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III. SERVICE AND INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
(9/01)
I have addressed the expectation of service to the institution and wider
community in the broad sense of collaborating with colleagues to respond to the
challenges we face working in UMB and allied institutions. The strength of my
contributions lies in taking initiative to identify challenges and in
innovating so as to make effective use of limited resources. In this section I
discuss four major challenges I have addressed. This should be read in
conjunction with details presented in my Annual Faculty Reviews (AFRs) and
recognition that below the radar screen of AFRs lie many day-to-day
initiatives, such as designing a spreadsheet soon after I arrived that my
department used to process its backlog of course evaluations.
III.A Building a Basis for Interdisciplinary Science and Environmental
Education
The contribution of GCOE to Science Education is an important issue, not
the least because of the shortfall in qualified science teachers in
Massachusetts. During my first year at UMB I became acquainted with the range
of funded centers and initiatives in Science Education in Massachusetts. It
became clear that preliminary steps were needed before GCOE would be in a
position to compete for funds with the more established programs. The steps
that I have been involved in include: establishing a science track within the
M.Ed. program; connecting with CAS departments around this track or an Master
of Science in Teaching (MST) degree; a CCT certificate in "Science, Education
and Society"; a summer "New Directions in Science Education" course (to recruit
new students and address the need for secondary science education courses);
preparation of GCOE's science education folio towards national accreditation;
and a search for a secondary science education faculty member who could teach
core courses and take a leadership role. I look forward to supporting the new
appointee, Hannah Sevian, in the directions she takes to continue building
Science Education at UMB.
Notwithstanding the other centers and initiatives in the state, there appeared
to be a distinctive niche for contributing in the science-STS area. As Steve
Fifield remarked in his evaluation of the summer practitioners' workshop I
organized in 1999: "The standards
movement has a tendency to be interpreted as a push toward 'the basics' (i.e.,
decontextualized facts and concepts), but it is important to make clear that
the study of science in social context is a component of national reforms and
most state standards" and to identify allies and support teachers in "their
attempts to broaden the meaning of science education." As mentioned in the
introduction, the idea that critical analysis of science can influence its
practice and application is not well developed or supported institutionally,
and so new collaborations, programs, and other activities--or new directions
for existing programs--are needed. My work in interdisciplinary science and
environmental studies has involved many collaborations across disciplinary,
institutional, and national boundaries.
The most significant venue for me outside my formal appointments has been in
the International Society for History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology
(ISHPSSB). In its biennial summer meetings the ISHPSSB brings together
scholars from diverse disciplines, including the life sciences and history,
philosophy and social studies of science. I served on the Executive from
1993-99 as President-elect, President, and then past-President. My earlier
contributions, however, on the program committee (1987-89) and as program
organizer (1989-91), were equally significant. It was during this period that
the society was being formalized, and I worked hard to ensure that
institutionalization did not undermine the tradition of innovative, cross-
disciplinary sessions and discussions. I have personally organized sets of
sessions at almost all of the ISHPSSB meetings, many of which have led to
special editions of journals and one book.[21]
My recent service outside UMB has focused on teacher and faculty professional
development and new interdisciplinary programs. In addition to the Eisenhower
Professional Development course for teachers described in sect. I.B.3, I
established within ISHPSSB a Committee on Education with a website to link
ISHPSSB members to current initiatives concerning the teaching of science in
its social context. This summer I organized the first of what are planned to
be regular pre-conference workshops. The "Changing Life" working group (Sp 99)
was a local initiative in the same direction, and this has evolved into summer
faculty development workshops (sect. I.B.3). I am now collaborating with Prof.
Fifield from U. Delaware to co-organize a biology-in-society component in
BioQuest's annual 9-day faculty development workshop in June 2002.
In November 1998 I served as a consultant on the plans for a new
interdisciplinary environmental studies doctoral program at the National
Autonomous University in Mexico (UNAM) and since then have been consulted or
participated in several boundary-crossing initiatives. In recognition of my
ability to make trans-disciplinary connections, I have been invited to give
commentaries in areas ranging from methodology in studies of communication to
the use of remore sensing techniques in geography.
III.B Ensuring a Viable CCT Program without the Other Full-time CCT faculty
Member
After a number of years with only one full-time faculty member in CCT,
my appointment promised to make possible a sharing of the burden of
administration, recruitment, advising, and thesis/synthesis supervision as well
as outreach and program development projects. Unfortunately, by the end of my
first year at UMB the Program Director, Delores Gallo, had reduced her time on
campus for health reasons and then began what has turned out to be an extended
medical leave. By a concerted effort she had cleared the backlog of students
needing only to complete their theses and synthesis projects, but she was
behind in record-keeping and other administrative projects.
My response to the challenge of taking on the program directorship under these
circumstances has involved--in addition to the routine duties of this
position--three main strands (see table below). Each of these has required a
considerable "up-front" investment in the hope of making recruitment, advising,
and other administrative tasks (such as preparing for program reviews) less
consuming of time and attention. "Less" is relative not absolute, however,
given a number of features of CCT: the absence of a standard conduit for
students into the Program; the diverse interests and concerns of those
admitted; the intensive seminar/workshop/activity format of CCT courses; and
the syn/thesis requirement for completing the Program. The success of these
efforts may be seen in the 26 new students already admitted for fall 2001 (the
target given CCT was 21-25 for the full year), all recruited in a period after
the elimination of the course release for a Program Director. However, given
the unsustainable workload and stress, I hope the day comes soon when the
running of CCT can be shared between two core faculty members.
