A New Approach to Teacher Education
| BY
KAREN ZELLER |
WVU's five-year teacher education program culminating in a master's degree, however, easily debunks Shaw's cynical statement.
Restructured nearly a decade ago in the College of Human Resources and Education as part of the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation's education reformation project, the state's only dual-degree program in teacher education has quickly become a national model.
Students receive an unparalleled program in teacher education that blends pedagogy with subject specialization and intensive teaching experience, said Van Dempsey, director of the WVU Benedum Collaborative.
From
the freshman year on, students take almost as many classes on
teaching methods as they do in their content specialization,
Dempsey said. For example, a student who plans to teach high
school math must take almost as many math courses as a math major
would, in addition to other teaching degree requirements.
The program's extensive student teaching component also sets it apart. Unlike most teacher education programs, which tack on a six-week student teaching component at the end of a four-year program, WVU students participate in three years of clinical placement.
A key component of the program is WVU's unique partnership with 21 public schools, Dempsey said. These specially selected schools, called Professional Development Schools, team up with WVU faculty and students to improve the quality of education within the school and to provide student teachers an important place to hone their skills. Beginning in the third year, students spend two hours weekly in the assigned PDS. Fourth-year students work five hours a week during the fall semester and 14 hours during the spring.
During the fall semester of the fifth year, students become full-time interns. They then return to their schools during their final semester for any additional specialization, such as working with students with disabilities, in addition to completing a course on leadership training.
Only about 200 students, meeting high standards of excellence, are selected annually to participate in the competitive program, and even fewer actually graduate.
"It is a challenging course of study. These students don't have much free time or even the opportunity to take elective courses, but neither do students working to become lawyers or doctors. This is what you do at WVU to prepare for the teaching profession," Dempsey said.
Teachers with master's degrees are much more marketable and receive higher salaries than those with bachelor's degrees, Dempsey said. "Our students are almost 99.9 percent guaranteed a job right out of college."
Ann Nutter, Class of 2000, is one such student. She got a job teaching at VanDevender Junior High School in Parkersburg upon graduation. While gaining immediate employment at the site where she did her internship pleased her, she was equally happy about the high level of competency and familiarity the WVU program gave her.
"Some of the experienced teachers would come in and ask if I was in shock—but I wasn't. While we were at WVU, we didn't just observe or student-teach for a few weeks. We had hundreds of hours of solid experience. So, we've been doing this for a while. I feel confident, both with what I teach and in my ability to communicate it to various types of students," she said.
The PDS collaborations are, perhaps, the most important aspect of the program. Donna Hoylman-Peduto, a teacher at East Dale Elementary School in Fairmont, says they produce a multitude of positive results.
"We are all learners," she said.
"The WVU students doing placements at our school see their
teachers learning right alongside of them and they think it's
OK—even cool—to learn." "The bottom line,"
Dempsey said, "is that this program not only helps improve
the quality of education in our West Virginia public schools
but also provides today's students—tomorrow's teachers—the
opportunity to receive the finest preparation possible."
On Top of
the Pile
| BY
BECKY LOFSTEAD |
Some people just have a gift for teaching.
They connect with students, channeling their energy and excitement
to others.
Such is the case with Professor of Geology John "Jack"
Renton, West Virginia's Professor of the Year for 2001. The honor
is given by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).
Renton shares what he calls "the wonders of geology on this
spaceship earth" with close to a thousand undergraduate
students, mostly freshmen, each year. He also reaches K-12 science
teachers around the state who tune in to the Monday night telecourse
he co-teaches with colleagues Bob Behling and Deb Hemler, or
who turn up for their field-based courses at the Grand Canyon,
Yellowstone National Park, and the Cascades.
Renton received his master's and doctoral degrees from WVU in
1959 and 1966. He began teaching here in 1965. After finding
out early in his career that lecturing from notes wasn't effective
with students, Renton says he began carrying on a "conversation"
with them.
"Not only does he not take notes to class," says colleague
Joseph Donovan, "Jack doesn't wear a tie or speak behind
a lectern, as these come between a teacher and his students."
