Category: MSITE

Belize Anyone? Blair Driver Selected to Study Tropical Ecologies

Blair Driver is an extremely talented middle school science teacher at Pactolus School in Pitt County, Assistant Director of the East Carolina University Summer Science Camp, and graduate from the General Science Concentration provided by the Science Education program area in the MSITE Department. Recently, Ms. Driver received notification that she was selected as an Educator of Excellence in Science by the Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh N.C.

This is an extremely prestigious honor for Ms. Driver, her students, and all of us here in the MSITE department. Ms. Driver will be one of twelve teachers from North Carolina that will travel to Belize, Central America with naturalists from the museum. On this trip she will experience several tropical habitats, including coral reefs, mangrove swamps, and rain forests. The daily program will engage participants in field experiences as they explore these various ecologies of Belize. The program includes learning about the culture of Central America by touring a Mayan ruin as well as having two Belizean teachers join the group throughout the entire trip providing teachers of N.C. with a local resource from the area. The culminating project involves spending time with students at a Belizean school where N.C. and Belizean teachers will work together to teach science. The MSITE department wishes Ms. Driver safe travels and wants to extend our congratulations to her. Thank you for all your hard work, Ms. Driver, and your continuing efforts to strengthen science education for the students of Eastern N.C.

MSITE Faculty Extends Congratulations and Best Wishes to the Class of 2015

This post goes out to all of our 2015 graduates in Mathematics Education, Instructional Technology, and Science Education, as well as the many students in the College of Education whose lives we have touched through our numerous service courses.  We are so proud of your accomplishments.  Congratulations and best wishes in all of your future endeavors.

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Dr. Ron Preston Wins Faculty Advisor of the Year

On April 29, 2015 the ECU Advising Collaborative presented Dr. Ron Preston the2014-2015 Faculty Advisor of the Year award.

An excerpt from his nomination stated, “Dr. Preston is not only a phenomenal instructor, he is also a phenomenal Faculty Advisor.  He takes his role as an Advisor seriously and understands its pivotal role in students’ success.  He has a caring, helpful attitude towards students, staff, and other faculty members.  Dr. Preston is always willing to help the Advisors in the Academic Success Center, is prompt in responding to questions, and respects the advising profession.  He is a joy to work with and truly deserving of this award.”

As Dr. Susan Ganter, Chair of the MSITE Department states, “I am so pleased that he is being recognized across the university as an AWESOME advocate for our students. I cannot think of anyone more deserving of this award!!”

Great job, Ron!

70 Preservice Teachers See a Different Point of View–Through the Eyes of Autism

On Thursday, April 23, 2015, the Gamma Student Chapter of NCCTM hosted members of the High Functioning Autism Program from CM Eppes Middle School. Macayla Cayton and Nicholas Kruchten, two seventh grade students participating in the HFA program at Eppes, presented information about autism and the challenges faced by individuals on the autism spectrum to a crowd of 70 attendees from a variety of program areas. Ms. Cole, Mrs. Brown, and Ms. Harrell, teachers in the HFA program, attended the presentation with Macayla and Nicholas.

After the presentation, attendees split into three smaller groups and had the opportunity to participate in five stations designed to help others experience how individuals on the autism spectrum process sensory input differently than others. These stations included Visual Perception, Visual/Coordination Perception, Auditory Processing, Fine Motor Skills Center, and Attention and Sensory. Attendees that were not participating in stations engaged in an informal question and answer session with a 6th grade science teacher from CM Eppes and a MATE Senior 2 intern from JH Rose High School. Each of these individuals teaches students that are part of the HFA programs at their respective schools. Both Macayla’s and Nicholas’ mothers fielded questions from the group, as well as Ms. Cole.

Everyone gathered together to end the meeting on this final thought from Macayla, “We are not autistic students, we are students with autism. Think about it. Thank you for coming tonight!”

Our sincere thanks goes out to the following individuals for making this meeting so successful:
HFA Students: Macayla Cayton, Nicholas Kruchten
HFA Staff: Anita Cole, Kathy Brown, Amanda Harrell
Regular Education Teachers: Jennifer Stalls, Aaron Rountree
ECU Faculty: Pat Peoples

Springtime, Kickball, and Math Education–Sounds like a Gamma Lot of Fun

On Sunday, April 19, 2015, mathematics (MATH) and mathematics education (MATE) students and faculty gathered at the Blount Sports Complex. The rain held off just long enough so that the temperate weather was perfect for a game of kickball. The undergraduate mathematics education students paired with Dr. Cayton and Dr. Ganter, while the math/math education graduate students sided with Dr. Adu-Gyamfi, Dr. Njinasoa Randriampiry, and Dr. Ali Al-sharadqah. After working up an appetite, attendees gathered in the shade to enjoy snacks and recap exciting moments from the game before the rain arrived.

