Teachers can spark their students’ imaginations, as they explore new ideas and new worlds together – even worlds that haven’t existed for millions of years. And so, in an Introduction to Education class, Lizzie Campos and her “kindergarten” students discovered more about dinosaurs. “I had to teach them the difference between an herbivore and a carnivore, and I had a bunch of little toy dinosaurs to pass around the room to keep the kids engaged,” Campos said. “We had to stand up and stretch and roar like a dinosaur.” In actuality, both “kindergarteners” and their teacher were Triton College students preparing for an education career. Campos, who will graduate in December with an associate of arts degree in elementary education, said she knew she wanted to become a teacher when her own education was disrupted. 

The COVID-19 pandemic forced classes online “the spring break of my junior year, and we never went back,” Campos said. Seeing teachers struggle to adapt and meet the needs of individual learners with limited support showed Campos the importance of embodied education, using the senses to help students understand concepts. At Triton, “I loved making a lesson plan and then teaching it to the other people my age in my class,” she said. A Diversity of Schools and Society class will ensure that Campos can welcome students of any background. “It’s really important to address things like multiculturalism, bringing diversity into the classroom and making everyone feel accepted,” she said. Triton is a place where Campos not only learns, but leads, and she takes part in the Education Department Advisory Committee. 

Education Department Chair Angela Staunton is one of Campos’ mentors. Staunton, too, is a leader, as chair of the Education Faculty Professional Development Committee. There’s also time for fun, and Campos said her favorite activities include Movie on the Mounds and the Car Show. “Triton involves the community,” she said. “It’s not just for students.” At one Movie on the Mounds, “the woman watching the movie next to me was a teacher at one of the schools in my area, where I live,” Campos said. When Campos was deciding where to transfer, finding a school with that same sense of community and inclusion was important to her. She chose the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). “I’m going straight into the education courses and the class size is the same as Triton,” Campos said, noting the friendliness of the students, the “amazing open house” and the ability to commute. 

Campos will attend UIC tuition-free, after earning an Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity (ECACE) Scholarship. Learn more about this program at https://www.isac.org/ECACEscholarship. “I will be going and getting endorsed in early childhood and elementary education, and I also hope to get my ESL endorsement,” Campos said. ESL stands for English as a Second Language. After completing a bachelor’s degree, Campos plans to stay at UIC to pursue a master’s degree, which is also covered by her ECACE scholarship. If Campos could bring anything from a child’s classroom into classrooms at Triton, it would be periodic breaks. Students “would be paying more attention and be more comfortable getting up and stretching for a bit and then coming back to class, especially for really long classes,” she said, adding, “teachers need a break, as well.” 

Learn more about Triton’s education pathways at https://www. triton.edu/aos/ under Human & Public Services. 

Programs that use artificial intelligence (AI), like ChatGPT, https://openai.com/, can advance our own intelligence when used ethically. That was the consensus among Triton faculty and staff who participated in a discussion with students and community members last April during Triton’s biannual Behavioral Science Colloquia series, https://bit.ly/BEScolloquia. Retention Specialist Hector R. Hernandez led questions, and Computer Information Systems (CIS) Instructor Patrick Kane described some of ChatGPT’s advantages and limitations. Advantages include its efficiency and personalized responses; limitations include its narrow understanding of complex questions and the amount of computing power it uses. 

The conversation focused on critical thinking, one of the college’s General Education Outcomes, https://www.triton. edu/about/. Dr. Daniele Manni, a philosophy faculty member in the Behavioral Science Department, mentioned programs, like GPTZero, https://gptzero.me/, that will check if text was written using artificial intelligence, making it easier for instructors to see if a student’s work is original. “AI cannot come at the expense of students doing the work of thinking on their own about course matters,” Manni said. Students in coding classes learned that ChatGPT would give only “partially correct” answers, according to CIS Professor Michael Henson. “It couldn’t pass my class,” he added. 

The strength of ChatGPT and programs like it lies in how it can enhance students’ own creative thinking. In Henson’s coding class, for example, students could correct a “partially correct” response. English Department Instructor Aja Gorham suggested that in an English class, students could write a second paragraph after reading an initial ChatGPT-written paragraph. Faculty Librarian Shekinah Lawrence said ChatGPT could be helpful for students discovering new search terms for a research paper. As technology continues to evolve, Lawrence added, it’s still essential that students appreciate their own contributions and “the beauty and importance of something that’s coming out of their own mind.”

As the Women’s Volleyball team continues its first season under Head Coach Guy Lum, “they’re performing their skills faster and stronger.” That’s more exceptional because the team’s size means every volleyball student-athlete is playing every minute of each game. “There is no specialization going on,” he said. “These girls are having to learn all the skills.” Coach Lum is emphasizing three techniques – sports vision training, personality profiles, and leadership training for team captains – that he believes will continue the team’s growth each season. 

Sports vision training is rare at the community college level, Coach Lum said, but it’s vital. “When your volleyball court is only 30 feet long for the half court, the ball can get to you in a quarter of a second,” he said. “That’s how fast these athletes have to react to that.” As they advance athletic techniques, the team is also learning about themselves and each other as individuals. Each took a DiSC personality assessment, which aids in communication. “Having behavioral assessments reduces the chances of miscommunication,” Coach Lum said. “To figure out what the person needs to help them get out of a valley is dependent on their personality. 

We try to unpack that and help them in the best way possible.” There are two team captains, each giving “a voice” to their year at Triton. Maya Lemanska is the freshman captain, and Adriana Lopez is the sophomore captain. “We teach the captains how to help others in those areas of confidence, commitment, and composure, through leadership lessons,” Coach Lum said. 

Evening open gyms in November and December are ideal “for anybody interested in the program,” and “if they want to improve faster than they would at another school, they should consider coming here,” he said. 

Email guylum@triton.edu for more information.