Another Wakonse Fellow Recognized

We always knew Brian Coppola, University of Michigan, was a good teacher, but now the world knows it as well.

From USA Today:

Four U.S. professors honored with prize

“Teaching is more than lecturing: It is helping students experience their education”, say the four 2009 U.S. Professors of the Year*, recognized today by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.  Each winner gets $5000.

• Brian Coppola, professor chemistry, Univ. of Michigan
• Robert Thomas, professor of geology, Univ. of Montana
• Richard Miller, psychology professor, Univ. of Nebraska
• Tracey McKenzie, professor of sociology, Collin College, TX

Brian says, “To me, education is the creation of life-long partnerships.”  His students mix science with art and other projects.

Congratulations Brian!

Reacting to the Past

I was in Georgia for a meeting last week and returned excited after learning about a group called “Reacting to the Past.” RTTP promotes elaborate games, set in the past, where students play roles informed by classic texts. Students run the classes, while instructors advise and guide. The group seeks to promote engagement with big ideas and improve intellectual skills. Personally, I am intrigued by the possibilities of applying this pedagogical approach within the technological framework of Second Life.

Pioneered in the 1990s at Barnard College, RTTP is now a consortium, a group of 40 colleges and universities. Eight games are currently published by Pearson Education, with another twelve under development across the country. The group has received developmental support from a number of foundations and in 2004 it was honored with the Theodore Hesburgh Award for pedagogical innovation.

To learn more about Reacting to the Past, check out their website.

Below is a YouTube video that will give you a taste.

Help us get started

This blog is a new effort by the Wakonse Foundation. It is intended to be a place where we share moments of inspiration as well as successes that result from the Wakonse experience. We have also launched a Wakonse podcast, where we will be posting audio messages to complement the words written here.

Please let me know if you would like to become a blog post author or if you have something you’d like me to share on your behalf. You might have seen a great YouTube video or read an awesome article. Maybe there’s a blog that you’d like added to our blogroll. Please send only items focused on college teaching and learning.

Some exciting news

John E. Adams, professor of chemistry at the University of Missouri-Columbia, received the Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching. Adams, who teaches general chemistry courses containing as many as 900 students, is known for delivering captivating lectures as well as ensuring students complete hands-on work to better prepare them in their field. An early adopter of integrating the Internet into his curriculum, Adams now uses a variety of technologies, including podcasts and RSS feeds, to keep his students engaged. “Students love to be taught by professors like Dr. Adams,” said one former student. “He breathes life and excitement into a classroom and has an insatiable desire to see students succeed in their lives and careers.”

Congrats John!