{"id":26731,"date":"2014-03-03T16:48:51","date_gmt":"2014-03-03T21:48:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=26731"},"modified":"2014-04-29T13:45:41","modified_gmt":"2014-04-29T18:45:41","slug":"hybrid-learning-helps-mature-students-reach-education-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2014\/03\/hybrid-learning-helps-mature-students-reach-education-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"Hybrid learning helps mature students reach education goals"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"dicienzo2\"

Being a part-time mature student and taking courses during the spring\/summer - either to complement or expedite her degree - is a necessity for Renata DiCienzo.<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

When she took a five-day vacation from her job at the casino last spring, Renata DiCienzo didn’t cash in with a trip to the tropics or put her feet up for the week.<\/p>\n

Instead, the 43-year-old single mom from Niagara Falls spent eight hours a day for five days taking a spring\/summer course at Brock: “The Art of the Clown Doctor” (DART 3V91<\/a>).<\/p>\n

“It was just a different kind of learning, in regards to time span,” DiCienzo said. “It didn’t matter that it was only a week long, I learned a lot from that course, unbelievable exercises just for creative outlets and things I would never have been able to be exposed to.”<\/p>\n

DiCienzo’s day job may be at the casino, but she has been working for eight years toward a Brock University degree in public health.<\/p>\n

She hopes to complete her degree in two or three years. Being a part-time mature student and taking courses during the spring\/summer – either to complement or expedite her degree – is a necessity for DiCienzo, who would like to one day earn her master’s in public health.<\/p>\n

DiCienzo is taking a full credit community engagement course this spring, which includes one week in the classroom and another in the community.<\/p>\n

“They help immensely because they’re condensed courses,” she said. “For instance, the five-day (clown doctor) course I got a half credit and I didn’t (suffer) any lack of learning or anything … so I was able to work through my employer. It’s really important because it’s hard to manage your family life.<\/p>\n

“So, if spring and summer can condense and make my life easier, maybe I can do other things, so that’s important.”<\/p>\n

Under the guidance of renowned clown doctor Bernie Warren, a professor at the University of Windsor’s School of Dramatic Arts, DiCienzo built an alter ego that captured her youthful spirit – part artsy, part rocker, and always fun loving.<\/p>\n

“When you’re a clown doctor you can be whatever you want to be, and you’re trying to change attitudes about illness and even death.”<\/p>\n

The Art of the Clown Doctor course will be offered again this spring in an accelerated format.<\/p>\n

Additionally, DiCienzo is taking an online women’s studies course that will add another half-credit.<\/p>\n

The mix of in-class, hybrid and online courses has allowed DiCienzo to chase a dream while raising her seven-year-old son.<\/p>\n

“I totally encourage it,” she said. “There’s a lot of hurdles to get over. Someone like me who is a first-generation university student … a lot of people like me need a lot of resources.<\/p>\n

“There are so many different ways to learn, not just the traditional classroom.”<\/p>\n

Registration<\/a> is open for spring\/summer courses at Brock, and demand continues to grow as the University expands its offerings for both students and community members who wish to begin, continue or extend their education.<\/p>\n

“(Spring\/summer courses) provide students the opportunity to pick up credits that perhaps they’d either not done well in (during Fall or Winter courses), or, to get a head start on the next term,” Lathrop said.<\/p>\n

Last year, Brock noted a 17 per cent increase in spring\/summer enrollments from the year previous. Lathrop anticipates another 15 per cent increase in 2014.<\/p>\n

A full list of spring\/summer courses is online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other Spring\/Summer stories:<\/strong><\/p>\n

  • Expanded spring\/summer term offers many diverse courses<\/a><\/li>\n
  • The President takes his hand to teaching an online course<\/a><\/li>\n
  • Condensed Spring\/Summer courses pack pedagogical punch<\/a><\/li>\n
  • Course aims to bridge health-care gap for youth with disabilities<\/a><\/li>\n
  • Hockey course offers snapshot of Canadian culture<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Registration is now open for spring\/summer courses at Brock, and demand continues to grow as the University expands its offerings for both students and community members who wish to begin, continue or extend their education. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[1661,905,1662,1635],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26731"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26731"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26731\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26736,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26731\/revisions\/26736"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}