NCNAAPT – Page 39 – The American Association of Physics Teachers, Northern California/Nevada Section

Speaker: Science Education in the 21st Century: Using the methods of science to teach science

Friday, March 20, 2009, 11:00 a.m.
Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman
Oak West, 2nd floor of Tresidder Union, Stanford University
Refreshments served at 10:45. Open to public.

The Physics department will host a special lecture on March 20, 2009 by Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman, Director of the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative at the University of British Columbia.

Science Education in the 21st Century: Using the methods of science to teach science

Guided by experimental tests of theory and practice, science has advanced rapidly in the past 500 years. Guided primarily by tradition and dogma, science education meanwhile has remained largely medieval. Research on how people learn is now revealing how many teachers badly misinterpret what students are thinking and learning from traditional science classes and exams. However, research is also providing insights on how to do much better. The combination of this research with modern information technology is setting the stage for a new approach that can provide the relevant and effective science education for all students that is needed for the 21st century. I will discuss the failures of traditional educational practices, even as used by “very good” teachers, and the successes of some new practices and technology that characterize this more effective approach, and how these results are highly consistent with findings from cognitive science.

Speaker: Carl Wieman, U of British Columbia, U of Colorado,
Director of the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative at University of British Columbia (http://www.cwsei.ubc.ca/)
Director of the Science Education Initiative at University of Colorado
(http://www.colorado.edu/sei/)

Kaye Storm
Director, Office of Science Outreach
Stanford University
650.724.4332
kstorm@stanford.edu

Paid internships for teachers at Lawrence Livermore National Lab

You are invited to attend Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) Teacher Research Academy (TRA). TRA offers middle- and high-school science teachers unique professional development experiences. TRA provides teachers a continuum of standards-based instruction divided into four separate workshops, or Levels. Teachers taking the four Levels can progress from novice to mastery in three exciting scientific disciplines:

Energy Technologies and the Environment
Fusion and Astrophysics
Biotechnology

Details about the programs are available on our web site: http://education.llnl.gov/academies

Earn a Master of Science Degree:

Participation in the TRA program can lead to a Master of Science in Education degree from California State University East Bay, or extension
credit.

WHEN:

June 22 – Level – 1 – Three days of instruction. The skills and knowledge consistent with the requirements to teach advanced middle and high school science

July 6 – Level – 2 – Five days of instruction. The skills and knowledge taught are consistent with the requirements to teach advanced placement and college preparatory courses.

July 13 – Level – 3 – Five days of instruction preparing teachers to work in a mentored research experience.

June 15 – Level 4 – Six-week mentored research experience. Teachers receive $4,000 when they complete the internship. Prerequisite for an internship is completion of Levels 1, 2 and 3.

WHERE:

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA.

REGISTRATION

REGISTRATION FEE:

$15.00 for each program.

WHAT TEACHERS GET:

Increased understanding of science and technology.
Experience using scientific equipment to perform standards aligned experiments.
Preparation to guide student research projects.
Instruction binder with classroom activities.

GRADUATE OR EXTENSION CREDIT:

Participants in the Teacher Research Academy can earn graduate course credit through the California State University (CSU) East Bay toward a Master of Science in Education degree, Curriculum Option, or extension credit.

Contact:

Richard Farnsworth
Manager, Science Education Program
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
P.O. Box 808, L-797
Livermore, CA 94551
Phone 925-422-5059
Fax 925-423-2943

Summer opportunities: California State Summer School For Mathematics & Science (COSMOS)

Student COSMOS summer program

It’s time for talented teens to apply for COSMOS, a math and science summer program.

Students that love math and science and do well in them have a chance to spend four weeks at UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Santa Cruz, or UC San Diego this summer learning about astronomy, biomedical sciences, engineering, computer game design, robotics and more.

The California State Summer School for Mathematics & Science (COSMOS) is a four-week residential program for talented and motivated students who are completing grades 8-12. Students work side-by-side with outstanding university researchers and faculty exploring advanced topics that extend beyond the typical high school curriculum. COSMOS courses are hands-on and lab intensive emphasizing current research underway at the Universities of California.

Students are invited to apply to one of the four campus programs. The application must be completed online at http://www.ucop.edu/cosmos by March 15.

Our flyer can be downloaded at:
http://www.ucop.edu/cosmos/documents/flyer09.pdf

Teacher Fellow Opportunity:

In addition to the student applications, some of the campuses are now in the process of identifying teachers to participate as a COSMOS Teacher Fellow. Each Fellow works with a team of university faculty to implement the academic portion of COSMOS. The commitment would be to participate in all classroom and laboratory work as well as field trips, typically a Monday Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. It is a paid position, but housing is not provided. As an added bonus, we have graciously been giving funds to provide our Teacher Fellows with grants to purchase materials and equipment to help enhance teaching in their own personal classrooms. Deadlines are rapidly approaching. Please visit our website for more information.

The California State Summer School For Mathematics & Science (COSMOS)

Contact:

Melina Duarte

University of California

Office of the President

p. 510.987.9711

melina.duarte@ucop.edu

www.ucop.edu/cosmos

March 2009 PTSOS workshops

Physics Teacher SOS spring 2009 workshops:

Electricity, Magnetism, and Light: “Come See the Light”

March 7, 2009: Rio Americano High School (Sacramento area); Dean Baird & Steve Keith. Rio Americano HS Campus Map (PDF).

March 14, 2009: San Mateo High School (SF Peninsula); Paul Robinson & Dan Burns.

Complete workshops descriptions and registration information at PTSOS.org.

New YouTube NCNAAPT channel

CJ Chretien has started a channel on YouTube for NCNAAPT members to share their favorite videos. Please visit www.youtube.com/ncnaapt to see videos and add your favorites.

From CJ:

Call for Videos

I am in the process of getting a YouTube channel going to promote NCNAAPT. Since there has been a few messages going around about video I thought I would put this out.

If you have any videos of demos that you have done and you want to have them put on the NCNAAPT YouTube channel send them my way. These do not have to be videos of anything out of this world; although those are great too. The idea is to create a resource for teachers to find demos that they can easily incorporate into their curriculum.

If you have a video that you want to share you can send me a link to the WWW or you can e-mail me a file. If you have a large file you might want to use www.megaupload.com or equivalent, which makes sending large files really easy and is free.

When I get the video I will put the NCNAAPT name and web address on the beginning and end and get it up on our channel.

If you want to keep up with the channel the link is www.youtube.com/ncnaapt, although there is nothing there as of now. Act fast and you could be the first video up there.

Email CJ at: groovitude AT gmail DOT com