Three Honored With 2005 Faculty Mentor Awards

SALISBURY, MD---From strengthening mathematical reasoning skills to promoting critical thinking to linking together grade school classrooms for scholarly discussion, programs researched by this year’s Salisbury University Faculty Mentor Awards are expected to benefit students and faculty at SU and beyond.

This year’s recipients are Drs. Harel Barzilai and Elizabeth Papish from the Richard A. Henson School of Science and Technology and Dr. Ernie Bond of the Samuel W. and Marilyn C. Seidel School of Education and Professional Studies. Awards of up to $3,500 are given to allow faculty to advance their research.

Barzilai will use his award to identify mathematical skills necessary for students in non-math and science fields and work with faculty to create methods for strengthening those skills. His work will provide a platform for promoting “Numeracy Across the Curriculum,” a program stressing the importance of quantitative literacy in all fields.

Papish will use her award to design a series of instructional guides for organic chemistry that will include step-by-step methods and logic based flow charts for deciding which reactions are possible and favored.  Students will learn how to recognize trends and see patterns in seemingly dissimilar facts. Ultimately, she hopes to instill in students a logical approach that encourages them to avoid memorization and think more creatively and critically.

Bond will use his award to provide an online forum for pre-service teachers to create projects linking students in local kindergarten-through-eighth-grade classrooms to schools abroad. The digital exchange will allow students and teachers from around the world to discuss literature and culture with Eastern Shore students, adding a global perspective to their education.

Presented by the Faculty Development Committee and Teaching and Learning Resources (TLR), the awards encourage and financially supports projects that aim to enhance instruction and learning at SU.

“It is a think tank for faculty,” said Dr. Alice Bahr, dean of libraries and instructional services. “The goal is to encourage faculty to rethink the learning process.”

Mentors use their projects to develop ground-breaking techniques that can be used in multiple disciplines. The application deadline for the next Mentors Award is April 1, 2006. For more information call 410-543-6030 or visit the TLR Web site at www.salisbury.edu/library/tlr/mentors/mentors.htm. "