Get the latest news from OSDE Science Director Jana Rowland! Included in this month’s issue is important information about a free webinar about keeping your chemical storage clean and safe and details about a program from the Target Corporation to provide money to teachers to attend staff development. PLUS MUCH, MUCH MORE! Get your September JanaGram here.
The South West Association for Science Teacher Education (SWASTE) is holding a regional meeting on October 15-16 on the campus of Oklahoma State University. Anyone interested in the improvement of science teacher education programs is encouraged to register and attend the meeting. The conference web site is: http://educonf.wordpress.com/
Taking Collaborative Action to Improve the Preparation of Science Teachers in the Southwest
The Southwest Association for Science Teacher Educators (SW-ASTE), a seven-state regional arm of the National Association for Science Teacher Educators, hosts an annual conference for a small group of science teacher educators who share their research and experiences in supporting the continuous professional growth of K-12 science teachers. Active members have traditionally included science faculty members and their graduate students from four-year colleges and universities serving science teachers in Arizona, Arkansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas.
In this conference year, the SW-ASTE Board hopes to extend regional members to include a broader range of colleagues who also contribute to the growth and development of science teachers. With this conference year, the SW-ASTE Board wishes (a) to begin to increase and expand the diversity of our membership and (b) to include a wider variety of institutions and educators – community colleges, historically black institutions, educational service centers, alternative certification providers, scientists, engineers, classroom teachers and administrators. Increased membership, expansion in diversity, and a wider distribution of expertise would strengthen the existing structure of the organization while encouraging new opportunities for collaboration and improving the quality of preparation and support of science teachers in the region.
Bring collaborative partners with you to SW-ASTE this year. Share your innovations in collaborative partnerships that serve to improve science teacher preparation or ongoing professional development. Learn about new, exciting possibilities for action team funding to address regional concerns related to science teacher preparation and ongoing professional development.
Dear NSTA Leaders and Members:
As you may have heard, NSTA is bringing back the series “What Research Says to the Science Teacher.” The original series, published in the 1980s, was popular among science teachers because it synthesized research and offered practical suggestions for how to apply research in the classroom. The books in the new series will have these same qualities and more! The publications will be relatively short (15–20 pages), will offer research-based suggestions, and will be reviewed by teachers before they are published to ensure relevancy and readability. More importantly, the contents and themes of the books will be selected by the NSTA community.
In order to identify pertinent “What Research Says” book topics, we need your input. We’re asking all members of the NSTA community to spend 10–15 minutes to select and rank the 10 most important topics from a list of 25. We’ll conduct a Rasch analysis of the survey returns and will report on the results and the top 10 selected topics in a future article in NSTA Reports
Please participate in this survey, and send this message along to other science educators. The link to the survery can be found at: www.surveymonkey.com/s/2BBPMSD. The survey will be open through September 15, 2010.
Thanks so much for your help on this important project,
Julie Luft, NSTA Research Division Director & Kathryn Scantlebury, NSTA Research Committee Member co-Editors, What Research Says to the Science Teacher Series
Tamara Lookabaugh, Moore High School Biology teacher, is the recipient of the 2010 Outstanding Biology Teacher Award (OBTA) for Oklahoma. The OBTA is given each year by the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) to a life science teacher in each state who demonstrates exemplary practice in the teaching of life science. Tamara has been a teacher in Moore since 1986 having both high school and junior high teaching experience. She presently teaches Zoology, AP Biology, and pre-AP Chemistry and holds a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education from Oklahoma Baptist University. To quote Tamara’s application essay; “Teaching the biological sciences is my real passion because I believe it crucial for people to understand their own niche in the world and appreciate the amazing diversity of living things.”
Ms. Lookabaugh is a member of NSTA, OSTA, OKAEE, NEA OEA and NABT and serves on the OSTA Board of Directors as Secretary/Historian. She is extremely versatile and seeks out programs and institutes both as a participant and as a presenter to expand her science knowledge and share her expertise with others. Over the years she has received many awards and grants reflecting her deep commitment to teaching. As she stated in her application essay, “Many years have passed since I began teaching in 1986. I am still as excited, perhaps more so, about exploring the scientific discovers and new techniques which are rapidly emerging in out ever-changing world.”
