[I'm always looking for graduate courses for high school physics and
chemistry teachers. Last week I discovered this program. Some of these
courses we would call physics courses - for example, "Interactions of
matter and energy". Courses are FREE until April 30. A teacher can start
anytime.
- Jane Jackson, Modeling Instruction Program, Arizona State University.]
ON-LINE GRAD COURSES FOR HIGH SCHOOL CHEMISTRY TEACHERS.
A National Science Foundation grant at the University of Nebraska:
TEACHER TRAINING IN CHEMISTRY (ESI-9819377)
The University of Nebraska offers on-line modular graduate chemistry
courses for high school teachers. Until April 30, 2003, tuition is FREE.
See the project summary below for further information, and visit
<http://dwb.unl.edu/Teacher/Teacher.html>.
Dr. David Brooks <DBrooks1@unl.edu> is Project Director.
David Brooks wrote me in Feb. 2003: "
Our program envisions that teachers will use the graduate course
credits in a degree program for masters or other degrees. We prefer that
teachers work with a mentor, presumably the same person with whom they
would work toward a degree. For the purpose of this course, David Brooks
will be happy to serve as a mentor. However, you may want to use this
credit at someplace other than UNL. (In other words, this is NOT UNL
recruiting.)
Several teachers have done this 'just to see what it's like.' Credit,
though important to many, is neither required nor important to all."
"While our courses do provide some pedagogical information, they are
chemistry content rich. Our interface is entirely open and potential
students and mentors are encouraged to try the system." "Our program is
very different. With us, EVERYTHING is public including the testing. So,
one can try before they buy."
David Brooks wrote in Feb. 2003: "90% of participants sign up for their
(n+1)th course within 48 hours of completing their (n)th course. We've
issued about 350 credits so far, and we have >120 courses in progress."
Fourteen 1-credit courses are available, and 4 more are under development:
Structure and properties of matter - water and solutions
Chemical reactions - equations& their consequences (mole; prediction;
stoichiometry)
Structure of atoms - nuclear
Structure and properties of matter - electrons, periodicity, and
chemical properties
Structure and properties of matter - bonding and structure
Structure and properties of matter - carbon chemistry and polymers
Interactions of matter and energy
Molecular biology
Structure and properties of matter - gases and the atmosphere
Biomolecules
Chemistry of life processes - energy and metabolism
Chemical reactions - acids and bases
Chemical reactions - kinetics
Equilibrium - unifying theme
Chemical reactions - oxidation, reduction and electrochemistry
Conservation of energy and the increase in disorder - thermodynamics
Inquiry and the nature of science - analysis and instrumentation
Condensed states
----------------
PROJECT SUMMARY:
The 18 content-rich graduate courses for high school chemistry teachers are
modular, with objectives, testing and most scoring delivered over the WWW.
Mentors have substantial control over both content and testing. A teacher
can earn credits in chemistry, in education, or in both at the university
of the mentor faculty, and it can count toward advanced degrees (such as
MEd, MAT, etc.)
UNIVERSITY PARTNER. If a university offers a master's degree (in education,
but possibly in chemistry), that school can be a partner. Partner schools
have faculty willing to serve as MENTORS.
FACULTY MENTOR. Suppose a chemistry teacher comes to an education or
chemistry faculty member and asks for some chemistry coursework to be
included in a masters degree program. Most schools don't offer content-rich
graduate courses for chemistry teachers, i.e., courses that are rich not
just in chemistry content but also in the know-how of teaching that content
successfully in the high school classroom. The mentor can sign up that
student for a Web module. Mentor and teacher select a module, make a few
academic decisions about it (coverage, level, amount of hand grading). The
mentor negotiates expectations with the teacher (graduate student).
The teacher accesses the course over the WWW. Most of what is provided to
them is objectives, testing and performance-sensitive feedback. The course
points them to content sources rather than creates new content.
When judging extended writing from teachers is involved, responses are
forwarded to mentors for evaluation. The other content, however, is handled
automatically -- and includes sophisticated, open-ended, short-answer
testing (i.e., much more than multiple choice items). Repeated testing is
expected until mastery of a topic is demonstrated.
Mentors have full access to what the teacher is doing. Once the teacher
finishes the 'official' curriculum, the mentor receives notice about his or
her work. The mentor decides to award credit from his/her school based upon
the work completed and negotiations with the teacher.
PARTNER RESPONSIBILITIES are in 2 phases.
Phase 1: Project Period (until April 30, 2003, and it may be extended
through April 2004). Each partner university is asked to identify some
modules and put 1 or more teachers (graduate students) through the modules.
Teachers receive FREE graduate credit from the University of Nebraska --
which partner universities accept for their degree programs. Mentors are
paid by the NSF grant.
Phase 2: Post-Project Period. If the modules work well for a partner, that
partner is expected to add courses to their catalog and offer those modules
(in perpetuity). The partner will charge tuition for those courses. For a
fee, which looks to be $25 per teacher per module, the University of
Nebraska will handle ALL of the serving of the course to the student.
Mentors handle all hand-grading (reading of essays.)
Faculty wishing to join as mentors should contact David Brooks
<DBrooks1@unl.edu>.
CURRENT MENTORS (in Feb. 2003) are from:
University of Massachusetts
Youngstown State University
Univ. of Nebraska
Univ. of Tennessee at Martin
Cal State Univ. - Fullerton
Univ. of Missouri - St. Louis
Univ. of Hawaii
Univ. of Kansas
Univ. of North Texas
UCLA
Miami Univ - Ohio
Univ. of California - San Diego
Cal. State Univ. - San Jose
Univ. of Nebraska - Omaha
Texas A&M University
----------------------------------------
Jane Jackson, Co-Director, Modeling Instruction Program
Box 871504, Dept.of Physics & Astronomy,ASU,Tempe,AZ 85287
480-965-8438/fax:965-7331 <http://modeling.asu.edu>
Caring is contagious; help spread it around.