Announcing the

STEMTEC Faculty Fellowships in Science and Mathematics Teaching

STEMTEC, the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Teacher Education Collaborative, is offering fellowships to college faculty members in science, mathematics, engineering, and science or math education, who are in the early stages of their careers, and who wish to investigate the scholarship and practice of teaching. These fellowships will consist of a $2500 stipend to support the use of active-learning methods in first- or second-year courses. Preference will be given to faculty involved in the teaching of courses that impact large numbers of students, especially those classes of interest to potential K12 teachers.

STEMTEC is a Collaborative for Excellence in Teacher Preparation, funded by the National Science Foundation, of which the core involves eight local institutions of higher education (University of Massachusetts, Hampshire College, Holyoke Community College, Springfield Technical Community College, Greenfield Community College, Mount Holyoke College, Amherst College, Smith College). Over 150 faculty members from these colleges and others throughout Massachusetts have changed their teaching strategies spurred by discussions with colleagues at STEMTEC summer institutes on teaching and learning. The STEMTEC web page contains further information (http://k12s.phast.umass.edu/~stemtec). The STEMTEC Faculty Fellows program is designed to build upon this cadre and include younger members of the faculty in the process.

The structure of the program will follow the successful format of the Lilly and Hewlett Fellows programs run by the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Massachusetts. Fellows will meet biweekly over dinner during the Spring, 2002 semester to explore innovative and effective strategies for improving the learning of students in college courses. Each Fellow will design a plan for a course he or she teaches, and will implement that plan during the Fall, 2002 semester. Biweekly meetings will continue in the Fall, so that fellows can continue in a dialogue about teaching and learning.

Fellows are to be nominated by their Department Head or Dean. Faculty members with fewer than 10 years teaching experience are eligible, but preference should be given to untenured individuals. Each nomination package should include:

1. A nomination and support letter from the Department Head or Dean.

2. A recent curriculum vitae of the nominee.

3. A one- to two-page statement by the nominee describing the course that he or she would like to redesign, including ideas about the elements to be included or updated.

4. A recent syllabus of the course.

Nominations are due November 1, 2001, with awards to be announced in mid-December. Please send all materials to:

STEMTEC Faculty Fellows Program

231 Hasbrouck Laboratory

710 N. Pleasant Street

University of Massachusetts

Amherst, MA 01003-

Questions can be directed to:

Richard F. Yuretich, Geosciences, UMass (545-0538) yuretich@geo.umass.edu

Allan Feldman, Education, UMass (545-1570)

afeldman@educ.umass.edu

Marie Silver, STEMTEC Project Manager (545-0453)

msilver@k12s.phast.umass.edu