Science Literacy Program at the UO
The University of Oregon Science Literacy Program (SLP) makes a real-world difference in the lives of UO students by building science literacy among undergraduate non-science majors, giving science students mentored teaching opportunities to implement active learning, and providing faculty with teaching professional development.
SLP offers General Education courses for non-science students that promote student-centered teaching and communication of science where non-science majors are empowered to consider scientific approaches to societal issues and have the opportunity to learn how to process and critique scientific information. Graduate students and undergraduate students in the sciences have mentored teaching opportunities where they learn the theory and practice of scientific teaching and effectively communicating ideas to audiences of non-scientists. The program enables and assists faculty in improving teaching techniques using evidence-based pedagogy focusing on science literacy. (From: http://scilit.uoregon.edu/)
Course offering listings page: http://scilit.uoregon.edu/courses/
Julie Mueller
Julie’s bio: I grew up in Wisconsin, going to Marquette University for undergrad, and then moved to upstate New York for graduate school in chemistry at Cornell University. While there, I worked on the photofragment imaging studies of ozone dissociation I talked about in your seminar, as well as on several other projects. I spent two years doing postdoctoral work at the University of Chicago, and then moved to Silicon Valley to join the chemistry department at Santa Clara University, where I loved teaching. After moving to Oregon for family reasons, I started working in the Teaching Effectiveness Program, where I help people in the sciences prepare for and improve their teaching. It’s a great job because it really makes clear to me how much people at Oregon care about teaching well and doing their best for their students. They want to help students learn not just facts for a particular class, but to help them develop skills that will serve them as scholars and citizens. I love being a part of that and hope that you will take advantage of it!
A nice NASA page with lots of information about the ozone hole is at http://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/monthly/SH.html. It has satellite pictures of the ozone hole that are updated daily.
Ozone Image. P. L. Houston, Acc. Chem. Res., Vol. 28, 1995 (453-460)
Ozone Hole from NASA site: http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/ozone_record.html. The image, from Sept. 24, 2006, shows the single-day largest area for the Antarctic ozone hole. It was 11.4 million square miles, substantially larger than North America.
Elly Vandegrift
ELEANOR VANDEGRIFT is the Associate Director of the Science Literacy Program and a Senior Instructor in Biology. Elly works with UO science faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students who wish to co-teach SLP courses, participate in the Science Literacy Teaching Journal Club, or improve their classroom pedagogy techniques. In addition, to her work with the program Elly is active with the PULSE community and Summer Institutes on Undergraduate Education to promote national STEM reform efforts. She was named a National Academies Education Fellow in 2013-14 and a National Academies Education Mentor 2014-15.
Before joining the Science Literacy Program, Elly worked with science students to cultivate academic success through the Teaching and Learning Center and facilitated teacher training opportunities for the Teaching Effectiveness Program. Elly completed her undergraduate work in biology at Earlham College and her graduate work in Forest Ecology from Oregon State University where she studied the genetic diversity of saprotrophic fungi in Oregon forests. Elly has taught a diversity of science pedagogy, biology, anatomy & physiology, and academic skills courses at UO, Lane Community College, and Earlham College. Elly’s best teachers are her two young children and husband who introduce her to new ideas everyday and remind her to live in the moment. (From: http://scilit.uoregon.edu/about-us/administration/administration_profiles_elly/)