A Pennsylvania College of Technology faculty member is part of a national initiative to enhance economics education at community colleges and other two-year institutions.
Gerald D. “Chip” Baumgardner, an associate professor of business administration/management in Penn College’s School of Business and Computer Technologies, traveled to Palo Alto, Calif., for an Economics at Community Colleges workshop to promote instructors’ use of innovative resources.
The May 30-June 1 gathering marked the first phase of the project, which is funded by the National Science Foundation and aims to collaboratively improve economics education through relevant professional-development activities for faculty.
Attending were 20 economic educators charged with planning four regionally based programs for two-year institutions, along with eight experts from other disciplines (including biology, English and sociology) that already have developed such outreach projects.
Baumgardner and many of the other participants – representing a variety of two- and four-year colleges – were part of the Teaching Innovation Program in Economics, which also was funded by the NSF and segued into this program.
“I would say it was quite a fulfilling project that allowed me to work with 28 individuals across a broad spectrum of disciplines (mostly economics) in a vibrant atmosphere,” Baumgardner said.
He holds a doctorate from George Mason University, master’s degrees from The Pennsylvania State University and Shippensburg University, and a bachelor’s degree from Penn State.
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