Summer 2001 - The Council of Independent Colleges

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AWARDS CIC Announces Grantees for Program to Support Math, Science Teaching Scholars Ten colleges and universities have been chosen by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) to receive grants from the Teaching Scholar Partnerships (TSP) program. These grants will assist postsecondary institutions—working in partnerships with K- 12 schools—to strengthen mathematics and science education in the nation’s elementary and secondary classrooms. The centerpiece of the program is the involvement of undergraduate science and mathematics students in enhancing instruction in K-12 school classrooms. These students, with the guidance of both K-12 teachers and college mathematics and science faculty members, will be known as Teaching Scholars and will receive annual stipends. Ten institutions chosen by CIC will receive grants of up to $30,000 over two years. The grant winners are: Carroll College (WI); Central Methodist College (MO); Drury University (MO); Millikin University (IL); North Central College (IL); Pfeiffer University (NC); St. Edwards University (TX); St. Joseph’s College (IN); West Virginia Wesleyan College (WV); and Widener University (PA). (cont’d on next page) TEACHING SCHOLAR PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAMS Carroll College’s Teaching Scholars will be paired: one student will be a mathematics or science major with a declared interest in high school teaching while the other will be a math or science major who has not decided on a career route. They will work together with a college professor and a high school teacher to develop and deliver inquirybased learning experiences. Central Methodist College’s Teaching Scholars will assist in instruction in K-12 classrooms of the local public school district. They will design and conduct laboratory activities and help design new high school science facilities. Drury University will use its undergraduate Teaching Scholars to strengthen its already strong partnerships with center-city K-12 schools by creating collaborative research projects involving middle and high school students, their mathematics and science teachers, Teaching Scholars, and Drury faculty members. Millikin University’s Teaching Scholars will plan, develop, and implement an enriched curriculum of lessons and activities that emphasize a hands-on, inquiry approach. They will work with K-12 teachers and students in a city school district with unusually grave needs. Teaching Scholars at North Central College will work with K-4 school teachers in suburban and inner-city school districts of Chicago in developing inquiry-based mathematics and science activities for students in these grades and will be actively involved in classroom instruction using these materials. Science teachers in the schools collaborating with Pfeiffer University have identified those concepts that they find most difficult to teach and with which their students have the most difficulty. Teaching Scholars will work with the teachers and college faculty members to develop materials and approaches that address these concepts and will participate with the teachers in the use of these new approaches in the classroom. St. Edwards University’s Teaching Scholars will work in pairs with middle school science teachers and students in three school districts. They will participate in the planning, coordination, and facilitation of hands-on activities designed to enhance classroom learning opportunities by introducing additional materials and experiences. They will seek to use this program as a pilot for an innovative model for an alternate K-12 math/science teacher certification process. The Teaching Scholars at St. Joseph’s College will work with their professors and with middle and high school mathematics teachers to develop and implement activity-based instruction in which students observe mathematical phenomena, analyze and mathematically model what they observe, and write about their results. West Virginia Wesleyan College will divide its Teaching Scholars into three two-student teams, one each in math, biology, and chemistry. Each team, assisted by a faculty member and a high school teacher, will design interactive classroom instructional units and present them in the public school classrooms of three school districts. Widener University science majors who serve as Teaching Scholars will be trained to use the Full Option Science Study (FOSS) inquiry-based materials. They will then help in the training of science teachers in the local school district and will instruct K- 8 students in the local school district. Independent 8 www.cic.edu Summer 2001
