SPOTLIGHT
SOE professor continues quest for safe science classrooms

Described by The Christian Science Monitor as "a kind of 'Bill Nye the Science Guy' in reverse," Professor of Education Jack Gerlovich, GR'71, '77, is always on the lookout for safety hazards in science classrooms. His quest to make science classrooms safer for students across the country has led Gerlovich, along with Drake Professor of Statistics Rahul Parsa, to conduct extensive research that has gained nationwide attention.

A former high school science teacher, Gerlovich began his quest when his own children were born.

"I started researching the topic and over the years became more knowledgeable about the details of safety in academic science labs," Gerlovich says. "When I started receiving too many calls to address, I decided to begin doing some coordinated research and published the results and strategies to share with others."

To date Gerlovich has completed individual statewide research studies in 15 states and two U.S. territories and developed training programs for science teachers based on his research. He also has completed one national survey study. All of these studies have been published in major science/education journals, and his research has been quoted widely in national professional science education publications, the popular press and government documents. In addition, the research has been built into the most popular elementary science methods text in the nation, which Gerlovich co-authored with two other university professionals from Ohio University.

It was after Gerlovich's research had expanded to include entire states that his partnership with Parsa began. "I realized that I needed more expertise and assistance in statistics," Gerlovich says. "I opened the Drake directory and looked for a statistician. Dr. Parsa was very congenial and interested in my research and thought that he could assist with many refinement techniques. Now after six years of collaboration, we both realized what a fortuitous accident this turned out to be for us both."

In 2001, Gerlovich and Parsa surveyed Iowa high school teachers and found that nearly 70 percent of Iowa science labs were more than 20 years old and more than 37 percent of Iowa science teachers had never received science safety training.

Parsa and Gerlovich currently are working on a project that will involve a survey of every school in the nation. The researchers will create a national census of the strategic safety issues and then develop a tool for science education professionals to use in gauging safety within their respective classrooms and laboratories.

Gerlovich anticipates the project will take three years to complete. E

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