4/18/01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Vince Gotera, associate professor of English language and literature, (319) 273-7061
Vicki Grimes, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The University of Northern Iowa's Visiting Writers Series will conclude its 2000-2001 season with a presentation from Steve Coyne at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 25, in Thompson Commons, Baker Hall 161.
Coyne, professor of American literature and creative writing at Morningside College, Sioux City, will read selections of his fiction. Coyne's works have appeared in many magazines, including The Southern Review, The Georgia Review, American Short Fiction, The South Carolina Review, The Colorado Review, and Prairie Schooner. Coyne won a Robert's Writing Award, a Heartland Fiction Prize, and a Prairie Schooner Reader's Choice Award, and was a winner in the Playboy Magazine College Fiction Contest.
The UNI Visiting Writers Series is sponsored by the UNI Department of English Language and Literature. The event is free and open to the public.
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(Part of the EducatioNet series from the University of Northern Iowa)
For release during April 2001
Contact: Gwenne Culpepper, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Leaders, says Gerri Perreault, are not born. They are bred.
Perreault is director of the Leadership Studies program at the University of Northern Iowa, and coordinates the Young Leaders In Action program, a community effort sponsored in part by the Leadership Studies program. YLA is specifically for teenagers, and helps them become responsible, ethical leaders.
Perreault says programs like hers are necessary for several reasons. "We need leadership education for teens for the same reason we need it for adults: because a democratic society needs engaged citizens. In fact, the survival of our democracy depends upon the active participation of its citizens."
She teaches a course on leadership and has found that most people define leaders as individuals who get others to do what they want done. "Not surprisingly, followers are often described in passive terms," she explains. "The dominant metaphor for leadership in American society and among American leaders is the military battle metaphor."
It needn't be that way, she says, and suggests we think of leadership in terms of the metaphor of friendship instead. "A friendship metaphor reframes how we help teens structure their leadership thinking, practices and relationships." A friendship metaphor is grounded in the assumption of connectedness and interdependence from which one seeks common bonds and mutual goals. Such an assumption, says Perreault, precludes defining other people as enemies.
"Thinking of leadership as a friendship implies a relationship of shared interests and values. The language of friendship is 'serve,' 'support,' 'care,' and 'cooperate.' Rather than focusing on winning, the goal is mutual empowerment."
Perreault says parents can do a lot to help their children become these kinds of leaders :
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(Part of the EducatioNet series from the University of Northern Iowa)
For release during April 2001
Contact: Gwenne Culpepper, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Jeff Weld approaches the science of teaching science from a unique perspective. A high school science instructor for 10 years, Weld now works at the University of Northern Iowa, preparing future science teachers. He believes it's time to toss out the old, and ring in the new.
"There's been an explosion in the amount of research being done in the classroom, so we now know a lot more about how kids learn. And it turns out that the way people learn science has almost no parallels to how it's traditionally been taught."
Weld explains that science is often taught via lecture or verification labs, through which students perform experiments to "prove" what they've just read or been lectured on. "But no one cares," says Weld. "The students believed it when they read it. They don't need to go in the lab and re-find out what you just told them. But that typifies high school and junior high science."
He suggests these outdated teaching methods are the reasons behind U.S. students' dismal performance on tests during the International Math and Science study, and also could explain why the numbers of students majoring in science continue to decline. "The only students who are enjoying science now are the little nerdy replicas of the teacher," says Wells. "We lose a lot of creative people
by teaching this way."
So what does work? According to Weld, students learn through debates and small group conversation, through which they are empowered about how to find and evaluate information. "So, for a unit on something like bioengineered crops, a class would be very active. Some students would be raising the corn plants and exposing them to agents, others would be on the Internet researching claims for and against bioengineered crops, while another group would be on the phone talking to the FDA. The teacher would be mingling through the groups, suggesting various methods."
