Connecticut College Zoology Professor Named one of "U.S. Professors of the Year"
NEW LONDON, Conn. (November 14, 2000) - Two of the nation's largest educational associations have named Connecticut College Professor of Zoology Stephen Loomis one of the "U.S. Professors of the Year." The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching said the award is the only national one given to college and university professors in recognition of their teaching.
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Noting that Loomis "is one of our most gifted and innovative teachers," Connecticut College Provost and Dean of the Faculty David K. Lewis credited the college's "remarkable surge" in biological sciences enrollment in part to Loomis' work. "This increased student interest is the direct result of teacher/scholars like Professor Loomis. He is a scientist who is committed to the same kind of experimentalism in the classroom that he employs in the laboratory."
In 1995, Loomis began an ambitious project of revising his human physiology course to teach it as a "studio" course without lectures "so that students take much more responsibility for their learning. In the process, I have shifted from a communicator of knowledge to a facilitator of learning." He said his approach to teaching is based on the proverb: "Tell me and I will forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I will understand."
To redesign his course, Loomis used input from various people: his own students; a high school teacher who had been using active learning in her classes; and a technology expert who helped incorporate some of the best practices of educational technology. With the help of a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Loomis spent a summer designing the course, a semester testing it, and the final summer revising the course based on the experience gained from teaching it.
Loomis was an early user of technology in coursework, beginning about 10 years ago with a modeling program on the nervous system. Then, with the help of the Mellon Foundation grant, Loomis led a team of three professors who created new approaches to teaching "gateway" courses in the sciences (or introductory courses sometimes considered "barrier" courses) by incorporating new technologies and teaching methods.
The result of many of these approaches, he said, is that "students enter the class with a base of understanding similar to or better than what they would have left class with using the lecture format." In the classroom, he said the professor facilitates learning through a variety of activities designed to take advantage of different learning styles. For example, activities include "bioplays" in which students act out a biological concept; drawing activities in which students are asked to draw a representation of concepts; physical model-building such as a molecular model of muscle structure; intellectual model building; testing; case studies; discussions; and virtual and real experiments.
Increased student comprehension of scientific concepts using this new ‘active learning' approach has been astounding, according to Provost Lewis. He noted that learning scores demonstrating a student's level of mastering 59 concepts covered in the human physiology course have surged. In overall learning, 68 percent of the students demonstrated an understanding of more than 90 percent of the concepts, compared to a 10-year average of 24 percent using the lecture format.
"At the end of the course, and even three years later, I remember more of the concepts," than in any other course, said Bess Bayne, a 2000 graduate majoring in zoology with a concentration in pre-medicine. "He has inspired me to strive for understanding in all my classes and provides the measure by which I judge the skill of all other professors."
Added Benjamin Hayes, a 1998 graduate who is currently a biology teacher, "In Dr. Loomis I did not find a teacher, but a facilitator and mentor. He allows students to generate their own experiences by creating an environment in which they direct the inquiry…His passion for using educational technology correctly and effectively is contagious."
Loomis is currently on sabbatical, documenting his research and publishing articles that can be shared with others in the field. He has also recruited colleagues to redesign the college's introductory zoology course. "They have become as ‘hooked' on active learning as I have," Loomis noted.
In addition to his contributions to teaching and scholarship, Loomis also served as Provost and Dean of the Faculty at Connecticut College from 1993 to 1995, and was elected by the faculty to serve on the Educational Planning Committee as its chair. He received his bachelor of science and his doctorate degrees from the University of California at Davis. He also received the 2000-2001 John S. King Faculty Teaching Award, an honor bestowed annually to a Connecticut College faculty member by his or her colleagues.
The Council for Advancement and Support of Education established the Professors of the Year program in 1981 and works in cooperation with the Carnegie Foundation and various other education associations in its administration.
This year, there are winners in 44 states and the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico. CASE assembled two preliminary panels of judges to select finalists. The Carnegie Foundation then convened the third and final panel, which selected the four national winners and state winners. Loomis was selected from 476 faculty members nominated by colleges and universities throughout the country.
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching was founded in 1905 by Andrew Carnegie "to do all things necessary to encourage, uphold and dignify the profession of teaching." The Foundation is the only advanced study center for teachers in the world and the third-oldest foundation in the nation. Its non-profit research activities are produced by a small group of distinguished scholars.
The Council for the Advancement and Support of Education is the largest international association of educational institutions, with nearly 2,900 colleges, universities and independent elementary and secondary schools in 44 countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom. Representing these institutions are more than 21,000 professionals in the disciplines of alumni relations, communications and fundraising. Additional affiliates include educationally related nonprofit organizations and commercial firms.
To learn more about Professor Loomis and/or to download a photo, visit his Web site.
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Contact: Trish Brink (860) 439-2508
