Cyber Security Adjunct Faculty Member Makes Huge Strides in Health IT

Cyber security professor, Dr. Emily Darraj, was recently recognized by Northrop Grumman for her security and privacy work in Health Information Technology. Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company which provides innovative systems, products and solutions to government and commercial customers worldwide.

The White Paper, entitled "The Perfect Storm" was published by Northrop Grumman and discusses how in recent years the healthcare industry has experienced a surge in data breaches, security incidents and criminal attacks. In fact, in 2015, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services breach report documented more than 100 million people were affected by healthcare breaches. Northrop continues to address the privacy and security challenges within the federal healthcare space and defend against cyber criminals in this "perfect cyber storm." Their approach enables layered security and enhances data protection efforts to create defense in depth information assurance at a level above the industry's current practices.

At the annual HIMSS (Healthcare Information Management Systems Society) conference held in Las Vegas at the end of February, Northrop Grumman addressed the fundamental need to improve health outcomes and the current emerging healthcare fraud schemes and trends. They demonstrated their findings and advances themed "Improving Healthcare, Health Security and Health Outcomes" in areas such as: benefits systems administration, fraud prevention, payment modernization, public health and personalized healthcare.

"It is a great honor to have them do this," said Dr. Darraj. "We created 2016 Health IT predictions which did not exist."

Congratulations to you Dr. Darraj on your hard work and dedication. We are proud to have you on our team here at GMC Online!

For the full press release, click here

Metacognitive Learning Strategies: How to get the most out of your study time

High school students don't typically have to study very much and often times they are given a review to prepare for tests, but this doesn’t really prepare a student for college or help them learn the material. Typically, we have to change our study habits when we arrive at college in order to succeed. Simply studying or reviewing what you went over in class doesn’t cut it.

Instead of simply studying to memorize or make an A, students should focus on learning the material well enough to teach the material. Think about it, what would you spend more time preparing for: making an A on the test or teaching someone the material? You have to know the material much more thoroughly when you are going to be teaching it versus just memorizing or reviewing it for a test.

Tips for learning to teach the material:

While studying, try explaining the material to another person or even just explain it out loud to yourself; as you do this, you will find that there are areas of the material that you need to spend more time on or that you need to study in depth in order to explain it better.

Anticipate what questions someone might ask if you were teaching; this will help you understand the material from multiple perspectives, giving you a deeper understanding.

Typically, even professors will admit that they first gained a deeper, broader understanding of their subject when they started teaching! Imagine that! It is a matter of studying versus learning and when we take time to learn the material, we become masters in the making. Try teaching the material to your friends, family, or your favorite stuffed animal and let us know how much your test scores improve!

-Kayla Brownlow

McGuire S.Y., & McGuire, S. (2015). Teach students how to learn: Strategies you can incorporate into any course to improve student metacognition, study skills, and motivation. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing, LLC. 

Thinking About Continuing Your Education at an Online University of College to Obtain a Bachelor's Degree?

As the spring of the year draws near, students begin to think about their graduation OR continuing their education. As most of our students at GMC-Online are pursuing an associate's degree, we know that many of them are starting to think about their four year degrees once they finish here at GMC. It would not be illogical to assume that many of those students are thinking about continuing to pursue their education online.   The question then becomes: "Where should I go if I want to pursue my bachelor's degree online?"

This is not a simple question to answer for the online student.  First, choosing the right online college depends on a number of things, particularly what degree program is desired. While many universities offer all of their degree programs in a face-to-face format, they do not offer ALL of them online. Secondly, it is important to make sure that the online college and program chosen are accredited. Accreditation is not only important for quality of education, but it is also important for financial aid. Colleges and universities that are unaccredited are not eligible for federal financial aid. Thirdly, when choosing a college or university to attend online, students should consult credible, outside sources that evaluate those colleges and universities, particularly paying attention to rankings of their online programs.

Specifically to address that last point, US News and World Report, publishes college and university rankings each year. In fact, they are well-known for their rankings.  They also rank colleges and universities for their online programs, and the following link is a report on those for 2016.  Take a look at their findings.

http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/bachelors/rankings

The point is that as you choose your next destination, if it is an online program, you should look for not only accredited schools, but also programs that are sound and have programs that fit your needs.

Dean Jeffery Wells

Why Should a Student Pursue a Criminal Justice Major?