Tamara Lookabaughs enthusiasm and dedication to teaching biology is further demonstrated in the following quote: “Because active hands-on science is essential to a student’s ability to retain information and apply it to a larger world-view, I actively strive to incorporate as many teaching techniques as possible and meet the variety of learning styles in my classroom.” She further states: “As a biology teacher, I have a chance to impact the lives of approximately one hundred and thirty students (each year) who are looking to me in anticipation of something significant that will give meaning to them being in my class. I try to meet those student expectations and do my best to provide a meaningful and thoughtful atmosphere for my students to discover themselves and the world around them.”
OBTA recipients are honored at a special event during the NABT Professional Development Conference sponsored by Pearson Prentice Hall; microscopes from Leica Microsystems, Inc.; and certificates and a complimentary one-year membership from NABT.
The OBTA is open to current biology/life science instructors (grades 7-12) with at least three years public, private, or parochial school teaching experience. A major portion of the nominee’s career must have been devoted to the teaching of biology/life science. NABT membership is not a requirement. Unsuccessful candidates may reapply. OBTA winners are ineligible to reapply for 10 years after selection.
Candidates will complete a form summarizing their professional experience, academic background, and education philosophy and provide four recommendations from colleagues familiar with their teaching effectiveness. Classroom observations and/or videotapes are also important steps in the evaluation process.
Candidates for the OBTA can be nominated for the award by colleagues, administrators, students, teacher/candidates themselves, or anyone competent to judge the candidate’s teaching effectiveness.
To participate or nominate someone for the OBTA, fill out the forms found at this website: http://obtaoklahoma.wikispaces.com/Forms or request a form from the NABT office, 1313 Dolley Madison Blvd, Suite 402, McLean, VA 22101. The deadline for nominations is March 15, 2011. You can also send the name and contact information of your nominee in an e-mail to Kay Gamble, the Oklahoma OBTA Director or call NABT at (703) 264-9696/ (800) 406-0775 for information.
The chorus of support for the teaching of evolution continues, with three statements from the American Society of Plant Taxonomists, the American Statistical Association, and the Union for Reform Judaism.
In its statement, the American Society of Plant Taxonomists endorses “the use of evolution in the scholarship of its members and supports teaching this theory in schools, colleges and universities,” adding, “As educators, we believe that evolution is an essential component of science education. In the absence of an evolutionary context, our understanding of the origin and complexity of the earth’s biodiversity and our ability to realize critical advances in medicine and agriculture would not be possible. Acknowledging our obligations as scientists and educators, we join the many other scientific societies that have endorsed the role of evolution as a unifying principle both in scientific scholarship and science curricula at all educational levels.”
The American Statistical Association, according to its statement, “takes no position on whether intelligent design is right or wrong. Nevertheless, it is clear that intelligent design is not a scientific theory subject to empirical testing, and thus has no place in science education.” It therefore resolved, “Intelligent design should not be taught as part of any science curriculum,” adding, “Further, the Association urges its members to continue to support vigorously those principles of inquiry and verification that characterize sound scientific practice.” (The statement was published in Amstat News, the monthly membership magazine of the ASA, in 2006, and seems not to be presently available on the ASA’s website.)
And the Union for Reform Judaism, noting that “the overwhelming majority of the scientific community, which supports theories that are testable by experiment or observation, oppose treating [’intelligent design’], which is neither, as scientific theory. A 1999 report by the National Academy of Sciences states, ‘Creationism, intelligent design, and other claims of supernatural intervention in the origin of life or of species are not science because they are not testable by the methods of science,” resolved to “[o]ppose government efforts and policies that seek to redefine science or the scientific method to incorporate religious, theological or other theories, including “intelligent design” and creationism, that are neither testable by experiment nor observation.”
Also of interest, although not addressing biological evolution, is a statement by the Affiliation of Christian Geologists on the physical age of the earth and universe, reading, in part, “… the scientific evidence clearly favors a vast age for the earth and the universe. Current scientific calculations indicate that the universe began about 13 billion years ago and the earth about 4.6 billion years ago. These conclusions are based on cumulative evidence and are refined with each new study. … Although Scripture contains essential information on origins that gives meaning and perspective, technical details of the method and timing of creation are not major concerns of the Biblical text, and many orthodox theologians do not see a conflict between the Bible and an old creation.”