Although these methods have been detailed in a 1,000-page document called the National Science Education Standards, there is still resistance. "It's hard to teach this way, because it's a lot more work. You talk to a 25-year veteran teacher and tell them that their lectures and labs don't work, and they'll tell you, 'I don't want to start over."
He explains that science teachers who don't read the science journals or join professional associations aren't liable to hear about the revolution, and will therefore continue to teach the same way. "Half the science teachers in the nation don't," Weld says. Still, some reform is occurring, due mostly to efforts by the National Science Foundation which has poured millions of dollars into spreading the word.
For more information, contact Weld at 319.273-27223, or the National Science Teachers Association, www.nsta.org.
(Part of the EducatioNet series from the University of Northern Iowa)
For release during April 2001
Contact: Gwenne Culpepper, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Although the average individual doesn't realize it, most gadgets that make everyday life simple are run by tiny computers. John McCormick, a professor of computer science at the University of Northern Iowa, explains that everything from vehicles and airplanes to washing machines and microwave ovens is computer driven.
"Hardly anyone knows that the average car has 12 different computers in it," he said. "Even tractors have computers in them, and that makes them easier to use. We now have washers that can calculate the best cycle for removing a certain stain, and microwave ovens that know how long to run in order to cook a certain food. But when you say computer, everyone thinks Internet, not a car or a microwave. In fact, these computers are used 10 to 50 times more often than the Internet is accessed."
McCormick has developed a special course to teach about these computers that are called embedded computer systems. His class is working now to complete the project which consists of three miles of railroad track, and a series of small trains, each controlled by an embedded computer system. Working in teams, students have written software to control and run the railroad, adhering to specific requirements. The result is software that can, among other things, detect failure in the system and perform optimal scheduling. One group developed software that will allow users to "box in" a stolen train.
"My students have never been this excited," McCormick said. "And the industry is just as excited."
McCormick said the course is one of only a few like it in the country. The problem has been that the development of embedded computer systems necessitates the convergence of electrical engineering with computer technology, two areas that haven't typically worked together. "There's sort of a gap," he said. "One of the purposes of this project is to bridge that gap. I'm looking to train computer science graduates to work on a team with electrical engineers, so they can understand one another."
Although the course is for college students only, he hopes that just hearing about it will trigger a spark of interest in high school students. "Industry is forecasting a shortage of people who have these skills," he said. "If a student has any interest in either engineering or computer technology, I'd strongly suggest they consider getting into this kind of work."
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(Part of the EducatioNet series from the University of Northern Iowa)
For release during April 2001
Contact: Gwenne Culpepper, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- An African American woman with an advanced degree in science, Reygan Freeney wishes there more like her in the field.
“There is a shortage, in general, of individuals going into the math and science professions, while the need for such individuals continues to increase. But I don't think we tell women and other underrepresented groups that they can achieve in this field," she said.
Freeney is director of the Upward Bound Math and Science program at the University of Northern Iowa. She holds a BS and an MA, both in chemistry.
She fell in love with learning at an early age but didn't make a career choice until she got to college. "I figured I would do something in the science area because I'd taken a lot of courses in that area and enjoyed them." What made her successful, though, was having a mentor. "It makes a difference when you have someone there showing you all the various aspects of the career, and saying that this is something you can achieve."
It's why she's such a proponent of experiences provided through the Math and Science program, which recruits high school students who are either low-income, from an underrepresented group or are potential first-generation college students. During the six-week summer stay, students are assigned mentors who work one-on-one with them. Also featured are hands-on, lab-based activities in the university's research areas, field trips, and college exploration to acquaint students with college life. Freeney said about 80 percent of the program graduates have gone on to post-secondary education in the math or science area.
"Demographics are changing," she noted. "When I started in this field just a few years ago, there weren't a lot of female professors. By the time I graduated, though, you were seeing a lot more young females in the program and teaching. Girls and members of other groups that haven't typically gone into this area need to know that the field is wide open, and there are lots of people like us succeeding."
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