SCI-Midatlantic and the Host Institution

The host institution for SCI-Midatlantic is Rutgers University.  With more than 50,000 students on campuses in Camden, Newark, and New Brunswick, Rutgers is one of the nation's major public institutions of higher education.  Chartered in 1766, Rutgers has a unique history as a colonial college, a land-grant institution, and a state university.  The university's 27 degree-granting units offer majors in more than 100 fields, with thousands of courses covering the full range of human experience.

Photograph above, at right: Representative Rush Holt (NJ), keynote speaker at the 2010 Capitol Hill Poster Session, with University of Maryland faculty. Photograph by Alyssa Bloom.

Areas of Expertise and Focus

SCI-Midwest initiatives are open to participants around the U.S. but are primarily designed to address the needs and interests of individuals in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

The SCI-Midatlantic group has broad expertise among its members, but has a particular interest in the assessment of teaching and learning, K-12 STEM education, pre-service teacher education, articulation with two-year institutions.

 

Recent Events

Preparing the Undergraduates of Tomorrow: How Informal Science Education Experiences Can Improve College Readiness

Saturday, October 17th from 8:00am – 2:45pm, hosted by Franklin & Marshall College (Lancaster, Pennsylvania)

The one-day symposium explored opportunities for collaboration and synergy between K-16 education and the informal science education sector in the effort to improve science literacy, graduation rates and college readiness. Featured speakers included David Ucko, deputy division director of research on learning in formal and informal settings for the National Science Foundation, and Alan Friedman, a consultant in museum development and science communication who served as Director of the New York Hall of Science, New York City's public science-technology center, for twenty-two years.  

Symposium Schedule

8:00-9:00am      Breakfast and Registration at Life Sciences Building

9:00-9:15am      Welcoming Remarks and Intro

9:15-10:30am    Informal Learning and Synergies with Formal Education: An NSF Perspective - David Ucko, Deputy Division Director, Research on Learning in Formal & Informal Settings, National Science Foundation

10:30-10:45am   Break

10:45-12:00pm   What Can Informal Science Education Do For You? - Alan Friedman, Consultant in Museum Development and Science Education

Noon-1:15pm      Local Science Museum Resource tables and Luncheon

1:15-1:30pm       Walk over to North Museum

1:30-2:45pm       Option 1: Program for science educators by North Museum staff using their collections

1:30-2:45pm       Option 2: Roundtable Discussion on Conference Topic and How to Move  Agenda Forward  at National Level

Water, Water Everywhere: Connections for Research, Education, and Outreach

Saturday, April 4, 2009, Hosted by Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ)

Rutgers University hosted a day-long symposium, ‘Water, Water, Everywhere: Connections for Research, Education and Outreach,’ on April 4, 2009 from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm. Presentation topics included research on formal and informal science education, outreach programs for science education, and the SCI-Midatlantic regional water research project and grants program. 

Preparing the Undergraduates of Tomorrow: The Critical Role of K-8 STEM Education

Saturday, October 4, 2008, Hosted by the Center for Liberal Arts and Society at Franklin & Marshall College (Lancaster, PA)

The conference provided an overview of K-8 science learning, which national reports have identified as the critical gateway to all later STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) achievement, and its specific implications for the improvement of science education at the college level.

The program included lectures by Wm. David Burns, executive director of the National Center for Science and Civic Engagement and professor of general studies at the Harrisburg University of Science and Technology; Richard Duschl, Professor of Science Education at Rutgers University; Alan Friedman, nationally known consultant in museum development and science communication; Karen Kashmanian Oates, deputy director of the Division of Undergraduate Education at the National Science Foundation; and Karen Worth, principal investigator of Connecting Science and Literacy Program: Professional Development Resources for Elementary Teachers.

New York Regional Meeting

Friday, June 27, Hosted by Trace Jordan and Godfrey Roberts at Kimball Hall, New York University

Leadership Council Planning Meeting

May 15, 2008, Hosted by Rutgers University

SENCER-Network of Conservation Educators and Practitioners Workshop

October 19, 2007, Hosted by the American Museum of Natural History

How Students Learn: The Implications of Learning Research for Science Education

October 6, 2007, Hosted by Franklin & Marshall College

SENCER-New York City Planning Meeting

June 2007, Hosted by New York University