[Scico-list] FW: June 15 Evolution Workshop at CU, NASSMC: Learning Toys Can Backfire, Senate Bill to Boost Science & Math Skills, Lumina Experiment to Improve Community Colleges

[Kamal, Sue]

- 1. FW: June 15 Evolution Workshop at CU 
- 2. NASSMC: Learning Toys Can Backfire, Senate Bill to Boost Science &
Math 	Skills, Lumina Experiment to Improve Community Colleges
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-----Original Message-----
From: Clinton D. Francis [mailto:Clinton.Francis at Colorado.EDU] 
Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 7:49 AM

Subject: June 15 Evolution Workshop

Hello All -

The Graduate Evolution Outreach Committee within the Department of
Ecology
and Evolutionary Biology is working with the University of Colorado's
Biological Science Initiative to offer a one day workshop on Friday,
June
15.
Below I have included a brief description of the workshop plus links to
registration.

Workshop Synopsis -

Evolution: Is Darwin Still Relevant?

This workshop is intended to help teachers clearly illustrate for their
students the mechanisms of evolution and the patterns produced in nature
by
the evolutionary process. The emphasis is on helping students understand
that scientific conclusions are based upon physical evidence in nature,
and
learn what the lines of evidence are. Graduate students from the Ecology
and
Evolutionary Biology Department will touch upon micro- and
macroevolution.
Participants will conduct activities that reinforce evolutionary
concepts,
such as natural selection. Special guest speaker, Brown University
professor
Ken Miller, author of "Finding Darwin's God", will discuss his
experiences
advocating against Intelligent Design (ID) and being a witness during
the
Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District case. As a witness for the
plaintiff, he and others argued successfully that Intelligent Design is
a
form of creationism and that the school board policy thus violated the
First
Amendment. This ruling meant that science teachers no longer had to
mention
ID as another explanation for the origins of life. The day will include
a
discussion of strategies for addressing students' personal beliefs in
the
context of teaching evolution.

Date: Friday, June 15, 2007
Time: 9 am - 5 pm
Location: University of Colorado at Boulder
CDE Credit: 0.5 (free)
Graduate Credit: 0.5 ($35)
Workshop Cost: $10 (includes parking - we will request that you send in
a
check when we confirm by email that you have been admitted to the
workshop)
Designed for: Middle and high school teachers
Instructors: EE Biology graduate students

Workshop:

http://www.colorado.edu/Outreach/BSI/k12/workshops.html
Will be updated with more information shortly
Registration:
http://www.colorado.edu/Outreach/BSI/k12/reserve.cgi

-- 
Clinton D Francis
Graduate Student
Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Colorado
Clinton.francis at colorado.edu
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NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF STATE SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS COALITIONS
TITLE: "Studies Find That Use of Learning Toys Can Backfire"  

Evidence is growing that the use of "manipulatives" to teach abstract
concepts is no guarantee of learning success. 

Some studies suggest that the learning toys make no difference, and can
sometimes be counterproductive. "The critical question for researchers
now is to find out how and when manipulatives should be used," said
David Uttal, who, as an associate professor of psychology at
Northwestern University, has been conducting experiments with
elementary-age children to determine how educational toys affect
learning. 

In one set of experiments, Uttal and his fellow researchers found that
children taught to do two-digit subtraction by the traditional method
performed as well as children who used a specially made set of
manipulatives. Moreover, the children who learned with the toys later
had trouble demonstrating their knowledge via paper and pencil. 

Other researchers have found that children are sometimes unable to
relate the blocks or rods they are using to the mathematical concepts
represented. Younger children are sometimes distracted by the toys. 

What's important about manipulatives is their manipulability and
meaningfulness, not their physicality, says Douglas Clements, a
professor of learning and instruction at the University of Buffalo,
State University of New York. "The main thing is to be very clear about
the math that you're trying to teach, and to think about the kinds of
mental actions you're talking about and that you want students to do,"
Clements said. 

SOURCE: Education Week, 25 April 2007 (p. 12)
WEBSITE:
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2007/04/25/34manipulate.h26.html 
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NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF STATE SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS COALITIONS
TITLE: "Senate OKs bill to boost science and math skills" 

Both the House and Senate have passed bills aimed at improving science
and math instruction by overwhelming majorities. The two chambers are
unlikely to have trouble agreeing on compromise legislation, and
President Bush will almost certainly sign the final bill.  

The Senate legislation would provide grants to teachers' colleges to
encourage more students to go into science and math. The measure would
also provide funding for programs aimed at low-income children who are
underperforming in math, and women pursuing careers in math and science.


One of the two House bills approved would supply financial aid to
teaching students majoring in science and math. It would also establish
master's degree programs for math and science teachers, and expand
university programs that train mathematicians, scientists and engineers.


The legislative efforts are intended to "help us keep our brainpower so
that we can keep our jobs," said Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee),
a former secretary of education. 

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, 26 April 2007  
WEBSITE:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-compete26apr26,0,51
5402.story?track=mostviewed-homepage

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NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF STATE SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS COALITIONS
TITLE: "An $88-Million Experiment to Improve Community Colleges" 

In 2004, the Lumina Foundation for Education began committing millions
of dollars to support a network of community colleges working on ways to
increase graduation rates. The network began with 27 colleges in five
states, and has since grown to 58 colleges in nine states. Having
invested $56 million so far, Lumina recently promised another $18
million to the project, called Achieving the Dream. 

Yet it is still unclear whether the project will have a lasting impact.
The idea is to find strategies that work, and that will influence other
community colleges. While there are some "beginning signs" of
improvement, "we don't have the information yet to know that we have
transformed colleges," said Carol Lincoln, a senior associate with MDC
Inc., the nonprofit organization managing the project. 

A 2006 report on students in remedial mathematics shows how far the
colleges have to go. In the fall of 2002, researchers found, 61 percent
of students at the 35 colleges then participating in the project were
required to take at least one remedial math course. Two years later,
only 17 percent of those students had completed the remedial work and
moved on to college-level math. 

Many of the participating colleges have made improving basic math
courses a primary focus. Patrick Henry Community College, in
Martinsville, Virginia, has found success through cooperative learning,
which requires students to work in small groups, and professors to
solicit regular feedback on what students are actually learning. Since
Sharon Wayne began using cooperative learning, 80 percent of her
basic-math students have passed, compared with 55 percent in previous
years. 

"That's the first time I've tried something - and I have tried a lot of
things over the years - and seen that kind of change," Wayne said.  

SOURCE: Chronicle of Higher Education, 20 April 2007 (p. A32)
WEBSITE: http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i33/33a03201.htm
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