Goal Examples of measures I have undertaken or led
Enhanced advising & office Advising -- Student handbook; Revived CCT website;
procedures Publicity brochures; Regularized roster of course offerings;
Handbook on synthesis projects; Guidelines re: incompletes
and passage through program requirements; Exit
self-assessment
Administration -- Enhanced and updated
program database; Office operations manual; Application
review procedures & tracking system; Working bees to sort
CCT materials in storage
More "horizontal" exchanges CCT in Practice (weekly presentations in F 00 and F 01 and
and support within and full-day open houses); bi-weekly email newsletter; CCT
beyond the community of CCT Community directory; Recruitment drives; Links through ASCD
students & alums Teaching Thinking network and other allied organizations;
Orientation and Community gathering (F 01)
CCT faculty outside GCOE Monthly meetings focusing on interests other than business
and adjuncts engaged in (spr. 99); Preparation of talking points and AQUAD plan
development of the program (99-00); Planning for outreach unit;23 CCT in the Workplace
& creating a wider impact courses (Sum 00-) and new certificate Options in conjunction
with Continuing Education; Thinktank for community college
teachers of critical thinking (F00-); Thinking for Change
Fieldbook (Sum 01-)24; Preparation for initiative on
diversity in CCT (Sp 01-)
III.C Developing CCT in New Directions
Traditionally, CCT courses and workshops have covered "psychological
studies of... critical and creative thought...; philosophical studies... in
reasoning, argument, logical thinking, valuing, and judging; and work with
cognitive structures and metacognitive techniques for stimulating creativity
and critical thought." At the same time, social justice concerns have
motivated the educational and social change work of many CCT students and
faculty. This spirit has informed my efforts to develop a science-STS
component to the math. and science concentration in CCT and associated outreach
(sect. III.A). I have only been able to offer two science-STS seminars (sect.
II.C), but plan to continue promoting this area of CCT, whose growth should
benefit if the different proposals for an M. Ed. science track, MST, or
combined environmental science/education degree go ahead.
Once I began directing the program I became aware of previous attempts to
expand CCT in the area of critical and creative thinking in the workplace.
Building on my own interest in reflective practice, I have organized a suite of
three courses through Continuing Education that can be taken on their own or as
part of a version of the CCT Certificate with the theme, "Dialogue and
Collaboration in Organizational Change." These courses are proving popular and
have led a number of students to apply to or transfer into CCT.
Another challenge for CCT has been to address the 1994-95 review committee's
recommendation to present a higher profile, within the university and in the
wider community, for what is distinctive about CCT's work. The AQUAD plan
produced by the Program in spring 2000 laid out some steps that seemed possible
despite the reduction of resources for the Program since the mid-90s review.
Of these, I have been involved in: presentations for C.I.T.; arranging CCT in
Practice sessions open to the public; the Thinktank for community college
teachers of critical thinking (which received a UMB Public Service grant);
promoting the new Graduate Certificates and associated non-credit workshops;
and groundwork for a plan to increase the social diversity of CCT students and
for CCT courses to address the issues of increasing diversity. In addition,
students from CCT693 last spring developed proposals for CCT to support more
internships and practical experiences giving students a chance to apply what
they are learning in their courses. I look forward to collaborating with other
CCT faculty members in such directions as we prepare for the next Program
review scheduled for 2002-3.
III.D Clarifying and Strengthening CCT's Status in GCOE
I discussed with Dean Clark before accepting his offer of appointment
how the status of CCT in GCOE needed clarification. GCOE had then only
recently become CCT's home college and all but two of the CCT faculty still
resided in the College of Arts and Sciences. The challenge was for GCOE to
articulate a positive place in its educational mission for the kind of
mid-career personal and professional development pursued by CCT Masters
students and to address the particularities of CCT as an interdisciplinary,
inter-college Program. Clear parameters were needed to allow CCT faculty to
plan the best use of their experience and energies. For myself in particular,
appropriate criteria and procedures for review of interdisciplinary CCT work
needed to be agreed on.
These concerns motivated CCT faculty to prepare a series of requests and
proposals in 1999-2000, to which, unfortunately, no explicit response was
received. From my side, I sought increased collaboration between CCT and other
GCOE programs by, for example, drawing others into the CCT in Practice
sessions, participating in math. and science education initiatives, making
connections among faculty members involved in action-research and research
preparation courses, and hosting an orientation to CCT. Yet, as I learned
after my 4th. year review, GCOE leaders still saw CCT as marginal or even
outside their vision of the College. It was felt that CCT faculty needed to
serve GCOE more directly. In response, I took on key GCOE tasks beyond the CCT
Program and Department of Curriculum and Instruction (C&I; formerly
S.O.C.I.). (In particular, I have been active in the Dean's Technology Task
Force and I chair the Academic Affairs and Curriculum Committee, in which role
I clarified and publicized procedures for course and program change proposals.)
Nevertheless, after the last year of different proposals and shifting
expectations (summarized in the section to follow), noone could claim that the
status of CCT in GCOE is yet clear or strong.
Notes
[21] "Pictorial representation in biology" (1991); "Science studies"
(1994-5); "Ecological visionaries" (1997); Changing Life (1997),
"Natural Contradictions" (1998); "Philosophies of Ecological Science" (2000).
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