AWARDS (Teaching Scholars, cont’d from page 8) The TSP program, funded by the National Science Foundation, is part of a larger initiative in which CIC is cooperating with the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and the Independent Colleges Office (ICO, the coordinator of Project Kaleidoscope). Each of these national organizations has selected up to ten participating institutions, and project meetings will include representatives of all 28 of these colleges and universities. The goals of the program are to encourage undergraduate students in science and mathematics to consider K-12 mathematics and science teaching as a career option; enrich and strengthen the learning experience of K-12 students in mathematics and science; and generate national attention to the critical contribution that collaborative K-16 partnerships make to ensure the vitality of local schools. Although the Teaching Scholars programs to be undertaken by CIC’s ten grant recipients share a great deal in common, the details differ for each institution (see box, page 8). (Science Awards, cont’d from page 1) curriculum,” Ekman said. The faculty created a program involving the study of biodiversity in a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project on the Missouri River in which agricultural lands are being converted to wetlands. All biology faculty members and many students are participating. Revised courses teach students how to conduct research. The curriculum sequence begins with a special course on research methods for freshmen considering majors in biology. Sophomores are recruited into research groups; and seniors, as project leaders, recruit and train sophomores and are required to present their research findings at professional meetings. Benedictine President Daniel Carey indicated that these initiatives have shown a range of positive results. “The number of biology majors has increased—70 percent of graduates have pursued postgraduate education and an impressive number of students have presented research papers and reports at state and national meetings,” he said. In addition, a number of biology alumni have made financial contributions, initially for summer student stipends, and PANEL OF SCIENCE EDUCATORS CHOOSE INSTITUTIONS FOR HEUER AWARDS, TEACHING SCHOLAR PARTNERSHIPS GRANTS The winners of the Heuer awards were chosen from 34 programs nominated for the award by a panel of science educators consisting of Brian Beasley, associate professor of mathematics at Presbyterian College (SC); James Hampton, associate professor of biology at Buena Vista University (IA); J. William Moncrief, CIC Senior Advisor and recently-retired professor of chemistry, provost and dean of the faculty at Lyon College (AR); Mary Ellen Murphy, professor of chemistry at Saint Joseph’s College (ME) and recently visiting astrochemist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; and Susan Young, assistant professor of chemistry at Hartwick College (NY). The ten colleges and universities chosen for the Teaching Scholar Partnerships program were selected from 28 highly competitive proposals by the same committee, with the addition of Nadine McHenry, associate professor of education at Neumann College (PA) and Connie Skelton, science specialist for the Arlington, VA public schools. have begun to take a broader interest in the institution. Carey noted this work has also led to extensive cooperative efforts with federal and state agencies; the College is the only private higher educational institution in the Consortium of Missouri River Institutions, which coordinates research and policy analysis regarding the use, management, and restoration of the Missouri River. The natural science division of Nebraska Wesleyan University “is recognized for a pervasive transformation of its biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics programs and for an extensive outreach program for teachers in small, rural Nebraska high schools,” Ekman said. Over the past decade, the University has enhanced facilities and equipment, revised curricula, and provided faculty development. A defining feature of these developments has been the utilization of student research opportunities throughout these departments, culminating in major research projects carried out by most majors. To support this research, the University has established a Student Research Fellowship Program, providing summer stipends for research at a range of sites—from research universities and medical centers to zoos and private industry. “The results have been impressive,” Ekman noted. “Increasing numbers of students have earned awards and made presentations at regional or national professional meetings, as well as attended graduate school in growing numbers.” A second significant impact has involved rural schools. Nebraska Wesleyan University President Jeanie Watson said “Since 1992, the University has conducted three-week, residential programs for teachers from small high schools. With heavy teaching loads, and often with inadequate equipment and preparation, these teachers work with laboratory-based modules in biology, chemistry, and physics and other activities that they can utilize in their schools. The summer programs have served 99 teachers, many of whom extend this influence by presentations at their own professional meetings.” Independent 9 www.cic.edu Summer 2001
Page 1 and 2: SUMMER 2001 Independent From the Pr
Page 3 and 4: BOARD UPDATE CIC Board of Directors
Page 5 and 6: CONFERENCES 2002 Presidents Institu
Page 7: CONFERENCES (Media Tips, cont’d f
Page 11 and 12: PROJECT NEWS National Associations
Page 13 and 14: COLLEGE NEWS Cedarville University
Page 15 and 16: COLLEGE NEWS Baltimore's Mayor O'Ma
Page 17 and 18: NEWS & INFORMATION (New Initiatives
Page 19 and 20: CONNECTING WITH CIC Staff Notes Thi

Summer 2001 - The Council of Independent Colleges

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