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Dr. Theresa McCormick’s interest in social studies and her ability to think critically were undoubtedly shaped by what she saw during her childhood in Nashville in the 1960s. She didn’t understand why whites and blacks sat at separate lunch counters and used different water fountains. She didn’t understand why one group was afforded more rights and liberties than another by virtue of a superficial characteristic. Most unsettling of all to an inquisitive and fair-minded child was the fact that no adult seemed to be able to answer the question that was always foremost in her mind. Why? “I witnessed a lot of injustices,” said McCormick, an associate professor of elementary social studies education in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching. “I can remember seeing signs that said, ‘white only,’’ and hearing, ‘well, that’s just how things are.’ That troubled me as a child.” Now in her seventh year of teaching at the university level, McCormick strives to ensure that pre-service teachers are well equipped to answer students’ questions of how and why. As the college’s program coordinator for elementary education, McCormick challenges her students to master social studies content, to think critically and to develop creative lesson plans. “I try to challenge them to think about what they do know and what they don’t know,” McCormick said. “I want them to ask critical questions and to not take everything at face value. They need to experience the content in a way that they’ll teach it in classrooms.” McCormick’s efforts to prepare and inspire her students haven’t gone unnoticed at the university level. The Auburn Alumni Association selected McCormick and two other university faculty members to receive its 2010 Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Award. An honorarium of $1,000 accompanies the award. McCormick is one of seven College of Education faculty members to have received the award since 1993. “I was very humbled,” she said. “I feel that, as a teacher-educator, I’m still growing and still learning.” Before earning her doctorate, McCormick taught fifth grade at Crossville (Ala.) School for 12 years. Dr. Nancy Barry, head of the Department of Curriculum and Teaching, said that background has proven to be a tremendous asset for McCormick. “I try to challenge them to think about what they do know and what they don’t know. I want them to ask critical questions and to not take everything at face value.” “Theresa is highly successful in integrating her teaching, outreach and research in meaningful ways,” Barry said. “Her extensive experience as a public school teacher is evident in her ability to merge the worlds of theory and practice.” McCormick enjoys instilling pre-service teachers with a passion for social studies and preparing them to lead their own classrooms. Her lessons are often interactive and call on her students to put themselves in the position of the children they will eventually be teaching. One recent exercise tested the content knowledge of her students by asking them to draw a mural with historical details and recollections of the first Thanksgiving. “I just love teaching undergraduates,” McCormick said. “They’re so eager to learn new ways about teaching and they’re so enthusiastic. They’re like sponges.” In that regard, they’re much like the woman teaching them. McCormick absorbed plenty during her childhood, whether it involved witnessing injustice or hearing vivid family history accounts from her mother and grandfather. “I had a natural curiosity to want to know more,” she said. McCormick recognized for undergraduate teaching excellence Keep up to date on College of Education news by signing up for our electronic newsletter at education. auburn.edu/enews 4 K e y s t o n e V o l u m e V I I , 2 010
E d u c at i o n E x t r a Five faculty members earn promotion One College of Education faculty member earned full professorship status, while four others earned tenure and attained the rank of associate professor in 2010. Dr. Karen Rabren, director of the Auburn Transition Leadership Institute and a faculty member in the Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling, ascended to the position of full professor. The tenured faculty members include Drs. Rebecca Curtis, David DiRamio, Chippewa Thomas and Octavia Tripp. Curtis, an associate professor of rehabilitation in the Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling, earned her master’s degree and doctorate from the College of Education. DiRamio, an associate professor in the Department of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Technology, focuses much of his research on the benefits of technology on higher education and community colleges. He also initiated Auburn University’s Veterans Learning Community. Thomas, who serves as coordinator of community agency counseling in the Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling, earned a master’s degree in community mental health counseling and a doctorate in counselor education and supervision from Auburn. Tripp, an associate professor of elementary education in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching, focuses much of her teaching on the development of science educators. College headlines teacher preparation honor roll The College of Education earned a perfect report card from the Alabama State Department of Education. The college received an overall “A” grade on the ALSDE’s Teacher Preparation Program Performance Profile released in summer 2010. Grades are based on a number of variables, including education students’ performances on professional tests such as the Basic Skills Assessment, Praxis II and Professional Education Personnel Evaluation. Surveys of recent graduates and of the administrators who employ them also factored into the performance profile. The college found itself at the head of the class among the 27 teacher preparation universities and colleges surveyed by the state. The college earned “A’’ grades in every category of the Teacher Preparation Program Performance Profile. Those quality indicators include pre-teaching experiences in elementary and secondary schools (the hours prospective teachers spent in classrooms before their internship or student teaching experiences), partnerships with Alabama elementary and secondary schools, results of the Alabama Prospective Teacher Testing Program (the pass rates for the Basic Skills Test and Praxis II content knowledge test) and on-the-job performance (how new teachers and their employers rated teacher preparation programs). Tripp, Thomas instruct KEMET Academy students Two faculty members in the college, Drs. Chippewa Thomas and Octavia Tripp, helped high school students learn more about how to collect and apply data as part of the research process during a summer 2010 program. As part of the 2010 Knowledge and Excellence in Mathematics, Equilibrium and Technology (KEMET) Knowledge Bus Environmental Classroom, 32 high school students from Alabama’s Black Belt region interacted with Auburn University faculty members and took courses in computer science, English, math, geography, geographical information systems, social studies, engineering and science. The KEMET Academy is an academic and social outreach program designed to enrich the learning of youth from economically and educationally underserved communities. The program was initiated five years ago. A K e y s t o n e i n B u i l d i n g a B e t t e r F u t u r e f o r A l l 5
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