Community News

The ICEE project - Inspiring Climate Education and Excellence - from CIRES and the Learn More About Climate project are announcing availability of an online climate instruction course for teachers: 

Climate Instruction 101: Essential Knowledge and Teaching Strategies

Cost: You may take the course for free for no credit or take the course for 3 recertification credits or graduate Environmental Studies credits for $60/credit.  Colorado teachers can receive a subsidy for credit costs.

The ICEE Climate Instruction 101 online course focuses on the Essential Principles of Climate Science and provides experience with teaching strategies such as identifying and addressing misconceptions, minimizing controversy, and teaching so that students can engage positively.  

The online course takes place August 25-November 18 and will meet one hour per week in a webinar format. Commitments include participation in the weekly webinar, a small group project, and discussions online as well as completion of assignments. Small groups will be formed along similar teaching goals. 

The target audience is secondary science teachers. However, if sufficient interest exists from informal educators, upper elementary educators, or interdisciplinary teams we will form a small group with that interest.

Please feel free to browse our sample syllabus.

Application deadline is July 15th.

This course is a partnership between the CIRES ICEE project and the University of Colorado Learn More About Climate Initiative. Instructors for this course will be Susan Buhr with CIRES and Deb Morrison with Learn More About Climate.  Download a copy of the course application. 

The National Science Foundation and Science magazine announce the opening June 1, 2012 of this year's International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge. 

"Some of science's most powerful statements are not made in words...to illustrate is to enlighten!...The spirit of the competition is to communicate science, engineering, and technology for education and journalistic purposes."

Winners will be selected in five categories:  Photography, Illustrations, Posters & Graphics, Video Games & Apps, and Videos.  Winning entries will appear in a special section of Science magazine, with one chosen for the issue cover. Each winner will also receive a one-year online subscription to Science and a certificate of appreciation. Entry deadline is September 28, 2012. 

Guidelines

Online entry form

View video highlighting past winners

The National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science hosts the 13th Annual Conference on Case Study Teaching in Science on September 21-22, 2012. 

DEADLINES:

Poster session proposal submission: August 30, 2012 -Hotel room reservations: guaranteed room and rate until September 4, 2012 -Registration: September 4, 2012
The aim of our annual fall conference is to bring together people who are interested in teaching science using case studies.

Conference features:

• Plenary 1: Reinventing Science Teaching: Using PBL and Case Studies in Middle through Grad School, Pat Marsteller, Director, Center for Science Education and Professor of Practice, Dpartment of Biology, Emory University
• Plenary 2: Unclear Nuclear, Cathy Middlecamp, Associate Professor, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, and Howe Bascom Professor, Integrated Liberal Studies Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison;
• a poster session
• mini-workshops for the beginner, more experienced case teacher, and a high school teacher - your choice which sessions to attend (mix and match)

BEGINNER Sessions: Friday/Saturday

• What Is a Case? / Different Types of Cases (Kipp Herreid)
• The Discussion Case Method (Kipp Herreid)
• The Interrupted Case Method (Kipp Herreid)
• How to Write a Case (Kipp Herreid)

ADVANCED Sessions: Friday/Saturday

• Adopt and Adapt: Integrating Quantitative Skills into Cases (Pat Marsteller)
• CaseIt! (Mark Bergland and Karen Klyczek)
• Let's Be Friends: Using Social Networking to Enhance Science Teaching
• Involving Students in Case Study Writing: Naive or Brilliant? (Annie Prud'homme Genereux)
• Using Cases to Teach the Nature of Science: Alfred Russel Wallace & the Origin of Species (Douglas Allchin)
• Watts Up? (Cathy Middlecamp)

HIGH SCHOO)L TEACHER Track Sessions: Saturday Only

• Making a Case for Scientific Argumentation (Douglas Llewellyn)
• Learn by Doing: Using Case-Based Instruction to Integrate NGSS and Common Core Standards While Motivating and Engaging All Learners (Kathy Hoppe)
• Thinking Critically about Using Cases to Teach Critical Thinking Skills (Maureen Griffin and Eric Hall)

REGISTRATION

• Two Day Registration is $550
• One Day Saturday registration rate is $350

Registration includes buffet lunch, and morning/afternoon coffee breaks, as well as the Friday evening reception & banquet (for two day registrants).
Additional $55 for Friday Banquet if registering for Saturday only or for guests.

A full buffet breakfast is available to those staying at the Ramada Inn& Conference Center, compliments of the hotel.

LODGING
Please note: A limited block of hotel rooms is being held at the Ramada Inn for conference attendees at the special conference rate of $75.00 until September 4, 2012, so plan on making your hotel reservations early.

For more information, including how to submit your poster proposal by August 30, 2012, see the conference website at: http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/training/conference
Questions about the conference can be directed to our Conference Coordinator, Carolyn Wright, at nccsts@buffalo.edu, or (716) 645-4900, fax (716) 645-2975.

Our friends at Project Tomorrow have released the Speak Up 2011 Educators Report:  Personalizing the Classroom Experience—Teachers, Librarians, and Administrators Connect the Dots with Digital Learning. The report focuses on the ways that educators are personalizing learning centers for students around their own experiences with online learning, socially-based media and digital content. Key questions include:

• What are educators’ experiences with online learning? 
• How does it inform their perspectives on student learning? 
• What policies and practices are administrators considering around the “Bring Your Own Technology” movement? 
• How do we transform the classroom from a “one size fits all” model to a truly individualized learning experience for students?

Get the infographic that summarizes Speak Up 2011 data findings: