FACULTY VITA SUMMARY
SUSAN JANE BRITSCH, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Literacy and Language Education
Appointed Fall, 1992 (10 month appointment)
1. Academic Record
Ph.D. / University of California, Berkeley, 1992Education
M.A. / California State University, Fresno, 1980, Linguistics (With Distinction)
B.A. / California State University, Fresno, 1977,
French (Summa Cum Laude)
2. Professional Experience
1997-present / Associate Professor of Curriculum and InstructionLiteracy and Language Education
School of Education, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
1992-1997 / Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction
Literacy and Language Education
School of Education, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Summer, 1996 / Visiting Assistant Professor
Graduate School of Education
Division of Language , Literacy and Culture
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
1997-1992 / Nursery School Teacher
The Gay Austin School, Berkeley, CA
Summer, 1990 / Interim Director
Skytown Preschool
Kensington, CA
1984-1985 / Research Assistant
Comparative Dictionary of the Yuman Languages
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
1981 / Teaching Assistant
Department of French
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
1979-1980 / Assistant Director
American English Institute
California State University, Fresno
Fresno, CA
1977-1980 / Instructor of English as a Second Language
American English Institute
California State University, Fresno
Fresno, CA
3. Teaching Assignments
Academic Year / Course Prefix/Number/*Title / Credit Hours2003-2004 / EDCI 310/Literacy and the Young Child
EDCI 591A/Literacy & Language Instruction for English Language Learners
EDCI 614/Emerging and Developing Literacy
EDCI 590/Literacy and Science Education / 3 Credit Hrs
3 Credit Hrs.
3 Credit Hrs
2 Credit Hrs.
2002-2003 / EDCI 466/Integrated Curriculum in the Elementary School
EDCI 590/Literacy and Science Education / 4 Credit Hrs.
3 Credit Hrs.
2001-2002 / EDCI 310/Literacy and the Young Child
EDCI 402/Teaching Kindergarten: Issues and Methods
EDCI 591A/Literacy & Language Instruction for English Language Learners / 6 Credit Hrs.
3 Credit Hrs.
3 Credit Hrs.
2000-2001 / EDCI 310/Literacy and the Young Child
EDCI 402/Teaching Kindergarten: Issues and Methods
EDCI 614/Emerging and Developing Literacy
EDCI 591A/Literacy & Language Instruction for English Language Learners / 3 Credit Hrs.
6 Credit Hrs.
3 Credit Hrs.
3 Credit Hrs.
4. Selected/Current Publications and Scholarly Activities
Books
Britsch, S.J. (2002). Beyond stories: Young children’s nonfiction composition. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.
Refereed articles in national and international journals
Britsch, S. (1995). The researcher as teacher: Constructing one's place in the story events of preschoolers. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 8, 297-309.
*Shepardson, D.P. & *Britsch, S.J. (1996). When dinosaurs roamed: Hypermedia and the learning of mathematics and science. Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching, 15 (1/2), 7-18.
*Britsch, S.J. & Berkson, R. (1997). “I am that...kid tha acts weird:” Developing e-mail education in a third-grade classroom. Teaching Education, 8, 97-104.
*Shepardson, D.P. & *Britsch, S.J. (1997). Children’s science journals: Tools for teaching, learning and assessment. Science and Children, 34, 13-17, 46-47.
Britsch, S.J.* & Meier, D. (1999). Building a literacy community: The role of literacy and social practice in early childhood programs. Early Childhood Education Journal, 26 (4), 209-215.
*Shepardson, D.P. & *Britsch, S.J. (2000). Analyzing children’s science journals: What can students’ science journals tell us about what they are learning? Science and Children, 38 (3), 29-33.
*Shepardson, D.P. & *Britsch, S.J. (2001). The role of children’s journals in elementary school science activities. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38 (1), 43-69.
Britsch, S.J. (2001). Emergent environmental literacy in the non-narrative compositions of kindergarten children. Early Childhood Education Journal, 28 (3), 153-157.
Book chapters
Britsch, S. (1992). Child study and observation. In L.R. Williams & D. Pronin Fromberg (Eds.), Encyclopedia of early childhood education (pp. 267-268). New York: Garland Publishing, Inc.
Britsch, S. (1994). The contribution of the preschool to a Native American community. In A.H. Dyson & C. Genishi (Eds.), The Need for Story: Cultural Diversity in Classroom and Community (pp. 199-205). Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. (Reprinted from Language Arts, 1989, 66, 52-57.)
Britsch, S.J. (2001). Assessment of emergent science literacy in classrooms for young children. In D. Shepardson (Ed.), Assessment in science: A guide to professional development and classroom practice (pp. 101-118). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Shepardson, D.P.* & Britsch, S.J.* (2001). Tools for assessing and teaching science in elementary and middle school. In D. Shepardson (Ed.), Assessment in science: A guide to professional development and classroom practice (pp. 119-148). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Shepardson, D.P.* and Britsch, S.J.* (2003). Analyzing children’s science journals. In: National Science Teachers Association (Ed.), Mixing it up: Integrated, interdisciplinary, intriguing science in the elementary classroom (pp. 52-59). Arlington, VA: NSTA Press. (Reprinted from Science and Children, 2000, 38, 29-33.)
