Contact: Jonathan Lawson, (208) 236-2362
POCATELLO -- Dr. Ken W. Bosworth, Idaho State University associate professor of mathematics and 1996 ISU Distinguished Teacher of the Year, has been named 1996 Idaho Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Bosworth was chosen from 585 nominees as one of 49 state winners. Four 1996 national winners will be announced today (Oct. 10). The program is administered by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), which established the Professors of the Year program in 1981.
Bosworth received a certificate from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching during ceremonies conducted in his classroom at the Idaho Falls ISU/UI Center for Higher Education, where he teaches two days a week.
Bosworth views his teaching as a twofold moral lesson to the students: to foster a thoughtful and considered outlook on life, and to engender enthusiasm for working in a job one finds to be enjoyable and fulfilling.
He says, "Teaching mathematics at the undergraduate level is difficult. This is especially true when the course is intended for non-majors as a core requirement, is an introductory course towards some other 'final destination,' or is intended to tell the students 'all the math they need to know' for their particular major.
"Many students enter the university with prejudices, dislikes, pre-formed conceptions and even phobias concerning mathematics. Mathematics is often viewed as a subject with tedious rules, unmotivated tricks, and as consisting of some sort of mysterious or even unfathomable symbol manipulation game. The concept that mathematics is an enjoyable, rewarding thought process with its own language that suggests unifying approaches to solving disparate problems has been lost or was never there for many students.
"If a college teacher is to be successful and have an impact on students, he must somehow overcome these handicaps and misconceptions and re-instill in his students who are lacking it that natural curiosity about why and how things work. One of my main contributions to undergraduate mathematics education lies in my teaching approach, which attempts to attain this goal."
As a child Bosworth had a natural curiosity about all sciences and in high school was "tracked" into the science curriculum. Majoring in physics as an undergraduate, he learned that the mathematical structure behind physics was what really enthralled him and decided to pursue a graduate degree in applied mathematics in an academic career.
His research centers on environmental and ecological applications. He says topics from these fields are readily recognized, comprehended and appreciated by students and evoke "heated classroom discussion -- yes, in a mathematics course!"
Bosworth has been at ISU since 1992. He has B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He also studied as a Fachhoerer, Abteilung fuer Mathematik/Physik in Zuerich. As a teaching assistant, Bosworth received the 1980 Ralph E. Huston Award for outstanding teaching awarded by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He also taught at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, while serving as an adjunct faculty member at Utah State University (1990-1992). Previously, he was an assistant professor of Mathematics at Utah State University (1984-1990).
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Princeton, N.J., is devoted to strengthening America's schools and colleges. CASE is an international association of colleges, universities, and independent elementary and secondary schools.