|
|
|
|
|
The IASCE Awards--first announced in 2008 in Torino, Italy--are intended to recognize individuals or groups who have made outstanding contributions to the field of cooperative learning. There are two main types of awards—The Achievement Awards and the Award for Outstanding Dissertation/Thesis.
Awards are typically announced in conjunction with IASCE Conferences, with applications being posted on the IASCE website, and announced in the IASCE newsletter, approximately one year in advance. Awardees include: November 2010—Brisbane, Australia Lifetime Achievement Award: Richard Schmuck Richard Schmuck was the keynote speaker at the first (1979) international conference on cooperative learning, at which IASCE was founded. His address focused on themes that extended the dimensions of cooperative learning beyond the classroom, to include strategies that engage students in school-wide governance and encourage cooperation among students, teachers, and administrators to establish cooperative cultures. Dr. Schmuck was the elected first president of IASCE and, throughout the years of IASCE's history, he has been a stalwart supporter of the association. He has attended and contributed to many IASCE conferences. He has been a prolific writer, authoring many articles and books on the theme of cooperation in education. He has chaired doctoral dissertations for many who went on to serve in schools and colleges across the US and in 15 other countries. Dr. Schmuck continues to consult and teach in school districts, community colleges, and universities worldwide.
Outstanding Contributions to Research: Robyn Gillies Robyn Gillies is a widely respected researcher in the areas of learning sciences, classroom discourse, instruction, and student behavior. One important feature of her published work is a consistent focus on building connections between the theories that underlie the study of group dynamics and their practical applications to classrooms. Dr. Gillies has worked extensively in schools and her research has provided insights in a broad range of areas, including assessment practices for measuring the outcomes of cooperative learning, the role and value of group experiences in the promotion of socialization and peer friendships, the role of the teacher in designing and facilitating cooperative learning, and the critical importance of interactional styles in facilitating learning. Dr. Gillies is an elected member of the IASCE Board of Directors and an associate professor in the School of Education at The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. The quality, breadth, and applied nature of her research combine to make her work an exemplar of a professional dedicated to the sustained study of cooperative learning.
Outstanding Contributions through the Creation of Cooperative Instructional Materials: Spencer Kagan Spencer Kagan is founder and director of Kagan Publishing and Professional Development. Through this organization, he has disseminated a wide variety of materials that reflect the vital connection between the vast fields of ongoing research and the practice of cooperative learning. He supports a firm and wide base for the sustainability of cooperative learning practices. His contributions have included Cooperative Learning—a comprehensive teacher-training manual that has been translated into many languages, workshops and training sessions facilitated by him and his team, and the publication of teacher-oriented materials by many additional authors. Dr. Kagan participated in the first international conference in 1979 and has supported IASCE since that time. His sustained focus on cooperative learning and his work with teachers worldwide combine to make his work an exemplar of commitment to the dissemination of cooperative learning.
Outstanding Contributions through Service and Activism: Alan Wilkins Alan Wilkins has played a key role in disseminating and applying the thinking and practice of cooperation into a wide range of sectors in the United Kingdom and internationally, He coordinated the first-co-operative education conference in the United Kingdom in 1987 and established a template for over 30 subsequent national events. What is distinctive about a UK perspective on co-operative approaches to learning is that pedagogic practice is aligned with co-operative values. Within this context, Mr. Wilkins articulated the links between co-operative behavior, structures and values. Amongst his professional roles, he was Head of Learning at the UK Co-operative College. Subsequently he has formed Co-operative Learning and Development Associates, a training co-operative committed to keeping co-operative learning approaches vibrant and at the leading edge. Mr. Wilkins’ sustained commitment to co-operative approaches and his focus on the alignment of behaviors, structures and values in a variety of sectors combine to make his work an exemplar of commitment to an examination of systems thinking and community based co-operative enterprise.
Outstanding Dissertation: Isabella Pescarmona Isabella Pescarmona completed an ethnographic study that explored teachers’ professional identity as they implemented cooperative learning in classrooms. The study represents a two-year observation of educational innovation through the introduction, production, and assessment of original Complex Instruction teaching units in a new social, cultural, and political context. Her work provides insights into the effects of this innovation on the choices, strategies, and changes in teachers’ professional identity and on their students’ competences. It also analyzes the potential role of Complex Instruction in multicultural classrooms. Dr. Pescarmona’s dissertation--completed as part of her studies at the Department of the Science of Education at the University of Torino, Italy--documents the work of an emerging scholar with a command of the research in comparative education and strong knowledge and well-developed practice in Complex Instruction.
June 2008—Nagoya, Japan Outstanding Dissertation: Julia Tsu-chia Hsu Julia Hsu completed an action research study that grew out of her concerns while teaching university students in Taipei, Taiwan. Julia located her problem within the political and policy context of higher education in Taiwan, showing the need for change in teaching and learning to position Taiwanese to compete in the global economies. Based on a careful review of the literature on foreign language learning, motivation theory, task-based learning approaches and cooperative learning, she created an imaginative research design where she was both the teacher and researcher. Her findings suggest that cooperative group strategies, within a task-based approach to reading instruction, improved student motivation as well as overall English language proficiency.
Dr. Hsu’s Thesis—completed as part of her studies at the School of Education, University of Durham, England—documents the work of an emerging teacher and scholar. It also reflects Dr. Elizabeth Cohen’s values of empowering teachers to conduct classroom research into the barriers that impede students at all levels of education from learning. |