First time college students or those reentering college may not have a defined major in mind just yet
and may be wondering, what do I want to do when I grow up? What major will bring me the most
satisfaction? Students who may be asking themselves such questions should consider a degree in
criminal justice.
Criminal justice is an emerging career field that offers a wide variety of positions to include
Probation/Parole Officers, Law Enforcement Officers, Correctional Officers, FBI agents or a student may decide to pursue a Juris Doctorate (JD) degree. Normally, a criminal justice major will take a range of different courses such as Intro to Criminal Justice, Intro to Corrections, Criminal Law/Criminal Procedure and Juvenile Justice. Such classes will prepare a student for the types of offenders and situations they may encounter while serving in a law enforcement capacity.
Do you have a passion to serve others? Do you aspire to take on the bad guys while simultaneously
being a change agent and inspiration to our youth? If you answered yes to the preceding questions,
think about pursuing a degree in criminal justice and giving back to not only your community but our
nation. Remember our slogan here at GMC, “Start Here, Go Anywhere?” This is especially true when
you complete your AAS criminal justice degree here at GMC.
Learn more about the Criminal Justice program and other AAS degree program that GMC offers.
Additional information on criminal justice degrees can be found at the following website:
http://www.criminaljusticedegreeschools.com/criminal-justice-careers/

Author: Tosha Wilson-Davis

Weekly Wrap Up- March 4th

Today is Friday and the last day of the Winter term! Remember, all of your assignments are due tonight by 11:55PM! This is different from the Sunday due date that you had for all the other weeks this term, so be sure to complete everything on time. Your professor has to submit your grades by Sunday and they need time to grade! Good luck on your finals! 

The spring term starts in just two weeks, on March 19th!! Be sure to contact your advisor today to register! We like to encourage students to register as early as possible, in order to ensure a successful start to the term!

Daylight’s saving time begins Sunday March 13^th! Get your clocks ready to spring forward!

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Choosing the Major That’s Right for YOU

How many times have you been asked, “What are you majoring in?” As a college student, that is usually one of the first questions you will be asked when you meet someone new. Even more so, when you are an undeclared major or enrolled in the General Studies program, people will probe about your interests and what you might be interested in-this can be stressful. You should know that The National Center for Education found that 4 out of 5 college students change their major at least one time and, on average, change their majors three times! You are not alone.

So, what can you do to face this huge… enormous…important…life-changing decision?

1.       Decide whether you want to take easy classes or a variety of subjects while you are deciding. Taking easy classes will boost your GPA, but taking a variety of classes will give you a better idea of what your interests are.

2.       Go ahead and complete your core classes- these are going to pretty much stay the same no matter what degree you choose. Get those English, Math, and Science courses out of the way while you are finding yourself. Along the road, take some electives that you think you might find interesting, again, they will help you figure out your path!

3.       Take advantage of career aptitude tests! There are many available online through a quick Google search.

4.       Talk to your friends and family! Ask them how many times they changed their majors and why they changed! Take their feedback in stride and don’t dismiss a class just because your BFF didn’t like it. Ask them what they didn’t like it and decide if it might be something you’d like. If you become interested in a subject, talk to your advisor about it to see what your options are.

In the meantime, make sure you are taking advantage of class time and soaking it all in! The more you know, the easier and more thought out your decision will be!

-Kayla Brownlow
OLC Advisor and Professor 

http://blog.chegg.com/2015/08/05/undeclared-and-unprepared-a-guide-to-finding-the-major-for-you/

Do You Know How to Reason?

GMC’s Quality Enhancement Plan focuses on critical thinking. Part of that includes helping students learn how to use the five basic reasoning skills.  One of those is deductive reasoning.  We have all heard that term used before, but what is it? According to Dictionary.com, “Deductive reasoning is a logical process in which a conclusion drawn from a set of premises contains no more information than the premises taken collectively.” They use this example: “All dogs are animals; this is a dog; therefore, this is an animal.” Deduction begins with premises that are assumed to be true. If an untrue statement shows up at any point in the method, the conclusion becomes illogical and false. For example, if I said that all men are birds and this is a man; therefore, the man is a bird, I have reached an illogical and incorrect conclusion.  One must begin with accurate premises to begin the process of deductive reasoning. 

Another critical thinking skill is inductive reasoning. Put simply, inductive reasoning begins with data or evidence. The thinker then takes that data and evidence and arrives at a general conclusion based on that data.  According to scholars at Utah State University, an example of inductive reasoning would be:

“This cat is black. That cat is black. A third cat is black.  Therefore all cats are black.”  However, as one can see, this is an incorrect conclusion as the data is insufficient. Just like deductive reasoning, all points in the process must be solid and true, or in the case of inductive reason, sufficient. While the thinker here has surmised, based on his experience, that all cats are black, we know from a larger data collection (scientific evidence, the observations of other people who have seen cats of a different color) that this conclusion is wrong. However, the way we know that this conclusion is wrong is by examining data to reach a conclusion. 

A point to make here is that deduction and induction by themselves are inadequate to forward an defensible argument that is solid and will hold up under scrutiny.  As scholars at Utah State continue to point out, “While deduction gives absolute proof, it never makes contact with the real world, there is no place for observation or experimentation, no way to test the validity of the premises.  And while induction is driven by observation, it never approaches actual proof of a theory.”

To help further clarify the difference between the two, check out this video from the Khan Academy. 

https://www.khanacademy.org/math/precalculus/seq-induction/deductive-and-inductive-reasoning/v/deductive-reasoning-1

Try to learn these two reasoning methods and their dangers when used incorrectly to sharpen your thinking skills.

Dean Jeff Wells