Professor honored by Carnegie Foundation

IU biology professor Craig Nelson was honored earlier this month by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching for his research project on how to foster and assess critical thinking in evolutionary biology courses.\nAt the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL), Nelson was one of 40 professors nationwide chosen from a pool of more than 120 applicants whose project was recognized by CASTL.\nMore specifically, Nelson's project is "continuing his efforts to foster and promote both cognitive development and intellectual achievement. To evaluate the extent to which his approach is working, he is assessing cognitive development and the students' acceptance of evolution and their relationship to learning (measured as grades)," according to CFAT's press release.\nNelson was also honored by the Carnegie Foundation in November 2000 as the organization's U.S. Professor of the Year. He was chosen from a pool of more than 500 nominees.\nFor his project, Nelson received a $6,000 project stipend, which was used to provide on-site costs of a summer residence with the Carnegie Foundation and interim meetings.\n"The work of the Carnegie Scholar is essential because teaching tends to be a private act, limited to the teacher and students; it is rarely evaluated by professional peers," said Carnegie Foundation President Lee S. Shulman. "This work allows knowledge to be shared and used by others."\nScholars are chosen on the basis of their work and a project proposal. CFAT claims all projects should be "public, susceptible to critical review and evaluation and accessible for exchange and use by other members of one's scholarly community"