a production campaign for the Westinghouse Electric Corporation. “We Can Do It” was not popularized until the 1980s, when feminists looked for images and symbols from the past to advance women's empowerment further. It was only then that the charming yet tough persona of the Rosie the Riveter image we know today took center stage.  Rosie, the Song With war looming and encouragement needed more than ever, composers and lyricists Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb released the 1942 patriotic tune “Rosie the Riveter”, which became a national hit and was popularized by the group The Four Vagabonds. This song was known to have inspired the Norman Rockwell magazine cover of Rosie.  Rosie, the Film “Rosie” became such an icon that there was a 1944 film adaptation with the eponymous title, starring Jane Frazee as Rosalind “Rosie” Warren in the musical comedy. Many years later, a 1980 war documentary titled “The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter” was produced that told the true stories of five real-life Rosies from across the United States.  Rosie, the Origin Story There is a lot of speculation as to who the “real” Rosie the Riveter was. By doing a simple web search you will find several articles, videos, and obituaries claiming a different woman as the “real” Rosie. After researching records, articles, and videos of information, the conclusion came to this – they are ALL the real Rosies. Here are some of the women who inspired the spirit of Rosie the Riveter.  Naomi Parker Fraley, a California waitress who had worked in a Navy machine shop during World War II is said to likely be known as the inspiration for the “We Can Do It” poster so famously known today.  Rosina Bonavita, the daughter of Italian Immigrants who worked as a riveter in New York and “set a speed record in building a Grumman Avenger torpedo bomber.”  Rose Will Monroe, a Michigan native who had a chance encounter with actor Walter Pidgeon while riveting at an airplane factory, and ended up starring in a film depicting Rosie the Riveter as being a real “Rosie” herself. Rosalind “Roz” P. Walter, famously known as the inspiration for the Rosie the Riveter song, was born into wealth but answered the call to help during the war effort instead of going to college immediately. She also became the main benefactor of PBS.  Mary Doyle Keefe, the original model for the famous Norman Rockwell painting. At the time she was a young telephone operator and happened to be Rockwell’s neighbor. Behind the Flex “Rosie the Riveter” was not one sole woman, race, or age. These mothers, daughters, and sisters worked on tanks, planes, ships, and other important materials needed for the war. Serving both in and out of uniform, these women answered the call to action and proved that jobs previously reserved for men could indeed be done effectively and efficiently by women as well.  Today, we honor all the Rosies who served their nation and contributed to not just a national victory, but the charge of women’s rights movements in the decades that followed. The daughters and sons of these women are lovingly called rosebuds and rivets. As the rosebuds and rivets (or grand-rosebuds/rivets) of today, how will YOU embrace the spirit of Rosie the Riveter today, and beyond?  This blog post is part of a month-long celebration of Women’s History Month organized by WOMEN@ML (Women of Macmillan Empowering and Networking), Macmillan Learning’s employee resource group for all employees who identify as women. During the month of March, WOMEN@ML celebrated and recognized an important historical woman each day of the month, drawing attention to their accomplishments and contributions to the world we live in today.  ... View more

Today, the fifteenth of February, marks the middle of Black History Month in the United States and Canada. Though the roots of this affinity month date back to the 1920s with the recognition of “Negro History Week” by the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), a month-long affinity period was first proposed in 1969 by educators and students at Kent State University, followed by their first celebration of Black History Month in 1970.  Historically, both educators and students have played a pivotal role in changing culture; for it is often their firm belief that education and knowledge lead to the empowerment of marginalized groups. To them, classrooms have served as places where ideas are fostered, engaged with, and critiqued; students should leave them feeling equipped to enter the world as positive change-makers, sharing with others the history that they have learned and tools they’ve acquired to become the difference they want in the world.  However, classrooms have not always been accessible and inclusive to all students, as education was once–and too often remains–a symbol of status and privilege. Where and when education has been made equitable and accessible to underserved populations, the most significant cultural change occurs.  Going back in history, we recognize time and time again the impact that education has made in advancing the rights and freedoms of marginalized peoples in the United States and elsewhere. For Black History Month this year, we’re recognizing seven Black leaders who understood the power of education to inspire what’s possible for the generations that followed.  Septima Poinsette Clark (1898 - 1987) Referred to as “The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement” by Martin Luther King Jr., Septima Poinsette Clark was an educator and civil rights activist best known for organizing citizenship schools for African Americans. The schools were developed with the goal of improving literacy among African Americans in the Deep South, which, Clark hoped, would also empower these communities to learn about citizenship rights and become active in the fight for voting rights.  Mary McLeod Bethune (1875 - 1955) Founder of the Daytona Literary and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls in 1904, Mary McLeod Bethune spent decades of her life developing and improving educational opportunities for Black youth. Her school eventually merged with the boy’s Cookman Institute in 1931 to become the Bethune-Cookman College, of which she became president. In 1935, Bethune founded the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW); she earned a full-time staff position at the National Youth Administration (NYA) in 1936, where she was quickly appointed to Director of the Division of Negro Affairs; and in 1938, after befriending Eleanor and Franklin Rooselvelt, Bethune formed the Federal Council of Negro Affairs, which served as an advisory board to President Roosevelt.  Anna Julia Cooper (1858 - 1964) One of the first African American women to earn a doctoral degree, Anna Julia Cooper emphasized the importance of education for Black women and is considered one of the most significant contributors to the field of African American women’s studies through her scholarly work. Her first book, A Voice from the South: By a Black Woman of the South, is considered her most important work and is recognized as one of the earliest books about Black feminism. In 1930, she became the president of Frelinghuysen University, where she was dedicated to increasing literacy among unskilled Black workers.  