On Campus - Stories
June 15,
2001 - Vol. 54, No. 3
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 Stuart W. Shulman |
Stuart W. Shulman, assistant professor of environmental science and policy at Drake, has received a $400,000 research grant from the National Science Foundation to promote information technology literacy and identify methods for narrowing the "digital divide"in this new era of digital citizenship.
The grant is the largest
Drake has ever received from the NSF, said Carol Miller, director of sponsored grant
support.
Shulman, along with Sally Beisser, assistant professor of education at Drake, and
statistician Mack C. Shelley of Iowa State University, will conduct the three-year
study in conjunction with a new Digital Citizenship class that Shulman will teach
for the first time at Drake this fall.
There's still room for another 20 students to enroll in the class, which meets the Drake Information Literacy Outcome. The class is offered as ENV 050-302 for first-year students and ENV 150-302 for sophomores, juniors and seniors.
"Citizenship is increasingly mediated by digital communication," said Shulman, principal investigator for the research project. "Political parties interact with members online. Interest groups use Web sites and electronic mail to woo the public. Media organizations perpetually update the news on their information-rich sites. Government makes vital information and documents available via the World Wide Web. Online information can provide the basis for environmental or personal health protection.
"Individuals who lack Internet access or the skills necessary to use information technology are on the underprivileged side of a widely recognized 'digital divide.' This class will explore the possibility for educational innovations that seek to identify, understand and remove these barriers in a comprehensive and systemic manner.î
Students in the class will have the option of attending a lab session on Saturday afternoons at Drake's Dial Center for Computer Sciences. The goal of the lab is to make the students "fluent in information technology"and to prepare them for a service-learning project: teaching others how to master the latest digital communications media.
As part of the study, students who successfully complete the lab sessions will share their knowledge of information technology with under-served citizens living in urban, suburban and rural areas in central Iowa. The study will measure the impact of the program on both citizens and students. Control groups from similar geographic areas will also be evaluated.
"The primary objective of this research project is to test the efficacy of service-learning programs that seek to universalize digital citizenship,"Shulman said.
"Service learning is more than a good deed,"said professor Beisser. "The process begins with identification of a problem or need within a specific community or population, in this case the digitally disenfranchised. Students as problem solvers, together with faculty members at Drake and Iowa State, will generate ways to collaborate and implement a service project in order to make a difference in the lives of others.î
Beisser is co-author of a chapter titled "Service-Learning and Community-Based Teaching and Learning: Developing Citizenship through Social Action"in a new book titled Crossing Cultures: School/University Collaboration in the Social Studies.
The project will be evaluated by Iowa State's Research Institute for Studies in Education, which is coordinated by professor Shelley, co-principal investigator for the project.
"There are few things more essential today than democratizing digital access,"Shelley said. "This will help to equalize the advantages of high technology and make it easier for everyone to be able to play a role in shaping public policy decisions. The Drake-ISU collaboration makes the best use of the resources and skills of both institutions. This can be the beginning of a beautiful friendship along I-35.î
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Sherry and Ron Buel, center, cut a ribbon held by head basketball coaches Lisa Stone and Kurt Kanaskie to celebrate the opening of the new basketball offices. |
Drake basketball coaches Kurt Kanaskie and Lisa Stone and their assistants recently moved into new, larger offices on the lower level of the Drake Knapp Center. The offices were made possible by a gift from Sherry and Ron Buel, BN'62.
Ron Buel is a former alumni and development officer for Drake's College of Business and Public Administration. The Buels participated in a recent ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the new offices, which include a reception area, trophy cases, satellite TV equipment and editing rooms for reviewing game films to correct mistakes and plan strategies for future games.
Kanaskie's old office was in the Fieldhouse and Stone's office had been in the Bell Center. The coaches said they are very happy to be in closer proximity to the students and the arena in which they play. The new facilities are expected to help with recruiting.
"As kids come in to visit Drake, we can give them a first-class tour,"said Dave Blank, athletic director. "We're very excited to have this come to life, and we're very grateful to Ron and Sherry for making this happen.î
"What's neat is that these are THE basketball offices,"Stone said. "They show how far the programs have come. I feel I need to dress up every day just to sit in my office.î
The Iowa Food Policy Council, chaired by Drake Law School professor Neil D. Hamilton, recently issued a report urging the state to increase the promotion of Iowa-grown food.
The 24-page report, the first issued by the Iowa Food Policy Council, is posted on the Drake Agricultural Law Center Web site at www.law.drake.edu/lawCenters/agLawCenter. The report contains several recommendations, which include:
In response to other recommendations made by the council, Gov. Vilsack recently issued an executive order directing the Iowa Food Policy Council to create two inter-agency task forces to recommend improvements in state activities as they relate to food security (hunger and nutrition), and the promotion of Iowa grown food products.
"A consistent theme of our report is the need for Iowa to promote the use of Iowa-grown food, especially within state institutions,"said professor Hamilton, who also directs Drake's Agricultural Law Center.
Gov. Vilsack recently announced a one-year extension of the Iowa Food Policy Council, which was established in 2000 to advise the governor and lieutenant governor on all aspects of the food production system in Iowa.
Research, policy development and publication activities are coordinated by the council through Drake's Agricultural Law Center. Funding for the council's activities comes from private donations, state and federal grant assistance and institutional support from Drake University.
Jack Gerlovich, professor of education at Drake, has been selected by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to coordinate a statewide science teacher safety training program and prepare them for a statewide chemical sweep.
This summer, professor Gerlovich will work with the Iowa Department of Education, Department of Health, Fire Marshal's Office, and Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration to research information applicable to Iowa science teachers. He will then work with an advisory committee to create an interactive CD-ROM encompassing this information.
This fall, he will conduct training programs for 750 Iowa schools, one in each of Iowa's Area Education Agencies. He will be working with Rahul Parsa, associate professor of statistics at Drake, to conduct research concerning the status of safety (facilities, equipment, knowledge of teacher obligations) in Iowa secondary school science programs. The information will be published in state and/or national science/education journals and presented at professional meetings.
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