Monday, August 14, 2006

WILMINGTON, NC - At a news conference on August 8, the University of North Carolina Wilmington announced the formation of nine science graduate courses targeted to middle and high school science teachers.

Through a collaboration between the chairs of the science departments in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Watson School of Education, teachers in Southeastern North Carolina will now have the opportunity to take up to nine graduate-level science courses developed especially for them. The pilot project begins fall 2006 with Advanced General Chemistry offered on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, enabling teachers to take the course after work.

"This new initiative will help middle and high school science teachers become highly prepared at the graduate level," noted UNCW Chancellor Rosemary DePaolo. Science teachers often have an undergraduate degree in one discipline but are called upon to teach a science course outside their discipline.

"UNC Wilmington is committed to helping our state and nation meet one of its greatest needs by doing what we do best, educating students," she said. "Through our Watson School of Education and the College of Arts and Sciences, we are aggressively responding to UNC President Erskine Bowles' mandate to deal with the state's teacher shortage crisis and to improve the quality of our science and math teachers."

Advanced General Chemistry will be taught by Jimmy Reeves, professor of chemistry and chair of the UNCW Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

One innovative feature of the new graduate courses is the use of a practicing master teacher from Southeastern North Carolina to help teach the courses and labs. Assisting Reeves in teaching chemistry will be master teacher Suzanne Sexton, New Hanover County chemistry teacher at Ashley High School.

Teachers who want to take these courses do not have to be formally accepted into a graduate program and may earn continuing education units. Through this innovative pilot project, UNCW is seeking to give teachers convenient access to become even better science teachers. This will improve the level of science education in the region as well as help teachers progress in their careers and increase their salaries.

In addition to advanced chemistry, two three other courses are already scheduled. Advanced Earth Sciences will be offered spring semester 2007 to be taught by Dr. Roger Shew and master teacher Steven Clark, teacher and chair of the science department at South Brunswick High School in Southport. Clark was named the 2006 SBHS Teacher of the Year.

Advanced Environmental Science will be offered during summer 2007 along with an earth sciences and environmental sciences laboratory to be taught by John Taggart, assistant professor of environmental science. Assisting Taggart with the environmental science course will be master teacher E. Crouch, science department chair and resource teacher at Williston Middle School in Wilmington. Assisting Taggart and Shew with the labs will be Elizabeth Vaughn, master teacher at Richlands High School in Onslow County. Vaughn teaches physical science, biology and AP environmental science.

To evaluate the effectiveness of the courses, UNCW has retained Barbara Heath of East Main Consulting who will periodically survey teachers taking the courses to answer such questions as whether they are gaining content knowledge and what are the most effective strategies to communicate the lessons.

Two goals of the courses are to improve teachers' foundation knowledge and give them tools to teach differently in the classroom. For the duration of their involvement with the program, students will be provided with Tablet Personal Computers (HP 4200) and software that will enable them to communicate and share their work virtually. Using these tools, they will develop presentations, lesson plans and quizzes to use in their classrooms.

The master teachers will help with the course development. "Teachers will walk away with a 'tool kit' and the confidence that they can teach the course if they get tapped to teach that topic," noted Sexton. It will also help them obtain a graduate degree or earn Continuing Education Credits, make more money, and advance their careers.