ANNOUNCEMENTS
Nominate students for Spartans of Promise
Know a graduating senior who’s an excellent scholar and dedicated to service?
The Spartans of Promise is an annual award recognizing UNCG seniors who have demonstrated exceptional academic and service accomplishments. Supported each year by the 50th Reunion class and the UNCG Alumni Association, it creates a unique connection between our newest generation of alumni and the members of the Vanguard. Up to ten seniors are honored each year. As Spartans of Promise, the award recipients will be recognized at the Alumni of Distinction Award Dinner and invited to participate in UNCG Alumni Association events throughout the year.
Spartans of Promise must demonstrate:
- Strong involvement in campus activities
- Proven leadership in service activities
- Passion for UNCG
- Qualifications:
- A minimum 3.0 GPA
- Completion of 90 credit hours, at least 30 of which are completed at UNCG
Faculty, staff and advisers for student groups are encouraged to recommend a student who they think should be considered for the award, by sending the student’s name to Mary Swantek at m_swante@uncg.edu. The deadline for faculty and staff to submit their recommendations is Aug. 18, 2015.
Emails will be sent to all recommended students, notifying them that they have been recommended and that they are strongly encouraged to complete the Spartans of Promise Application Form.
For more information about the Spartans of Promise awards, visit alumnistories.uncg.edu/about-us/alumni-awards/spartans-of-promise.
UPCOMING EVENTS
School of Education International Social
Thursday, August 20 at 2:30 p.m.
All-School Meeting and Welcome Back Reception
Friday, August 21
The SOE’s annual All-School meeting is set for Friday, August 21 at 8:30 a.m. in the Virginia Dare room at the Alumni House. Coffee and pastries, as well as lunch, will be provided.
Following the meeting, faculty and staff will gather at Dr. Randy Penfield’s house at 4 p.m. for heavy hors d’oeurvres and drinks.
Yopp Distinguished Speaker Series in Mathematics Education
Monday, September 14
The TEHE Mathematics Education Faculty are delighted to welcome Dr. Judit Moschkovich to UNCG on Monday, September 14, 2015. She will give two talks as part of the Yopp Distinguished Speaker Series in Mathematics Education — a research talk (11 am – 12:30 pm) and a connecting-research-and-practice talk (5 – 6:30 pm). The afternoon talk is intended for the broader community so please invite interested educators from the community. Details about the talks are included in the flyer.
We hope that you will be able to join us for these events!
Vicki Jacobs, Kerri Richardson, and Holt Wilson
TECHNOLOGY
SOE Instructional Technology Blog – Now Live!
This blog is a way for faculty to learn more about current instructional technology trends, new web 2.0 tool releases, UNCG tech events, Canvas updates, and more. There is a feature for faculty and staff to sign up to get an email every time there is a new post, as well as adding the blog to a RSS feed. Hopefully this is a way for SOE faculty to stay up to date with SOE IT without receiving mass emails from us!
The direct link to the blog is: http://uncgsoeit.blogspot.com/
It’s also featured on the SOE IT website under tech news: http://intech.uncg.edu/tech-news/
IT Guides and Tutorials Now Available
We have added a new tab to the website on instructional technology guides and tutorials. These guides are intended to help SOE instructors implement technology and online course design in their teaching.
Here is a blog post for more information: http://uncgsoeit.blogspot.com/2015/05/soe-it-website-guides-tutorials.html
FACULTY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Dr. Claudia M. Pagliaro, Professor in Professions in Deafness (SES), recently presented her research to the 22nd International Congress on the Education of the Deaf (ICED) in Athens, Greece. ICED is the “most prominent and influential body of inquiry in the field of education of deaf and hard of hearing individuals.”
Dr. Pagliaro also received new funding from Salus University for a “Salus University subaward for student doctoral fellowship.” The National Leadership Consortium in Sensory Disabilities (NLCSD) is a doctoral level professional preparation Cooperative Agreement funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs and is administered by Salus University. The consortium consists of 25 universities with doctoral programs that have an emphasis in one or more of the three sensory impairment areas: blind/visually impaired, deaf/hard of hearing, and deafblindness. Fellowships provide funding for tuition and a stipend for four years of doctoral stud. NLCSD Fellows participate together in a structured added-value enrichment program in addition to their individual Universities’ Doctoral Programs of study in Special Education. Doctoral students in UNCG Specialized Education Services with a specialization in deafness have been selected by NLCSD.
Dr. Lee Shiflett (LIS) has published “William Terry Couch and the Politics of Academic Publishing” (McFarland).
Dr. Edna Tan (TEHE) received new funding from Michigan State University for the project “Tools for Teaching and Learning Engineering Practices: Pathways Towards Productive Identity Development in Engineering [I-Engineering].” Achievement and interest gaps remain in engineering for students from underrepresented backgrounds. For example, African Americans make up only 5 percent of the engineering workforce in the US, with most holding technician rather than leadership positions. Middle school is the first major “critical point” where student interest in engineering wanes, the abstract notes, even when grades may remain high. This trend continues through high school, college and into the professions, where women and minorities remain underrepresented in engineering. This DRK12 project, I-Engineering, responds to this persistent large-scale problem faced in engineering education. The I-Engineering framework and tools address both the learning problem—supporting students in developing robust understanding and practices of the engineering design process—and the identity problem—supporting students in recognizing that they belong in engineering.
Dr. Karen Wixson (TEHE) received a continuation of funding for more than $1 million from the U.S. Department of Education for the project “Transforming Teaching through Technology (TTtT).” Transforming Teaching through Technology, a Teacher Quality Partnership project of UNCG in partnership with Guilford County Schools and Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, will address Absolute Priority 1 and Competitive Preference Priority 1 by developing an innovative and replicable model for the integration of technology in the teacher education curriculum. Through reforming the teacher education curriculum by embedding the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework and proper modeling and scaffolding in the teacher development process (from pre-service to induction), Transforming Teaching through Technology will equip 300 teacher candidates per year with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to intentionally integrate technology in a thoughtful and adaptive manner to promote academic learning for all students.
GIFTS TO THE SOE
Sue Sweeney McMillan ’40 Scholarship in Education
In making this gift, Ned McMillan honors his mother, Sue Sweeney McMillan ’40, who graduated from Woman’s College with a degree in elementary education. Ned’s intention in establishing a scholarship in her name is to support students majoring in Education who plan to become elementary or middle school teachers. Included with this planned gift is a pledge for $1,000 a year for 5 years so the scholarship may be awarded immediately.