William Leo Hansberry (1894 - 1965) William Leo Hansberry, a pioneering scholar in African history and studies at Howard University, was the first to teach African history at a university in the United States. During his more-than-forty-year tenure at Howard University, Hansberry mentored many African and African American students, including Kwame Nkrumah, who would later become the first prime minister and president of Ghana, and Nnamdi Azikiwe, who was a driving force in the movement for Nigerian independence and became the country’s first president.  Marva Collins (1936 - 2015)  Dedicated to providing high-quality education to low-income African American students, Marva Collins founded the Westside Preparatory School in Chicago in 1975. With decades of teaching experience in the inner-city Chicago Public School system, Collins developed innovative teaching methods that instilled confidence and a love for learning in her students, achieving academic success with children that were mislabeled by the Chicago Public School system as being learning disabled. Together with her daughter, Collins ran the school for more than 30 years.  Carter Godwin Woodson (1875 - 1950)  Often referred to as the “Father of Black History”, Carter Godwin Woodson was an educator and historian who devoted his life to promoting the study of African American history. In 1915, Woodson founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, which created Negro History Week in 1926. Woodson elected to celebrate Black history in the middle of February each year because the time coincides with the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln (February 12) and Frederick Douglass (February 14). While Woodson did not live to experience Negro History Week becoming Black History Month, he is one of the most important driving forces behind the February designation.  Johnnetta Betsch Cole (1936 - )  The first female African American president of Spelman College, Johnnetta Betsch Cole is a prominent advocate for diversity and inclusion in education. While at Spelman College, Cole established innovative programs aimed at empowering African American women and promoting academic excellence and social responsibility. Cole also served as the Director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art, became the 7th president for the National Council of Negro Women (2018 - 2022), and was once considered for the cabinet post of Secretary of Education. ... View more

This time last year, Macmillan Learning updated our mission, vision and values. We remain committed to our mission: to inspire what’s possible for every learner. At the core of this mission is our unwavering belief in the enduring value of education. We believe that an investment in education is an investment in human potential. Whether that means a more prosperous future or by providing a stepping-stone to personal and societal growth, we know we have a role to play.  Over the past year, there have been concerns about AI in education leading to its overuse, students’ diminished critical thinking skills, or a reduction in students' investment in their own learning. But I believe that those of us who intimately know what makes learning successful understand that an education is more than just accumulating facts or mastering skills; rather, it's an exploration of self and world and the genesis of lifelong curiosity and learning. This is a new era for education – one that embraces the dynamics of a digital age. But also one that acknowledges the timeless value of human connection and the importance of learning from each other. As we navigate this rapidly changing landscape, our mission remains our anchor, guiding our endeavors and fueling our passion. AI doesn't change this. We believe all  technology enables the human-centric experience of learning. In a world marked by political turbulence, the role of education becomes even more critical. We remain steadfast in adhering to our values and mission and believe that classrooms must be places where ideas are fostered, engaged with, and critiqued – not removed or banned. Which brings me to another thing that hasn’t changed for us in 2024: our dedication towards diversity and inclusion.  We understand how access to our course materials and technology can help transform 'what’s possible' into reality and carry this responsibility with a deep sense of purpose and optimism. Importantly, we take pride in creating products that reflect the rich diversity of the student populations we serve and strengthen the inclusive value of educational environments. It’s through such commitments we envision neutralizing persistent gaps in outcomes reflective of racial, ethnic, gender, socioeconomic, and cultural lines. We believe that educators and students should feel represented in our learning materials, and that no student should be expected to adopt any particular political or cultural point-of-view in order to succeed in the classroom. As we proceed in this new year, expect to see us further embolden our commitment to our mission. Expect us to stand firm in our belief in the value of education, and steadfast in our dedication to inspiring possibilities – to fostering curiosity and enabling success for every student. Our ultimate goal? To make a difference in learners' lives – to not just educate, but inspire what’s possible. And we envision a world in which every learner succeeds. Through our content, services and tools we aim to make that a reality. We invite you to join us on this journey, as it will surely be an interesting and exciting one in 2024. ... View more

There are two experiences that have always been important to the history and legacy of struggle and perseverance in the lives of Black people. Sunday morning in the Black church represents a coming together once a week, under song and sermon, to express the pain of the past, the possibilities of the moment, and the hopes of dreams deferred. We come together, under the watchful eye of God, to seek what the world could not offer us–the divine validation to keep living. However, another experience presents a different moment of expression: birthdays.  Like so many aspects of Black life in America, birthdays are often an opportunity to celebrate not only the individual milestones in a person’s life, but also the collective joy, love, and victories experienced by the family and even the entire community. For as long as I can remember, in every Black family that I was ever connected with, including my own, I witnessed this sense of freedom and liberated expression that came out most prominently during a birthday celebration. Children clothed in untamed innocence, dignified and decorated members of the community, and elders worn with wisdom all took center stage on their birthday. In front of the whole family, in the presence of beloved friends, neighborhood buddies, sister circles of Black women together again–there is a rare and beautiful moment in the Black experience where you are a king, a queen, a conqueror, a celebrity, and a showman for an audience all your own.    