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Learning Revolution New School of Human Ecology
New technology is poised to knock down the walls of the science classroom The long-standing department prepares to become a school
Today’s College of Natural Sciences students learn These images were captured Human Ecology—a department familiar with the concepts of growth, change and
in classrooms bursting with multimedia technology. from a webcast lecture
creative vision—is embarking on its own journey of maturation. The department
Their instructors use the Internet, bring USB flash given by Dr. David Laude,
drives to class, show clips from DVDs, flip through chemistry professor. In the will become a school within the College of Natural Sciences, a change in status that
PowerPoint presentations, and project documents on top left corner of each image,
complements the continued expansion of Human Ecology’s excellent research and
enormous screens. a video shows Laude writing
“The shift in status to a school
Now the college is harnessing the power of the web on the overhead projector educational programs.
to give students 24-hour, unlimited access to their and moving around the room.
lectures. The overhead projector is at UT will enhance our visibility
“Human Ecology has a very important mission: to study and foster the healthy
The largest lecture hall in the college—Welch Hall shown to web viewers in the development of individuals and their families,” says Dr. Cathy Surra, department
room 2.224—has served as a test case for a new fully upper right corner of their
and competitive edge. It also will chair. “No other unit on this campus is exclusively devoted to the study of the family.
automated, motion-detector camera system, which computer screen.
records teachers as they lecture. The recorded lectures The shift in status to a school at UT will enhance our visibility and competitive edge.
are synchronized with other digital media in the class- enable us to grow our research
It also will enable us to grow our research and educational programs in ways that
room, like overhead projections and slides, and pub-
lished in a web-ready format.
and educational programs in ways
meet the goals for excellence set by the Commission of 125.”
The new system gives students unprecedented access
The Divisions of Human Development and Family Sciences, Nutritional Sciences,
to their learning materials. They can review archives of
their lectures when studying for finals, watch classes that meet the goals for excellence and Textiles and Apparel will become departments within the new school.
they miss due to illness, and return to certain prob-
Surra anticipates that the change to a school will occur within the next two to
lems, graphs, or demonstrations that seemed difficult
set by the Commission of 125.”
the first time around. three years and will require a significant fundraising effort.
“ I’ve always liked the idea of learning on demand,”
The new status will give Human Ecology the opportunity to expand its mission to
says Dr. Kurt Bartelmehs, coordinator of classroom
technology for the college and lead architect of the include even greater academic excellence at the university and service to the com-
new system.
munity. “The work we do is fundamental to strengthening the families of Texas and
Dr. David Laude, associate dean for undergraduate
education and professor of chemistry and biochemis- the nation,” Surra says. ✥
try, tested out the new webcasting technology during
his Fall 2005 Chemistry 301 class, an introductory
course taught to 500 students.
spring 2005 commencement speeches
“ The students really liked having the videos as some-
thing they could rely on when they needed access to
what I was teaching,” says Laude.
“ They had the opportunity to listen to someone
explain difficult concepts at different stages in the
learning process. It’s one thing to learn about the mate- Jim Vick
Dr. James Vick joined the Department of
Mathematics of The University of Texas at Austin in
rial when you know nothing and another thing to go
1970. From 1978 to 1989 he served as Associate Dean
back and listen after spending some time working College of Natural Sciences
for Academic and Student Affairs in the College of
problems and doing additional reading,” he adds. School of Biological Sciences
Natural Sciences and as Vice President for Student
And all of this comes with no extra effort on Laude’s May 21, 2005
Affairs from 1989 to 2005. He returned to full-time
part, because all the videotaping and webcast conver-
faculty status in Mathematics in June 2005.
sion is automatic. He simply shows up to class and For transcripts of the commencement speech, go to:
does what he does best: teach. cns.utexas.edu/student/graduation/jim_vick.html
“ Kurt made it a piece of cake,” he says.
The college plans to add the webcasting ability to
four more teaching auditoriums in the near future, Jack Gilbert
Dr. Jack Gilbert is a professor in the Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Associate
and hopes to expand the capabilities to as many rooms
Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Natural
as possible. This is learning and studying for the 21st College of Natural Sciences
Sciences.
century. ✥ May 21, 2005
For transcripts of the commencement speech, go to:
cns.utexas.edu/student/graduation/jack_gilbert.html
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