College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State University

Making a difference

Over the past 10 years, Charles Drewes has continued to contribute to the professional development of pre-college biology teachers
"I think most people want to see what they do make a difference."

Charles Drewes hopes his work with secondary biology teachers across the nation has made a difference.

His colleagues definitely think that Drewes has made a significant difference with his hands-on workshops.

"Charlie Drewes has changed the way I teach," writes Ann Lumsden, director of undergraduate biology teacher at Florida State University. "Charlie has influenced me to be more creative, to step out of the box with labs for non-majors, and to be sure that students are learning and enjoying the labs and classes we offer them."

He has also been recognized by his peers, including an outstanding teacher award from Iowa State, the Distinguished Iowa Science Teaching Award from the Iowa Academy of Science, and last year by the National Association of Biology Teachers with their Four-Year College Biology Teaching Award.

His latest honor comes from Iowa State again - this time being named a university professor of ecology, evolution and organismal biology.

"I think what I have done that has been fairly unique is the extent to which I have contributed to the professional development of pre-college teachers and subsequently to many of their students," Drewes says. "It's my passion and my mission, but not to the exclusion of my own classroom teaching and research."

Over the past 10 years, Drewes has actively offered workshops, gave keynote addresses and presentations at professional meetings for biology teachers. He has published extensively in education journals that translate his research into practical, hands-on teaching tools.

He has created a web site that serves as a clearinghouse of materials for teachers and students, and mentors over 60 high school students from 25 states on-line.

And during that time he has also offered residential, hands-on workshops for biology teachers at the Iowa Lakeside Lab. There he instructs the teachers of workshops in invertebrate biology. Participants in Drewes’ Lakeside Lab workshops are involved in a combination of hands-on classroom investigations and fieldwork, including exploring the abundant aquatic habitats of the region.

"Teachers tell me that not too many people do what I do with these workshops getting down in the trenches, conducting lab work and field work with them," Drewes said. "I kind of like the idea of being a non-conformist."

Drewes' workshops feature "low-tech" activities that teachers, regardless of any budgetary constraints, can use in their classrooms.

"You have to offer teachers new stuff that they can utilize directly that doesn't blow them away in terms of their resources or their background," he said.

He says that the hands-on approach is key to his teaching message.

"As a kid I would manufacture little things, like building model airplanes," he recalls. "I feel that hands-on biology is a great outlet for creativity that the teachers can bring back to their classrooms.

"It's clear to me that the methods and techniques that I have to offer are of interest to a lot of people, and the more I see the teachers interested, the more I get energized."

While he has focused most of his energy recently in this area, Drewes is also an active researcher. He has over 60 research publications focusing on the areas of invertebrate neurobiology, neurotoxicology and ecotoxicology.

But Drewes hopes he isn't pigeonholed as either a teacher or a researcher.

"I don't like to be cast in the role of a straight teacher or a straight researcher," he said. "What I do is not really extension either, but rather outreach. For me personally the outreach that I have developed has had direct synergic results with my research. I have shared my research with the teachers in my workshop before I had even thought about publishing it.

"I didn't envision all these things but it's a natural evolution and it certainly has been invigorating and has opened up some quite different perspectives," Drewes continued. "It has shown me how I can make a difference."