All four of these statements are reproduced, by permission, on NCSE’s website, and will also be contained in the fourth edition of NCSE’s Voices for Evolution.
For the ASPT statement, visit:
http://www.aspt.net/society/evolutionstatement/
For the ASA’s website, visit:
For the URJ’s statement, visit:
http://urj.org//about/union/governance/reso//?syspage=article&item_id=1943
For the ACG’s statement (PDF), visit:
http://www.wheaton.edu/ACG/ACGstatementv2_1.pdf
And for information about Voices for Evolution, visit:
From NCSE’s Evolution Education Update, July 30, 2010
(Editor’s note- Given Oklahoma’s new law allowing the teaching of the Bible in public school, it may be time to once again review what is legal and appropriate when teaching about religion in K-12 Public Schools.)
It is wrong to teach creation science or intelligent design in the science classroom, according to the American Academy of Religion. In its “Guidelines for Teaching About Religion in K‐12 Public Schools in the United States,” issued in April 2010, the Academy poses the question “Can creation science or intelligent design be taught in schools?” and answers (p. 21, emphasis in the original):
Yes, but NOT in science classes. Creation science and intelligent design represent worldviews that fall outside of the realm of science that is defined as (and limited to) a method of inquiry based on gathering observable and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. Creation science, intelligent design, and other worldviews that focus on speculation regarding the origins of life represent another important and relevant form of human inquiry that is appropriately studied in literature or social sciences courses. Such study, however, MUST include a diversity of worldviews representing a variety of religious and philosophical perspectives and must avoid privileging one view as more legitimate than others.
The American Academy of Religion is a learned society and professional association of teachers and research scholars, with over 10,000 members who teach in over 1000 colleges, universities, seminaries, and schools in North America and abroad. The Academy is dedicated to furthering knowledge of religion and religious institutions in all their forms and manifestations.
For the AAR’s Guidelines (PDF), visit:
Teaching Evolution in the 21st Century
Oklahomans for Excellence in Science Education (OESE), the National Science Foundation (NSF-0845314), and the University of Oklahoma Biological Station (UOBS) present a professional development workshop on Teaching Evolution in the 21st Century for Oklahoma high school science teachers and undergraduate and graduate students in science education. The workshop will be held Friday Sept. 17 (6:00 PM) through Sunday Sept. 19, 2010 (3:00 PM) at the University of Oklahoma Biological Station on Lake Texoma, OK.
Topics covered will include: The nature of science and latest developments in evolutionary biology, resources on teaching evolution and services available for teachers, curriculum development and state standards, and dealing with classroom and community controversy. Teachers will have the opportunity to present their favorite lesson plans and discuss any problems they have encountered in teaching evolution.
Instructors include Julie Angle (Teaching and Curriculum Leadership, OSU), Dr Richard Broughton (Zoology, OU), Dr. Ola Fincke (Zoology, OU), Dr. Victor Hutchison (Zoology, OU), Dr. Cecil Lewis (Anthropology, OU), Bob Melton (Science Curriculum Specialist, Putnam City Schools), Dr. Stanley Rice (Biological Sciences, Southeastern OSU), and Dr. Frank Sonleitner (Zoology, OU).
Participants will earn a certificate of participation for professional development credit.
Attendees will receive two books on teaching evolution: Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science, and The Virus and the Whale: Exploring Evolution in Creatures Large and Small. Accommodations and meals at the UOBS and a stipend to cover travel are included.
The only cost for participants is a $25 registration fee. Deadline for registration and payment of fee will be Sept. 1, 2010. Early registration is advised since places are limited to 30 registrants. Registrants will receive a confirmation letter with maps and additional information.
Further information, registration forms and payment information are on-line at: www.oklascience.org/teachers.pdf and at www.ou.edu /uobs/teachers.htm . To sign up for the Oklahoma Evolution list serve and for many teaching resources, news, events, books, humor, petition on science only in science classes, and much, more see the OESE web site: http://www.oklascience.org
Today the National Research Council (NRC) Board on Science Education released a draft conceptual framework for new science education standards http://www7.nationalacademies.org/bose/Standards_Framework_Homepage.html. The framework lays the foundation for what core science ideas, cross-cutting concepts, and scientific practices all students need to succeed in science, and is the first major step in the development of the next generation of science standards.
