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Evaluating and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (2003)

Chapter: Appendix D: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2003. Evaluating and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10024.
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Appendix D
Biographical Sketches of Committee Members

Marye Anne Fox, Co-chair, is chancellor of North Carolina State University. Prior to assuming the chancellorship in 1998, Dr. Fox served as Vice President for Research and the M. June and J. Virgil Waggoner Regents Chair in chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. Her recent research activities include organic photochemistry, electro-chemistry, and physical organic mechanisms. She is a former editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Previously, she was the director for the Center for Fast Kinetics Research, vice chair of the National Science Board, and a member of the Task Force on Alternative Futures for the Department of Energy National Laboratories (the Galvin Committee). Dr. Fox is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and serves on several NAS and National Research Council (NRC) committees. In addition to her role as cochair of the Committee on Undergraduate Science Education, she serves on the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy and as cochair of the Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable. Dr. Fox is a former member of the Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications; the NAS Council; and the NRC Governing Board. She also served on the Committee on Criteria for Federal Support of Research and Development.

Norman Hackerman,Co-chair, served as president of Rice University from 1970 to 1985 and holds the positions of president emeritus and distinguished professor emeritus of chemistry at Rice University. Prior to coming to Rice, Dr. Hackerman spent 25 years at The University of Texas, Austin, Texas, where he joined the faculty as an assistant professor of chemistry in 1945 and became president in 1967. He is now

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2003. Evaluating and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10024.
×

professor emeritus of chemistry at The University of Texas at Austin. He taught chemistry at Loyola College and Virginia Polytechnic, and worked as a research chemist for Colloid Corporation, Kellex Corporation, and the U.S. Coast Guard. Dr. Hackerman was a member of the National Science Board from 1968 to 1980 and chairman from 1957 to 1980. He was editor of the Journal of the Electrochemical Society from 1969 to 1989. He is a member of the NAS, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and belongs to numerous scientific organizations. He is author or coauthor of 225 publications. In addition to several previous awards, Dr. Hackerman received the American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal in March 1978, the Mirabeau B. Lamar Award of the Association of Texas Colleges and Universities in 1981, the Distinguished Alumnus Award from The Johns Hopkins University in 1982, the Edward Goodrich Acheson Award of the Electrochemical Society in 1984, the Alumni Gold Medal for distinguished service to Rice University in 1984, the Charles Lathrop Parsons Award of the American Chemical Society in 1987, the AAAS-Philip Hauge Abelson Prize in 1987, the Vannevar Bush Award of the National Science Board in 1993, and the National Medal of Science in 1993. Dr. Hackerman serves as Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Robert A. Welch Foundation.

Trudy Banta is vice chancellor for planning and institutional improvement, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. She has edited five published volumes on assessment, contributed 15 chapters to other published works, and written more than 80 articles and reports. Making a Difference: Outcomes of a Decade of Assessment in Higher Education was published by Jossey-Bass in October 1993. Dr. Banta’s most recent work, Assessment in Practice: Putting Principles to Work on College Campuses, was published by Jossey-Bass in early 1996. She is the founding editor of Assessment Update, a bimonthly periodical published by Jossey-Bass. Dr. Banta has developed, coordinated, and addressed conferences worldwide on assessing quality in higher education and matters related to outcome assessment. She has consulted with faculty and administrators on campuses and at statewide conferences in 37 states. In 1997, she was recognized by the American Productivity and Quality Center for leadership of one of the seven most effective programs in the world for using management information in decision making.

John Centra is a research professor and professor emeritus at Syracuse

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2003. Evaluating and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10024.
×

University. He is a former chair of the Higher Education Program at the university. Prior to coming to Syracuse in 1985, he was a research psychologist at the Educational Testing Service, where he conducted studies on college teaching, faculty development, student learning, the effects of colleges on students, and other topics. He is the author of Determining Faculty Effectiveness (1979) and Reflective Faculty Evaluation (1993), and coauthor of Tenure, Promotion, and Reappointment: Legal and Administrative Implications (1995) and more than 85 articles, monographs, and books. He has consulted or given talks at well over a hundred colleges in the United States and abroad. Dr. Centra’s current research is on assessing the scholarship of teaching. In 1993 he received a career achievement award from the American Educational Research Association’s Special Interest Group on Faculty Evaluation and Development.

Barbara Gross Davis is assistant vice chancellor, Student Life and Educational Development, University of California-Berkeley. Dr. Davis’ primary interests are in instructional improvement, assessment and accreditation, faculty development and evaluation, and program and curriculum evaluation in higher education. She has conducted workshops and seminars for faculty on topics related to teaching, learning, and evaluation; has written about these topics in a number of articles, book chapters, and evaluation reports (including a chapter on assessment in the NRC report Science Teaching Reconsidered); and authored or coauthored five books.

