Dr. Xiongyi Liu
Assistant Professor
College of Education and Human Services, Cleveland State University

at Arthur St. John Hill Auditorium
Friday, May 4, 2012
9 a.m. – 10 a.m.

Effective Practices in Computer Supported Collaborative Learning and Implications for STEM Education

Abstract: With the rapid advances in computer and related technologies, computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is emerging as a dynamic paradigm. Research in CSCL has shown that it greatly facilitates knowledge sharing and co-construction through peer interaction and group learning processes. In this talk the presenter will discuss her research on how instructional innovation following a CSCL approach, specifically web-based case study and web-based peer assessment, can lead to enhanced engagement and learning gains among students. The findings indicate that students who work collaboratively in dyads or small groups in computer-supported problem-based or project-based learning activities engage more in higher level discourses and perspective taking, produce better solutions or projects, and develop more positive attitudes towards the subject. In addition, student motivation and individual differences are important factors that mediate the effectiveness of CSCL activities. The implications of such findings for the use of CSCL in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education are discussed.

Bio: Dr. Xiongyi Liu is an Assistant Professor in the College of Education and Human Services, Cleveland State University. She has a BA in English for Legal Professionals from South Central University of Political Science and Law in China, and an MA and a PhD in Educational Psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Currently she is an Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology at Cleveland State University. Dr. Liu has ten years of research experience. Her work typically focuses on development and evaluation of technology-enhanced learning tools and how technological innovations and advances in learning theories influence each other.

COLLOQUIUM

Monday, April 2, 2012
3:00-4:00 PM
Hill Auditorium, 165 Barrows Hall

Using definitions of mathematical knowledge for teaching: How do these constructs work in research on secondary and college mathematics teachers?

Natasha Speer
Department of Mathematics & Statistics

The construct  “mathematical knowledge for teaching” (MKT) has received considerable attention in the mathematics education community over the past decade. Much effort has been put towards the delineation and definition of particular types of knowledge used and needed by mathematics teachers, including Common Content Knowledge (CCK) and Specialized Content Knowledge (SCK). The various lines of research have yielded important and useful findings.

These efforts have been pursued almost exclusively in the context of elementary mathematics teaching. But what happens when researchers look instead at secondary or post-secondary teachers? Do these descriptions of various types of knowledge fit as well with data from non-elementary contexts given differences in background and content knowledge typically possessed by these populations of teachers?

I will present some theoretical questions that arose when using definitions of CCK and SCK in investigations into the nature of MKT at secondary and undergraduate levels. These questions will be illustrated with data from two mathematics instructional settings.

COLLOQUIUM

Monday, March 19, 2012
3:00-4:00 PM
Hill Auditorium, 165 Barrows Hall

Evidence of the argument: Using student posters to investigate the strength of student ability to present a scientific argument

Hannah Webber and Bill Zoellick, SERC Institute; Sarah Nelson, Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research; Beth Bisson, Maine Sea Grant

Reporting on research is the telling of a logical, evidence-backed story. The strength of the story hinges on the logic of the argument and the presentation of the supporting data. Students participating in Acadia Learning’s Mercury in Watersheds project report on their own research in research poster symposia. The poster session comes at the end of a partnered Scientist-Teacher-Student research project that guides High School students through their own investigations- asking questions, proposing possible answers, planning investigations, interpreting data, constructing arguments from the evidence and, finally, communicating results. What can an analysis of the posters tell us about the students’ ability to construct an evidence-backed story? Are the stories logical? Do the data support the argument? This presentation will give a brief overview of the Acadia Learning project, will share a framework that we are using to analyze four years of student posters and will present some early data using the framework. This is a progress report- encouraging discussion among colleagues as we refine ways to evaluate student presentation of research stories and use the evaluation to better the scaffolding necessary to guide the development of an evidence-backed story.

Hannah Webber manages the “Mercury in Watersheds” project for SERC Institute. Project management includes developing teacher workshops and interviewing project teachers. She uses interview responses, workshop feedback, teacher requests for information and student artifacts to refine project materials and processes. She is currently working with scientists and educators to develop two new Scientist-Teacher-Student Partnership programs for SERC Institute: “Nitrogen Cycling in Watersheds” and “Culverts and Stream Ecology”. Ms. Webber has taught kindergarteners to adults in a variety of formal and informal education programs, including a term as Interim Director of Fields Pond Audubon Center. She has also been on research teams investigating behavioral effects of methylmercury; genetic bases of wound healing; and the effects of PCBs on stream macroinvertebrate communities.

COLLOQUIUM

Monday, February 20, 2012
3:00-4:00 pm
Arthur St. John Hill Auditorium, 165 Barrows Hall

The Data Literacy Project: Investigating (and improving) how students’ apply data skills in science investigations

Monday, 2/6   -   9:00 pm (already played)
Monday, 2/13 -   6:00 pm
Tuesday, 2/28 -  8:00 pm
Monday, 3/5   -   7:00 and 7:30 pm (playoffs)

Also, some combination of: Tuesday, 3/6 – 9:00 pm; Monday, 3/12 – 7:00 or 8:00 pm; Tuesday, 3/13 – 8:30 pm (depending on how we do in the playoffs.

