His Story
Joe Ruhl has taught biology at Jefferson High School in Lafayette, Indiana, for most of his 38-year career. His freshman biology course is built on choice. At the start of each two- to three-week unit, students get a “menu” of activities on a “smorgasbord,” and they decide which to do to earn points toward a D, C, B or A. The activities are written so that any combination leads to mastery, and there are more on the “buffet” than an A student would have time to finish. Students learn to set goals, assign themselves homework and track their own progress.
For every unit he has written interactive computer tutorials, built over several summers with Adobe Director, with text, audio, animations, video, humor and virtual labs. Students work through them in pairs at ten computers around the room. They are routed into a short remedial lesson if they answer a check question wrong. A former student remembers mitosis cakes, ecosystem music videos and global warming art sculptures. Ruhl built the upper-level genetics course in 1985, and today’s students run PCR-based DNA fingerprinting on their own DNA.
He believes the relationship between teachers and students “is based upon mutual trust and respect,” and it begins on the first day of school with small things: learning every name, asking about hobbies and part-time jobs, recognizing birthdays, posting newspaper clippings when students make the news and showing up at their events. Parents of his students say he has dressed up as Gregor Mendel and used a “Top Gun” analogy to teach immunity.
Beyond the Classroom
Ruhl received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Teaching, and in 2012 he received the Shell Science Teaching Award from Shell and the National Science Teachers Association, given each year to one K-12 science teacher in the U.S. and Canada. In 2015 he received the NSTA Robert E. Yager Foundation Excellence in Teaching Award. Earlier honors include the Golden Apple Teaching Award in 1988, Purdue University’s School of Science Distinguished Alumnus Award for K-12 teaching in 1992 and Purdue’s Crystal Apple Teaching Award in 2004.
In the Science Research course he developed, more than 250 students since 1997 have worked as apprentices on independent projects in Purdue University labs, and 10 have qualified for the International Science and Engineering Fair. He has presented 60 workshops or papers at state and national science teachers conventions since 1982 and has hosted Purdue’s biology teaching majors every year since 1991. He serves on Purdue’s Biological Sciences Alumni Advisory Council, which helped start a Saturday open house for Indiana high school students, and he helped write curriculum for a Purdue veterinary and education outreach project.
Philosophy Into Practice
Ruhl says he did not sacrifice class time to review for the state biology end-of-course exam, yet his class averages are in the 90s while the statewide average is 27 percent. His identical pre- and post-tests typically show class averages rising from about 50 percent to between 80 and 85 percent. He also keeps a file of 38 years of letters from former students who became teachers, physicians, surgeons, veterinarians, researchers and genetic counselors.
He teaches future teachers four “powerful practices”: build relationships of respect, translate the concrete into the abstract (he lines students up by height to explain box plots), teach students how to ask questions, and build equity with technology, which led him to buy a classroom set of iPads. He worries that high-stakes testing is discouraging young people from entering teaching, and he offers workshops to young teachers each year at the state science teachers’ convention.
“I value the qualitative assessment data as much or more than the quantitative data.”Joe Ruhl
In His Own Words
“It’s exciting for me to see these freshmen learn to take charge of their own learning, set goals, assign themselves homework, and take an active role in monitoring their own progress.”Joe Ruhl
“They must see that I respect them, and that they are treasured even more than my passion for biology!”Joe Ruhl
“I love sharing my ideas with colleagues and encouraging them in what can be a very challenging profession.”Joe Ruhl
What Others Said
“Colleagues have told me that I am an effective encourager of teachers and an ambassador for the support of public education.”Joe Ruhl, self-nomination
“Joe epitomizes the best of what a teacher should be in all aspects of his work.”David C. Eichinger, associate professor of biology education, Purdue University
“Joe Ruhl is the master teacher we want all teachers to strive to be like.”Principal, Jefferson High School
“Mr. Ruhl is able to engage students who normally dislike science and gets them excited about class.”Sarah Cooper, former student
“He makes science have form, function and beauty.”Kathleen Erickson, parent of three students