Denice Denton is dean of engineering and a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Washington. Her current interests include plasma deposition of polymers and the use of micromachining in solid state actuator design. Professor Denton was codirector of the National Institute for Science Education 1995-1996. She is a recipient of the National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award (1987-1992), the American Society of Engineering Education AT&T Foundation Teaching Award (1991), the WM. Keck Foundation Engineering Teaching Excellence Award (1994), the American Society of Electrical Engineers George Westinghouse Award (1995), and the Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineering Harriet B. Rigas Teaching Award (1995).

Diane Ebert-May is director of Lyman Briggs School, a residential, liberal arts science program within the College of Natural Sciences at Michigan State University, and is a professor of botany and plant pathology. She provides

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2003. Evaluating and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10024.
×

national leadership in promoting professional development opportunities for faculty, postdoctoral teaching fellows, and graduate students who participate actively not only in their own disciplinebased research, but also in creative scholarship and research on teaching and learning. She chairs the Education Committee of the National Long Term Ecological Research Network and is chairperson of the Education Section of the Ecological Society of America. Her current research in biology education is based on an empirically based model she developed to test the effectiveness of active learning in a large introductory biology course for nonmajors and an ecology course for majors. From this she has developed models for using argument structure to develop assessments for critical thinking. Dr. Ebert-May’s recent publications describe the inquiry-based instructional strategies she uses in a course with large class meetings (lectures) and multiple laboratory sections. Her research, funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, focuses on alternative assessments for large science courses, including student self-reflection as a form of student evaluation. Her ecological research continues on Niwot Ridge, Colorado, where she has conducted long-term ecological research on alpine tundra plant communities since 1971.

Timothy Goldsmith is professor of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology at Yale University. He has experience in the classroom and is actively involved with other educational activities at Yale, the NRC, and elsewhere. Dr. Goldsmith has served on numerous NRC boards and committees, including the Commission on Life Sciences, the Board on Biology, and the Board on International Comparative Studies in Education. He was a member of the advisory board for the NRC’s Center for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Education. He also serves as chair of the board of directors for the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Among his other teaching responsibilities, Dr. Goldsmith teaches an undergraduate course for nonmajors, for which he is also writing (with W. F. Zimmerman) a textbook entitled Biology, Evolution, and Human Nature. His research involves physiological and behavioral aspects of photopigments and photoreception in invertebrate and vertebrate animals.

Manuel Gomez is vice president for research and academic affairs at the University of Puerto Rico. He has

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2003. Evaluating and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10024.
×

overseen the implementation of an assessment plan that is driving the reform of undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education at the University of Puerto Rico, a multicampus system with 68,000 students, eight 2- and 4-year colleges, and three campuses offering the Ph.D. degree. Dr. Gomez is a theoretical physicist, specializing in solid state and condensed matter physics. Upon his graduation, he received a research fellowship from the NRC to work on the optical properties of solids at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC. He served as professor of physics and chairperson of the physics department at the University of Puerto Rico. He was then appointed dean of the College of Natural Sciences and later became the director of the Resource Center for Science and Engineering. Dr. Gomez has been director of the Puerto Rico EPSCoR program since its inception in 1986. He also served as a member of the NRC’s Coordinating Council for Education.

Eileen Lewis is professor of chemistry at Cañada College (California). Her academic training is in chemistry and cognition, and her research interests include conceptual change in students’ understanding of science, curricular designs that support knowledge integration, and systemic reform issues. Dr. Lewis has served in a variety of capacities at the University of California-Berkeley, including visiting professor in the Graduate School of Education, director of assessment and evaluation and then project director for the ModularCHEM Consortium, and currently principal investigator for the Multi-Initiative Dissemination Project in the Department of Chemistry. She has also served as a National Institute of Science Education Fellow at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and as editor of FLAG (Field-Tested Learning Assessment Guide). She serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Science Education and the Journal of Science Education and Technology.

Jeanne L. Narum is director of the Independent Colleges Office and Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL). PKAL is a consortium of colleges and universities across the United States that for the past 10 years has sought to discover and disseminate best practices in undergraduate STEM education. A major component of PKAL is the “Faculty for the 21st Century,” which has as its goal identifying and providing professional development for up to 1,000 pretenured STEM faculty members from a variety of types of postsecondary institutions who have been recognized as potential leaders and educational innovators on

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2003. Evaluating and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10024.
×

their campuses. As a result of her leadership in PKAL, Ms. Narum has extensive background in and knowledge of university science curricula, issues related to the improvement of college teaching, and the culture of higher education.