Directions to Fields:
(http://www.fields4kids.org/directions)

From I-95
Take exit 182A and follow route 395
Take exit 3A (Hampden/Farm Road)
Turn right at stop sign
At top of hill enter Beal College
Follow parking lot to right and drive around back to the warehouse.

Present

Erik DaSilva
RiSE Center, University of Maine

“Presenting a background of the design and testing for CPO Science, Foundation Science, and EarthComm”

The Maine Physical Science Partnership (PSP) is currently pre-piloting three sets of ninth grade curricula in several high school classrooms.   These curricula were selected after rigorous investigations were completed during the summer of 2011 by a team of Teachers in Residence and MST students.  The team confirmed that all three curricula fulfilled nine essential qualities including that they be inquiry based, have appropriate content, connect math and physical science, include useful assessments, teach the nature of science, engage students, include high quality teachers guides and resources, encourage student reflection, and cover systems, models, and scale.  Ensuring that each curriculum had previously been field tested and that research data backed its design was a final requirement, however this step was never completed.  During this seminar I will present an unbiased background for each curricula based on research performed by the publishers and/or third party sources.

Monday, January 30, 2012
Hill Auditorium, 165 Barrows Hall
3:00-4:00 pm 

Present

Maya Patel
Department of Biology
Ithaca College

“Learning inquiry and nature of science through undergraduate research: mentoring matters”

Undergraduate research experiences (UREs) have the potential to involve students in authentic and cutting edge scientific inquiry.  While research has shown that UREs can be effective in recruiting and retaining students and increasing students’ confidence in their abilities to do research, the literature on science-learning through participation in UREs is scant.  My research investigated what students learned about the practice of scientific inquiry and the natures of scientific knowledge (NOS) and inquiry (NOSI) through participation in summer UREs in cutting edge biotechnology laboratories.  I also explored the types of research projects and intern-mentor transactions taking place in the UREs in order to explain students’ gains or lack of gains.  I employed a mixed-methods approach involving a pre-post assessment of gains and an exploratory investigation of the laboratory research situations.  In general, interns’ independent practice of inquiry was of the most basic skills (e.g. collecting and summarizing data), though their guided practice included many of the more advanced inquiry skills important in developing scientific thinking (e.g. design, evaluating evidence, revising hypotheses).   While few interns made gains in understandings about NOS, many made gains in understandings about NOSI.  NOSI gains were associated with greater autonomy and independent practice of more advanced inquiry skills.  The exploratory investigation found that mentors played a critical role in determining the type of research project and in driving the intern-mentor transaction.  These in turn, contributed to intern’s learning outcomes.  For example, multifaceted research projects (both observational and hypothesis-driven) provided more opportunities to practice advanced aspects of inquiry in this setting. Interns engaged in more indeterminate projects, where methods were less prescribed and outcomes less predictable, generally made greater gains in understandings about NOSI.

Speaker Bio:

Maya received a BS from Mount Holyoke College, where she studied Biology and Environmental Science, and a MS in Entomology from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.  From there Maya returned to the east coast where she taught biology at both Ithaca College and Georgetown University for several years.  She continues to serve as an instructor and Science Faculty Chair for GU’s Myer’s Institute for College Preparation (MICP) for inner-city youth.  Maya’s experiences in large-enrollment, gateway-science courses and as a mentor for students of color helped to revise her views of teaching and learning science in higher education.  She began working with fellow faculty to bring student-centered pedagogies into the large lecture and more inquiry into the teaching laboratory.  This work eventually lead her back to school to pursue a PhD in Education Cornell University.  Maya conducted her dissertation research on student learning through undergraduate research.  Her time at Cornell also afforded her several opportunities to engage in evaluation efforts of both undergraduate and graduate-level science education programs, and to participate in a K-12 teacher professional development program.  Maya is currently Assistant Professor of Biology at Ithaca College where she continues her efforts to bring student-centered and inquiry-based pedagogies to her large-enrollment and non-majors science courses.

While on his way to Ellsworth to make a delivery to the Mt. View School, one of our Resource Coordinators, Jason Baker, found this little fellow in the middle of the road. He was cold, wet, shivering, and being attacked by crows, so Jason stopped, wrapped him up in a sweatshirt, and brought him along to the school.  Not knowing where the best place to take him was, he asked for guidance. The folks at the school directed him to take the little owl to Birdsacre Stanwood Wildlife Sanctuary in Ellsworth, where they would take good care of him.

I think we should name him Ollie York … isn’t he just the cutest thing?!

SCHEDULE

Mon, Nov 14 – 8:00 pm – WIN!
Mon, Nov 21 – 8:00pm – WIN!
Mon, Nov 28 – 6:00pm –
Mon, Dec 5 – 6:30pm
Mon, Dec 12 – 8:30pm
Mon, Dec 19 – 7:30pm
Mon, Dec 26 – No League Games – HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!
Mon, Jan 2 – 7:30pm
Mon, Jan 9 – 6:30pm AND 7:00pm

Directions to Fields:
(http://www.fields4kids.org/directions)

From I-95
Take exit 182A and follow route 395
Take exit 3A (Hampden/Farm Road)
Turn right at stop sign
At top of hill enter Beal College
Follow parking lot to right and drive around back to the warehouse