Teachers and all stakeholders have until August 2 to review and comment on the framework.
All teachers can have input on this draft framework. Please forward this message to your science teacher colleagues or to listservs in your state or school. Take a moment NOW to review the draft framework document and answer the online questionnaire.
· Review and Comment on the Draft Framework http://www7.nationalacademies.org/bose/Standards_Framework_Homepage.html.
Open for Public Comments Until August 2!
· Read background information and an FAQ from the NRC http://www7.nationalacademies.org/bose/Standards_Framework_FAQs.html
A New U.S. National STEM Initiative for Grades 5-12 to inspire the next generation of spaceflight engineers and space scientists
June 7, 2010—The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) provides middle and high school classes across the U.S. the ability to propose experiments to fly in low Earth orbit, and to celebrate that accomplishment with their local community and with national and global audiences. Entire school districts can participate, with student teams proposing experiments like professional scientists and engineers.
Phase 1 of the program is a unique and historic opportunity to propose an experiment to fly aboard STS-134, the final scheduled flight of the Space Shuttle. Selected student experiments would fly for 10 days aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour. Launch is tentatively scheduled for November 2010, but a launch slip to mid-January is expected, enabling this student spaceflight experiments opportunity.
We want the final voyage of the Space Shuttle to also mark a new beginning for private sector sponsored student experiments in space, which organizations on the SSEP Team have pioneered. The flight of Endeavour will be used as a gateway to Phase 2 of the SSEP—sustainable, ongoing access to space for grade 5-12 students inspired to propose experiments for low Earth orbit aboard the International Space Station (with transport via the Russian Progress and Soyuz vehicles), and on suborbital space flights.
The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) will immerse students across a local community in an exciting, high profile scientific investigation that is designed and owned by the students—the Flight Experiment Opportunity—and leverage the excitement by wrapping powerful, community-wide science education programming around the experience—the Community Program. It is about engaging students, their teachers, and their families in science education, with a focus on the process of inquiry, and in a manner that is customized to a school district’s strategic needs in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education.
Visit the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program Website for full details about this time-critical program opportunity, and a call to action in your community.CLICK HERE
May 4, 2010.
Whereas in 2005 the National Academy of Sciences published a report entitled ‘‘Rising Above the Gathering Storm’’, which estimated that in the United States innovations generated by the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields account for nearly half of the growth in gross domestic product;
Whereas in 2006 only 4.5 percent of college graduates in the United States received a diploma in engineering, compared with 25.4 percent in South Korea, 33.3 percent in China, and 39.1 percent in Singapore;
Whereas increasing the number of students pursuing careers in STEM fields is vital to the global competitiveness of the United States;
Whereas many STEM occupations do not have representation of women and underrepresented minorities proportional to these groups in the population or their enrollment in higher education;
Whereas strengthening partnerships between the Federal and State governments, the private sector, nonprofit organizations, professional societies, and the education community will improve STEM education in our Nation’s schools;
Whereas the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that science and engineering occupations are projected to grow by 21.4 percent from 2004 to 2014, compared to a projected growth of 13 percent in all occupations during the same time period;
Whereas an understanding of science and mathematics is necessary not only for those who will enter STEM fields as majors but for all citizens to understand scientific and technical issues that affect their lives;
Whereas scientific and technical skills are a requirement for an increasingly wide range of occupations and hands-on inquiry-based learning in the STEM fields is an essential element of a well-rounded education;
Whereas the President has launched an ‘‘Educate to Innovate campaign’’ which aims to increase STEM literacy so that all students can learn deeply and think critically in STEM, to move American students from the middle of the pack to the top in the next decade, and to expand STEM education and career opportunities for underrepresented groups, including women and girls;
Whereas National Lab Day is a nationwide initiative to foster community-based collaborations between educators and STEM professionals and other volunteers across the country to support high-quality, hands-on, discoverybased laboratory experiences for students;
Whereas more than 200 business, science and technology, and education organizations have declared their support for National Lab Day; and
Whereas schools and educators across the country will celebrate the first National Lab Day during the first week of May at a time of their own choosing: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
(1) supports the ideals of National Lab Day;
(2) calls upon the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Science Foundation to continue fostering partnerships such as those involved in National Lab Day; and
(3) encourages scientists, volunteers, and educators to participate in National Lab Day.
