PRISM Institute for Teaching and Learning of
Science and Mathematics

Regional participants will convene a community of scientists, mathematicians and educators within the broad higher education communities who desire to learn about, share, and improve their teaching. The ultimate goal of these participants in the Institute is to improve instruction in SM for all students at Armstrong Atlantic State University, Coastal Georgia Community College, Georgia Perimeter College, Georgia Southern University, Georgia State University, the University of Georgia, and their partner P-12 school systems.

Membership
Membership in the PRISM Institute is open to any faculty member or graduate student at a partner higher education institution or in a local PRISM P-12 school district who has an interest in and demonstrated commitment to the teaching or learning of science, mathematics, science education, or mathematics education. To see who is involved in the Northeast Region's PRISM Institute, click here.

Rigor and Innovation in Undergraduate Education: A Regional Symposium
The Northeast Georgia PRISM, the University of Georgia (UGA) Center for Teaching and Learning, and the UGA Teaching Academy co-hosted a regional symposium entitled, “Rigor and Innovation in Undergraduate Education,” on Saturday, April 28, 2007 at the Foundry Park Inn in Athens, Georgia.  Fifty participants, including UGA faculty and administrators and members of the state-level PRISM leadership team, attended this one-day conference.  The overarching purpose was to discuss ways to increase and sustain higher education faculty involvement in efforts to improve K-16 teaching and student learning.

Dr. James E. Hamos, National Science Foundation Program Director, presented the keynote address entitled, “Transforming Education, or Transformative Education?”  He challenged the audience to step up our research efforts on the scholarship of teaching and learning with the ultimate goal of impacting student achievement in science and mathematics.

Following his presentation, a roundtable discussion generated ideas for the question: “What are some ways to leverage scarce resources to achieve the goal of improved teaching and student learning?” Click here for a summary of the comments from this discussion.

After lunch the audience heard progress reports from six PRISM mini-grant recipients who have been successful in conducting innovative projects that document the impact of new teaching strategies on student learning in undergraduate courses. Click here for presentation information. For more information, contact Nancy Vandergrift (vandergr@uga.edu).

Northeast Georgia PRISM Effective Science Teaching Practices
On March 22, 2006, UGA faculty representing a variety of science disciplines from across campus met to share ways to improve science teaching.  Each faculty member shared a teaching tip with a small group.  To view all of the teaching tips discussed that day, please click here.  To find out more about continuing these types of interactions to improve teaching and learning at UGA, please contact Nancy Vandergrift at vandergr@uga.edu.

Small Grants Program
PRISM seeks to fund innovative projects related to improving instruction and student learning in science and mathematics at the undergraduate level at the University of Georgia (UGA) and Georgia Perimeter College (GPC).

• 2006-2007 grants, click here.
• 2005-2006 grants and final reports, click here.
• 2004-2005 grants and final reports, click here

For questions about getting involved with the PRISM Institute, contact Nancy Vandergrift