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Archived 2003 Announcements

The Association of American Colleges and Universities Selects Brownfield Action as a Model Course

June 20, 2003. The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) has selected Brownfield Action and its curriculum as one of its four SENCER models for 2003. The SENCER models are defined as a "course or program [that] teaches science that is both challenging and rigorous." The SENCER, Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities, program is an NSF-funded major activity of the AACU.

Brownfield Action is an interactive simulation developed with Professor Peter Bower for use in his course "Introduction to Environmental Science" at Barnard College. The simulation and Dr. Bower's curriculum will become a national model that will benefit other science educators over the next five years.

Brownfield Action was first deployed in the fall of 1999. A major revision based on evaluation results was completed in time for the fall 2000 semester. The simulation enables students to conduct investigations of a suspected contamina
ted land site. The interactive study space captures much of the experience of an actual field investigation, including citizen interviews, financial constraints, and use of investigative and data-collecting tools. Students, working in pairs, assume the roles of environmental consulting companies and research the site to determine the presence, extent, and probable cause of any contamination. According to Dr. Bower, the Brownfield Action challenges students to integrate different forms of knowledge from the fields of geology, chemistry, physics, biology, history, civics, and law; at the end of the semester, Dr. Bower's students have an increased appreciation of the complexity of real-world environmental problems.

Faculty Partners Recognized for Teaching Excellence

June 18, 2003. The Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning (CCNMTL) is proud to have partnered with Nicholas Turro, Lawrence Engel, and Amy Fairchild, three of the five recipients of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching at the 2003 Columbia University Commencement Ceremony. All three were recognized for successfully incorporating new media technologies in their teaching.

Nicholas Turro, the William P. Schweitzer Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, has been a long-time partner of CCNMTL. During the award presentation, Columbia University President Lee Bollinger described Turro as "an influential curricular innovator and tireless promoter of the use of new digital technologies to enhance instruction and learning." In a discussion shortly after receiving his award, Professor Turro credited CCNMTL with "helping me ask questions of students throughout my course to gain feedback." He further stated that he would like to contribute to a scholarly view of this method as a means "to entice other faculty to embrace new media technologies in their teaching practice."

Larry Engel, Adjunct Professor in the School of the Arts, and CCNMTL recently completed the creation of a multimedia tool called the Deconstructor , which enables students to do a shot-by-shot analysis of film scenes by identifying dozens of elements related to cinematic structure. Professor Engel worked with CCNMTL to conceptualize and develop the Deconstructor as an integrated component of his course. "The Web tool gave me what I needed," he stated, "to improve what my students could learn about the specific structure of film -- it's sequence of shots that essentially convey the meaning, the mood, the actual narrative of the medium."

Amy Fairchild, Assistant Professor of Sociomedical Sciences, has incorporated many new media technologies into her teaching of history, health, and ethics in urban environments. President Bollinger credited Fairchild by stating, "She co
mbines the best of what teachers have always done in and out of the classroom with the imaginative use of the most advanced computer-based instructional strategies." She has frequently consulted CCNMTL in the use of the CU Analyzer and the SlideShow Maker in her lectures, tools created and supported by CCNMTL.

CCNMTL is honored to have such exemplary partners willing to explore the use of technology and new media in the classroom.