Renton says he considers teaching "serious business,"
but doesn't believe in fancy gimmicks or props. "I simply
prepare a good script, rehearse it, and then express the ideas
and concepts to my students—much as an actor would to his
audience," he says.
He refers to geology as "a visual science," and with
no equations or formulas to expound, he uses original illustrations
and graphics to explain the material. As he does so, he "converses"
via a cordless mike with the 200-plus students enrolled in each
of his large lecture classes. The lectures supplement the course
text, he notes, so if students don't come to class, they will
likely find themselves at the low end of the grading scale.
"Jack has developed marvelous ways of presenting complex
issues," says Behling. "Landslides become amazingly
clear when students realize the 'go' force exceeds the 'stay'
force."
Colleagues joke that Renton is "the Cal Ripken of Geology
1," estimating that he has taught some 23,000 Geology 1
students in his 36 years at WVU.
"In large freshman courses for which evaluations are the
bane of most faculty, Jack approaches perfection," Donovan
says. Students rank Renton 4.7 on a scale of 5.0.
As students and technology have changed over the years, so has
Renton. He currently has a web site where he posts illustrations,
virtual field trips, exam questions, and study tips for students.
Looking back over his long teaching career, Renton says he can't
imagine another profession that could be more rewarding. "I
love the student who comes up to me in some distant airport and
says that he or she had been in my class years ago and that it
was one of the best classes they had ever taken. . .and that
they think of me every time they see a rock outcrop. What could
be more satisfying?"
Renton has won numerous teaching awards, including the 2001 WVU
Foundation Award for Outstanding Teaching and the 2000 Eberly
College of Arts and Sciences Teacher of the Year award. But the
Professor of the Year honor for the state of West Virginia, he
says, is the pinnacle.
"This is the top of the pile in my field," he quips.
"It doesn't get any better."
Renton has a new physical geology textbook, Planet Earth,
that is used across the country. It features a color photo of
West Virginia's Blackwater Falls on the cover "to promote
the geology of the state," he says.
WVU has had 12 West Virginia Professor of the Year award recipients.
Other recipients: Sophia Peterson (1987), Carl Rotter (1988),
Judith Stitzel (1989), Robert DiClerico (1990), Pat Rice (1991),
Jack Hammersmith (1992), Richard Turton (1993), Gail Galloway
Adams (1994), Bernard Allen (WVU Parkersburg, 1996), Christine
Martin (1998), and Jim Harms (1999).
Student Affairs
Honors Four
Susan Brown Hardesty, national chair of the Mountaineer Parents
Club, has received the inaugural Student Affairs Outstanding
Achievement Award for her lifelong service to WVU.
A 1967 WVU graduate with a degree in music education, Hardesty
is involved in a variety of community service projects and volunteer
work, including establishing a Read Aloud West Virginia program
in Jackson County and helping to organize the first Keynote Concert
featuring the WVU Marching Band in Charleston.
Three former WVU employees were inducted into the Student Affairs
Hall of Fame: Barbara R. Alvis, who served for 16 years as assistant
dean of student life for international students; Mary-Jane Schuster
English, a 1936 WVU graduate who served as assistant to the dean
of student affairs and was a residence hall associate from 1963
to 1980; and Edwin J. Morgan, M.D., who retired last summer after
directing the University Health Service since 1973.
Campus Celebrates
Diversity Week
The diversity of Appalachian culture was the focus for Diversity
Week 2001 in October. A breakfast to honor members of the armed
services in the wake of 9-11 and a live taping of the Mountain
Stage radio show attracted hundreds of campus and community
members.
Retired U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Ralph Pasin sp0ke to over 400
cadets, veterans, and others during the armed services breakfast.
"Let's send a message to our servicemen and women that we're
with them, that we support them," he said. "And let's
also go about living our lives by doing what we've always done.
That's how you beat terrorism."
The Mountaineer Marching Band played the national anthem and
taps, and there was a moving tribute to POWs and MIAs.
The Mountain Stage concert at the Creative Arts Center
featured a variety of Appalachian musicians, including West Virginia
artists Hazel Dickens, Johnny Staats, and the group Gandydancer.
The weekly radio show, produced in Charleston, is broadcast via
Public Radio International in every region of the country.
