INSTITUTE CURRICULUM

The SENCER Summer Institute 2010 curriculum will cover five areas related to SENCER's major objectives in addition to the crosscutting themes and will include ample opportunity to follow new directions that participants indicate they wish to explore.

Establishing SENCER ideals within the best traditions and most promising future directions of good academic practice

• SENCER's relationship to higher education's historic mission and to important national objectives for improving science education, specifically, and higher education, generally, will be described and debated.

Disseminating promising SENCER models and approaches

• Several successful models of SENCER courses and approaches will be explored in depth. At the conclusion of the Institute, participants should be able to adapt and implement these or similar courses on their campuses.

Exploring strategies and challenges for implementing and sustaining reforms in science education

• Teams will develop plans and strategies to implement and sustain SENCER courses and programs leading to improved science education that meets high standards of achievement, is appropriately supported, and satisfies institutional aims regarding learning and civic engagement.

Developing appropriate pedagogical practices and assessment strategies that support innovation and meet high standards

• Participants will consider and practice pedagogical strategies appropriate to SENCER courses and programs. They will develop plans to participate in a national assessment of student learning in SENCER courses that will occur in parallel with established local efforts to measure student achievement of learning gains.

Encouraging affiliations and forming local and regional networks to support program improvement, expansion, and future development

• Team members will be invited to join collaborative programs designed to develop and sustain reforms. Opportunities for engagement with complementary science reform efforts will be identified and briefings on securing support for continuing local efforts will be provided.

Photograph taken just outside Asheville, NC