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| navigate: home: magazine: fall 2000: article | |
| World Campus names director of Academic Affairs | ||||||
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Dr. Peter A. Rubba, professor and head of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education at Penn State, is the new director of Academic Affairs for the Penn State World Campus. As director of Academic Affairs, he is a senior director in the World Campus and second-in-charge of the Department of Distance Education. He reports to the associate vice president for Distance Education. Rubba is working with academic departments across the University to develop certificate and degree programs for the World Campus, as well as for Independent Learning and other Distance Education programs. In addition, he is coordinating with University academic units to oversee the development and ongoing enhancement of World Campus and Distance Education programs. He also is responsible for faculty development and is meeting regularly with faculty members involved in Distance Education/World Campus programs. “Dr. Rubba brings 16 years of Penn State experience as a faculty member and academic leader to the World Campus. He understands the Penn State academic community and has been a national leader in his discipline,” Dr. Gary E. Miller, associate vice president for Distance Education and executive director of the World Campus, said. “His experience and insights will be invaluable in bringing the academic vision of the World Campus to full flower.” Before joining the World Campus and Department of Distance Education, Rubba served as head of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education from 1994 to 2000. He chaired the Central Pennsylvania Holmes Local Partnership Steering Committee and served on several college committees, including the Professional Certification Coordinating Council for teacher education. He also served as interim coordinator of teacher education and professor-in-charge of several Curriculum and Instruction options. He joined the faculty of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in 1984, after eight years at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, where he was associate professor of science education. From 1985 to 1988, he was the first director of the Center for Education in Science, Technology and Society at Penn State. He was professor-in-charge of Science Education from 1988 to 1992 and a Continuing Education Fellow in the College of Education from 1993 to 1995. During his academic career, Rubba has taught undergraduate science teaching and learning courses for prospective secondary science teachers and graduate courses in science education. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he taught chemistry, general science and physics in Northcentral Ohio. Rubba’s research has focused on K–12 implementation of science, technology and society (STS) education and science teacher development in STS. He has authored three books, more than a dozen book chapters and more than 50 articles in refereed journals. In addition, he co-authored a middle school STS unit on Global Atmospheric Change, and he has been the first co-editor of the annual meeting proceedings of the Association for the Education of Teachers of Science since 1996. He also has made numerous presentations at national and state-level professional meetings in science education, as well as at science teacher professional development programs and workshops. His research instruments on the nature of science and technology are widely used. Rubba has received seven National Science Foundation teacher enhancement grants, six state-level teacher enhancement grants and awards from ACTION (to prepare teachers for the Peace Corps). He also has been awarded research grants from the U.S. Department of Education and PA Goals 2000, and he has secured funding for minority student doctoral fellowships from private foundations. Throughout his academic career, he has been active in continuing and distance education and outreach. As a Continuing Education Fellow, he promoted continuing education and distance education initiatives, and he authored the guidelines for proposing Department of Curriculum and Instruction courses to be offered through Continuing Education and at other Penn State locations. He also was responsible for the final review of these courses. In the mid-1990s, he initiated Curriculum and Instruction master of education degree offerings in cooperation with Penn State DuBois and Penn State Altoona. The courses were delivered using a combination of on-site teaching and distance education technology. AT&T funded development of the delivery model. Rubba also has received two project initiation grants from Outreach and Cooperative Extension. Between 1995 and 1999, he was a project evaluator for the West Virginia K–12 RuralNet Project, a five-year multimillion-dollar project funded by the National Science Foundation and Bell Atlantic to hardwire schools for the Internet and provide related professional development for teachers. He also provided administrative support to place an Early Childhood Education Certificate program on the World Campus. Rubba has served as president of the Association for the Education of Teachers in Science. He is a member of several professional organizations, including the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (Early Adolescence Science Standards Committee) and the National Science Teachers Association boards of directors. He recently completed an extended term on the Pennsylvania Chemical Industry Council’s Education Committee. He also reviews manuscripts for the Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Journal of Science Teacher Education and Science Education. In June, he participated in a three-week National Science Foundation-sponsored institute on program evaluation at Western Michigan University. He received his bachelor of science degree in chemistry from Ashland College (1969) and a master of arts degree in history and philosophy of science (1974) and a doctorate in science education (1977), both from Indiana University (Bloomington). | |||||
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© 2002 Outreach Communications, Outreach & Cooperative Extension, The Pennsylvania State University phone: (814) 865-8108, fax: (814) 863-2765, e-mail: outreachnews@outreach.psu.edu |
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