Gisele Muller-Parker

Assoc Program Dir. NSF (until 9/06)

Ocean Sciences; Biology

Dept. of Biology

Western Washington University

MS 9160
Bellingham, WA 98225-9160

Phone:

703-292-8475

FAX:

703-292-9085

http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~spmc/

What are, to you, the key issues in creating learning resources that support your teaching style and your student's learning styles?

Materials that incorporate current science data and that make the students think about processes and come up with explanations/interpretations.

What is your vision for the "textbook" of the future and what impediments do you see to realizing that vision?

That it is dynamic, updating automatically to keep up with the latest scientific information, and that the style and format accommodate cultural and other learning styles. The textbook should also take into account the latest information on the theory of learning, presenting the material in a way that is easily understood and promotes thinking. I think information overload is the major impediment.

Describe briefly any research you have undertaken on teaching or learning.

No formal research in this area, just practical experience in the class, from large class introductory biology to graduate seminars, and writing profociency courses.

Have you created publicly accessible learning resources?

How would you like to contribute to the workshop?

I can contribute my background in ocean education at NSF, especially funding opportunities for education that are not within the Directorate for Education and Human Resources.

What would you like to take away from the workshop?

Ideas on how to be a more effective teacher, and also about how to evaluate different learning styles and help students learn.