McCORMACK IS P.I. FOR MAJOR PROJECT KALEIDOSCOPE GRANT

Associate Professor of Physics Elizabeth McCormack is one of four principal investigators for a three-year, $1.3 million national effort to develop an infrastructure of leaders to support long-lasting improvements in science education. The project, which is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation, is part of Phase Four of Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL), a nationwide network devoted to reforming college-level education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

PKAL was founded in 1989 and has been funded by the NSF, the Exxon Education Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the W.M. Keck Foundation and other sources. In the years since its inception, it has identified successful programs and methods in science education and created a network for disseminating best practices. PKAL's workshops, meetings and publications have contributed to significant improvements at many institutions. As the program matured, McCormack says, focus has shifted from working with individual faculty members to encouraging change at an institutional level.

The new project, titled "Project Kaleidoscope: Investing in Faculty Leaders," aims to build on its past successes and broaden its influence, asking educators who are active in reform in their own academic departments to become advocates for reform across their campuses, within their disciplinary communities and in regional and national networks. Phase Four will also focus on making change sustainable by nurturing leaders who will take responsibility for maintaining PKAL's gains and adapting science education to changing learning environments.

The NSF has approved a grant of $850,000 for three years, with an additional grant of $450,000 for the fourth year contingent on the availability of funds and progress in the project. McCormack's co-principal investigators for the project are Alison Morrison-Shetlar, director of the Faculty Center for Teaching & Learning and professor of biology at the University of Central Florida; Ishrat M. Khan, professor of chemistry at Clark Atlanta University; and Robert E. Megginson, deputy director of the Mathematical Sciences Research institute.

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