Susan and Kada—both first-generation students who graduated from Penn State in 1966—had very different educational experiences, particularly in mathematics, as a result of being exposed to vastly different teaching styles in the same major courses and non-specialists. This leads them to believe that there must be better ways to teach the material.
“Giving our faculty the tools to support our students’ educational journeys both inside and outside the classroom is a priority for our college and for the university,” said Tracy Langkild, Verne M. Willaman Dean of the Eberly College of Science. . “Gifts like this one from Susan and Kada Grove are instrumental in bringing together the most creative minds to collaborate and promote excellence in science teaching and learning and position our graduates for success.”
The Grove Center brings together a thriving community with a college focused on using a scientific approach to enhance STEM education and learning.
“We work together across departments and disciplines to share, grow and develop, try new things and critically evaluate existing courses and programs, and support innovative ideas,” said Jackie Bortiatinsky, director of the Grove Center. “We are teachers and researchers, both novices and experts, coming together around the common ground of STEM education.”
What began more than a decade ago with the creation of the Center for Excellence in Science Education, followed by the founding of the Office of Digital Learning, is coming together in the Grove Center, along with new efforts in discipline-based education research.
“Asking questions and collecting and using data to apply a scientific approach to teaching and curriculum are key components to identifying where we as a college can better support student learning and success,” explained Bortiatinsky. “The Grove Center for Excellence in Science Education brings together expertise from each of our disciplines, with partners from other Penn State colleges and campuses, around science teaching and learning. With our partners, we look forward to how we equip and support instructors to work with students to learn best in our environment.”
Much of the center’s activity is accomplished through learning communities, where faculty, staff, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students work collaboratively on topics ranging from curriculum design and classroom instruction to student engagement and assessment, educational equity, and professional development of graduate students in teaching. There are regular workshops and discussions where instructors share and learn. One of these is the premier Evidence-Based Teaching Academy, an annual weeklong workshop for faculty members and students that focuses on implementing research-supported teaching practices in education. The center also directly impacts thousands of Penn State students across the university each semester – up to 10,000 per year – through the Learning Assistant program, which enhances the college’s learning environment through undergraduate facilitation and learning support. The center even offers a grant program to support teaching innovation with competitive seed funding.
“Supporting all of these efforts, the Grove Center’s gift is an affirmation of the fundamental importance of teaching to Penn State’s mission and land-grant legacy, and is indicative of Eberly College’s continued investment in education as well as research,” said Mary Beth Williams, senior associate dean for science education at Eberly College.
Donors like Groves advance the university’s historic mission of providing land to serve and lead. Through philanthropy, alumni and friends help students join the Penn State family and prepare for lifelong success; stimulating research, dissemination and economic development that increase our shared strength and preparedness for the future; and increasing the university’s impact on families, patients and communities across the country and around the world. Learn more by visiting raise.psu.edu.
