What's Happening in Education?

Education Department to Host Colloqium

On June 15 and 16, 2009, the Education department will host a two-day leadership and ELL colloqium entitled "Leading Diverse Schools and Communities: Media and Culture, Digital Literacy and Youth." Dr. Martin Lang, professor of Critical Media Studies at Gustavus Adolphus College will provide the keynote lecture on Monday, June 15. Dr. Jabari Mahiri, professor of Media Literacy Education at the University of California, Berkeley will provide the keynote lecture on Tuesday, June 16.

More information regarding cost, graduate credit and registration can be found here.

Student Teaching Program Opening Doors for Education Majors

This past fall, five Gustavus students completed a session of their student teaching at the International School at Sotogrande, located on the southeast coast of Spain.

This spring, six students will be part of a similar experience in Barrow, Alaska, the northern most point of Alaska. Along with their student teaching duties, the students will be in the culture of the native Inupiaq Tribe. The Read more...

Dan Moos Presents Research in Granada, Spain

Dan Moos, Education, presented at a conference in Granada, Spain. The conference, Cognition and the Web: Information processing, comprehension, and learning, was truly international as participants came from Germany, the Netherlands, USA, Spain, England, France, and Japan. The conference focused on research which has examined cognitive demands associated with learning in nonlinear environments.

The presentation synthesized a study that considered the challenges undergraduates face when they are required to make decisions about which representation to access (i.e. text vs. diagram) and which information to focus on during learning. These decisions can often create "cognitive overload" and this overload can impede meaningful learning. Strategies, such as note-taking, are often thought to decrease cognitive load, yet there is limited empirical research examining the quality of undergraduate notes and why they engage in this learning strategy.

The presentation at this conference presented findings which examined factors that predicted use of strategies, such as note-taking, during learning with nonlinear environments. Elizabeth Marroquin, a Gustavus Adolphus student, provided valuable contributions to this continuing research.

Ashley Gibbs Awarded Stan Hooper Award for Excellence

Ashley Gibbs

Ashley Gibbs was awarded the Stan Hooper Student Award for Educational Excellence at the Minnesota Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) at their annual conference on March 12 in recognition of outstanding commitment to education. As a junior in the elementary program, Ashley is active in the Gustavus Student Educators’ Association and president of Kappa Delta Pi.

Congratulations, Ashley!

Bill Green visits Gustavus

John Clementson (Chair, Education Department), Bill Green (Superintendent, Minneapolis Public Schools), Virgil Jones (Director, Diversity Center)

Bill Green, Superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools, talked to students in John Clementson's Individual and Society Interim course and some education majors. As a Gustavus graduate, Bill Green shared insight on diversity, education and the journey he has traveled.

Bill Green addresses Individual and Society class.

In celebration of Martin Luther King Day, Green also spoke in chapel and address other groups.