The Sewall Residential Academic Program at the University of Colorado at 麻豆官网 has inaugurated the Sewall Teaching Fellowship, honoring one faculty member annually who is known to be among the university聮s best teachers.
Michael Grant, a professor in the environmental, population and organismic biology department, is the first recipient of the fellowship. Grant will teach a new course title "Recent Discoveries in Biology and Their Ethical Implications" at Sewall during the next academic year.
He will receive a $1,000 honorarium and $500 for professional development. During the semester that the fellowship is held, Grant will conduct the class for 15 students in the Sewall Residential Academic Program instead of one taught in his home department.
To be considered for the fellowship, the class can be a core course that meets the general education requirements of the College of Arts and Sciences or an experimental course that the faculty member has wanted to teach. The Sewall Teaching Award recipient also is asked to hold a workshop for the Sewall faculty to explore new ways of teaching first-year students and to attend a reception in his or her honor.
The goals of Grant聮s course include: challenging a small group of highly motivated students in various science and ethical issues surrounding some of the newest discoveries in biology; nurturing students聮 abilities and skills with respect to thoughtful, effective and civil argument; helping improve writing proficiency and deepening students聮 appreciation of biological science.
"I聮m hoping to develop a sense of team work and an integrated approach to problem solving," Grant said. "Part of the structure of the course will directly require this of the students."
Grant is an evolutionary biologist and works primarily with plants. He currently is doing computer simulation work of evolutionary processes. In the past he has concentrated on forest-tree evolution and ecology.
Other courses Grant has taught include Principles of Evolution, Biometry, Introduction to the Scanning Electron Microscope, Field Ecology, Honors General Biology, General Biology and several others.
The Sewall Residential Academic Program focuses on American Studies. It also offers a wide variety of liberal arts courses. Grant聮s course, Recent Discoveries in Biology and Their Ethical Implications, is a unique addition to the program.
Residential Academic Programs have been successful in meeting CU-麻豆官网聮s needs to provide "academic neighborhoods" and small classes for new students. The Sewall Residential Program has been the recipient of the CU Parents Academic Award for the last two years.