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Source:
Kristan Corwin, 785-532-1663, corwin@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Keener A. Tippin II, 785-532-6415
Friday,
March 25, 2005
K-STATE
PROFESSOR WINS NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION CAREER AWARD
MANHATTAN
-- Most of the students in Kristan Corwin's Physical World II
course aren't going to be science teachers.
Nonetheless
she faces a daunting task: Convincing her students that science
is important in their lives.
Corwin,
a Kansas State University assistant professor of physics, uses a
variety of innovative teaching methods in her class, such as "peer
instruction" to make physics education better. Each student
in the class is given a remote control that they can use to "vote"
for a particular multiple choice question Corwin flashes up on a
screen. Before she reveals the correct answer, Corwin instructs
the students to confer with fellow students about their answers.
"You
wouldn't believe that the rate of getting the answer correct the
first time is less than 50 percent before they talk to each other,"
Corwin said. "It is much greater than 50 percent after they
talk to each other."
Corwin
has also added an essay paper to the course curriculum that requires
students to answer a controversial question, such as is the threat
of global warming real, should wind turbines should be allowed on
the Flint Hills or is there life on Mars?
"My
students live in a real technological society and I want them to
understand the importance of science and its impact in their daily
lives," Corwin said.
For
these innovative efforts in addition to an ambitious research plan,
Corwin has been named a recipient of the National Science Foundation's
CAREER Award. The Faculty Early Career Development Program is a
foundation-wide activity that offers the National Science Foundation's
most prestigious awards for new faculty members. The program recognizes
and supports the early career-development activities of those teacher-scholars
who are most likely to become the academic leaders of the 21st century.
Fellow
K-State assistant professor of physics, Sanjay Rebello, was a recipient
of the award in 2002; Scott DeLoach, an assistant professor of computing
and information sciences, received the award in 2004.
The
grant will also provide Corwin funding for the research she is conducting
to measure optical frequency with infrared pulsed lasers. Corwin
and a team of students and postdoctoral researchers at K-State are
currently working to create ultrafast stabilized lasers for optical
frequency metrology, with the goal of improving the standards of
the optical telecommunications industry.
"It's
a big relief to have the steady funding that is going to result
from this prestigious award," Corwin said. "For any young
scientist to get their first NSF grant, whether it is a CAREER Award
or a regular NSF grant, is a huge step."
Corwin
said the fact that she is now doing funded research also enhances
her teaching.
"I
try to link my research to my teaching whenever I can," Corwin
said. "I think that's exciting for my students. In fact, a
big part of my teaching is working with undergraduate and graduate
students in the lab. My research gives me a different perspective
on my teaching and vice versa."
Corwin,
who received her bachelor's of science in physics from the State
University of New York at Buffalo in 1993, and a master's of science
in physics from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1996, has
had tremendous mentors in her academic career. In 1999 Corwin completed
her doctorate in physics from CU under the direction of 2001 Nobel
Prize-winning scientist, Carl Wieman, a Distinguished Teaching Professor
at JILA, formerly known as the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics.
Wieman
also holds the distinction of being named as 2004 National Professor
of the Year by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Corwin's
current department head, Dean Zollman, was recognized as Professor
of the Year in 1996.
"Kristan
Corwin is developing a research program in an exciting and rapidly
changing area of physics," Zollman said. "She is also
an innovative teacher who takes the time and effort to communicate
science to non-science students. The CAREER Award is based on her
plans for both teaching and research. Thus, the National Science
Foundation recognized that she is one of the best young scientists
and science teachers in the country."
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