Cornelius J. Pings is immediate past president, Association of American Universities (AAU), and thoroughly knowledgeable about the culture of and issues surrounding higher education. In addition to his recent presidency of the AAU, he held positions as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at the University of Southern California and as professor of chemical engineering, vice provost, and dean of graduate studies at the California Institute of Technology. He also has considerable expertise in the corporate sector, having served as director of the Farmers Group, Nations Funds, Maxtor Corporation, and the Hughes Aircraft Company. Dr. Pings has been a member and chair of the National Academies’ Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy.

Michael Scriven is professor of psychology at Claremont Graduate University. His academic training is in mathematics and the philosophy of mathematical logic. He has taught in the United States and Australia in departments of mathematics, philosophy, psychology, the history and philosophy of science, and education. He has held fellowships from the Educational Testing Service, the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences in Palo Alto, and the National Science Foundation, among others. His more than 300 publications are mainly in the areas of critical thinking, technology and computer studies, and evaluation. Dr. Scriven is well known for his expertise in evaluation. He is credited with coining the terms “formative” and “summative” to describe different kinds of personnel and program evaluations. He is an ex-president of the American Educational Research Association and the American Evaluation Association, and is the 2000 recipient of the McKeachie Award for lifetime contribution to the methodology of faculty evaluation.

Christine Stevens is professor of mathematics at St. Louis University. She has extensive experience with educational issues. She is the recipient of both statewide and national awards for distinguished college and university teaching from the Mathematical Association of America. Dr. Stevens also has served as associate program director for the National Science Foundation’s Teacher Enhancement Program. She is involved extensively with Project NExT,

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2003. Evaluating and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10024.
×

a professional development program for new and recent Ph.D.s in the mathematical sciences that addresses issues in the teaching and learning of undergraduate mathematics. Dr. Stevens has authored articles on the implications of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics standards for undergraduate education, an assessment of calculus reform efforts, and the history of mathematics. She has served on several committees of the Mathematical Association of America and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics dealing with education, science policy, and minority participation in mathematics. Her scholarly interests are concerned with topological groups.

Dennis Weiss is dean of natural science and mathematics at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. He was previously dean of science at the City College of New York (CCNY). Dr. Weiss’s research deals with bottom and subbottom mapping of New York’s coastal zones, including the waterways in and around New York City and the continental shelf lying off the coast of New York City. This work is being done in conjunction with archaeologists who are seeking to locate sites of prehistoric settlements in the New York area. As a dean of science, Dr. Weiss has been active in overseeing educational reform in departments and programs under his purview. He has attended Project Kaleidoscope workshops on science and mathematics at Urban and Commuter Institutions and Science for All Students and an A.C.E. Workshop on Chairing the Academic Department. He was a convenor for a university-wide faculty development workshop on mentoring students and served on CCNY’s President’s Task Force on Advising and Mentoring. At CCNY he was the principal investigator for a grant from National Science Foundation to establish a Faculty Development Center at CCNY. He has taught numerous courses in the earth sciences to both undergraduate and graduate students. While at CCNY, a campus with a strong union, Dr. Weiss is working on his campus to change evaluation procedures for faculty.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2003. Evaluating and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10024.
×
Page 196
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2003. Evaluating and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10024.
×
Page 197
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2003. Evaluating and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10024.
×
Page 198
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2003. Evaluating and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10024.
×
Page 199
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2003. Evaluating and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10024.
×
Page 200
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2003. Evaluating and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10024.
×
Page 201
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2003. Evaluating and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10024.
×
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Economic, academic, and social forces are causing undergraduate schools to start a fresh examination of teaching effectiveness. Administrators face the complex task of developing equitable, predictable ways to evaluate, encourage, and reward good teaching in science, math, engineering, and technology.

Evaluating, and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics offers a vision for systematic evaluation of teaching practices and academic programs, with recommendations to the various stakeholders in higher education about how to achieve change.

What is good undergraduate teaching? This book discusses how to evaluate undergraduate teaching of science, mathematics, engineering, and technology and what characterizes effective teaching in these fields.

Why has it been difficult for colleges and universities to address the question of teaching effectiveness? The committee explores the implications of differences between the research and teaching cultures-and how practices in rewarding researchers could be transferred to the teaching enterprise.

How should administrators approach the evaluation of individual faculty members? And how should evaluation results be used? The committee discusses methodologies, offers practical guidelines, and points out pitfalls.

Evaluating, and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics provides a blueprint for institutions ready to build effective evaluation programs for teaching in science fields.

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