HCC Criminal Justice & ECE
The First Few Weeks at Highland Community College
CareerTEC students in both Criminal Justice and Early Childhood Education courses have had a busy first couple weeks of classes!
For Criminal Justice, students learned the first 3 of many fingerprint patterns today and were able to ink their own fingerprints with the ceramic ink pads. Then, were able to choose a magnifiers (handheld or big screen) to determine each pattern of their own fingerprints. Later in the semester they will learn more patterns and fingerprint minutiae (ridge endings).
The students also completed a classroom task called the "Serial Killer Challenge." Students put their memory to the test without cell phones and must identify 28 serial killers by photo and nickname or description. We have gone over a few of the cases and this is a way to test their memory from the lectures. The students put their critical thinking skills to work through identifying each one based on clues given to them. After 15 minutes, students are then allowed to use their cell phones to test the power of AI to assist them. AI was not as successful helping them, until they figured out how to ask it.
For Early Childhood Education, CareerTEC students spent the first week of school with curriculum introduction and preparation for their observation placements! Highland partners with the YMCA and the Freeport School District Early Learning Center to provide hands-on classroom experiences for our ECE students, which allows them to observe and gain real experiences through learning applications.
