Craig E Nelson
Indiana University, Biology, Emeritus
- CRAIG E. NELSON is Professor Emeritus of Biology at Indiana University where he has been on the faculty since 1966 (r... moreCRAIG E. NELSON is Professor Emeritus of Biology at Indiana University where he has been on the faculty since 1966 (retiring from teaching in 2004). He also serves as a faculty development consultant
[CV is posted here under About]
Awards: Dr. Nelson's tenure and promotions cited excellence in teaching, an unusual accomplishment at a research university. He received awards for distinguished teaching from IU and nationally competitive awards from Vanderbilt and Northwestern and is a Carnegie Scholar. • In 2000, he was named the Outstanding Research And Doctoral University Professor Of The Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). • In 2001 he received the President's Medal for Excellence, "the highest honor bestowed by Indiana University."
Faculty Development: Dr. Nelson has given invited presentations and workshops on topics in teaching and learning at national meetings and individual institutions in 37 states and 8 countries on topics including: • Fostering Critical Thinking and Mature Valuing Across the Curriculum, • Scholarship of Teaching that That Really Matters: Three Pedagogical Changes That Can Make a Real Difference in Achievement, Equity and Retention ANY College or University Classroom, • Alternative Approaches to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and • Effective strategies for teaching evolution and other controversial issues. For many years he has been a featured presenter (and occasional keynote speaker) at the International Lilly Conferences on College Teaching. He presented some 40 three-day Chautauqua Short Courses for college science faculty in a program sponsored by the National Science Foundation.
Biological Research: Dr. Nelson's biological research (60+ articles) was on evolution and ecology, initially on frogs, most recently on sex-determination in turtles. Questions addressed include: Why should an orchid scare its pollinators? Why should hot eggs become females in turtles?
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL): Dr. Nelson's SOTL focuses on the scholarships of synthesis and application. When he began it was clear that the empirical and theoretical basis for much improved college teaching was already well in hand. He has worked to develop applications and to help other faculty understand and apply this knowledge. He has published more than 50 articles and chapters addressing topics including critical thinking and mature valuing, diversity, active learning, teaching evolution and SOTL.
Teaching: Dr. Nelson taught: introductory biology; graduate and undergraduate evolution and ecology; an Intensive Freshman Seminar (Biology, Critical thinking and Real Life) and several interdisciplinary and honors courses (e.g. Environmental Science and Policy, Ideas and Human Experience, the History of Everything Except Civilization), and part of a three course liberal-arts cluster (Knowing, Knowledge and Their Limits: Literature, Psychology, and Biology). He regularly taught a graduate biology course on Alternative Approaches to Teaching College Biology.
Service: Dr. Nelson was on the committee that in 1998 founded the innovative Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Program at IU (see www.indiana.edu/~sotl/). This program received the prestigious Hesburgh Award for outstanding faculty development in 2003 (newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/777.html). He chaired (2004-05) the founding committee for the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (http://www.issotl.org/) and became its first president. Until his retirement he served on the editorial boards of key journals for the scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL). He also co-directed NSF funded institutes for high school biology teachers on “Evolution and the Nature of Science” (www.indiana.edu/~ensiweb/home.html).
Administration: Dr. Nelson directed the Graduate Programs in Zoology (1981-83) and in Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology (1984-87). He was the first Director (1971-77) of Environmental Programs in IU's then new School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Its interdisciplinary environmental programs (B.A. to Ph.D.) now rank among the best worldwide.edit
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Shirley Watt Ireton, Director Judy Cusick, Associate Editor Carol Duval, Associate Editor Linda Olliver, Cover Design Art and Design Linda Olliver, Director NSTA Web Tim Weber, Webmaster Outreach Michael Byrnes, Editor-at-Large Periodicals Publishing Shelley Carey, Director ...
