Lynn Burley, associate professor, Department of Writing, has been chosen as one of 13 Scientific Thinking and Integrative Reasoning Skills (STIRS) Scholars by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) for 2014-2015.
Burley is the only Arkansas professor invited to the STIRS Scholars project.
“Specifically, I will design a student case study that demands scientific reasoning, evidence-based problem solving and must use data-based and statistical reasoning. I also will construct the Facilitator’s Guide that will allow anyone in a variety of disciplines to teach this case study. My case is ‘Should English be the Official Language of the United States?’” Burley said.
The STIRS project invites scholars across all sectors of higher education to develop educational resources, curricular designs, and assessment strategies that make evidence-based reasoning a more explicit outcome of liberal education. Additionally, the project encourages campus leaders to imagine scientific thinking as a means through which to intentionally integrate knowledge, skills, and action across the undergraduate experience and through the widest array of disciplines.
As part of the STIRS project, Burley will attend the General Education and Assessment conference on February 27 in Portland, Oregon and the AAC&U Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. from January 21-24, 2015. STIRS Scholars will receive an honorarium of $500 in each of the two years of service, and the STIRS Initiative will pay for STIRS Scholars’ travel expenses and attendance at the 2014 General Education and Assessment Network conference and AAC&U’s 2015 Annual Meeting.
Information about this project can be found at http://www.aacu.org/stirs/index.cfm.
