Sponsored Programs and Grants Management

RU Researcher Spotlight

Franklin Jones is currently Professor of Research in the Department of Chemistry and Physics. From 1974 to 2008, Dr. Jones has consistently received external funding to aid new and seasoned teachers of K-12 students to become more efficient and effective. In that time, Dr. Jones has accumulated approximately $4 million of external funding.

His “Hand-On/Minds-On Curriculum” is a culmination of years of effort developing best practices while keeping pace with the differing legislation that guided his work. 

From the early Dwight D. Eisenhower grants to his most recent No Child Left Behind (NCLB) grants, Dr. Jones has demonstrated dramatic results.

In two county school divisions, where Dr. Jones’ funded interventions were implemented, the average science scores for 3rd graders improved at a rate of 41% and 5th graders at rate of 52% compared with statewide improvements of 19 and 17% percent respectively.

Dr. Jones attributes much of his success to the mentorship and guidance of Dr. Preston Durrill, who taught at RU for 32 years. Their mutual passion for inquiry-based science and hands-on learning  continues to be contagious.