SMILE

Introduction

The SMILE website is a collection of almost 1,000 single concept phenomenological lessons designed to enhance the teaching of Science and Mathematics.
The full site has been relocated and is now available at smileprogram.info.

Mission

1.  To inspire more Science and Mathematics teachers to use the use the phenomenological approach to teaching.

2. To create a library of single concept lesson plans employing  the  phenomenological approach.

History

In the fall of 1985 Dr. Earl Zwicker (Physics) and Dr. Kenneth Schug (Chemistry) from Illinois Tech applied to the National Science Foundation for a grant to introduce Chicago Public School high school Science and Mathematics teachers to the advantages of using the phenomenological  approach to teaching.  Subsequently Dr. Ben Stark (Biology) from Illinois Tech and Dr. Arthur DiVito (Mathematics) from the City colleges of Chicago joined the team.  In the early 1990's a grant from the Illinois Board of Higher Education extend the program through 2001. 

There were 2 components  to the program. 1) A summer program for 15-20 teachers in each of the 4 disciplines where each participant was required to create and present a single concept, 50 minute lesson.  The participants then used IIT's computer lab to type up and save their lessons for publishing in a 'Lesson Book'.  2)  An academic year program where participants from the  current and previous years met one afternoon every other week to discuss the successes (or failures) of the lessons as they were being used in the classroom.

From the late 1990's through 2005 several small grants allowed the academic year afternoon classes to continue. 

In the early 1990's Illinois Tech offered the SMILE program the opportunity to publish the lessons on  the World Wide Web.  The current site at Smileprogram.info is the result of  those efforts and, to this day is still accessed and used in many curriculum's around the world. 

SMILE's Founding Fathers: