EHE News
1-30-12
International Seed Grants spread EHE knowledge worldwide
Ann O'Connell
Weidong Li
Philip Ward
Sue Dechow
Lucila Rudge
Terri Teal Bucci
Using funding from Education and Human Ecology International Seed Grants, four projects will benefit both undergraduate and graduate students and support efforts in student international experiences, international research, and international outreach and engagement.
"The EHE International Seed Grants are part of the college's strategic objective to build on deep relationships already established overseas, plus create new connections worldwide," said Cheryl Achterberg, dean of the College of Education and Human Ecology. "These partnerships are mutually beneficial, as our faculty, staff and students gain experience and collect knowledge as they advance the well-being of citizens, schools, communities and institutions."
The funded projects for 2012 are:
Ethiopia Outreach and Engagement with Addis Ababa University and Community Development Organizations. Led by Ann A. O'Connell, School of Educational Policy and Leadership, a group of faculty in Ed P&L, PAES and HDFS will establish opportunities for study abroad, student outreach, service-learning and internships in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
O'Connell, professor of quantitative research, evaluation and measurement, recently travelled to Ethiopia, one of the world's poorest countries. She found that outreach and engagement in the country may contribute to improvements in education, health and well-being of children and adults.
Examining Physical Education Content Knowledge in China and the USA. Weidong Li and Philip Ward, School of Physical Activity and Educational Services, will coordinate a partnership with Weidong Liu at Soochow University, People's Republic of China, to engage in research into undergraduate programs to prepare physical education teachers.
Li, assistant professor of sport and exercise sciences, and Ward, professor of physical education, have compared specialized content knowledge (SCK) in physical education teacher preparation in South Korea and the United States. It was the first such cross-cultural research into this area. Their studies in China will continue to look at the need for SCK, which equips teachers with knowledge and skills to teach an activity: recognizing student errors, correcting these errors using bio-mechanically sound principles, and designing developmentally appropriate teaching progressions. Their findings could have significant implications for preparation of future physical education teachers.
Li and Ward will also work to create student exchanges with Soochow University and explore the possibility of a dual degree program.
International Dual Master's Degree Program with Indonesia. Sue Dechow and Lucila Rudge, School of Teaching and Learning, will direct the project to support the college's new International Dual Master's Degree Program with a consortium of Indonesian universities.
The program builds on two decades of work by Dechow, executive director of U.S./Indonesia Teacher Education Consortium (USINTEC) of 12 Indonesian universities, Ohio State and two other U.S. universities, and a Southeast Asia regional center. Rudge is assistant director of international development for Teaching and Learning.
Dechow explains students from American and Indonesian universities will study together in Indonesia with American and Indonesian faculty. The degree program enables Indonesian teachers and teacher educators to earn two master's degrees, in elementary education or English language teaching.
U.S. students spend a summer term abroad in exotic Indonesia, one of the most culturally diverse archipelago nations in the world. They take core courses that fulfill requirements for the MA program in education or that augment any graduate program.
Haitian Creole KEEP Books. Terri Teal Bucci, associate professor of mathematics education in the School of Teaching and Learning, Mansfield Campus, leads research on the effective use of KEEP Books, small, inexpensive volumes that have been translated into Haitian Creole, the island's everyday language. She will be aided by Pierre Lucien, a master's student in higher education and student affairs, School of Educational Policy and Leadership, who was raised in the country.
The books aid in development of reading and writing, which is vital in a country where 65 percent of children drop out of school as early as fifth grade. Teachers in Haiti will be given net books to write their reflections on the use of KEEP books in classrooms. The project also will strengthen the Haiti Empowerment Project and college's teacher preparation partnership with Universite de Caraibe in Port-au-Prince.
KEEP Books are published at reading levels appropriate for pre-kindergarten through second grade. The cost is as low as 25 cents per book.
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