Airport Security
Hearing Held at WVU
U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Subcommittee
on Aviation, held a hearing at WVU in November on the topic of
airport security. Rockefeller heard testimony from Jane Garvey
of the Federal Aviation Administration and other airport and
security leaders.
In selecting WVU to host the hearing, Rockefeller called WVU
"the leading research university in America" in biometrics,
computer-based technology which identifies individuals using
fingerprints, retina scans, or face recognition. He said biometric
identification is "one strategy that can be employed quickly
to strengthen security."
Michael Yura, director of WVU's one-of-a-kind forensic identification
program, said WVU hopes to be at the forefront of training future
security personnel worldwide—especially in the airline industry—and
preventing further acts of domestic terrorism.
Psychology
Doctoral Program Receives National Award
The Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy (AABT) has
chosen the WVU doctoral program in clinical psychology for the
2001 Outstanding Training Program Award. Each year, the AABT
selects one clinical training program to receive the award, which
recognizes high-quality research in behavioral sciences and an
excellent record in training clinical psychologists.
The WVU program is ranked fourth worldwide in research productivity
in behavior therapy and analysis, and has been recognized by
U.S. News and World Report.
"WVU has a very collegial and collaborative atmosphere,"
said Sarah Lewis, a doctoral student on internship at the Medical
University of South Carolina. "I love the 'junior colleague'
model in which students are treated as colleagues in training.
We have the freedom to work with various faculty members and
to pursue multiple interests in research and clinical practice."
Agriculture
Commissioner Receives Honorary Degree
Long-time West Virginia Agriculture Commissioner Gus Douglass
received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater at WVU's December
convocation. The Mason County native was elected to his ninth
term as state agriculture commissioner in November 2000.
During his long career, Commissioner Douglass has greatly assisted
farmers and farming communities throughout the Mountain State.
He has worked diligently in creating programs to maintain family
farms, promote agribusiness, bring relief to drought-stricken
farms, and strengthen the poultry industry. He maintains his
own farm with the support of his wife, Anna Lee, and son, Tom.
Snowshoe Institute
Dates Set
WVU is joining with Marshall University, the West Virginia Humanities
Council, and Intrawest to present the Snowshoe Institute, modeled
after the famed Chautauqua Institute in New York.
The first-ever Snowshoe Institute will take place at Snowshoe
Resort August 1-4, 2002. It will feature performing artists,
creative arts workshops, lectures, and field trips. Some programs
will have Civil War and Appalachian heritage themes.
WVU faculty members are sharing their talents
and expertise. Historian Ron Lewis will lecture on Appalachian
history. Bernard and Cookie Schultz of the College of Creative
Arts will present a lecture on Impressionist painting. Art historian
John Cuthbert will lecture on his book Early Art and Artists
in West Virginia. The WVU Puppet Theater will perform for
children.
WVU alumni are offered special rates to attend the Snowshoe Institute.
For additional information, call (304) 746-2078 or visit www.snowshoeinstitute.org.
Interested WVU alumni chapter leaders may contact Deb Smyth Green
at (630) 554-8197.
WVU Helps
Establish Oman Medical College
A partnership between the Persian Gulf nation of Oman and the
WVU School of Medicine has established the new Oman Medical College.
The School of Medicine provided curricula and teaching guidelines
as well as the loan of the new college's dean, Michael Johnson,
a professor of physiology at WVU.
The medical college has 69 students in its first class, including
58 Omanis, six Indians, two Iranians, a Kuwaiti, a Sudanese,
and an Ecuadorean. Of the students, 61 are women and eight are
men. This is related in part to the Omani custom of sheltering
and educating girls while allowing boys more freedom and less
obligation to work.
Adjustment to the coeducational classes at the college has been
a challenge for many students. "Some of the young women
are not used to being in public with their faces uncovered,"
said Johnson, "and some are not accustomed to talking to
any male who is not a relative. In any large room, the men automatically
sit on one side of the room and the women on the other."
The college is located in Muscat, the capital of Oman, in a new
three-story building. WVU representatives attended its grand
opening in January.
