Bodzin, Hammond and Farina Awarded National Technology Leadership Initiative Fellowship

Teaching, Learning, and Technology faculty Dr. Alec Bodzin, Dr. Thomas Hammond and doctoral student William Farina were awarded the National Technology Leadership Initiative Fellowship at the Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE) conference. They co-authored the paper with NSF team members Kate Popejoy, David Anastasio, Breena Holland, James Carrigan, Scott Rutzmoser, and Dork Sahagian.

The presentation "A Curriculum-linked Professional Development Approach to Support Teachers’ Adoption of Socio-Environmental Science Investigations," is a result of an NSF research grant. First year implementation findings on the investigation of a curriculum-linked professional development approach to support the adoption of socio-environmental science investigations using a geospatial curriculum approach with mobile field data collection and Web GIS analysis.

The National Technology Leadership Initiative Fellowship was established to recognize an exemplary presentation on technology at The Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) annual conference for social studies, English, mathematics and science education.

The purpose of the National Technology Leadership Initiative Fellowship is to encourage further dialog among professional associations regarding appropriate technology use in teacher education. Each year National Technology Leadership Initiative Fellows from ASTE are invited to present at the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education conference where they receive an award plaque, complementary conference registration, and funds up to $1200 provided by Vernier Software and Technology to help defray travel expenses.

In 2015, the award was renamed the John C. Park National Technology Leadership Initiative Fellowship to honor the late Dr. Park who was a leader in the application of technology in science education. He was instrumental in the establishment of the award, building the relationship between ASTE and SITE, and a multiple NTLI award winner. Dr. John Park was Dr. Bodzin's mentor professor at N.C. State.  "It is a great honor that our NSF ITEST grant work is this year's recipient of the award," said Dr. Bodzin.