The University of Arkansas Center for Math and Science Education (CMASE), one of eleven mathematics and science centers on university and college campuses around the state, provides quality resources and materials to the home, private and public education community. The Arkansas NASA Educator Resource Center, located within CMASE, is the state's dissemination point for education materials provided by NASA. Resources and school/classroom presentations are free of charge. The main objectives of both centers are to provide: (1) K-16 education outreach to the home, private and public Northwest Arkansas education community; (2) quality professional development for pre-service and in-service teachers at local, regional, state and national levels; (3) access points for dissemination of educational materials, resources and information; and (4) links to common education allies throughout the state and nation.
The C-DEBI education program works with audiences at all levels (K-12, general public, undergraduate, graduate and beyond) in formal and informal settings (courses, public lectures, etc.). Sub-programs focus on community college research internships and professional development for graduate students and postdocs.
We a have full slate of programs including science academies for underrepresented high school and middle school students; Large programs for the public including holiday lectures, stars of materials science lectures, materials science and nano days for the public; Teacher development programs including Research Experience for Teachers and Teachers as Scholars; Research Experience for Undergraduates; Graduate Summer School on Condensed Matter; and many other programs.
The "places" of learners and practitioners of science from communities of color are increasingly a focus in analyses of science learning and education in the U.S. Typically, these places are defined through the discourse of equity that focuses on representation and the goal of creating learning environments that will allow students of color to perform as well as their white peers. More recently, this focus has shifted from performance to actual knowledge of and the ability to think critically about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) content. Although critical thinking and
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Megan BangDouglas MedinGregory Cajete
Our Center works with students from kindergarten through graduate school and beyond. We work with teachers and scientists and combine our knowledge to inspire students to pursue careers in neural engineering and neuroscience. Program activities include summer research programs, curriculum development, school visits, teacher/student workshops, science festivals, and international student exchanges.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
University of WashingtonEric Chudler
Long known for its interactive exhibits and extensive educational programming, the Science Museum of Minnesota has also established itself as a place to build and experiment with classic and emerging technology. Specifically during their Activate Saturday afternoons, a special volunteer cohort facilitates hands-on activities that visitors of all ages can access to practice an engineering-design continuum: play, tinker, make, engineer. In the summer of 2013, SMM hosted four Maker Corps Members, three of whom continue to be a part of Activate.
The Physics and Chemistry Education Technology (PhET) Project is developing an extensive suite of online, highly-interactive simulations, with supporting materials and activities for improving both the teaching and learning of physics and chemistry. There are currently over 70 simulations and over 250 associated activities available for use from the PhET website (http://phet.colorado.edu). These web-based resources are impacting large number of students. Per year, there are currently over 4 million PhET simulations run online and thousands of full website downloads for offline use of the simulations. The goal is that this widespread use of PhET's research-based tools and resources will improve the education of students in physics and chemistry at colleges and high schools throughout the U.S. and around the world. This PhET project combines a unique set of features. First, the simulation designs and goals are based on educational research. Second, using a team of professional programmers, disciplinary experts, and education research specialists enables the development of simulations involving technically-sophisticated software, graphics, and interfaces that are highly effective. Third, the simulations embody the predictive visual models of expert scientists, allowing many interesting advanced concepts to become widely accessible and revealing their relevance to the real world. And finally, the project is actively involved in research to better understand how the design and use of simulations impacts their effectiveness - e.g. investigating questions such as "How can these new technologies promote student understanding of complex scientific phenomena?" and "What factors inhibit or enhance their use and effectiveness?".
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Katherine PerkinsMichael DubsonNoah FinkelsteinRobert ParsonCarl Weiman
This project continues the development, testing, and use of a series of web-based computer simulations for improving the teaching and learning of physics. It expands the number of simulations in physics, creates new simulations addressing introductory chemistry, creates simulations addressing the conceptual understanding of equations in solving science problems, and further refines some existing simulations. It increases, by approximately 35, the 35 online interactive simulations that have been developed for teaching physics. The project produces and widely disseminates on-line supporting materials for use in undergraduate and high school science courses. The supporting materials include: guided-discovery, tutorial worksheets; a list of learning goals; materials to support in-lecture, homework, and laboratory use; assessment instruments; and other user-contributed materials. The simulations being introduced and their effectiveness are being evaluated in at least eight additional courses in physics and chemistry at the University of Colorado and a diverse set of partner institutions. The materials are being extensively tested to ensure that they are easy to use and effective at promoting deep conceptual understanding and positive attitudes about science and technology.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Carl WiemanNoah FinkelsteinKatherine Perkins
This document was shared in the session “Math Phobia and Science Centers: Some International Perspectives” at the 2004 Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) Conference in San Jose, California. It explores math phobia as a cultural (and specifically English-speaking) phenomenon, using examples from his experiences in France and working with the Tuyuka, an indigenous population in Brazil. He links math phobia to a disconnect between math as a part of everyday life and math as a formal process disconnected from one's experiences.