The birthday celebration, no matter the length of time or the location, becomes this transformative moment where you can transcend your vocation, rise above your station, live larger and broader than your title allows, and totally immerse yourself in the full embodiment of freedom. Through the centuries of celebrations, Black people have always found a way to celebrate each other, collectively, under the backdrop of a world, a society, a community not willing to acknowledge the whole beauty of our identity. So, the birthday celebration has become this right that we give ourselves to say, among ourselves and to ourselves, we are spectacular and born with purpose.  Now I grew up in the eighties, and by that time, the birthday celebration in Black life had shifted to take on an even greater meaning. Since the 1970s, many Americans had been campaigning for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday to become a national holiday. Several states enacted holidays on his birthday in the 70’s, including Illinois, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, but Congress stopped short of passing a national day into law. In November 1979, despite the endorsement of President Carter, the King Holiday Bill was defeated by five votes. But then something incredible happened that changed everything. The superstar Stevie Wonder stepped in and changed the national consciousness about the importance of Dr. King to the American legacy of freedom, and in the process, added an important element for Black people to channel into our birthday celebrations.  After the 1979 defeat of the bill, Wonder wrote “Happy Birthday” and included it on his “Hotter Than July” album of 1980. He held the Rally for Peace press conference in 1981, when the song was released as a single. His song became the anthem for the movement to make Dr. King’s birthday a national holiday and, in late 1983, President Ronald Reagan approved the holiday, to be observed on the third Monday in January each year. The campaign to get the holiday federally acknowledged seemed to be doomed as the decade changed. It looked as if the American sense of justice and freedom was too bruised and tattered from the riots and uprisings in American cities following the assassination of Dr. King on April 4, 1968. That’s when Stevie Wonder did something “wondrous", as his stage name implies–he took the best of the atoning hope of Sunday morning in the Black church and fused it with the lively love of a Black birthday party, fit for a “king”.  Stevie Wonder gave us an anthem to celebrate, not only Dr. King’s beauty and his spirit, but the singer/songwriter gave Black America another conduit to collectively celebrate ourselves each year on our own birthdays. We had permission to fully clothe ourselves in the dignity of Dr. King’s dream. Even if we were not there and we were born too late to remember his image on television or his voice on the radio, we could march with him, laugh with him, cry with him, dance with him, and sing with him in a moment that we owned in the presence of others who valued freedom. And so as the ritual goes, ever since I was a boy, the normal American birthday tradition would start at some point during the birthday celebration–seated or standing, with close family and friends, someone would come from behind the veil of a kitchen with a birthday cake lit and ready to be presented to the birthday celebrant. Everyone would gather around huddled closely, quietly singing the traditional Happy Birthday tune in unison. But at some point in the ritual, whether towards the end of the traditional song or after the candled wishes are made, everyone would break out in an explosive roar of Stevie Wonder’s tune, singing: “Happy Birthday to Ya! Happy Birthday to Ya! Happy Birth-Day!” Clapping and dancing, chanting and shouting, the space would be filled with the lyrics to Stevie’s song.  You could fully recognize a shift in the energy and a shift between the two moods, and the two songs. The shift is always purposely done, as if to say that we as Black people live in two worlds and shift between consciousness–one consciousness that we’ve learned to understand and another higher consciousness where we are understood. And it is in that higher consciousness, at the height of song and dance, love and laughter, redemption and reflection that we embody on our birthdays, the last words spoken by Dr. King in his “I Have A Dream'' speech: “Free at Last, Free at Last…Thank God O’ Mighty, I’m free at Last!”    ... View more

At Macmillan Learning we envision a world in which every learner succeeds. We recognize that to do just that, it’s critical that students recognize themselves in our course materials. Each and every team within the company has an important role to play in achieving that goal.  When thinking about the teams that create educational titles, we may first consider those who write the materials. It’s easy to recognize the strong impact they have on what information is shared in a textbook. But there’s more to it than just that. There are teams that have the important task of selling or marketing the materials, which helps make the materials available to the students that need them.   But there’s one team that’s also critical to making diverse and inclusive course materials -- and that’s the team that manages our rights and permissions. This team enables Macmillan Learning to use audio, video, photo/images, and text assets in each of our titles. This is no small task when each title can have hundreds, if not thousands, of media assets.  Working in collaboration with Editorial teams, the Permissions team helps decide which images and media to include, ensuring that they add value to the learning experience while also representing and reflecting the many different students and instructors who may use the materials. The team also checks the content throughout the production process to ensure that there’s no misrepresentation. This is true both when there’s a new title we plan to publish as well as when we’re updating an already existing title for a new edition. For many years, educational materials did not reflect the diverse population that used them which is why this team has been redoubling their efforts to ensure this very important work is addressed. Creating representative and diverse textbooks Students have a remarkably diverse range of motivations, goals, and lives in and out of the classroom. They also have an increasingly diverse representation in college campuses, with more students than ever reflecting many different ethnicities, backgrounds and even countries. In fact, in 2020, more than 40% of students attending college were BIPOC ( 21% Hispanic, 14% Black, 7% Asian). We believe that offering materials that include representation for students of all abilities, backgrounds, and demographics helps support students’ sense of belonging both in and out of class. According to Cecilia Varas, Senior Executive Permissions Editor, “Representation matters when teaching students from all over the world. It is important that our student audience sees itself in our content to feel more connected and engaged to the material. Something as simple as a photo, text blurb, or cartoon can impact how one feels.”  