Stevens Institute of Technology Highlights GK-12 Fellows’ Research
Fellows Milan Begliarbekov and Jon Belkowitz have been recognized for their research studies as well as their work with high school teachers in the greater Hoboken area to develop standards-based teaching modules. Begliarbekov has published two papers on his ground-breaking research of graphene. Belkowitz is doing research into the optimal use of nanosilica to create a new concrete mixture.
Read about Fellows Begliarbekov and Belkowitz.
Posted on September 13, 2011
Study Says Grad Students’ Teaching Experiences Improve Research Skills
An article in the August 19 issue of SCIENCE describes a study whose results showed that graduate students who both taught and conducted research demonstrate significantly greater improvement in their abilities to generate testable hypotheses and design valid experiments. The authors believe that these results indicate that teaching experience can contribute substantially to the improvement of essential research skills.
Read the SCIENCE article. [pdf]
Posted on September 7, 2011
2012 Meeting for Projects – March 16-18
The annual meeting for GK-12 projects will be held on March 16-18, 2012 in Washington, DC at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill. All members of GK-12 projects are invited to attend. Single and double rates at the Hyatt are $194 plus tax. You can now reserve a room using the Passkey online system.
The deadline for reserving a room is February 16, 2012.
Posted on August 15, 2011
Taking GK-12 to the Next Level – Avoiding a Setback to STEM
In the editorial in the July 15 issue of the journal Science, GK-12 PIs Richard Boone (University of Alaska) and Pat Marsteller (Emory University) discuss the many benefits of GK-12 and the possibilities that this exemplary program holds for the future of STEM. They suggest an “enhanced” Gk-12 program that maintains the partnerships and infrastructure developed by NSF funding, but also that fosters collaborations with other federal agencies that support graduate student stipends.
Read the editorial. [SCIENCE, Vol 333, July 15, 2011]
Posted on July 15, 2011
Boston U Teaches 8th Graders About Climate Change
Fellows participating in the GLACIER project at Boston University (BU) brought their eighth grade students to campus for a climate change field trip. The middle-grade students spent the day involved in a range of activities designed to draw attention to global climate change. They assembled radiometers so they could measure the irradiance on the roof of the Arts & Sciences building, saw ice from a core millions of years old, and used an ASD spectrometer on the BU beach.
Read about climate change field trip. [PDF, BU Today]
Posted on July 13, 2011
Journal of STEM Ed Calls for Continuation of GK-12
In the April-June issue of the Journal of STEM Education, editors P.K. Raju and Ashley Clayson describe the benefits of the GK-12 program for fellows, teachers, and students. “NSF GK-12 Program Must be Saved: What You Can Do to Help” says the program or its guiding principles and practices must continue because “no other program consistently reaches such a diverse range of stakeholders and achieves such a wide range of goals simultaneously.”
Read the entire article [pdf] from Volume 12, Issue 3 & 4, Journal of STEM Education.
Posted on July 13, 2011
GK-12 Alumnus Receives Fulbright to India
Erik Taylor, a biomedical engineering graduate student and alumni fellow in the Brown University GK-12 project has been awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to India. Taylor will conduct research on anti-infection strategies in Mumbai with Dr. R. Banerjee from IIT-Bombay. The Brown University GK-12 partnered with the Providence Public Schools.
Read about Erik Taylor’s award.
Posted on July 12, 2011
CAMEOS GK-12 Engages Middle and High School Students in Authentic Research
Two hundred secondary students participated in CAMEOS Research Symposia in March and April at the Bodega Marine Lab. CAMEOS Fellows introduced these students to research and research methods and provided guidance as they designed and carried out research on major issues in ocean and environmental science. The middle and high school students then presented their research at seminars at the research symposia.
Read the article in the Sonoma West Times & News [pdf]
Posted on June 22, 2011
VIMS Fellows Bring Marine Science to VA Secondary Schools
GK-12 Fellows participating in PERFECT (Partnership between Educators and Researchers for Enhancing Classroom Teaching) at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science have just completed their second year working in schools in Virginia’s Tidewater area.
In addition, VIMS Fellows, Lindsey Kraatz, Sam Lake, Daniel Maxey, and Stephanie Salisbury, have involved their students in a study to find out if interacting with “real” scientists for a year had changed their perceptions of what “normal” scientists are.
Read article about VIMS on Dailypress.com [pdf]
Read WOW – they must be scientists! on Sea Monster.com [pdf]
Posted on June 22, 2011
New Mexico State GK-12 Teachers Receive Awards
Two teachers participating in GK-12 DISSECT at New Mexico State were honored for their exemplary teaching. Rachel Knight, a science and agriculture teacher at Picacho Middle School, received the Lorraine Schulte Excellence in Teaching award for her work to integrate environmental science, agriculture, and conservation into the curriculum. Paolo Oemig, a science teacher at Zia Middle School, was selected as Las Cruces Public School’s Teacher of the Year. His award makes him a nominee for New Mexico Teacher of the Year.
Read about Rachel Knight.
Read about Paolo Oemig.
Posted on June 15, 2011
