New Center to Support Women in STEM Launched at MTSU

Middle Tennessee State University will host the new Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (WISTEM) Center beginning next Wednesday, July 1st.  Judith Iriarte-Gross, professor of chemistry and a SENCER alumna, will direct the Center.  The WISTEM Center received endorsements from 11 MTSU administrators and the backing of the Tennessee Board of Regents over the past several months during the approval process.

The WISTEM Center will work to maximize efforts to support women in STEM by collaborating with the community, support female STEM faculty in their academic development and career growth, maximize resources and opportunities for girls and women to pursue STEM education and careers, and support teachers from pre-K to college in promoting best practices of gender equity in STEM education.  The Center will continue existing partnerships and collaborate with new organizations to achieve its goals. Read more.

Harrisburg University Profiled in Chronicle

Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, the institution that holds the SENCER grant, was recently the subject of a feature article in the Chronicle of Higher Education.  “Corporate Ties Help Build a University from the Ground Up,” published on June 15th, reviews the work that has gone into the development and expansion of the not-for-profit university in the past decade and its relationship to the city it serves.  HU offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in applied sciences and technology to a predominantly local, and predominantly minority, population of students.  Students at the university engage in mandatory internships to give them real-world experiences before graduation, and work closely with professors in small-class settings.  To read the entire article, please visit the webpage.  Registration with the Chronicle is required.

New Report on STEM Education Issued by Carnegie Corporation of New York

The Carnegie Corporation of New York-Institute for Advanced Study Commission on Mathematics and Science Education recently issued a report, “The Opportunity Equation: Transforming Science Education for Citizenship and the Global Economy”. The report can be accessed through http://www.opportunityequation.org/.

The Executive Summary begins with the notion that “excellent mathematics and science education learning for all American students will be possible only if we ‘do school differently’ in ways that place math and science more squarely at the center of the educational enterprise” and that “all young Americans should be educated to be ‘STEM-capable,’ no matter where they live, what educational path they pursue, or in which field they choose to work”. 

The full report is divided into five sections: Excellence and Equity: Mobility for Math and Science Learning; Standards and Assessments: Focusing for Essential Knowledge and Skills; Teaching and Professional Learning: Managing for Effectiveness; and Schools and Systems: Designing for Achievement. Each section contains a discussion and recommended actions for different sectors, including colleges and universities, government, school districts, and businesses, nonprofit organizations and other partners.

Grant Opportunities

NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM, NSF 09-567)

Letter of intent due August 11th; full proposal due September 14th

This program makes grants to institutions of higher education to support scholarships for academically talented, financially needy students, enabling them to enter the workforce following completion of an associate; baccalaureate; or graduate-level degree in science and engineering disciplines. Grantee institutions are responsible for selecting scholarship recipients, reporting demographic information about student scholars, and managing the S-STEM project at the institution.  The program does not make scholarship awards directly to students; students should contact their institution’s Office of Financial Aid for this and other scholarship opportunities.

Journal Accepting Papers for Publication

Science Education and Civic Engagement: An International Journal, the online, peer-reviewed publication issued by the National Center for Science and Civic Engagement, invites paper submissions for its next release in the fall of 2009.  July 31, 2009 is the deadline for items for peer review and possible publication in the October/November issue, but papers may be submitted at anytime for consideration in future issues.  Papers should be emailed to danielle.kraus@ncsce.net.

Types of articles accepted include reviews, research articles, articles on science education and public policy, project reports, points of view pieces, essays on teaching and learning, and book and media reviews.  For more details and a description of each type of article, including word limits, please visit http://www.seceij.net/authorguidelines.htm. 

SENCER will announce several changes and additions to the Journal at this year’s SENCER Summer Institute in Chicago, including information on new members of the editorial staff and a new managing editor for the Journal.  The website for the journal will be relaunched in the coming months to be more dynamic and useful to visitors.  In the interim, please contact co-editor Trace Jordan at trace.jordan@nyu.edu or Danielle Kraus at the email address above with any questions about the Journal, paper submissions, or future publications.

Save the Date: SENCER Center for Innovation Events

More information about registration and themes of the SENCER Center for Innovation meetings will be posted on the SCI websites and in the eNews.

October 9-10 (pre-symposium reception on October 8th)

Hosted by Kapi’olani Community College (Hawaii)

SCI-West

October 17

Hosted by Franklin & Marshall College

SCI-Midatlantic

February 26-27 (February 26 for Woodbury University faculty only, February 27 open to all with a focus on the LA area)

Hosted by Woodbury University (California)

SCI-West

Nominate a Course or Program as a SENCER Model

In 2008, seven models were selected and later highlighted at the SENCER Summer Institute that summer.  The model series, which includes 37 field tested courses, programs, and learning communities, represents a variety of work and approaches to teaching STEM topics from nanotechnology to chemistry and statistics.  The 2009 Model Series will debut at the SENCER Summer Institute this August in Chicago.

All courses and programs chosen as models encourage students to engage in scientific inquiry, reasoning, observation, and measurement. They incorporate strong assessment techniques that allow rolling evaluation and adjustments within the course based on student learning and meet student needs. Models are meant to inspire adaptations, and offer useful, successful strategies for teaching students. Models are published electronically on the SENCER website, where the model files are among the most-often accessed resources.

We invite you to nominate a course to become a model, whether it is a course that has grown directly out of involvement in the SENCER project, or a course already developed that reflects the SENCER ideals well. Courses and programs should have strong assessment and evaluation components. Submissions that feature engineering and technology are particularly welcome, as are submissions from 2-year colleges and teacher preparation programs.

The nomination process itself is brief and straightforward. Please email your nomination package to Eliza Reilly, the editor of the SENCER Model Series.