To that end, the Rights & Permissions team finds content from a variety of sources. They seek out partnerships with organizations that specialize in diverse materials as well as collections from existing partners that have committed to offering inclusive content. “It’s fun to research new DEI artists and photographers. Sometimes we have the opportunity to work with incredible photographers, illustrators and artists,” said Robin Fadool, Executive Permissions Editor. She cites her work with artist Cynthia Fisher on For All Practical Purposes and photographer Lois Greenfield to get a licensed photo of Parsons Dance for the cover of Schacter Psychology 6th edition.  What the rights and permissions Team does When the team gets "rights and permissions” to use copyrighted material, that means that they’re obtaining the authorization and consent from the copyright holder to use their work in a specific manner. It’s a process that’s not always linear, as sometimes the owner of the copyright is deceased, or the copyright for materials has changed hands. The diverse content varies greatly from historical -- like speeches from Martin Luther King Jr. -- to more contemporary works, like a photo of a painting of Michelle Obama for use on a textbook cover. Another important, but challenging, part of the work is ensuring the copyrighted works are being used as intended, and that involves a detailed accounting of them. “So much of our work is tracking. Tracking assets and the rights associated with them. We try to keep it simple by requesting broad rights and working with preferred vendors but when we license for video or text, the tracking of restrictions needs to be accurate. Data entry standards are very important in our group,” said Christine Buese, Executive Permissions Manager.  Sheena Goldstein, Executive Permissions Editor, concurs: “It can be a grueling, tedious process to track down rights for a photo from a hard-to-reach source, like an academic who is out in the field conducting research or from a small library in a tiny town somewhere. However, it is always rewarding to see the final photo on the page and know that this unique image will help students learn and absorb the material. Some of us are visual learners. Images convey so much meaning in every book.” And, surprisingly, the opposite is also true -- the team also receives permission requests to use our material in other publications. According to Alexis Gargin, Permissions Editor, these can range from journal articles and textbooks to more unique usages such as a TV classroom prop, a whaling museum, and a Swiss hiking trail. If you look closely, you may find Myers/Psychology in Patriot's Day or Henretta/America's History for the AP Course 2020 in The Republic of Sarah, for example. In addition to being researchers and trackers, the team is also skilled in negotiations. While there are often standardized licensing agreements with the company’s preferred vendors, particularly for common types of content like stock photos, that’s not always the case. It's common for negotiations to cover what the assets will be used for, the period of time in which they will be used, as well as payment terms and any limitations.  Diversity and inclusion in action Because the educational publishing industry serves and informs students and instructors from a variety of backgrounds, its goal is to offer diverse materials that are backed by research and pedagogical insight. But in order to use diverse materials, those materials first need to exist. Oftentimes, this means going back to the drawing board (literally and figuratively speaking) to create representative content. This is done with both the company’s preferred vendors alongside new ones. And it can be done in big and little ways -- from re-imagining the entire cover of a textbook to changing captions that accompany new images. Their strategies are informed by a set of guidelines created by the company’s editorial teams.   Some of the many guidelines include recommendations like: Include photos and content that showcase a diverse array of humans and human activity; present people in non-stereotypical roles; Consider a full range of diversity categories: race, ethnicity, nationality, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, political affiliation, ability, socioeconomic status, veteran status, family status, and environment; Be aware of your own preferences and biases. One example of how the team put the concepts from the guidelines in action was by partnering with a preferred vendor, Cartoonstock, to improve the process of revising cartoons and, in turn, make content more inclusive. Goldstein cites working on Jonathan Gruber’s Finance and Public Policy 7th edition on cartoon captions and imagery revisions as an important step for her and the entire team, as it was the first title that she and the Economics editorial team had done revisions on a significant amount of cartoons.  Previously only 23.5% of the cartoons had women represented in its cartoon program for the previous six editions of the book. Now, there are 43% female‐presenting characters and 31% people of color. There are also now two people representing the LGBTQ+ community and one person with a physical disability, where previously those communities were not represented visually in the text. In addition to improving representation, the partnership also taught the team several best practices for future projects on how to best adapt cartoons for DEI. While some progress is quantitative, like Finance and Public Policy, some progress is done behind the scenes and is more qualitative. Gargin noted, “One of my favorite projects to work on was Developing Lives 2.0 because of all of the diverse photo research. This digital project showed how families are all different and unique and yet we all face the same challenges from selecting which schools to send our children to or even just deciding between a cat or a dog as a pet. The editorial team requested photos that represented how multiple countries and cultures celebrated life milestones from Korean Doljanchi to Apache Sunrise Ceremony.” Varas cited her recent work with the history title Freedom On My Mind as a highlight. The textbook offers narratives of African American and US History with documents that support the inspiring quest for freedom, the American dream and the countless contributions of African Americans to our collective history. She obtained permission from the Smithsonian/National Portrait Gallery to use an image of Michelle Obama by painter Amy Sherald.  “As editors and researchers, we’re always curious. We always want to make sure that the content is fresh and relevant. The team really cares about our products and what they see when they turn the pages of our books, and are always looking for new material” said Hilary Newman, the team’s leader and Senior Director of Rights and Permissions. “There’s nothing static about being in permissions.” ... View more