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Doing that
Mountain Thing: Mountaineer Week 2001
The campus focused on the rich culture of Appalachia during the
54th annual Mountaineer Week activities November 9 through 17.
From funnel cakes and fiddling to taffy pulls, quilting, and
storytelling, the week's activities offered something for everyone.
And, as always, Mountaineer loyalty was recognized with awards.
The Most Loyal Alumni
Mountaineer award went to J.P. Ball '57, '63 J.D., a Morgantown
attorney who has been a donor and benefactor to the College of
Creative Arts, College of Business and Economics, WVU Foundation
scholarships, and the Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry,
and Consumer Sciences.
The Most Loyal West Virginian award was presented to June Chambers
'47 and her husband, Jack Chambers '43. The two are retired physicians
in Charleston and are long-time donors and benefactors to the
School of Medicine and WVU's computer science and engineering
departments.
The Most Loyal Faculty and Staff Mountaineer award went to Jacqueline
W. Riley, assistant dean of the School of Nursing, and Gordon
R. Thorn, assistant vice president for student affairs.
All were honored during halftime of the WVU vs. Temple football
game on November 17.
Cuthbert Honored by Humanities Council
John A. Cuthbert, curator of the West Virginia and Regional History
Collection in the WVU Libraries, has joined the ranks of Senator
Robert C. Byrd, writer Denise Giardina, and Harvard Professor
Henry Louis Gates Jr. Cuthbert has received the Charles H. Daughtery
Award in Humanities, the West Virginia Humanities Council's highest
honor. Executive Director Ken Sullivan said the selection was
based on Cuthbert's contributions to the state through his work
at WVU to preserve West Virginia's past. "John is a one-of-a-kind
resource," Sullivan said. "I don't know of anyone more
knowledgeable about West Virginia's art history."
WVU Press
Wins National Award
The West Virginia University Press, directed by Professor Patrick
Conner, and David Alcorn of Alcorn Publication Design are winners
in the American Graphic Design Award competition for their work
on Early Art and Artists in West Virginia by John A. Cuthbert.
The award is sponsored by Graphic Design USA, a
New York-based magazine that focuses on graphic design and communications.
Only 10 percent of more than 10,000 entries were chosen as winners
in the competition.
Bagby Honored
Upon Retirement
Retiring History Professor Wesley M. Bagby was honored at a reception
where colleagues, students, and friends expressed their thanks
for his influence and service over 45 years. Bagby, who joined
the WVU faculty in 1956, received many honors for excellence
in teaching and research from WVU and other organizations during
his career, and is a widely published scholar in 20th-century
American economic, political, and social history. "Dr. Bagby's
steadfast service to WVU and the Department of History has served
to advance the institution and the educations and careers of
thousands of students," said President Hardesty. "I
enjoyed taking Dr. Bagby's courses when I was an undergraduate
in the 1960s."
New Library
is Now Serving Students
Students are now using WVU's new main library on the downtown
campus. Among the many state-of-the-art research tools in the
facility are 180 brand-new computers, shown awaiting installation
in early December. Workers employed by a contractor to move the
library's collections from Wise Library into the adjoining new
building completed the huge task during the holiday break. When
extensive renovations to Wise are completed by early 2003, WVU's
down-town library holdings will be centralized for the first
time in decades.
Following
the Pride: Homecoming 2001
"Follow the Pride" was the theme for WVU's Homecoming
Week activities, October 26 through November 3, in honor of the
Mountaineer Marching Band's 100th anniversary.
The parade marshal for the annual
Homecoming Parade down High Street was Larry Schwab, a Morgantown
ophthalmologist and part-time WVU student. A band member for
the past two years, Schwab first marched with the band as an
undergraduate in 1958. He is a 1962 WVU graduate and a 1966 graduate
of the WVU School of Medicine. 
Honored as Outstanding Alumni during Homecoming were Gen. Kenneth
D. Gray and Vivien Woofter, pictured at right. Gray is vice president
for student affairs at WVU. He earned his law degree from WVU
in 1969 and served in the Judge Advocate General Corps. Woofter
graduated from WVU in 1952 and is director of interior design
for the Office of Foreign Buildings in the U.S. State Department.