Physics professor named Martarano Leadership Fellow

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Louis Leblond, associate teaching professor of physics and director of online education in physics, has been named a Martarano Leadership Fellow.
 
The Martarano Leadership Fellows Program (formerly known as the Tombros Fellows Program) is intended to provide professional development opportunities for faculty in the Eberly College of Science. The professional development programs supported by this fund are intended to broaden faculty members' perspectives and experiences in academic leadership, gain insight into the management of the Eberly College of Science, and/or have the opportunity to develop new programs.
 
Leblond’s research is focused on online education, where he currently studies innovative teaching that aims to better develop students’ self-regulatory learning, critical thinking, and communication skills.
 
As a Martarano Fellow, Leblond will represent the college on the University-wide Digital Learning Academic Council and in ongoing University conversations and strategic initiatives to build blended and new online programs. Over the course of the year, he will use what he learns in those conversations to identify potential opportunities and gaps in the college’s undergraduate and graduate portfolios. By working closely with the college’s Office of Digital Learning and the team at the Cada R. and Susan Wynn Grove Center for Excellence in Science Education, he will learn more about the faculty’s work and how they are serving online and digital educational needs in the college.
 
“I am very excited to work with our staff in the Office of Digital Learning and colleagues to think broadly about the growth of our online program in the Eberly College of Science," Leblond said. "As a Martarano Fellow, I intend to look at other online programs at Penn State and beyond to brainstorm strategies to develop new courses or to help faculty as they continue to provide the high-quality science online courses that we are known for.”
 
He will help gather input from faculty about what instructors identify as their greatest needs for support for their online courses and digital tools for teaching, with the goal of helping to inform the college’s future strategies for online and blended course offerings, as well as identifying critical areas to which the college needs to provide support.