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Deborah Allen is an associate professor in the Department
of Biological Sciences at the University of Delaware. She joined
the faculty in 1984 after a postdoctoral position at Dartmouth Medical
School and receiving a Ph.D. in biological sciences from the University
of Delaware. In 1993 she began to develop a two-semester PBL course
in introductory biology; the materials and methods used in that
course have been published in the book Thinking Towards Solutions:
Problem-Based Learning Activities for General Biology (Saunders
1998). Deborah was principal investigator on Fund for the Improvement
of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) and National Science Foundation
(NSF) grants that sponsored the early development of a program for
undergraduate PBL peer group facilitators, and is currently working
on an NSF-sponsored project to design a science semester
for elementary teacher education majors that will incorporate multidisciplinary
PBL problems. In addition to serving on the editorial boards of
Cell Biology Education and the National Center for Case Study Teaching
in Science, she presents faculty development workshops on PBL and
active, group-based strategies on other campuses. |
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Barbara Duch is associate director of the Mathematics and
Science Education Resource Center at the University of Delaware.
She has been actively involved in science education reform at the
university level for several years, and more recently in the K-12
grades. She is responsible for planning and implementing professional
development activities for science teachers in the state, and communicating
with university faculty involved in outreach efforts to teachers.
Since 1990, she has conducted workshops for faculty on incorporating
active learning and cooperative group structures into their classes.
She has designed and conducted workshops on incorporating PBL into
undergraduate courses since 1992. Barbara has published widely about
PBL in undergraduate education, and presents at national and international
PBL conferences. In addition, she has developed and taught honors
physics courses for pre-med and biology majors, a large general
education physical science course, and several physical science
courses for in-service teachers, using PBL techniques. She has been
a co-principal investigator on several NSF Division of Undergraduate
Education grants that promote science education reform and focus
on incorporating problem-based learning methods in undergraduate
courses. She was also a co-principal investigator on a FIPSE grant
to educate undergraduates to become effective group facilitators
in PBL courses. Barbara directs a campus-wide project, "Problem-Based
Learning: Models for the College Classroom," funded by the
Pew Charitable Trusts and the University of Delaware. |
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Susan Groh is an assistant professor in the Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Delaware and
joined the faculty in 1984. She received her Ph.D. in chemistry
from Stanford University. She is a member of the University Honors
Program Affiliated Faculty and uses PBL in teaching Honors General
Chemistry for students in the life sciences and engineering. Her
research interests are in bioinorganic chemistry (synthetic modeling
of enzyme active sites) and educational issues in science. Susan
has been using PBL since 1994, and is the recipient of several awards
for excellence in undergraduate mentoring and teaching. |
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Valerie Hans is professor of sociology and criminal justice
at the University of Delaware, where she teaches courses on social
science and the law, psychology and the law, jury decision making,
and the courts. She received her Ph.D. in social psychology from
the University of Toronto in 1978. Valerie has conducted research
and written a number of books and articles about the public's role
in courts, particularly the jury system. She regularly incorporates
problem-based learning and web-based technology into her undergraduate
courses. In 1999 she received the Jan Burrows Graduate Educator
Award, an award that recognizes contributions to graduate teaching
in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University
of Delaware. |
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George Watson is an associate dean in the College of Arts
& Science and Unidel Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the
University of Delaware. He joined the faculty in 1987 after a postdoctoral
position at AT&T Bell Laboratories and receiving a Ph.D. in
physics from the University of Delaware. Recently he has been exploring
web-based delivery of instructional materials for development of
science and technology literacy among non-science majors in Silicon,
Circuits, and the Digital Revolution and curriculum reform
of engineering physics courses, such as Electricity and Electronics
for Engineers. His research interests are in condensed matter
experimental physics and include CW and picosecond laser spectroscopy;
current work focuses on photonic band structure. George is the 1998
Delaware Professor of the Year, awarded by the Carnegie Foundation
for the Advancement of Teaching. He was the principal investigator
on the grant from NSFs program on Institution-Wide Reform
of Undergraduate Education that led to the creation of ITUE; currently
he is the principal investigator on an NSF/DUE project to develop
PBL curricula for physics. |
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Hal White is professor of biochemistry and director of
the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Undergraduate Biological
Sciences Education Program at the University of Delaware. He joined
the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 1971 after a postdoctoral
position in chemistry at Harvard University and a Ph.D. in biochemistry
from Brandeis University. Between 1994 and 1998, he served as principal
investigator on the first NSF/DUE grant on problem-based learning
to the University of Delaware and has been involved with subsequent
NSF, FIPSE, and Pew Charitable Trusts grants for PBL. As a member
of the Education and Professional Development Committee of the American
Association for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and ITUE, Hal
has conducted numerous PBL workshops in the United States. Currently
he is the PBL features editor for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Education. He draws on his interests in intermediary metabolism,
molecular evolution, and protein structure and function as sources
for problems in the variety of courses he teaches using PBL. His
recent publications relating to PBL deal with the use of the research
literature for problems, preparation of peer tutor-facilitators,
faculty development, and capstone courses. |
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