The Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) has named Tricia Ferrett, professor of chemistry at Carleton College, as a 2005-2006 Carnegie Scholar. The 21 Scholars will work together to craft and share new models for teaching, learning, and research.
Ferrett shares her appointment with Joanne Stewart, professor of chemistry at Hope College in Holland, Mich. Throughout their year as Carnegie Scholars, Ferrett and Stewart will investigate the following questions in the context of teaching interdisciplinary first-year and general education courses on abrupt climate change: To what extent can beginning science students successfully integrate different disciplinary approaches to address complex, interdisciplinary problems? How can explicit consideration of epistemology and student intellectual development in course design contribute to students’ ability to make connections across science disciplines and between science and civic life?
The Carnegie Scholars Program brings together outstanding faculty committed to investigating and documenting significant issues in the teaching and learning of their fields. During the 2005-2006 academic year, this group of Carnegie Scholars will work on projects that explore the integration of learning across courses, over time and between campus and community life. This integrative learning helps undergraduates connect an often fragmented educational landscape and develop the habits of mind that prepare them to make informed judgments in their personal, professional, and civic life.
Serving for one-year terms, the Carnegie Scholars participate in two two-week residencies in consecutive summers and spend shorter periods together during the academic year. They will present their work at professional conferences, attend workshops and institutes and work with Carnegie Scholars from previous cohorts.
CASTL was created by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 1998 to establish and refine standards for the critical review of teaching and learning by faculty members in college and university classrooms. CASTL also helps to establish new settings and forms for the examination of teaching and learning so that faculty members can exchange information and build upon the work of their colleagues.
Ferrett received her B.A. in chemistry from Grinnell College in Iowa and her Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Md., from 1987-88. She is currently director of Carleton’s fifth Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant and director of the Carleton Interdisciplinary Science and Math Initiative.
Ranked among the nation’s top liberal arts institutions, Carleton is a private, co-educational college of 1,900 students located 40 miles south of Minneapolis and St. Paul. High academic standards, an excellent teaching faculty and a diverse student body contribute to Carleton’s outstanding reputation.