College is an important time of transition for many students. They’re learning new things, meeting new people, and exploring new surroundings. But managing the many changes taking place isn’t always easy. That’s because with the many changes and opportunities also come challenges for students, and with that can come the feeling like they may not belong in their class, or even in college at all. There are a range of reasons why students may not feel like they belong, and it varies widely from student to student. Some may be the first in their families to attend college. Some students may struggle with mental health issues. Some may simply find it difficult to make friends. And yet others still may have challenges with their financial situations. For these students, feeling like they do not belong, or are an “imposter” can hinder their academic success as well as their mental health, and overall well-being. Some students from traditionally underrepresented minority groups may also feel a sense of marginalization or stigmatization on campus.  Research has demonstrated that students who feel like they belong are more likely to be engaged in their studies, perform better academically, and are more likely to stay in college and graduate. For example, a recent study found that students who report a higher sense of belonging at the end of the first year do better than their counterparts, persist more in their second and third years and have lower levels of mental health issues. “Regardless of the reason, when students feel like they don't belong, the consequences can be detrimental,” said Macmillan Learning Research Specialist Sarah Gray. “It can impact the students’ future career opportunities and earning potential alongside society as a whole by creating higher levels of social inequality and race-based disparities in academic achievement.” At Macmillan Learning our mission is to inspire what’s possible for every learner. That’s why we’ve been so interested in learning more about how having a sense of belonging impacts student performance, and whether courseware can have an impact. Most recently, we have been conducting research in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to learn more about digital tools that could foster a sense of belonging and the impact that may have on student success for underserved student populations. What is Having a Sense of Belonging Sense of belonging in the college settings refers to how students understand their role and their social fit in a college environment. It goes beyond just physical presence on campus. Rather, it's a feeling that students have that they are part of a larger community, where they are valued, understood, and supported. It’s also about having social and cultural capital–understanding the social norms, shared values, and expected behaviors of college. Their sense of belonging can be enhanced through both social and academic interactions in their classrooms and institutions.  According to Gray, an unfortunate reality is that underrepresented minority groups can report a weaker sense of belonging than their White peers on their campuses.  “Having a sense of belonging is not necessarily a binary issue, where students either feel like they belong or they don’t. Rather, it's a complex and dynamic feeling that can be influenced by a variety of factors, including social identity, campus climate, individual experiences and cultural norms,” said Gray. She added that having a sense of belonging can be further complicated for underrepresented minority students by assumptions that they are coming into college with a deficit of the knowledge and skill needed to succeed, as well as the pressure to fit into the campus environment at the expense of their home culture. There are three types of belonging that Macmillan Learning has been particularly interested in learning more about: students’ individual sense of belonging, their sense of belonging in a particular class, and their sense of belonging within college.  Individual belonging reflects a student's overall sense of belonging within the college environment. It encompasses their feelings of social and academic fit and can be influenced by factors such as campus culture, social identity, personal experiences, and individual personality traits. Students who feel individual belonging may feel like they are valued for their unique perspectives, and that they are free to express themselves and explore their interests without fear of judgment or discrimination. Belonging in class reflects a student's sense of connection and engagement within a specific course or academic program. It's having a sense of ownership over their learning and success in that course or program, and understanding how their classwork is helping them achieve their academic goals. A student who feels a strong sense of belonging in a particular class might feel comfortable speaking up in class discussions, collaborating with their peers on group projects or feel close with their instructor.  Students may or may not feel like they belong at college at all, and it has to do with their sense of connection and belonging that expands beyond just their individual academic programs or their courses.This belonging encompasses their feelings of social and academic fit, as well as their sense of connection to the broader campus community and institutional values. Whether or not they feel like a welcome part of a larger community that shares similar values and goals. Studying Sense of Belonging Macmillan Learning’s Sense of Belonging and Metacognition study seeks to understand the impact of using digital tools like out-of-class peer learning, low-stakes quizzing, and routine sentiment check-ins embedded within a digital courseware platform, like Achieve, to improve students’ sense of belonging and metacognition skills. The study will also examine whether improved sense of belonging and metacognition skills are related to other student outcomes such as course retention, content knowledge and exam scores.  The study is part of the company’s ongoing research about how digital learning platforms and courseware can help to close equity gaps in course completion for historically and presently underserved students, and students experiencing poverty. Initial research began in Spring 2023, and further research will take place in Fall 2023.  “We believe that having a sense of belonging can have an impact, and are testing related digital courseware solutions that administrators, instructors and students said would be helpful. This will help us to see what works best in practice, what students will actually use, and how they will use it,” said Guido Gatti, Sr. Quantitative Research Analyst. In the second part of this series, we’ll offer practical examples of tools and activities that instructors can use to help foster students’ sense of belonging both in and out of the classroom. ... View more

