Welcome to the new Cottrell Scholar’s website. Our goal is to make
this a living resource for promising academic researchers who are, or who
want to be, great science teachers.
In keeping with the spirit of scientific inquiry, this is a largely experimental
enterprise, one which is likely to evolve as we learn what works — and,
yes, we’d like to hear your suggestions.
Teaching science at the college and university level is important not only because
we must always be preparing the next generation of researchers, but also because
science literacy in America is spotty at best; at Research Corporation — the
nation’s first foundation for science advancement, begun in 1912 — we
want to do what we can to make improvements on both fronts.
That’s why you’ll notice a fairly broad approach to the science on
this website; we’re hoping to draw in the occasional general reader who
manages to stray in our direction. Our profiles of the 2007 Cottrell Scholar
awardees are written by Ford Burkhart, former international editor of The New
York Times, who, for reasons of love and personal history, has decided to spend
some of his retirement years in Tucson, where RC is headquartered. We’re
delighted to have him aboard on this project.
Our main page features Burkhart’s profiles of the current year’s
Cottrell scholars, which we offer as a starting point for the numerous discussions
on research and teaching we hope to foster here. Feel free to look around, and
then begin or get involved in one of those discussions. For starters, we’d
like to hear your thoughts on how far we’ve all come in improving how science
is taught, and, more importantly, how much further we need to go.
Ultimately, this is your site – we’re hoping you use it to inform,
inspire and to learn from your peers. Help us create a source for great ideas
and discussions about teaching science.
