Denise Koessler Looks to Make Good Use of Her Wooster Degree

WOOSTER, Ohio - Denise Koessler won't have to wait long to put her Wooster degree into practice. The senior mathematics major from Knoxville, Tenn., has been awarded a two-year, $60,000 fellowship by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to attend East Tennessee State University (ETSU) and participate in its newly designed Science First graduate program. The initiative, which is funded by a $3 million grant awarded to ETSU from the NSF's Division of Graduate Education GK-12 program, is designed to help graduate students in science and mathematics "acquire skills that will broadly prepare them for professional and scientific careers" in the 21st century.

Koessler, one of nine graduate fellows selected for the program, will begin by assessing and recommending revisions to the math and science curriculum at nearby North Side Elementary School. "The school almost closed several years ago because of poor performance, but it has now become a signature school for math and science," says Koessler. "As NSF Fellows, we will try to help the school become even stronger in those areas."

The graduate students will work together as they review textbooks and rearrange lesson plans so there is continuity, according to Koessler, who is the only one of the nine with a license in education. "Our goal will be to organize the curriculum according to common topics," she says. "For example, on a day in which students study the orbits of the planets in science class, they might also calculate what they would weigh on the moon in math class, and then study the history of the planets and the role of Galileo in social studies class."

Gordon Anderson, dean of ETSU's College of Arts and Sciences and principal investigator for the grant, said that in addition to their coursework and research activities, the graduate students will work with North Side teachers to develop experiments, demonstrations and other resources to be used as the school creates a science-focused curriculum.

Koessler is excited by the opportunity and confident that her experience at Wooster has prepared her well. "Everything I've done at Wooster will play a role in what I do in this program," she says. From strong foundations in math and education, to leadership skills learned as captain of the varsity swimming team to I.S. (Wooster's nationally renowned Independent Study program, which matches each student with a faculty member in a yearlong research project that culminates in a graduate-level thesis, performance, or exhibition of artwork), Koessler is ready for the challenge. "This prestigious and unique opportunity allows me to continue walking the fence between becoming an educator or a math researcher," she says. "I could not be more thrilled to be a part of this new National Science Foundation program and the groundbreaking bridges we will be building between graduate level research and the elementary classroom."

John Ramsay, professor of mathematics at Wooster, is certain that Koessler will excel in this environment. "Denise's strength in mathematics and her interest in education make her a perfect match for the program," he says. "It is a great opportunity for her."