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Dr._Arlene_Russell Dr._Fred_Freking Dr. Theodore_W._Gamelin Dr._Shelley_Kriegler Dr._Smadar_Gilboa Dr._James_Rudd Dr._Rebecca_Eikey
Dr. Arlene Russell,
Primary Investigator, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry.
Dr. Arlene Russell is a Senior Lecturer at UCLA in both the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Department of Education. She has been active in Chemical Education for over 30 years. She was a co-PI on the Molecular Science Project under which the Calibrated Peer ReviewTM (CPR) Program was developed and is currently a co-PI on the Berkeley-based Multi-Initiative Dissemination (MID) project, which provides faculty workshops on using and implementing CPRTM in Chemistry and on the Texas A&M-based writing for Assessment and Learning in the Natural and Mathematical Sciences (WALS) project, which teaches faculty to author effective assignments.
Since 1999, she has led more than 30 CPR workshops for over 500 faculty from community colleges through research universities and has implemented CPRTM in classes varying in size from 14 AP high school students to 320 UCLA freshman. She has been involved in national assessment activities for 20 years as chair of the California Chemistry Diagnostic Test committee, which develops and validates a national test for placement of students in entry level college Chemistry courses.
At the graduate level she teaches technical writing and a seminar in Issues in Higher Education in Chemistry for students planning on academic careers. She is also the Science Director of the five-year old Science Teacher Education Program (STEP) at UCLA and co-teaches the science methods classes with Physics and Biology faculty. She recently received the NSF GK-12 award that will partner graduate students in Mathematics and Science with new teachers to facilitate the development and used of inquiry-based activities in Los Angeles' urban schools.
Her work in chemical education has been recognized by awards from the New York Film and Television Association for excellence in science videotape production; the Smithsonian Association for her education innovation using technology; and the Chemistry Manufacturing Association for her outstanding college chemistry teaching. Her bibliography includes 36 print publications, 46 multimedia productions, 52 invited papers and lectures, and 35 contributed paper.
Dr. Fred
Freking, Co-Primary Investigator, Department of Chemistry &
Biochemistry. Frederick W. Freking is a Faculty Advisor for
the UCLA Science Teacher Education Program. He taught Biology and Human Anatomy
and Physiology at Covina High School before coming to UCLA to earn a Ph.D. in
Physiological Science. In the past five years, Dr. Freking has taught
Genetics, Molecular Biology, and Human Anatomy and Physiology to UCLA
undergraduates and Science Teaching Methodology to graduate students. He is
also Co-PI on a NSF GK-12 Fellowship Grant and a NSF Robert Noyce Scholarship
Grant. His research focuses on the impact of inquiry-based instruction in Los
Angeles area high schools.
Dr. Theodore W. Gamelin, Co-Primary Investigator, Professor of Mathematics. UCLA Department of Mathematics.
Dr. Gamelin web site: http://www.math.ucla.edu/~twg/
Dr. Shelley Kriegler. GK-12 Mathematics Co-Director. UCLA Department of Mathematics.
Dr. Kriegler is the director of the UCLA Mathematics Content Program for Teachers (MCPT).
Dr. Smadar Gilboa, Program Manager, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry.
Over the past two years, I have developed a strong interest in helping K-12 teachers teach science. This began when our child's first grade teacher asked me for help in explaining the concept of an animal's habitat, how species become endangered, and how they might be protected. With help from Dr. Peter Nonacs, I designed a 4 hour lesson plan that was affordable and doable in an urban school setting. By volunteering frequently at schools, I also came to understand the great time and budget constraints our public school teachers face. I switched my career goals from research to education, and joined the UCLA GK-12 program on January 2005.
My research interests are entomology, ecological genetics, and behavioral ecology. Most recently I studied parental investment strategies in Californian harvester ants in the high desert areas of the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains with Dr. Peter Nonacs, from the department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, UCLA.
