Date: 4/8/09
Contact: Eric Jome
Illinois State University’s Center for Mathematics, Science, and Technology (CeMaST) has awarded CeMaST Professional Development Grants to faculty members for fiscal year 2009. The Professional Development Grants support faculty involved in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teaching, learning and research. Grant recipients and the projects supported by the grants are listed below.
Olcay Akman, Mathematics, “Integrating Learning and Research Across Disciplinary Boundaries.” The funding will support biomathematics students and faculty attending an international symposium to present their work in biomathematics.
Lucian Ionescu, Mathematics, “Hands-on Instruction to Modern Computing.” The project will develop discrete homological algebra methods for Feynman Processes, apply those results to Infrotronics, design a pedagogical introduction to the mathematical foundations developed at the college level, and design a set of optical experiments demonstrating the theoretical principles of Modern Computing for 6-12 grade classrooms.
Craig C. McLauchlan, Chemistry, “Expanding the Reach of Student Response Device (aka Clicker) Research by Connecting with More Community College Faculty.” The project will expand knowledge and expertise on student response devices, allow more sharing of clickers and course content and allow more data collection for educational research.
Cynthia J. Moore and Elisa L. Palmer, Biological Sciences, “Application of Wiki Technology to Collaborative Student Understanding of Current Biological Research.” The project will explore the application of wiki technology to encourage and facilitate students to collaboratively gather and share information and articles describing current research.
Robert W. Quandt, Chemistry, “Integrating Computational Chemistry into Teaching and Research.” The project will extend and enhance teaching and research in the area of computational chemistry at Illinois State.
J. Randy Winter, Agriculture; David Loomis, Economics; David Kennell, Technology, and Sophie Theron, Agriculture, “Renewable Energy Team Travel to American Wind Energy Association WindPower 2009 Conference.” The grant will support faculty and student attendance at the WindPower 2009 Conference.
Josh Brown and Drew Abney, Technology, “The Biotechnology of Technology Education: A Descriptive Investigation of the Conceptual Foundations of Biotechnology Necessary for Technology Education Teachers.” The research project will explore the conceptual principles and understandings needed by teachers for the effective integration of a biotechnology curriculum in technology education classrooms.
Cara Rabe-Hemp, Criminal Justice Sciences; Anu Gokhale, Technology; and Lori Woeste, Health Sciences, “The Under-representation of Women in Applied Sciences: The Impact of Perceptions and Availability of Role Models.” The study will explore how the perceptions of the academic majors impact the career choices students make before entering the fields of computer technology, criminal justice and clinical laboratory sciences.
James Wolf, School of Information Technology, “An Experimental Examination of Techniques for Mitigating the Psychological Bias Against Physicians Who Use Diagnostic Decision Aids.” The project will conduct experiments to gauge the effectiveness of education, exposure to computer technology and exposure to decision aids for mitigating the psychological bias against physicians who use diagnostic decision aids.
Jamie R. Wieland, Management and Quantitative Methods, “Investigating New Research Methods Using Simulation and Structural Equation Modeling.” Funding will be used to gain expertise in the area of structural equation modeling and to investigate new research methodologies by attending an advanced structural equation modeling course at the Center for Advancement of Research Methods.
Lydia Kyei-Blankson, Educational Administration and Foundations, “Training Science and Mathematics Teachers as Researchers: Bridging the Gap between Research and Teaching.” The study will focus on science and mathematics in-service teachers’ views regarding the role of research on their personal growth and professional development.