Unpublished works
Britsch, S.J. (forthcoming). Riddle me this, riddle me that: Genre as counterscript and the multiple spaces of dialogue. Language Arts.
Britsch, S.J. (book in preparation). “It comes from your hart:” Learning to write by barely using technology.
Britsch, S.J. (article in preparation). The social mediation of power in the narrative activity of preschool storytellers OR image is everything when you’re the baby.
Britsch, S.J.* & Heise, K. (article in preparation). “Ice cream could be a liquid”: Anomalous interpretations of science phenomena.
Shepardson, D.P.* & Britsch, S.J.* (article in review). Zones of interaction: Granting differential levels of privilege. Journal of Research in Science Teaching.
Shepardson, D.P.* & Britsch, S.J.* (article in review). Teachers learning to look at children’s science journals. Science and Children.
5. Selected/Current External and Internal Grants
Head Start Transition Demonstration Project in the Kokomo-Center Schools. Project director: Dr. Youli Mantzicopoulos, Department of Educational Studies, Purdue University. Dr. Britsch worked in collaboration with Dr. Mantzicopoulos to establish a qualitative component as a supplement to the assessment of the transition of non-Head Start children into the schools, 1993, $20,000.
Purdue Research Foundation Summer Faculty Grant: "Not in MY story!": The social game of literacy acquisition among preschoolers, 1993, $5000.
Undergraduate Research Trainee Grant: The role of literacy in the construction of scientific understanding: The use of journals in elementary school classrooms, 1993-94, $500.
Undergraduate Research Trainee Grant: The role of journals in the construction of scientific understanding in elementary classrooms, 1994-95, $500.
Undergraduate Research Trainee Grant: The role of journals in the construction of scientific understanding in elementary classrooms, 1995-96, $500.
Library Scholars Grant: The development of elementary school children’s writing: Using telecommunications to provide a context for e-mail dialogues, 1995-96, $200.
Toyota USA Foundation: Children’s literacy and science project (CLASP). Co-Principal Investigators: Professor Susan J. Britsch, Literacy & Language Education & Professor Daniel P. Shepardson, Elementary Science Education, 2002-2003, $160,000.
Purdue University International Travel Grant: awarded for travel to the Tenth International Literacy and Education Research Network Conference on Learning held in London, UK. Professor Britsch presented a paper titled, “Verbal and visual power in the narratives of preschool composers OR Image is everything when you’re the baby,” 2003, $990.
6. Selected/Current University Related Assignments, Activities, and Service
Member of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction Elementary Education Ad Hoc Committee on Multicultural Education (1992-1994).
Literacy and Language Graduate Admissions Convener (1993-1996).
Chair of the School of Education Grade Appeals Committee (1994-1995)
Member of the University Minorities Advisory Committee (1995-1998).
Convener for Elementary Education Panel Review Team for Master’s Degree Admissions (1996-1998).
Member of School of Education International Education Committee (1997-2000).
Member of Department of Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Affairs Committee (1997-2000).
Member of Block V team (2000), responsible for creating the developmental component of this block of the new elementary education program.
Chair of EDCI Faculty Affairs Committee (1999-2001)
Member of Department of Curriculum and Instruction Leadership Council (1999-2000).
Convener for the Literacy & Language Education Program Area (2001-2002).
Chair of summer committee charged with research and recommendations for the implementation of Block VI of the undergraduate reform program in teacher education (2001).
Member of SOE Awards Committee (2000-2001)
Chair of SOE Awards Committee (2001-2003).
Member of SOE Curriculum Committee (2003).
Member of SOE Faculty Affairs Committee (2003-2004).
7. Selected/Current Professional and Academic Association Memberships
Alpha Upsilon Alpha: Honor Society of the International Reading Association
American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL)
American Association of University Professors (AAUP)
American Educational Research Association (AERA)
Association Internationale de Linguistique Appliquée (AILA)
Hoosier Association of Science Teachers, Inc. (HASTI)
Indiana Association for the Education of Young Children (IAEYC)
Indiana Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (INTESOL)
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
Teachers and Writers Collaborative
8. Selected/Current Professional Assignments, Activities, and Service
Reviewer for Early Childhood Research Quarterly (1992-1995).
Title I Program workshop on reading and language arts assessment techniques for presented to faculty at Murdock Elementary School in Lafayette, Indiana (1999).
Reviewer for Electronic Journal of Literacy Through Science (2000-2003).
Series of three workshops for teaching staff of Glen Acres Elementary School, focusing on teaching English as a second language to elementary school children. Glen Acres Elementary School; Lafayette, Indiana. (2001).
In-service presentation for child care center staff on working with children who are non-speakers of English. Burgett’s Child Care Center; West Lafayette, Indiana. (2001).
Member of the Indiana Bilingual/Bicultural Teacher Licensure Proposal Committee, 2002.
Editorial Review Board member for Indiana Reading Journal (2003).
4
* Supervise Only
** Summer School Assignment