Lee University recently received a $393,000 grant which will be distributed over the next two years from the Tennessee Department of Education Math Science Partnership Division as an extension of Lee’s current Improving Numeracy and Algebraic Thinking (INAT) grant directed by Dr. Steven Lay. This new component, directed by Associate Professor of physics and chemistry Dr. Johnny Evans, will be called Improving Pre-Physics and Math (IPPM).
The grant will fund professional development opportunities for twenty 9th grade science teachers in 2008 and 2009 during two two-week summer institutes on Lee’s campus. The focus of the institute will be to improve the skills of physical science and pre-physics teachers by teaching them how to develop more effective demonstrations and hands-on activities.
“Our plan is to teach the participants the components of a good demonstration and model effective teaching strategies while we are teaching a physics content review,” said Evans. “By helping teachers develop new labs or demonstrations they will be able to communicate complex concepts more effectively to their students.”
This institute is the fulfillment of seven years of research by Evans in developing effective teaching tools for physics and chemistry. Evans feels that a major problem with current teaching strategies is that teachers do not have large budgets to purchase expensive equipment and demonstration kits. Evans has also spent a great deal of his research exploring teaching methods for the classroom and the grant provides the opportunity for teachers to learn these techniques.
“We hope that teachers will return to the classroom with the skills and equipment necessary for improving their use of hands-on activities and demonstrations in science class, particularly pre-physics,” said Evans. “In addition, we hope that the institute is refreshing and renews their passion to impact the lives of their students. Science education is my passion and this grant allows me to share that passion with forty excellent teachers in Southeast Tennessee.”
A significant portion of the funds will also provide the participants with the equipment and tools necessary for teaching pre-physics more effectively. In addition, participants will receive a stipend and three hours of graduate credit.
The faculty involved with the IPPM grant are Evans as project director and Dr. Paul DeLaLuz as assistant project director.
Lee hosted the first summer institute funded by the INAT grant in 2007 which welcomed twenty teachers to Lee’s campus for an introduction to a new teaching method for algebra developed by Lee Professor of mathematics Dr. Steven Lay. Funds awarded for Lay’s project combined with Evans’ extension will total $1.1 million by the end of the three-year grant period. Additionally, the INAT and IPPM summer institutes will coincide for the next two years.
Johnny Evans joined the Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics faculty in January of 2000. A 1993 graduate of Georgia College, now Georgia College and State University, Evans continued his education at the University of Florida, earning a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry. From 1998-2000, he was a post-doctoral associate at the University of Florida, developing instrumentation first for Oak Ridge National Laboratories and then for Savannah River Laboratories. He now serves as associate professor of Chemistry and Physics teaching physics, general chemistry, and upper division chemistry courses.
Submitted by the Office of Public Information
