Posted in Culture, Marmoset, sociology

Superstition Part II – Black Cats

Charles Piscitello Ed.D

Happy Black Cat Day!  According to







transformed witches, always up to no good.



And specifically:








Posted in Culture, education, Marmoset, sociology

Cyber Hybrid Culture Ground Rules

Charles Piscitello Ed.D










Posted in Culture, education, sociology, Uncategorized

Cyber Hybrid Culture (Part 1)

Charles Piscitello Ed.D

When reading my students’ discussion responses to “how social media brings us together and tears us apart,” I began to think about how we now must live in a cyber hybrid culture.

By cyber hybrid culture, I mean that in our culture we must live life in our face-to-face world while living on social media, email, and online courses.  I’ve noticed inconsistency in our presentation of self between the real world and our cyber world.

Similar to my teaching and instructional design experience in creating a hybrid/blended courses where online time supplements face-to-face time, we attempt to create the right balance between the face-to-face element and the online element.  Inexperienced hybrid/blended instructors simply try to squeeze their face-to-face course into a smaller amount of time with the same content online.  In this case, students feel that the online content is pointless busy work.

Instructors must learn to provide adequate content in the online portion and utilize the face-to-face time in a new and unique way to deliver a dynamic learning experience with knowledge of the content provided online.

smartphone-and-coffeeWe see this with exposure to social media, many times I see a classmate from college or high school, and the conversation is awkward and short.  We already know all about all the important news, babies, jobs, education, and other big life events.  With that, there is simply nothing new to talk about and we lose out on a key part of being a social being.

When done correctly, social media provides information which triggers discussion, talk radio hosts poke and prod their audience for topics and ministers can gain insight about their congregation.  At a quick glance of my smart watch, I learn a morsel of news and can tie it to face-to-face class discussion.

But most of the time, social media creates awkward social interaction, by removing an individual from the room as everyone is interacting with people who are not in the room.  We replace face-to-face conversation at the dinner table with people poking at their phone, for the same Facebook content that they’ve already read a number of times already.


As a society we are still in our infancy in blending our face-to-face and online worlds.  We must find ways to better utilize the online world without compromising our face-to-face real time interactions.

Literature review coming soon.




Suplement Sample Test – Ion











Arnold fest 2016



Best Vender Booths 




Sample Review: 




Posted in Uncategorized

Italian Superstition Part I – Toccare le palle



 “Toccare le palle”


“touch your nuts”


“my mom asked me to touch my man parts.”

She asked


I told her









Chuck Piscitello Ed.D



Posted in Uncategorized

Discussion Thread Best Practices

discussion thread

An online discussion thread can provide a great opportunity for interaction that can potentially be lost in an online college setting, providing students the opportunity to voice their opinion in a comfortable and safe place.  But, sometimes instructors lose sight of the point of these assignments, depriving students the true benefit of discussion boards.  Here are some best practices that can help an online instructor design discussion threads that will improve student involvement and enthusiasm when interacting on discussion boards.  This document provides some examples and best practices from real teachers.

TIP #1

Address the need for a discussion thread:  In Hew, Cheung, and Ling Ng’s (2010) student contribution in asynchronous online discussion, they review factors leading to limited student contribution and various guidelines to improve online discussion threads.   They noted some best practices in ensuring that discussion threads are not just busy work.  Many of these ideas I discuss in greater detail below.

    1. Select discussion topics directly related to students’ main curriculum.
    2. Make online discussion activity mandatory or give incentives (e.g. grades).
    3. Provide added value in the discussion threads, like learning resources such as websites directly related to the main curriculum.
    4. Give students clear expectations of the purpose of the online discussion as well as instructor expectations.
    5. Use ground rules.
    6. Use controversial topics

TIP #2

Be specific in what you want from the student; many times new online/hybrid teachers have an idea in mind, and just post a simple question in the discussion thread.  We must always keep the student in mind; you are the subject matter expert, but your students are not.  Here is an example from Aultman College instructor Kathy Hawker’s NRS402 Informatics for Clinical Judgment class.  Please note the great level of detail she provided her students, the due date and examples of what she expects in an answer and in a peer response.  This helps us hold our students to a higher standard.

Discussion Question

Discuss the benefits of using standardized terminologies within the EHR and what standardized terminology would be most beneficial in the exchange of data?

Discussion Requirements/Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Discuss the topic above in your posting.  Your post should be at least 250 words with at least one scholarly reference.  The reference should follow the end of your discussion in APA format.

2. Post your discussion by Thursday July 17th @ 11:59 PM

3. Read a selection of classmates postings and consider how their postings reflect/differ from your own perceptions, experiences, and opinions.  Respond to at least 2 classmates.  Your response post should be at least 100 words, with at least one scholarly reference supporting your response.  The reference should follow the end of your discussion in APA format

4. Post your 2 discussion responses to classmates by Saturday July 19th @ 11:59 PM

Suggested ways/ideas for response to classmates

* Suggest why you might see things differently

* Ask a probing or clarifying question

* Describe how the discussion topic would ultimately increase the quality of patient care

* Identify and explain a new practice insight gained from reading this discussion

* Offer and support an opinion

TIP #3

Tie the discussion thread directly to the material; make sure to align the discussion thread to the course objectives and unit objectives.  This should help the students understand why they are doing the assignment, and not interpret the assignment as just “busy work”.  Here is an example from Aultman College instructor Charity Smith’s Human Growth and Development Class.

Discussion 3: Early Maturation and Vulnerability

In Chapter 3, we learn about the risks inherent to early maturation in young girls. Several ideas are presented, in terms of potential outcomes, including an increased risk for smoking/drinking, depression, eating disorders, and early sexual experiences/promiscuity.

