Finkelstein

CU-Boulder key partner in national STEM center initiative

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Nov 2015 01:41:13 +0000

CU-Boulder key partner in national STEM center initiative Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 11/09/2015 - 18:41

To Physics Professor Noah Finkelstein, it's more of a movement. And it's one that will go a long way to address the well-documented shortage of professionals in certain science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.

The University of Colorado Boulder and University of Massachusetts Amherst are lead public campuses partnering with the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities to create a national network of about 200 campus STEM education centers.

This project, funded by a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation, will create a network that supports and incubates these centers, provides a critical resource for stakeholders to engage with universities around STEM education and allows for essential research on the nature of these centers and the processes of network formation.

“We are now in a position to move beyond individual and isolated efforts and to leverage cross-institutional work," said Finkelstein, CU-Boulder physics professor and network co-director.

STEM education centers serve as campus-based resources for addressing the national call for improving science, technology, engineering and mathematics education at the undergraduate level.

These centers serve as homes for interdisciplinary and cross-unit work, support transformation of educational practices, provide resources within and across disciplines and serve as a locus for educational research, evaluation and systematic transformation.

In recent years, there has been significant growth in number and scale of these centers yet there is no established network or coordination.

The project will also examine the capacities and mechanisms of individual centers and identify how such a network forms and what it may accomplish.

The five-year project will yield a new national resource that will impact individual centers and campuses and provide a new platform for systemic transformation of undergraduate STEM education.

The network will provide programming and resources for established and new STEM centers including conferences, learning communities, an online engagement platform, toolkits of resources for centers and directory of centers for the community and external stakeholders.

“It’s extremely valuable for institutions to have a dedicated forum to exchange ideas, compare practices and work together to address the pressing need to improve and expand undergraduate STEM education across the country,” Finkelstein said.

- View the University of Colorado Press Release

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CU-Boulder key partner in national STEM center initiative

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Nov 2015 01:41:13 +0000

CU-Boulder key partner in national STEM center initiative Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 11/09/2015 - 18:41

“We are now in a position to move beyond individual and isolated efforts and to leverage cross-institutional work," said Finkelstein, CU-Boulder physics professor and network co-director.

STEM education centers serve as campus-based resources for addressing the national call for improving science, technology, engineering and mathematics education at the undergraduate level.

In recent years, there has been significant growth in number and scale of these centers yet there is no established network or coordination.

The project will also examine the capacities and mechanisms of individual centers and identify how such a network forms and what it may accomplish.

The five-year project will yield a new national resource that will impact individual centers and campuses and provide a new platform for systemic transformation of undergraduate STEM education.

- View the University of Colorado Press Release

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Noah Finkelstein Named CU’s First Timmerhaus Teaching Ambassador

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 23:17:03 +0000

Noah Finkelstein Named CU’s First Timmerhaus Teaching Ambassador Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 03/10/2015 - 17:17

Congratulations to Professor Noah Finkelstein, who was named CU's first ever Timmerhaus Teaching Ambassador. The announcement was mad on March 4, 2015. This new outreach program is designed to tap educators to promote discussion of teaching and learning in schools and communities across the state.

After a lengthy selection process, Finkelstein was chosen because of his enthusiasm and accomplishments in teaching and learning, his leadership in his field of study, his success at advising and encouraging students, and his willingness to represent the enterprise of teaching and learning at CU. Professor Finkelstein is a President's Teaching Scholar and was recently named a faculty advisor for the ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� Office of Information Technology.

Finkelstein has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles since coming to CU in 2003. His accolades include being named a systemwide Presidential Teaching Scholar (2012), the Outstanding Faculty Graduate Faculty Advising Award (2010), the Boulder Faculty Assembly Excellence in Teaching Award (2007), first place in the National Science Foundation (NSF)/Science Magazine’s International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge (2007), an NSF CAREER Award (2005), and many other national awards from the NSF including one to build a Center for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) Learning at CU.

