PHILLIP SOKOLOVE is a Professor in UMBC’s Biology Department which he joined in 1974. He holds a B.A. degree in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley and a Ph.D. in Biophysics from Harvard University. His postdoctoral research was conducted at Stanford University. Dr. Sokolove has published research articles in a number of areas of biology including invertebrate neurophysiology, circadian rhythms, and neuroendocrine control of reproduction. Between 1984 and 1996 he served in various positions in the UMBC administration including the Graduate School, Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences, and Office of the Provost. From 1990-1995 he was UMBC's representative in an 11-campus, NSF-supported science/math training program for pre-service teachers. There he learned about constructivist teaching and cooperative learning. Although lacking formal training in teaching or education research, since 1995 he has been engaged in studying and publishing articles on the effects of widely recommended pedagogical reforms – sometimes referred to as “active learning” methods – on student learning in BIOL 100. In 2002 he was awarded the Regents’ Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching. Between 2001-2004 Dr. Sokolove was PI on an NSF grant with the Shriver Center that placed science, math and engineering graduate students and advanced undergraduates in teachers’ classrooms in five, Baltimore-area, high-need middle schools. More recently he has been actively working as a UMBC Faculty Fellow to foster partnerships between UMBC and high school teachers under a $10 million NSF Math-Science Partnership grant to the USM and Montgomery County. In 2006 he was selected as the UMBC Presidential Teaching Professor for 2006-2009.