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CfAO Education & Human Resources

UCSC Oversight Committee MeetingSeptember 14, 2005

Lisa Hunter

Associate Director

Education & Human Resources (EHR)

Center for Adaptive Optics

2/19

Overview

• Overall CfAO EHR program

• Impact of Internships

• Professional Development Workshop

• Planning for the future

3/19

CfAO Education & Human Resources

Stars, Sight and Science (high school)

Internships (college)

Hawaii Partnerships (college)

Professional Development Workshop & Teaching Labs

(grad & postdoc)

Education 286 (grad student)

Short Courses (college)

4/19

• Inquiry teaching skills

• Stronger overall teaching skills

CfAO Teaching Workshop

Graduate students

Postdocs

Educ Partners

ENHANCED TEACHING

CfAO Education: An integrated set of programs

High school students

College students

COSMOS, Internships, Short Courses

• Advancement of well-prepared students

• New courses; new curricula

• Partnerships

BROADER PARTICIPATION

“Teaching Labs”

• Practical Experience• Pilot curricula

Integrate new curricula into

college courses

5/19

Mainland Internship Program

Technical Presentation:

CfAO Summer School

Research:

University, National Lab

Preparation: Short Course

at UCSC

Guidance, mentoring, support: formal and informal

Partners & Participants:LLNL, Rochester, Houston, UCB, UCLA, UCSC, Indiana, JPL, Hartnell CC, Hispanic Assoc. of Colleges & Universities

10-15 students/summer

Targeted students

Advance in

science and tech

1 week 7 weeks

6/19

Mainland Internship Program: Student Advancement

• At least 86% (37 of 43) of interns in the program are on track, remaining enrolled in a STEM program of study or entering the STEM workforce (4 students’ status unconfirmed)

• 10 interns have now entered STEM graduate programs, and 6 of these are from underrepresented minority groups– 3 are in UCSC School of Engineering (1 working at the LAO)

7/19

• Inquiry teaching skills

• Stronger overall teaching skills

CfAO Teaching Workshop

Graduate students

Postdocs

Educ Partners

ENHANCED TEACHING

CfAO Education: An integrated set of programs

High school students

College students

COSMOS, Internships, Short Courses

• Advancement of well-prepared students

• New courses; new curricula

• Partnerships

BROADER PARTICIPATION

“Teaching Labs”

• Practical Experience• Pilot curricula

Integrate new curricula into

college courses

8/19

Professional Development Workshop

• Training workshop for teaching scientific inquiry skills, and teaching in general

• Held for 5 days each spring on Maui

• ~40 participants each year: grads, postdocs, ed partners

• Major focus on instructional design

• Includes Maui partnership building activities

• PDW is an ongoing cycle that builds “community of practice”

Collaborators:

CfAO

Exploratorium

UCSC Ed

CILS

9/19

The PDW cycle

CfAO EHR

Partners

CfAO Grads & Postdocs

Affiliated Grads

CfAO

Partner Institutions

& Orgs.

Workshop Design Team

Reflection Practice

Community of

Practice

10/19

PDW Roles for Returning Participants

• Inquiry facilitators: take an instructional role replacing a staff member

• Inquiry shadowers: watch an experienced facilitator

• Discussion Leaders: lead a small group discussion

• Design team leaders: Lead a group who will design a new activity

• Working Groups: Develop new activities (e.g. connecting theory and practice)

11/19

PDW Design Task

Design an activity that teaches content through scientific inquiry processes

Activity can focus on one or more sample “processes”

• Posing research questions

• Formulating hypotheses

• Designing investigations

• Making observations, gathering and analyzing data

• Building or revising scientific models or theories

• Evaluating, testing, or verifying models

• Explaining results

12/19

Conclusions from “America’s Lab Report”

Laboratory experiences should:

• Designed with clear outcomes in mind

• Thoughtfully sequenced into the flow of classroom science instruction

• Designed to integrate the learning of science content with learning about the processes of science

• Incorporate ongoing student reflection and discussion

National Research Council (2005). America’s Lab Report: Investigations in High School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

13/19

Impact of PDW: People

• 20 (of 40 total) UCSC graduate students attended 2005 PDW

• 34 of 40 (85%) of 2005 participants will have taught an “inquiry-based” activity (integrating science content and processes)

• 2 UCSC graduate students were awarded NSF Postdoctoral Fellowships, incorporating the PDW to develop short courses

14/19

Impacts of PDW: Courses & Instructional Units

• PDW participants have developed 4 short courses with significant inquiry lab components:– Two courses are offered for

credit at CC’s– One course led to the Hartnell

President’s Partnership Award

• At least 18 new instructional “lab” units have been designed

15/19

Impacts of PDW: Courses & Instructional Units (in progress)

• A new Astronomy Lab course has been developed using PDW and CfAO short course models (in curriculum review at Maui CC)

• The UCSC Science Teaching Methods course (for students in credential program) is being revised by a PDW participant and Education faculty member

• Astronomy 5 (non-majors course) will be re-designed by PDW participant

16/19

Planning for the future

• We now have a model for training science educators AND developing new curricula

• Growth pressure for increased participation:– PDW is selective– Campus community interested in incorporating more

students (e.g. new IGERT proposal, EPC, etc.)– Interest in Hawaii is growing; new spin-off projects

might include a Hawaii-based “PDW”

• How do we align ourselves with campus and participant needs?

17/19

• Inquiry teaching skills

• Stronger overall teaching skills

CfAO Teaching Workshop

Graduate students

Postdocs

Educ Partners

ENHANCED TEACHING

Identified Need: Recognition of skills & experience gained at PDW

High school students

College students

Summer research programs: courses & internships

• Advancement of well-prepared students

• New courses; new curricula

• Partnerships

BROADER PARTICIPATION

“Teaching Labs”

• Practical Experience• Pilot curricula

Integrate new curricula into

college courses

Recognition

of skills & experience:

“Certificate”

Pull best aspects from

CILS and CfAO

18/19

• Inquiry teaching skills

• Stronger overall teaching skills

CfAO Teaching Workshop

Graduate students

Postdocs

Educ Partners

ENHANCED TEACHING

High school students

College students

Summer research programs: courses & internships

• Advancement of well-prepared students

• New courses; new curricula

• Partnerships

BROADER PARTICIPATION

“Teaching Labs”

• Practical Experience• Pilot curricula

Integrate new curricula into

college courses

Possible Future Directions for CfAO Education:

Expanding focus to include Pre-Service Teachers

19/19

CfAO Teaching Workshop

Graduate students

Postdocs

Educ Partners

Teaching “certificate”

and/or

Other recognition of skills gained

Possible Future Directions for CfAO Education:

Expanding focus to include Pre-Service Teachers

UCSC STEM majors interested in teaching

Recruitment Activities

New Instructional Units & Courses

Instructional Design Workshops

Pre-Service Science Teachers:

Recruitment, Retention, Training

20/19

Summary

• Internships are advancing students from underrepresented minority groups into graduate programs

• Successful model for training science educators and developing new curricula

• Efforts in Hawaii well-established on Maui and Big Island

• Strong potential for PDW to align with UCSC campus needs