This is the third part of our series about what’s going on in great schools near universities whose men’s basketball teams made the Final Four this year. Here, we look at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. The 2013 enrollment was about 30,500, and the university accepted about 45 percent of its applicants in 2012.
Its Neag School of Education is one of the most highly ranked colleges of education in the country, but the program is unique in terms of the research departments available to grad students:
- Curriculum and instruction
- Educational psychology
- Educational leadership
- Kinesiology (which includes physical therapy)
“Although distinct in nature, these departments work collaboratively to prepare high quality clinicians, educators, and practitioners who are leaders in their fields from athletic training and exercise science to physical therapy and school counseling,” says the school’s website.
And despite the fact that studying kinesiology may be seen to serve athletics more than academics, people with graduate degrees in kinesiology often find themselves in positions to motivate students and help them maintain healthy lifestyles.
Combining a love of both sport and teaching, then, can produce people who know how to motivate kids not only to pursue healthy lifestyles but also to explore careers and other human endeavors in the STEM fields.
Beth Taylor, PhD, for example, serves on the Hartford Public Schools board of education and also as an assistant professor of health sciences and the director of the Center for Health, Care, and Well-Being in the Institute for Translational Research at University of Hartford. She’s also involved in advancing STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) initiatives, especially those that promote women in science.
The Connecticut Technology Council announced on Feb 19 that 59 women had been selected as “Women of Innovation” for the 10th annual WOI Awards Program. The program recognized women across Connecticut—including those in the workforce and several high school students—who are innovators, role models, and leaders in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math.
