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[printer friendly version]posted on 9/23/11
Saint Joseph's College Receives $10,000 Vernier Grant
(Left to Right): Sarah Stines, Tyler Callaghan, and Adrienne DiRuzza modeling the rebound height of a bouncing ball using a motion detector.
Saint Joseph's College is one of ten higher education institutions to receive Vernier Software and Technology's 30th Anniversary Technology Grant. More than 2,000 schools applied for the grant. The recipients will be given their choice of $10,000 worth of Vernier technology.
Vernier creates world-class data-collection solutions for teachers and offers a full line of award-winning interfaces, sensors, software, and curriculum that help engage and excite students through hands-on scientific exploration.
SJC's Director of Grants and Contracts Sandra McMullen worked with Professor of Mathematics Dr. Karen Donnelly and Assistant Professor of Mathematics Marge McIlwain to determine how they would use the technology.
"When the Vernier grant opportunity was announced, we decided to apply," said Donnelly. "It was a perfect opportunity to obtain funding to update our equipment and make some new acquisitions."
Workshops will provide training for interested faculty members across all disciplines how to use Vernier technology and how to incorporate it into course projects. A general focus of the department is to implement hands-on activities to connect mathematics to the real world, and the Vernier grant will provide them with the technology to make this possible.
"A lot of new technology is now available from Vernier, and this will give us a chance to order the things that were on our wish list," said McIlwain. "As stated in our grant proposal, we also hope to train other faculty on the use of this equipment so they can see opportunities to use it for quantitative applications in their courses."
Donnelly and McIlwain first started incorporating mathematical modeling of real-world data with real-time data acquisition devices into their courses in 2001. Their work began with the Teaching Scholars Partnership Program, funded by a two-year $30,000 grant from the National Science Foundation through the Council for Independent Colleges. Both professors have continued to use the technology for classroom student projects in Calculus, Mathematics as a Human Pursuit, and Differential Equations.
For more information, contact Karen Donnelly at karend@saintjoe.edu.
Saint Joseph's College, named a "character-building college" by the Templeton Foundation and a "best Midwestern college" by the Princeton Review, is a four-year, Catholic college offering 26 majors, 4 group majors, 28 minors, and 9 pre-professional programs, complemented by the nationally acclaimed Core Program. Founded and sponsored by the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, SJC is located in Rensselaer, Indiana, approximately 90 minutes from both Chicago and Indianapolis, on a park-like campus of 180 acres and has an enrollment of more than 1,000 students.
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