This wonderful event marked the end of a phenomenal year of continued growth for the Gamma Chapter and continued a long-standing tradition of building community among students and faculty. We would like to thank everyone that attended and helped make the event a success. Enjoy your summer and look for more great events sponsored by the Gamma Student Chapter in Fall 2015!!

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MSITE IT Faculty Make the Big Screen!

Congratulations to Dr. Bill Sugar, a double award winner! The Chancellor and Provost of the university present Dr. Sugar with his awards on the big stage during the Founder’s Day Award Celebration on April 29th, 2015. He was the winner of the 2015 Max Ray Joyner Award for Outstanding Teaching in Distance Education!   Additionally, Dr. Sugar was presented with the College of Education’s Scholar-Teacher award.

sugarpatriciaawardDr. Patricia Slagter van Tryon, was also recognized as a nominee for both the UNC Board of Governors Distinguished Professor of Teaching Award  and the Max Ray Joyner Award for Outstanding Teaching in Distance Education.

Problems with Problem-Solving? How to Help Students Find a Solution

On Tuesday, March 3, 2015, Dr. Katie Schwartz shared how teachers can help students with solving problems with the Gamma Student Chapter, Mathematics Education Club. There were 18 students and 5 MATE faculty at the meeting. Dr. Schwartz shared with prospective teachers on how we should approach teaching students to solve problems. Students were engaged as they tried to solve problems themselves. It was enjoyable to work with each other to come up with solutions to the mathematical problems.

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MATE Faculty and Students Provide Quality Professional Development at NCCTM Eastern Region Conference

ECU was well-represented at the NCCTM Eastern Region Conference in Kenansville on Saturday, February 14, 2014. Love was certainly in the air as president-elect, Dr. Ron Preston delivered the keynote address.  It continued as Eastern Region President, Dr.  Katie Schwartz led the event – both in terms of putting the conference together and facilitating on Saturday. Christie Wuebbles (alum) made many of the facility arrangements with James Sprunt Community College, where the conference was held. Many of MSITE’s grad students presented, most under the direction of Dr. Maureen Grady as part of their assessment work in MATE 6200:
James Grossman
Edie Smith
Sarah Patterson
Kristina Simpson
Kristina Godbolt
Victoria Jeffries
Robin Clapper
Robin Foster

Drs. Adu-Gyamfi, Grady, Preston, Schwartz, Sinicrope, and Thompson were in attendance along with MATE graduate students Gina Albright and Brooke Hill.

Dr. Sugar to be Honored for Scholar-Teacher Award

Congratulations to Dr. William Sugar for being selected as the College of Education’s Scholar-Teacher Award winner. This university award  recognizes faculty members who effectively integrate research and creative activity into their teaching.  Dr. Sugar has demonstrated excellence in his teaching, has an outstanding record of scholarly work including publications and presentations, and has been able to meld these two accomplishments into his teaching and mentoring at the university.  He will be honored on Thurs, March 26th  at approximately 2:50 p.m. in the Mendenhall Great Rooms where he will give a short presentation of his work entitled, Studies of Instructional Design Practices: Recent Research and Takeaways. 

 

Tis the Season to Start Our MATE Interns Off Right–With Bags of Classroom Goodies!

Mathematics Education faculty presented their second annual Mathematics Education Market Place for BS Mathematics Education senior I interns. The Market Place provides an avenue for faculty to send the senior I interns off to their full-time, senior II internship with resources for teaching. This year’s event featured 20 bundles of resources, one for each student. Given that the bundles were not equal in terms of their composition, students first circulated through the room to examine the treasures before names were drawn randomly from a container. First student chosen then quickly selected her/his bundle, followed by the second student drawn, and on to the 20th student. After the 20 selections were made, there were some additional resources provided for students in reverse order of the initial drawing. Resources for the students included some items that were a part of every bundle (stapler, tape dispenser, scissors, pens, markers, protractors) and then unique items such as books, journals, mathematical games, mathematical tools and manipulatives, calculators, software, etc. Although a number of teachers and mathematics education faculty donated items for the Market Place, special thanks goes to Dr. Maureen Grady for organizing the event and Dr. Rose Sinicrope for generously providing funds for many of the office supplies.math-market-2 math-market-1