Fulbright Hays Group Project Abroad Grant Awarded to the Center for Latin American Studies
The Center for Latin American Studies was recently awarded a grant in the amount of $66,574 from the U.S. Department of Education’s Fulbright Hays Program to provide a four-week curriculum development project in Ecuador and Peru entitled "The Andean "HATSS" Project: Reaching High Achievement for Teachers and Students of Spanish in Florida Schools". The HATSS project is a collaborative endeavor between the Center for Latin American Studies, the College of Education and Florida schools to design and implement innovative curricula using new technologies that will prepare students for an increasingly global and diverse society. The curriculum team consists of twelve K-12 foreign language teachers from eleven Florida counties and two UF faculty members.
The project will take place in three phases. In Phase I, teachers will form an online community and participate in a two day pre-departure orientation program at UF which will take place May 16-17 in Gainesville. The orientation experience will prepare participants to travel to Latin America through sessions on Latin American culture and educational technology. Phase II consists of on-site experiences in Ecuador and Peru in which participants acquire knowledge of local languages and cultures, guided by local on-site experts and in conjunction with U.S. project personnel. Finally, in Phase III participants will utilize knowledge, technologies, materials, and language acquired to create curriculum units. Participants will disseminate their work through local, state and national conferences in addition to making their materials available at no cost to educators and students online.
Sources:
Mary E. Risner, Associate Director of Outreach and Latin American Business Programs at the Center for Latin American Studies. mrisner@latam.ufl.edu , 352-392-0375, x811
Catherine Cavanaugh, Associate Professor, College of Education, School of Teaching and Learning. cathycavanaugh@coe.ufl.edu, 352-392-9191, x295
