Dan Berrett wrote a really interesting article entitled Want to Be a Good Researcher? Try Teaching that deserves a read. Graduate students who both taught and conducted research demonstrate significantly greater improvement in their abilities to generate testable hypotheses and design valid experiments according to Dr. David F. Feldon, lead author of the study. The most significant aspect of Feldon's findings, according to Dr. Mark Connolly who is a researcher at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research and heard an early presentation about the study, is that they are based on data that track the development of actual research skills instead of those that are self-reported. "They're looking at demonstrated competency," he says. "It gets away from these assumptions that teaching is inimical to research. In fact, they're complementary." The response has been fairly solid so far to the Faculty Learning Communities (FLC) email survey. Trends are already beginning to emerge but all of that could change based on the ballots yet to be returned. Faculty are reminded that CT+LE is accepting responses through August 28. The responses will be tallied and the FLC receiving the most support will be featured in an Expo to be held on August 31. More details to follow soon. The first week of class is always hectic but we want to remind you to take some time to do some critical reflection. Figuring out what works best and why takes time and you owe it to yourself to make the effort. Critical refection has been proven to reduce stress and improve student evaluations. Are you using Clickers in your classroom? If so, you might want to join a group of your colleagues who will gather on September 1 to discuss best practices. Did you notice that one of the outstanding citizens of Beaumont was appointed by Governor Rick Perry to serve on the Texas Higher Education Education Coordinating Board? Dr. David Teuscher, a partner at the Beaumont Bone and Joint Institute and team orthopedist for Lamar University's men's and women's NCAA teams, will assume the position September 1.