|
Curriculum Reform Pioneers |
Representing Workshop Mathematics
 |
Concerns in mathematics education--declining general appeal and accessibility, lack of connection to contemporary research, and lack of effective use of computational technology--prompted professor Nancy Baxter Hastings at Dickenson College to developed Workshop Mathematics, an initiative aimed at revamping introductory mathematics courses at the undergraduate level. The courses employ the workshop model where lectures are replaced by interactive teaching and students learn by doing and reflecting on what they have done. Workshop Mathematics was chosen by Project Kaleidoscope as a "Program That Works."
Dr. Hastings is Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science and Theodore & Catherine Mathias Chair in Mathematics and Computer Science (1980). |
Representing
BioQUEST
 |
The BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium actively supports educators interested in the reform of undergraduate biology and engages in the collaborative development of curricula. BioQUEST (Quality Undergraduate Education Simulations and Tools in Biology) encourages the use of simulations, databases, and tools to construct learning environments where students are able to engage in activities like those of practicing scientists. Dr. Jungck has specialized in mathematical molecular evolution, history and philosophy of biology, and science education reform. In 1986, he co-founded the BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium, a national consortium of college and university biology educators devoted to curricular reform across the nation. It promotes quantitative, open-ended problem solving, collaborative learning, peer review, research, and civic engagement/social responsibility. |
Representing
Workshop Physics
 |
Workshop Physics was conceived to address perceived problems in the traditional introductory physics course. The staff of the project designed an introductory course series that would enable students to become proficient in the use of contemporary research tools, would capture their interest, and would give them skills in scientific inquiry and reasoning useful in further study in physics and other sciences. The course was envisioned to replace all lectures with collaborative activities, hands-on investigations, analysis and discussion.
Workshop Physics has received numerous awards recognizing its contribution to physics and science education including the Merck Innovation Award in Undergraduate Science Education and an EDUCOM/NCRIPTAL Award for Best Software in Physics. In 1996 Priscilla W. Laws was awarded the Robert A. Millikan Award from the American Association of Physics Teachers and a Charles A. Dana Award for Pioneering Achievement in Education in 1993 along with Ronald K. Thornton of Tufts University. |
Representing
ChemLinks Coalition
 |
The ChemLinks Coalition is one of the five systemic initiatives in college and university chemical education reform funded by the National Science Foundation. ChemLinks modules focus on real world problems such as global warming and ozone holes, along with contemporary technology such as nanotechnology and how CD readers function.
Dr. Spencer is ChemLink's Principal Investigator. The Coalition is currently collaborating with the ModularCHEM Consortium, centered at the University of California at Berkeley, to restructure the first two years of the chemistry curriculum using thematic modules employing active and collaborative learning. For more than a decade, he and his colleagues at Beloit have successfully refined a laboratory-based approach in their introductory chemistry course for both science majors and non-majors. In 1991, he received a Chemical Manufacturers Association Catalyst Award for excellence in undergraduate chemistry education.
An active member of the ChemLinks Coalition, Dr. Lisensky produces pedagogy oriented, interdisciplinary modules for chemistry education for which he earned the Chemical Manufacturers Association Catalyst Teaching Award in 1996. He is currently developing ways to use new materials technologies to teach chemistry through an association with the NSF-funded Nanostructured Materials Research Science and Engineering Center.
The Interdisciplinary Education Group is working to enhance understanding of college level science and engineering by creating new instructional materials based on current advances in nanoscale science and technology.
Dr. Lisensky runs workshops on Nanotechnology through the Center for Workshops in the Chemical Sciences and is co-chair of this summer's interdisciplinary Gordon Conference on Visualization in Science and Education.
|