Research has found that students who use their metacognitive skills have higher rates of success -- not only do they earn better grades, but they also gain a better ability to transfer knowledge and achieve higher graduation rates. It’s something that we’ve long been interested in at Macmillan Learning, and are excited to learn even more about -- especially as it relates to under-represented student populations. To that end, we partnered with The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to research and test equity-centered enhancements for digital courseware, such as our learning platform, Achieve, in the introductory courses of psychology and sociology. We believe that if we increase Black, Latino/a/x and Indigenous students’ sense of belonging and metacognitive skills in key gateway courses, then we can increase the likelihood of students successfully completing these courses along with other courses to come. But why is that? To explain better, it’s important to have a better understanding of what metacognition is and how it can impact student success. About Metacognition As was mentioned in the first part of this blog series, Metacognition is thinking about ways to improve your own thinking and learning processes. It’s valuable within an education setting because it helps students analyze new problems, identify which resources and strategies are useful to solve those problems, and also to assess and adjust their learning strategies as necessary. In other words, the metacognition required within self-regulated learning helps students to plan, monitor and evaluate their learning. Picture this scenario: A student is taking a low-stakes exam in their psychology class. They begin by reviewing all of the end-of-chapter questions to identify which questions they can answer straight away, and which they need to think more on and save for later. Throughout this process, they’re monitoring how many questions they have left and how much time they have before they need to turn their work in. Once they finish, they then reflect on questions they may have gotten wrong and some concepts they could have understood better. They decide to set aside time to look back on the chapter and join the class’ study group. Within this example, the student would have used all three metacognitive skills: planning, monitoring and evaluating. Planning: When students are setting goals for tasks, identifying the task’s critical features, and planning strategies to solve the task Monitoring: When students are tracking where they are in their learning and monitoring progress towards their goals Evaluating: When students are reviewing whether they met their goals and reviewing the strategies they used to accomplish them Using these skills will help make them a better student by enabling them to gain a deeper understanding of the class’ content and develop more productive ways to study. How Metacognition impacts student success At its heart, metacognition is a student’s ability to adapt problem-solving behaviors to different academic tasks. Primarily, it impacts the skills and motivations that control how a student learns, and it's critical for successful subject mastery and achievement. It’s also something that’s commonly referred to as self-regulated learning. By better understanding how they best learn, students will not only retain more, but they will also instill a greater understanding of how that knowledge can be applied to other situations. Some students may need extra time for writing assignments, or know that they need to put their phone away to avoid distractions when studying. It’s having this kind knowledge about how they learn that helps them to create an environment that enables them to succeed. It can also help them to make better use of their own time, allowing them to make even more progress. Picture this scenario: A student approaches their instructor after class to understand why they didn’t do as well as they thought they would on an exam. They read the material and highlighted the points they thought were most important. The instructor asks a question about how to apply the knowledge to a different scenario, and the student is unable to. While the student became familiar with the topic, they didn’t understand it deeply or learn how to apply what they learned. With strengthened metacognition skills, the student would be better able to reflect on their own learning and develop the kind of higher-order thinking that’s required to succeed in class and throughout their college experience. With time, it will be second-nature to the student as they continue to think about improving their learning. How Instructors Can Support Metacognition One of the most important things an instructor can do is to create connections between how students can apply what they learn to their goals -- both within their class and the real world. Psychology and sociology are often required within a student’s general education and are critical to learning about human nature, but not necessarily tied to their major. While students may not have prior knowledge of or interest in the course material itself, the instructor’s role and metacognitive activities become even more critical to the students overall success. Another way is for instructors to ask prompting questions. Research has shown that asking these questions can lead to students’ increased learning and performance. An example of this is requiring explanations of students’ thought process or asking them to defend a position within their homework assignment. This type of task would help the student to think about their thinking and would prompt the kind self-explanation required to demonstrate understanding of the concept. A different set of interventions aimed at increasing metacognition are self-reflection exercises. These goal setting and reflection surveys can serve several purposes including offering insight into students, establishing a baseline students can measure future progress against. This can be done via surveys or exam wrappers, and would include likert scale and open-ended questions to help students reflect on their study plans and goals. Instructors can also ask students to go through their graded exam to reflect on the answer they got wrong and think about how they could improve on future exams. Our own research has demonstrated that courses which assigned two or more surveys saw a minimum 15% increase in assignment completion, which resulted in at least an 8% point increase in student grades in the course compared to those that assigned only one or no surveys. And finally, instructors can help students to build self efficacy by normalizing adversity. Tools such as Learning Curve’s adaptive quizzing with targeted feedback can help students succeed. The adaptive algorithm selects questions for each student based on their own performance, challenging them with more difficult questions as their performance improves. It’s completely normal to struggle in class, and tools like this can help students to identify gaps in their understanding, get targeted feedback and hints, and allow them to solve the problem again correctly. Both the goal setting and reflection surveys as well as Learning Curve’s adaptive quizzing are available within Achieve, Macmillan Learning’s digital learning system. We’ll explore the connection between courseware and metacognition in the next in the series. In the meantime, learn more about Macmillan Learning’s partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. ... View more

