2008 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Leadership Awards announced
Jeanne Sept, Dean of the Faculties and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, is pleased to announce the winners of the fourth Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Leadership Award, given in support and recognition of a collaborative research program (intra- or interdepartmental) intended to add to knowledge about learning and teaching on the IU Bloomington campus. This year two individual teams received the award, which is an honor. Funds available for the award generally total $35,000.
Interdisciplinary Law School and Psychology Graduate Training: Incorporating the Children's Perspective into Divorce Mediation and Conducting Program Evaluation Research
Amy Applegate (Law) and Amy Holtzworth-Munroe (Psychological and Brain Sciences) are the principal investigators leading a team that will study the success of a new interdisciplinary course focused on the impact of child inclusive divorce mediation. Jack Bates, and Brian D'Onofrio from the IU Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences are the other IUB faculty members on the research team. The new graduate course is intended to foster interdisciplinary conversations and knowledge sharing between law and psychology graduate students as they are introduced to child inclusion as an evidence-based practice to be used in clinical settings. Graduate students will also be introduced to program evaluation research methods and will conduct an assessment of a child inclusive divorce mediation method to be implemented after they receive hands-on training from Jenn McIntosh, Clinical Director of Family Transitions.
The project's goal is to examine and disseminate the impact of this innovative approach to mediation training for graduate students and to determine the benefit of this interdisciplinary exchange between psychology and law students. The course is intended to provide psychology students with training in legal issues and law students with a better understanding of the psychological research on the effects divorce. At the same time students will work side-by-side and gain real-life exposure to the clients and the procedures of divorce mediation.
The Formation of Scholarly Teachers: Lessons for Teaching and Learning for the Next Generation from the Survey of Doctoral Education
Sociology faculty members Bernice Pescosolido and Brian Powell will collaborate with Carol Hostetter from Social Studies and Rebecca Martinez from the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy to conduct research on the formation of scholarly teachers. In addition, IU graduate students enrolled in the course Research in Higher Education, which is part of Sociology's Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) program, will have the opportunity to work under the guidance and mentoring of the research team along with Paul Namaste, a PFF alumni now teaching at Grand Valley State University.
The purpose of the project is to investigate the nature, role, and impact of teaching training efforts in U.S. doctoral programs and to determine the views on teaching and training held by students at different points along their graduate career path; while at the same time, preparing future faculty to become scholarly teachers.
The focus of the research will be an analysis of The Survey on Doctoral Education, which is one of the most comprehensive efforts to gather data from graduate students to date. The survey was conducted by Chris Goulde of Stanford University and was administered to graduate students in 11 Arts and Sciences disciplines from 27 universities and one cross institutional program, with the targeted sample population including all students in their third or higher year of graduate studies.
As the final project outcome, the team will produce an edited a book that brings insight and understanding to the central questions of teaching in graduate education programs.
The two teams receiving the award this year will be honored at the opening Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) reception in fall 2008 and will present initial research results during the 2008-2009 campus colloquia series. For more information on the reception, colloquia, and competition, see http://www.indiana.edu/~sotl or contact George Rehrey, grehrey@indiana.edu, 812-855-9023.
