NSF awards university $200,000
The money will be used to improve undergraduate education through problem-based learning in class

BY BETH MATUSEWICZ
Administrative News Editor

The National Science Foundation recently awarded $200,000 to the university towards promoting a more active learning environment for students.

The grant, which was awarded April 1, will be used to change traditional lecture-type courses to classes with more interaction between students and teachers.

George Watson, an associate professor of physics and astronomy and the principal investigator of the funding, wrote and submitted the grant application to the NSF. The foundation received close to 80 applications from colleges across the country. From these submissions, 20 proposals obtained funding, including the university.

"We were successful in large part because of the excellent reputation that UD has for its undergraduate program," he said.

Some of the funds will be used for personnel involved with the problem-based project and the expenses the university uses in its execution, he said. For example, workshops and training for professors will be held to teach problem-based techniques.

Problem-based learning involves active learning and technology as a basis for a class, chemistry and biochemistry professor Harold White III said. Classes will be divided into groups and exams will emphasize open-ended questions instead of multiple-choice.

"It gets students to think and professors to create courses for greater thinking," he said.

Research on interactive learning distinguished the university from the numerous applications and influenced the selection, Watson said. "Problem-based learning has been extensively developed at UD as an active learning strategy for science instruction," he said.

In order to process the money efficiently, Watson said, the university formed the Institute to Transform Undergraduate Education, a group which encourages faculty to use problem-based learning, especially in introductory science and engineering classes.

"This is an institute without walls," Watson said. "We will be a collection of faculty members spread across the colleges and departments of the university."

The actual implementation of educational technology and computing also influenced the NSF decision, Watson said. "The infrastructure for student computing on our campus is first-rate," he added.

Classes currently taught using an interactive approach include Introduction to Biochemistry, taught by White, Introductory Physics I and Introduction to Biochemistry. Watson said the Institute hopes to involve teachers from other disciplines in the future, instead of only the science fields.

As an initial goal, Watson said, the 10 professors who originated the Institute wished to include 15 other faculty members. More than 60 applications have currently been submitted by faculty.

"Most of us on the project team are scientists or engineers, so much of our early efforts will naturally be on science and engineering courses," he said, "but we are entertaining suggestions from anyone interested."

This summer, the Institute will be holding workshops over several days to present ideas for changes in curriculum and strategies for professors' individual classes, Watson said.

Last year, the NSF created a nationwide program to aid schools in transforming undergraduate education, especially in the areas of science, mathematics, engineering and technology. The grant was a result of this venture.

The NSF has an interest in advocating science reform at the undergraduate level "across the spectrum from community colleges to research-intensive universities," Watson said.

Earlier in the year, the NSF awarded a $500,000 grant to the university to encourage emphasis on undergraduate research. In both cases, White said, problem-based learning was the background for the award.