Dr. Jen Oswald, chair of the Division of Education and associate professor of education at Northwestern Oklahoma State University, is now one of more than 200 “Get the Facts Out” Champions across the United States.
Get the Facts Out is a National Science Foundation-funded partnership between the Colorado School of Mines and four national societies: American Physical Society, American Chemical Society, American Association of Physics Teachers, and the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators, all working to repair the reputation of the teaching profession.
This unique project is designed to reach STEM majors in a large fraction of all U.S. mathematics, chemistry, and physics departments and has the potential to significantly address teacher shortages in these high-need STEM disciplines.
To be a Champion, all one needs to do is register at https://getthefactsout.org and start sharing facts about the teaching profession by using the materials and messages from the GFO project locally or nationally. Those interested in gaining a higher champion status can earn points by finishing a number of listed activities. Oswald has completed enough activities to be listed as a one-star champion.
“I think Dr. Oswald becoming a GFO (Get the Facts Out) champion is an exciting venture!” said Dr. Steve Maier, dean of faculty at Northwestern. “While GFO was originally designed to engage faculty in the STEM disciplines to recruit students into teacher preparation programs, GFO project leaders have always valued and welcomed teacher education faculty and professionals. This partnership not only demonstrates the collaborative nature of our divisions and departments here at NWOSU, but it also will help the national GFO program grow in new ways.”
Maier, who served as the chair of the Department of Natural Science and a physics faculty member before taking on his current administrative role, also participates in this organization as a Physics Change Agent, which is described as an individual in their respective discipline who is committed to teacher preparation, is well-known in their discipline, and has agreed to conduct national campaigns to recruit and support GFO Champions at institutions across the U.S.
On the organization’s website are free customizable presentations for students and faculty, as well as posters, brochures, infographics, and teacher salary information from more than 100 regions across the country.
“I want to help recruit educators to the profession,” Oswald said. “So many high schoolers have the drive and desire to become an educator but are discouraged from pursuing education as a career. By becoming a champion, I have access to resources and research to help me visit with high schoolers about education and the positive aspects of the profession – there are many!”
As a Champion, Oswald said she plans to provide feedback from surveys during her own presentations to assist in research efforts.
Although GFO is focused mainly on math and science education, Oswald said she believes anyone with an interest in education would appreciate the research and resources made available to GFO Champions.
Anyone interested in learning more about this organization may visit with Maier at (580) 327-8590 or sjmaier@nwosu.edu or Oswald at (580) 327-8451 or jdoswald@nwosu.edu.
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