Brian Coppola, IDEA Institute co-director, named U.S. Professor of the Year

The IDEA Institute proudly announces that the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education have named Brian Coppola, University of Michigan Chemistry Professor and Co-Director of the IDEA Institute, the 2009 National Professor of the Year.  Dr. Coppola was selected from more than 300 top professors in the United States.

ASE and Carnegie select state winners from top entries resulting from the judging process. He was selected from faculty members nominated by colleges and universities throughout the country.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching was founded in 1905 by Andrew Carnegie “to do all things necessary to encourage, uphold and dignify the profession of teaching.”  The foundation is the only advanced-study center for teachers in the world and the third-oldest foundation in the nation.  Its nonprofit research activities are conducted by a small group of distinguished scholars.

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education is the largest international association of education institutions, serving nearly 3,400 universities, colleges, schools, and related organizations in 59 countries. CASE is the leading resource for professional development, information, and standards in the fields of educational fundraising, communications, marketing and alumni relations.

Check it out in The Record of the University of Michigan, the Carnegie website, and  The Chronicle of Higher Education. A copy of Dr. Coppola’s prepared remarks is available as pdf.

The IDEA Institute proudly announces three new programs dedicated to the development and improvement of STEM teaching. For additional information on either program – contact the IDEA Institute at ideainstitute@umich.edu.

Master’s degree in Post-Secondary Science Education

The Master’s degree in Post-Secondary Science Education (MS-PSSE) program provides a unique opportunity for PhD students in one of the LSA natural science departments (Astronomy, Biophysics, Chemistry, EEB, Geological Sciences, MCDB, and Physics). The goal of the program is to support PhD students in these departments who have an additional interest in teaching at the post-secondary level. Doctoral students enrolled in these PhD programs at the University of Michigan may elect to take the Master’s degree in Post-Secondary Science Education.

The highly ranked University of Michigan School of Education is partnering the IDEA Institute to support and maintain this excellent program. For this degree, students enroll in a variety of Science Education and Education courses focused on improving their knowledge of science teaching at the post-secondary level, as well as carry out a modestly scaled research project on teaching and learning. Not a stand-alone program, the MS degree is conferred only when the PhD degree is awarded. Students work closely with IDEA Institute staff to organize their coursework and complete the program.

For additional information check the MS-PSSE page or contact the IDEA Institute.

NOYCE Fellows Program

Supported by the National Science Foundation, the NOYCE program provides fellowship money for students who are obtaining teaching certification in a STEM field (science, technology, engineering or math). At Michigan, this excellent program will provide fellowship funds for tuition to excellent candidates from LSA who are interested in becoming teachers at the middle or high school levels. Working collaboratively with the School of Education, College of Literature, Sciences and the Arts, and the Rackham School of Graduate Studies, the IDEA Institute is overseeing a program in which LSA students can enroll in the School of Education and complete their B.S. degree in the STEM field, obtain a Master’s degree in Teaching, and become certified to teach in middle or high schools. Additional information can be found at NOYCE fellows program, and by contacting the IDEA Institute at ideainstitute@umich.edu.

UNITE – A BS/MA degree program

Currently under development by LSA and the School of Education, the UNITE program (University Network for Integrated Teacher Education) is planned to be a new 5-year pathway to open up the pipeline for students to consider K-12 teaching careers. Through a number of early experience programs, first- and second-year LSA undergraduates can partner with teachers in the community to work with them on developing lessons for direct classroom implementation (IDEA’s FUTURE program) and then design and teach in IDEA’s summer science camp program. Students will then apply to join a sequential degree program, in which they will earn their LSA BS degree in science or mathematics along with an MA degree in Education that is accompanied by teacher certification. We anticipate that students in the UNITE program will be particularly competitive candidates for the NOYCE fellowships (see above).

The Seyhan N. Eğe Memorial Symposium was held October 27 in the Rackham Hall Amphitheater. Videos of the talks from the symposium are available by contacting the IDEA Institute at ideainstitute@umich.edu. Additional information about this symposium can be found on the IDEA Institute’s Symposia page.

About the IDEA Institute

The UM Instructional Development and Educational Assessment (IDEA) Institute is a collaborative effort between the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and the School of Education. IDEA brings faculty members and students together to improve and advance, through research and practice, undergraduate teaching and learning; precollege teaching and learning; preparing future faculty; and new pathways for identifying and recruiting pre-college teachers.

The work of the IDEA Institute is built on the concept of forming interdisciplinary and intergenerational “teaching groups” in order to take on the large and complex problems in education, comparable to the way in which “research groups” have enabled people to take on the important problems in their various fields.

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