FACULTY:
The American Psychological Association has selected Professor
Ann Brown to receive the Distinguished Scientific Award for the
Applications of Psychology. The award recognizes individuals who have made
distinguished theoretical or empirical advances in psychology leading to the
understanding or amelioration of important practical problems.
Dr. Brown is being recognized for her conceptual work on memory and metacognition, and for her empirical studies of learning. Her development of reciprocal teaching and her work in redesigning classrooms and schools--which she refers to as "fostering a community of learners"--signals a turn from psychological research carried on primarily in the laboratory for research purposes, to applied psychological work that is of genuine use in the classroom.
Geraldine Clifford, professor emeritus, spoke at a number of
conferences this past semester. Last December she attended the Cleveland
Conference meeting in Chicago, where she presented an overview of the history
of the organization. On March 30, 1995, she spoke at a Vanderbilt University
faculty seminar organized by the Peabody Education Policy Center. Her topic was
"Gender, Policy, and Practice: In Teacher Recruitment, Compensation, Promotion,
and Retention." On April 29 she addressed the closing plenary session of a
conference at the University of California, Berkeley, called "The History of
Women at Cal: The First 125 Years."All three presentations drew upon research that she has almost completed for a new book, Those Good Gertrudes: The Woman Teacher in American History.
On March 11, Professor K. Patricia Cross delivered the 1995 Earl
V. Pullias Lecture at the University of Southern California's School of
Education. This signaled a "tenth anniversary" for her, since she also
presented the Pullias lecture at USC back in 1985.
The Pullias lecture is named in honor of the former USC professor, who was often described by colleagues as an inspired teacher and a thoughtful, articulate scholar.
Professor Cross currently holds the David Pierpont Gardner Chair in Higher Education at Berkeley's Graduate School of Education. She is widely known for her research on classroom assessment to improve teaching and learning in higher education, and for her programs to develop leadership skills among community college administrators.
The editors of the journal, Rethinking Schools, have just published a
compilation of what they regard as the most insightful submissions to their
journal over the past ten years. Included in Rethinking Schools: An Agenda
for Change (ed. D. Levine et al, New York: The New Press, 1995) is a
chapter written by Assistant Professor Pedro Noguera titled,
"Coming to Terms With Violence in our Schools."
STUDENTS:
Graduate student Ming Chiu has received a 1995 Spencer Dissertation Year Fellowship for $15,000 in support of his research into how students learn mathematics when solving problems together.
For his study, Chiu videotaped students in five algebra classes over a period of six weeks. The classes were diverse both ethnically and linguistically. He is now using the tapes to analyze how the students construct their mathematical understandings, and to examine the various social behaviors--conversations, gestures, and drawings--they employ in working together. He later intends to examine the relationships between these two types of activities.
Through its Dissertation Fellowships, the Spencer Foundation seeks to encourage a new generation of scholars to undertake research relevant to the improvement of education.
Educational administration doctoral student Lynn Wiley received a Vice Chancellor for Research Fund Award this past semester. The competitive University of California at Berkeley award is based on the merit of the doctoral dissertation.
Wiley is studying ethics in the college, and specifically the connection between ethical thought and higher education institutions from the 1700s through the present day. The $2,500 award enabled her to travel to colleges around the country and interview faculty members and administrators.
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