Harris - Perspectives on Professional Development John A. Harris Associate Professor of Chemistry and Physical Sciences Saint Francis College Physics Making Reform Happen Reform happens when there is open dialogue between faculty and administration.
Reform happens only when all constituencies realize the importance of student outcomes.
Funding Institutions must be committed to providing funding for faculty to attend professional development activities and conferences. These activites are essential to enable educators to acquire new and better teaching strategies and methods as well as providing opportunities for facutly members to develop relationships with their peers. In the past I have had numerous opportunities to attend activities and conferences on using computers and multimedia in the classroom. I enjoy using computer technology in the classroom to supplement to my regular teaching methods in order to stimulate student interest and understanding of the text material. Recently, I have written a grant that generated a multimedia learning laboratory for a chemistry lab, and I am currently waiting for a decision on a grant which would completely restructure the physics course and laboratory.