Dr. Eric Chiang is no stranger to being online and in front of a camera. The Economics: Principles for a Changing World 6e author and instructor was a pioneer in online learning, bringing tech to teachers and students - an environment he was very familiar with well before virtual learning took over during the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, his stint on the nationally televised show Holey Moley was when I first met him. Just as I was curious about his time on the show in 2019, I’m curious about what got him to that point. At Macmillan Learning, we recognize that the success of our textbooks and courseware is in large part due to our outstanding authors. With this Author Spotlight series, we offer students and instructors a unique opportunity to better get to know these extraordinary authors, whose remarkable careers and interests often extend far beyond higher education.  There’s so much genuine interest and passion about the world’s economies within Dr. Chiang that helps make Principles for a Changing World the compelling text that it is. Within it, learners can hear his distinct voice speaking to them as they are introduced to economic concepts and the many unique examples from both within the United States and around the world. Economics can be practical Economics doesn’t have to be some pie-in-the-sky, impractical set of concepts. And Dr. Chiang doesn’t teach it that way because he didn’t learn it that way. His journey into economics began when he was just a boy, with everyday lessons from his father, a chemist by trade, who had immigrated from Taiwan in the 1960s. While his father had always been interested in economics, he felt compelled to go with the trend of the time within the Taiwanese culture of coming to the United States and studying either engineering or the sciences. Despite that, his father never lost his interest in economics, and he began to teach Dr. Chiang the principles of it with practical life lessons -- how to be frugal with money, how to save money and how to invest money. “He got me excited because he spoke about it in ways that made sense. Oh, we eat at Wendy's a lot, do you want to own a piece of Wendy's?” Dr. Chiang did want to invest and he saved his birthday money and allowances for some time so that he could invest $100. “He taught me about how companies make profits, how companies work -- and the fact that I owned just a few shares of Wendy's … it felt really exciting.” And it’s that same practical thinking that he uses to teach his students at Florida Atlantic University and the College of Southern Nevada. His interest was further piqued when, in high school, he had the opportunity to take classes at Indiana University South Bend. “Everything I’d learned as a child just sort of formalized into these economic models.” And while he considered pursuing careers in his other interests during his undergraduate years of college, like geography or hotel management, he was always drawn back to economics. “Economics provided a foundation that allowed me to study many other subjects,” he explained with a smile. It was ultimately Game Theory, the study of how and why people make strategic decisions, that took him from the role of student to teacher. As a graduate student at the University of Florida (Go Gators) he was expected to teach an undergraduate class; he saw that Game Theory was an option in the catalog and decided to go for it. It was his first teaching experience, so he over-prepared his lectures, memorizing and scripting them. As it turns out, that wasn’t necessary. “As soon as I stepped into the classroom it became so natural, I absolutely fell in love with it. From that point on, I knew I was going to be a teacher because spending time with my students in the classroom was the highlight of my week.” And while he loved teaching Game Theory, the topic proved to be a specialty and niche subject. So niche that he was having to come up with his own course materials for his students because there wasn’t much out there for him to use. “I wasn't satisfied with the existing textbooks at the time, so I was always using my own content.” And while he went on to customize chapters in other economics textbooks, something was still missing in those textbooks and, well, most others. “One part missing in most books that I wanted was the story behind the concept. For example, most principles textbooks jump right into supply and demand, they jump right into elasticity, and they didn't really start the chapter with ‘Why is this important, and how is this relevant to everyone's life?’, and that was the part that I kept sort of filling in right when I customized the book.” And soon enough, he got the chance to write one on his own terms. At first he began as an accuracy checker and reviewer of an economics textbook written by Jerry Stone, but quickly became more and more involved as a contributor. The two authors had a lot in common, with both Stone and Chiang teaching at public universities catering mostly to non-traditional students, who often took classes at night because they were working during the day or had families. Both believed in teaching practical, usable versions of economics -- Chiang understood just how valuable the students' time was and wanted to help them invest it in their future. To do that, Stone and thereafter Chiang tailored the textbook to the needs of those students with the philosophy of being practical and connecting economics to the real world. “You have to be a little more thorough in your explanations, and you have to provide those additional explanations and examples and connect what we're learning to the real world.” That philosophy may be the reason why the largest population of students using the book are those from community colleges. A global perspective When Chiang began authoring the Principles for a Changing World textbook in 2014, he brought in a wealth of modern examples and global perspectives to create even stronger connections with the students. He also placed a greater emphasis on data literacy, all while still staying true to the original philosophy of being practical and connecting economics with the real world. In writing, he made sure that the text attempted to make connections with every student by offering examples from across various regions of the US and even the world. “Take, for example, sports. We’re not just talking about baseball and football in the examples. We’re also talking about cricket, soccer and field hockey. That makes it more relatable.” Chiang is passionate about international travel and culture, which is evident throughout the textbook. Every chapter of the book has an “around the world” feature, offering a different way to think about economics. “If you look at most other textbooks, if they're talking about something in another country, it is because they're comparing their country with our country. It’s their growth rate vs. ours. For me it's more from an individual perspective -- if you were standing in that country, how would someone in that country solve a