His leadership extends to national policy, having testified before Congress regarding the state of STEM education and now serving on the Board of Trustees for the Higher Learning Commission, which accredits more than 1,000 institutions of higher education across the country.

“I’m profoundly honored by this award, and the explicit recognition and attention to education as a core enterprise of the University of Colorado,” Finkelstein said. “I seek to carry on Klaus Timmerhaus’ remarkable commitment to and legacy of engaging all Coloradans in education.”

The Timmerhaus Teaching Ambassador award honors the memory of professor Klaus Timmerhaus, a member of the faculty of chemical and biological engineering at CU-Boulder from 1953 until his retirement in 1995. Timmerhaus received many honors, including being named to the National Academy of Engineering and being selected to the first group of President’s Teaching Scholars at the university. An active and enthusiastic advocate of teaching, Timmerhaus provided a bequest to support designated faculty members in promoting discussion of education throughout Colorado.

This year, the Timmerhaus awardee was selected from the Boulder campus, but in subsequent years, faculty across the four-campus system will be eligible to be honored with the ambassadorship, which includes a $25,000 award. During each two-year appointment, ambassadors will present talks about education and learning throughout Colorado at a variety of venues; audiences will include state lawmakers, the CU Board of Regents, educators, the media and the general public.

In consultation with the Timmerhaus Award Committee – which consists of teaching scholars from the College of Engineering and Applied Science at CU-Boulder; Klaus’ daughter, Carol Getty; and Klaus’ granddaughter, Kristina Getty – Finkelstein’s first order of business is to coordinate plans for travel around the state speaking about the essential role of education.

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Noah Finkelstein Named Presidential Teaching Scholar

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 23:01:00 +0000

Noah Finkelstein Named Presidential Teaching Scholar Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 02/27/2012 - 16:01

The Presidential Teaching Scholars Program announced today that Associate Professor Noah Finkelstein has been selected as a Presidential Teaching Scholar.

Noah joins the 52 active Presidential Teaching Scholars on the four CU campuses who have been honored for, "effective and exemplary teaching, creative work, scholarship, and research."

Presidential Teaching Scholars are chosen, "not only for skill in their own classrooms, but for their promise of improving education and enlarging its possibilities across the University."

Noah joins three other Presidential Teaching Scholars in physics: Professors Steven Pollock and Carl Wieman, and Professor Emeritus John Taylor. Professor Finkelstein and Professor Harihar Rajaram from the CU-Boulder Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering were the only two Presidential Teaching Scholars selected this year.

"I am deeply honored to join this remarkable and prestigious group of scholars who are so committed to scholarship and excellence in teaching," Finkelstein said. "It speaks volumes that one of the highest level awards in the University system focusses on education and scholarship in teaching. It honors our roots, state charter, and commitment to serving the state and the nation through fundamental investment in education. Education is the key mechanism by which we as a society invest in our own future"

"The Department of Physics is very proud of this honor for Noah Finkelstein," Professor Paul Beale, Chair of Physics said. "Physics has long been a campus leader in outstanding teaching, and over one dozen members of our faculty have won leading campus and national teaching awards. Since Noah joined our faculty, he has been a departmental and campus leader in teaching, and a national leader in science education research. He is a respected and valued colleague, and exemplifies the goals of the Presidential Teaching Scholars Program with his outstanding classroom teaching, and his integration of research and teaching."

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Physics Education Initiatives featured in Boulder Daily Camera

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 04:48:00 +0000

Physics Education Initiatives featured in Boulder Daily Camera Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 10/12/2011 - 22:48

A recent article from the Boulder Daily Camera highlights CU's Integrating STEM Education Initiative for its success in producing qualified math and science teachers. CU-Physics Professor Noah Finklestein collaborates with the Integrating STEM Education Initiative, resulting in a very high graduation rate of qualified physics teachers. <read more>

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