What factors do you believe contribute to these potential outcomes?

Given that young girls are reaching menarche earlier than in previous generations, what types of prevention programs would you create in order to address these issues?

Remember: Initial responses must be 100 words and you must reply to at least two of your classmates’ posts (50 words each).

TIP #4

Make it interesting; choose a discussion that you want to have.  Although your textbook may have some good questions, try to spice up your discussion questions.  These are college students, make them think!  Here is an example from Aultman College instructor Mike Polnik’s Medical Ethics course.

A 33-year-old male swallows 30 antidepressants and tells his wife, “I want to die.” She takes him to the local hospital’s emergency department where he is treated and released that same evening. In the hospital parking lot he pushes a security guard and is arrested and taken into custody. In the county jail a nurse places the man on suicide watch. The following evening, while still in custody, a psychologist speaks to the man for five minutes, then releases him from suicide watch. The man is returned to his cell and two hours later he hangs himself.

Does the emergency department have liability for discharging a suicidal patient without further treatment?

Does the psychologist have liability for releasing the patient from suicide watch after a five-minute consult?

The psychologist is and “independent contractor” of the jail. Is the county liable for his actions?

TIP #5

Use multimedia!  Link or embed a YouTube video to the discussion that you would show in a face-to-face class, have the students discuss specific questions about the movie.  Here is an example from Chuck Piscitello’s Introduction to Sociology class:


Why do you think the participants listened to the authority figure and continued to shock an innocent man?  In the original Milgram experiments, over 65% of participants went all the way to 450 volts, in the above 2009 version of the Milgram experiment, 75% of participants went to 450 volts.  Why do you think there was such a sizeable increase in people willing to listen to authority in the more current version of the experiment?  Do you feel that this experiment explains authority relationships in the medical field?  Why or why not?

Tip #6

Interact with your students online.  In Hew, Cheung, and Ling Ng’s (2010) student contribution in asynchronous online discussion, they review factors leading to limited student contribution and various guidelines to improve online discussion thread.   They noted that we must use instructor facilitation techniques such as:

    1. Identify areas of agreement/disagreement
    2. Seek to reach consensus/understanding
    3. Encourage, acknowledge or reinforce student contributions
    4. Focus the discussion on specific issues
    5. Confirm understanding through assessment and explanatory feedback
    6. Diagnose misconceptions to enhance knowledge constructions

Tip #7

Make the assignment worth it!  If the point value seems like the students can blow it off…they will.  I’ve seen many instructors make the discussions a percentage of their grade, but each thread in the end was only worth five points each; please avoid.

Posted in Uncategorized

Dissertation so far






Posted in Uncategorized

Thirty Seven


I’ve been obsessed with the number 37 for many years.  The source of my obsession stems from Kevin Smith, in the original Clerks movie, the scene where Donate and Veronica argued over the amount of people they’ve been with (up to and including each other).  In a childish, sexual way, the number 37 was part of my life.  I started to notice the number 37 popped up everywhere, at least once or twice a day.  I grew up in Maple Heights Ohio and the zip code is 44137.  My dad was born in 1937.  My birthday is January 11th, 111, three times 37 is 111, and 37 is the root of all triple numbers,  6×37 is 222, 9×37 is 333, 12×37 is 444, and so on, so any triple number also represents 37. 

In my 20s, I worked in a convenience store during college and graduate school.  I worked with another Kevin Smith fan, who at the time was my manager Josh, who since then has become my very close friend. We worked in a store that was grossly understaffed by a variety of odd people.  The convenience store was enough of a connection to Clerks and Smith’s movie where the movie was a common theme in our daily lives, as was the daily reoccurrence of the number 37.  The number 37 almost had a calming effect on us in our daily stressful work lives.  Every time we would notice the number 37, we would make a point to tell each other, followed by another quote from the movie, usually, “in a row.” 

I have been out of the retail world for almost four years, and I’ve noticed 37 pop up in new, very different ways.  I go to two churches, my Roman Catholic Church which I belonged to since I was a kid, which I attended with my mom weekly.  And a Nazarene church which my wife has been a part of since she was a teenager.  In the past year, the old pastor from her church (it’s our church, but, it’s easier to explain which one I’m talking about with stating it’s either mine or hers) was called to do something else, providing us a new, pastor.  Pastor Mike’s first sermon was based on Luke 1:37 “For nothing will be impossible with God” (ESV) and has come up multiple times in many of his sermons.

“For nothing will be impossible with God,” has been integral to my life over the course of the last year (1:37) in helping me overcome many of the monkey wrenches, kitchen sinks, and fecal matter at the fan the life has thrown my way.  So, “in a row,” this year I’ve experience my good friend Josh being diagnosed with stage four cancer, I was laid off from my full-time job in July, and my mother passed away one month before her 75th birthday in September, all while teaching as an adjunct instructor at three schools and attempting to write my dissertation. 

If I did not have faith in God, and did not believe that (1:37) “For nothing will be impossible with God,” I don’t know how I would have reacted to this chain of events.  I cannot say that any of these events were easy, but I know I could have not done it alone.  So, some will say this is a stretch, that I can take a silly dirty joke from a Kevin Smith movie and translate it to God’s message which gives me comfort, which gives me faith that through Him, we’re going to be okay.  It could be a stretch, that God knew to communicate that message to me at an early age, in a way that I would pay attention, in a way that would perk my interests and transform it to something meaningful, because, 37, “For nothing will be impossible with God.”