problem?” Take, for example, Disneyland in Tokyo. It’s quite different from the Disney World or Disneyland that students in the U.S. are used to. Culturally, in Japan, they are not as interested in thrill rides, like roller coasters, but they love photo taking. “Line management in dealing with scarcity and surplus is different in Japan. The park is so crowded but everyone's having a great time because there's so many characters walking around, and you can always take a picture with them and it's a very fulfilling experience …It's just interesting to see how different countries address different demands, and different cultural differences of what people value and that goes into their decision making. It all goes to show there’s not just one way to solve an economic problem.” Growing up, Chiang never traveled far from his Indiana hometown. So as an adult he makes up for it by trying to visit a new country every year. He wants to bring new examples, ideas and stories to his students, which is how he came up with the idea of his Around the world in 80 hours series which is “a fun way to show the class how economics is all around the world.” I asked him about his favorite spots and he mentioned Japan and Singapore. Although he tends to stay a very short time in each country, his reasoning is that there’s around 200 countries in the world, so he’d like to have a glimpse of as many countries as possible -- his face lights up just thinking about it. His most striking economic lesson was when he traveled to Bhutan, a small agricultural Kingdom in the Himalayas. According to Chiang, while it’s not modern (he did not see a single traffic light in the entire country), it’s one of the safest, healthiest and happiest places in the world. “You know they don't have much, but they live very, very well so to me that's a striking economic example.” “The government doesn't measure their well-being through gross domestic product, which is how every other country measures the size of their country.” Rather, Bhutan has a Gross National Happiness Index comprising of nine domains that include psychological well-being, health, education and good governance, among others. “I think Bhutan offers an example of the opposite of what we think of as societal norms - you don't have to have money or lots of possessions, but you have to have community. And that’s a different way of thinking about the health of a country and its economic well-being.” And that’s what makes Bhutan Bhutan. And what makes each student their own person as well, which is why it’s so important that diversity is not only recognized, but championed. “Everyone faces different circumstances and manages resources differently, and that's what economics is about. How you manage your money and your time is different from how I do it. A lot of it's based on our circumstances and values, and how we grew up, and that's based on cultural diversity,” Chiang said. Students growing up in a small town have vastly different experiences than students growing up in an agricultural community, which differs vastly from those in a large city. And that’s just taking into account population size, let alone ethnicity, background, gender or income, among other factors. And that’s true for the world around us, for our classrooms and also for our textbooks. “In the past century there have been so many prominent economists and Nobel Prize winners that are women and people of color, and we highlight the biographies of many of these important contributors to economics,” Chiang noted. He cited Cecilia Rouse and Phyllis Wallace as examples. He further explained, “People always talk about prominent macroeconomist Milton Friedman, but actually he worked most of his life with Anna Schwartz, who was equally deserving of the Nobel Prize.” Dr. Chiang just finished writing the sixth edition Economics: Principles for a Changing World and notes that it will offer the practical and relevant content that’s been counted on for many years as well as fantastic new features like interactive graphing. But this new edition will offer even more information about diverse economists like Rouse and Wallace and how their contributions have affected our everyday lives -- including the economic decisions we make today. It will also include more stories, just like the Gross National Happiness Index from Bhutan that help students understand different ways of thinking about economics. Until then, you can find Dr. Chiang at FAU, UCS, or somewhere at cruising altitude. ... View more

I am thrilled to announce an important new team member has joined Macmillan Learning; Coltrane Stansbury is now our Vice President, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). In this newly created role, Coltrane will lead our diversity and inclusion strategy and programs as well as amplify the work the company is doing in support of our people, programs and culture. He’ll be reporting directly to our Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Kristin Peikert. Creating an increasingly diverse and inclusive company is a core strategic goal for Macmillan Learning. While there has been much work and progress since we launched our initial grassroots D&I initiative in 2017, we knew we needed an experienced DEI leader with big ideas to help us broaden our efforts and help us come closer to fully realizing our vision. Our employee volunteers helped us to create the foundation for change through increased awareness, education, and engagement, and Coltrane is the leader that will help our initiatives flourish and make a lasting impact. Coltrane approaches inclusion and outreach in a holistic manner, creatively thinking about how programs can affect change in ways that tie closely to the mission of the business. Importantly, he has a passion for equity in education and already has many ideas on how we can foster internal growth and work in the educational community to engage all learners throughout their educational journey. Making impactful change is part of Coltrane’s DNA. He is an experienced DEI leader with an extensive background in business, policy, and community outreach. He comes most recently from Becton Dickinson & Co, PSEG, and Johnson & Johnson, where he was responsible for building DEI programs from the ground up. Coltrane is very active in his community, working with local schools, civic leagues, and the United Way.  Here’s what Coltrane had to say about his new role at Macmillan Learning: “A good education provides the nation’s youth with opportunities that would have not been otherwise available to them; especially underserved students, and students that come from a place of disadvantage. Working at Macmillan Learning allows me to contribute to their education, and in the process help students’ lives flourish.” This is an important moment, with so much momentum building towards a more equal society and culture. Our goal is to help all learners succeed. To that end, we’re proud to further move forward Macmillan Learning’s commitment to DEI in a meaningful way and are excited for Coltrane’s leadership during our journey.    Susan Winslow is President of Macmillan Learning   ... View more