Rings with Inquiry, written by Dordt University Associate Professor of Mathematics Dr. Mike Janssen and Dr. Melissa Lindsey, is an open source textbook that teaches students concepts through inquiry-based learning. As an open source textbook, Rings with Inquiry is free in both an HTML and PDF version and the source code used to create these two versions is also freely …
Gaming an Education
Professor of Computer Science Dr. Kari Sandouka is challenging her Information System Design students to view the computer game Minecraft in a new way: as an educational tool that can allow them to practice building information systems, or systems that collect, process, store, and distribute information. “Over the past few years, I have noticed a strong interest in Minecraft; it …
Du Mez Brings Energy to Engineering
“I have always been interested in how things worked,” says Kate Du Mez (’10). As a child, Du Mez spent her free time building or fixing things; in school she particularly enjoyed her math and physics classes. “When I was preparing for college, engineering seemed like it could be a good fit with how my brain works.” Deciding on a …
More Locally-Grown Food on Menu
Fields and farmland surround Dordt University, and Dordt’s food service provider is committed to taking full advantage of that privilege. In the past four years, Dordt Dining Services, led by Head Chef Nick Lawrence, has purchased locally grown food as often as possible. “When we buy from local farmers, we know where our food is coming from,” says Lawrence, who …
Michelle Adams (’03)
“Honestly, I don’t view myself as ‘distinguished’ or different than anyone else who is doing what they were called to after college, so it was hard for me to accept this award,” says Michelle Adams (’03), the recipient of the 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award. Adams has served the disability community in Nicaragua since she graduated from Dordt with a special …
Dordt Choir Sings in Dordrecht
In celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Synod of Dordt and the creation of the Canons of Dordt, the choir of Dordt—that is, the Dordt University Choir—ventured to the Netherlands to share the gift of music. The choir, represented by 14 current students and 29 alumni singers on this tour, gathered on Dordt’s campus on May 21 for three …
Toys for Tots
Students partner with a not-for-profit organization to learn about market research. A Dordt student stands in the lobby of a department store, scanning and meticulously cataloguing the toys that have been placed in a Toys for Tots collection box. She’s not a store employee, nor is she a Toys for Tots employee—she’s a third-party market researcher. Courtney Bloemhof (’19), a …
Wind & Butterfly Population
JOSCELYN WIND FOCUSES ON DECLINING BUTTERFLY POPULATION Driving down any Midwestern highway, you’ll likely spot clusters of milkweed planted in the ditches for the benefit of monarch butterflies. If you drove down a Northwest Iowa highway last fall, you may also have spotted Joscelyn Wind, a senior biology major, along the roadside, inspecting the milkweed for monarch larvae and tachinid …
Breadbasket to the Bronx
Adam Vander Stoep’s home community in Lyon County, Iowa, is different from New York City in most every regard, but Vander Stoep (’15) feels prepared for his new job as an assistant district attorney in the Bronx. Like many born-and-bred residents of Northwest Iowa, Vander Stoep graduated from Western Christian High School in Hull, Iowa, in 2011 before enrolling at …
Chuck De Groat
The 2018 recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award Dr. Chuck DeGroat (’92) began his college career studying aeronautics at Dowling College on Long Island. But, after a year and a half, he realized that his vision and his mathematical abilities would prevent him from becoming a pilot. “My pastor at the time was a graduate of Dordt,” says DeGroat, “and …