| Learning technologies should be designed
to increase, and not to reduce, the amount of personal contact between students
and faculty on intellectual issues. |
(Study Group on the Conditions of Excellence in American Higher Education, 1984) |
JiTT Impact and Citations | G. Novak, gnovak@iupui.edu |
To date (May 2004), we are
aware of about 300 faculty in about 25 disciplines at approximately 100 institutions across the US, Canada, Europe, and
Israel who have adopted the JiTT strategy. The institutions include high
schools, two year colleges, four year colleges, professional schools, and
universities, large and small, rural and urban, private and public. The
disciplines represented are art history, astronomy, biochemistry, biology, business
administration, chemistry, computer science, economics, English, French, geology, health science, history, human development,
journalism, marine science, mathematics, music, nursing, pharmacy, philosophy, physics, political science, psychology, religion,
science education, sociology, teacher education, and writing.
Much of our “current status
of JiTT” knowledge comes from targeted searching of the web for JiTT-related
talks, courses, etc. We regularly learn by word of mouth or serendipitous
connections about other JiTT adopters and adapters. What we mention here is thus
but a partial picture of the complete current JiTT story.
Two national venues
have proven to be of particularly great importance: the NSF-sponsored New Faculty Workshop for physics and astronomy and the Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) series of workshops.
The New Faculty Workshop is a yearly event for new faculty
at research institutions, intended to give the participants a grounding in good
teaching practices. By invitation, JiTT has been included in these NSF workshops
for the past seven years.
PKAL has been the
primary venue for extending JiTT to all science disciplines and beyond.
Thirteen faculty are currently supported by seven NSF grants to implement, disseminate, and build an evaluative foundation for JiTT across SMET disciplines.
Other NSF support of JiTT:
|
Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) has picked up JiTT as a best practice worth showcasing at
its workshop series and presentations. (PKAL describes itself as “an informal
alliance working to strengthen undergraduate learning in mathematics,
engineering, and the various fields of science” and it “has worked with over
800 colleges and universities since 1989 to build and sustain environments that
best serve 21st century students, science and society.”)
The 1999 NSF-funded PKAL publication entitled “Then, Now, and in the Next Decade: A Commentary on Strengthening Undergraduate Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology Education” featured JiTT as a success story. |
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JiTT was recently cited as an effective pedagogical strategy in an article entitled "Scientific Teaching" in
the journal Science, Vol 304, Issue 5670, 521-522, 23 April 2004.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/304/5670/521 -- Full Article Text http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/data/304/5670/521/DC1/1 -- Supplementary Web Material and References |
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Harvard's Project Galileo site features JiTT as one of several successful teaching innovations.
Project Galileo describes itself as “your gateway to innovative science teaching
methods.” It is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and its
purpose is “to make innovative teaching ideas and materials broadly
available to teachers nationwide.” It showcases “only class-tested,
ready-to-use methods that can readily be implemented in your own classes.” http://galileo.harvard.edu/index.html |
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On July 20-22, 1999,
the National Science Foundation held a Workshop on Improving Undergraduate
Education in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences through the Use of
Technology. In the Preliminary Report of that workshop, in the “Physics”
resource listing, the JiTT site is one of only 6 sources showcased (see
page 68 of 78). http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/teched99/NSFWkshpPRELIM.pdf |
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Tomorrow's ProfessorSM
Listserv Postings #296 (2/27/01) and #176 were devoted to JiTT: http://sll.stanford.edu/projects/tomprof/newtomprof/postings/296.html http://sll.stanford.edu/projects/tomprof/newtomprof/postings/176.html The Tomorrow's ProfessorSM Listserv, sponsored by The Stanford University Learning Laboratory, seeks to “foster a diverse, world-wide teaching and learning ecology among its nearly 12,000 subscribers at over 500 institutions and organizations in 86 countries around the world.” The Listserv describes itself as “desktop faculty development, one hundred times per year” (two postings per week). |
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The “Better Education Inc.” website, devoted to gathering information about work on interactive
teaching and to making it known to interested parties, offers a newsletter
article that interviews Harvard College Professor Eric Mazur who
enthusiastically endorses JiTT: http://www.bedu.com/Newsletterarticle/mazurperspective.html |