12 Area Science Teachers Learn at DePauw Workshops

July 19, 2001

July 20, 2001, Greencastle, Ind. - A dozen middle and high school science teachers in the Greencastle, North Putnam, South Putnam, Cloverdale and Cascade schools will bring new tools to their classrooms this fall. They spent last week in workshops at DePauw University in a project called “A STeP Toward Science & Technology Learning.” Jamie Stockton, instructor of education at DePauw University, received an Eisenhower Award of $44,938 from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education to fund the project. State and local matching funds helped make the week-long workshops possible.

[DOWNLOAD VIDEO: "Better Learning" 178KB] [DOWNLOAD AUDIO: "Better Learning" 72KB] “We hope it will give the science teachers additional ideas in terms of pedagogical issues, things they can use in a classroom as well as increased science knowledge and ultimately improve instruction for their students,” Stockton said. “Hopefully, the end result is that better learning will take place in area classrooms.“

The sessions focused on the content of science classes, technologies that can enhance the educational experience and on fine-tuning teaching methods. DePauw instructors included vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty Neal Abraham, associate coordinator of information and technology planning and assistant professor of history Dennis Trinkle, coordinator of user services and FITS (Faculty Instructional Training Support) specialist Carol Smith, assistant professor of chemistry Hilary Eppley, professor of psychology Kevin Moore, assistant professor of psychology Yueping Zhang, associate professor of geology and geography James Mills, assistant professor of biology Becky Talyn, associate professor of computer science and associate faculty development coordinator for quantitative reasoning Douglas Harms, and professor of biology Kathleen Jagger.

[DOWNLOAD VIDEO: "Learning About Learning" 275KB] [DOWNLOAD AUDIO: "Learning About Learning" 111KB "One of the most exciting features is that it helps our faculty to continue to think about teaching at a variety of different levels," said Dr. Abraham. "By working with high school and middle school faculty members, they begin to think about how students learn and how they develop in their learning. That affects how they develop their teaching for college level classes." Abraham says the sessions also help develop DePauw professors as resources for the educational community at large.

Stacie Stoffregen, a science teacher at Greencastle Middle School, says the STeP workshops are [DOWNLOAD VIDEO: "Reflection" 188KB] [DOWNLOAD AUDIO: "Reflection" 76KB] "making me step back as a teacher and think about what have I been doing so far, and what can I do to change or incorporate that maybe I've already been doing but can make 'em a little bit better. It's been phenomenal for that, just making me reflect," she said.

Cloverdale High School's Jim Glen said he's [DOWNLOAD VIDEO: "Educational and Fun" 146KB] [DOWNLOAD AUDIO: "STEP-GLEN" 58KB] "learned a lot. It's good to talk to other teachers and see what they do. It's been fun, too." The other local teachers who attended the sessions were Susi Jordan and Greg Crum from Cloverdale Middle School; Shannon Fritz, John Garner and Karen Swalley from Greencastle High School; Cascade High School's Marty Alenduff; Annette Maier from North Putnam High; and Joan Tejchma, Malinda Mann and Matt Griswold from South Putnam H.S.

[DOWNLOAD VIDEO: "DePauw's Resources" 247KB] [DOWNLOAD AUDIO: "DePauw's Resources" 99KB] "I've really seen a movement by many people at DePauw over the past 6 or 7 years to try to allow the resources of DePauw to be used more efficiently by members of the community," offered Griswold. "It's been very well organized, and we received a lot of quality, up-to-date educational information out of this." [DOWNLOAD AUDIO: "A Fraternity" 66KB]

The effort to enhance local science education will continue. Another five STeP sessions are planned for this fall and next spring.

Back