Events | News | Essays | Interviews

Events and Announcements

CASES Online goes live on December 1, 2005

CASES Online is a collection of inquiry-based lessons to engage K-12, undergraduate and graduate students in exploring the science behind real-world problems. Through CASES, teachers can transform students into motivated investigators, self-directed and life-long learners, critical thinkers and keen problem solvers. Learn more about the CSE's newest tool for science educators here.

 

SURE 2006 applications are now available:

Check out the SURE website for more information.

 

Emory Undergraduate Research Journal (EURJ) has a new website:

Visit www.eurj.com to learn all about Emory University's new multidisciplinary journal for undergraduate research and to download submission guidelines for the charter publication.

 

Read an inspiring essay from Karen Eifler (U. of Portland):

Click here to read Learning from Dandelions.

 

CSE in the News

Emory Report
8/01/05

'PRISM SHINES LIGHT ON LEARNING METHODS'
Showcasing nontraditional learning methods was the highlight of the third annual PRISM (Problems and Research to Integrate Science and Mathematics program) demo day, held July 26 in the Math & Science Center Planetarium.

PRISM is a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded program that pairs graduate students in the sciences with middle and high school teachers to develop innovative pre-college science curricula using problem-based and investigative case-based learning pedagogy.

Collaborative teams of graduate students and teachers presented the original problems and cases they wrote this summer and plan to implement over the upcoming year. Presentations covered a range of topics, from lessons about infection control and outbreak, to swabing surfaces at the schools to find and identify different types of bacteria, to the importance of hand-washing and proper infection-control techniques at hospitals, to learning about engineering by building model planes.

PRISM's goal is to turn potentially dull or confusing topics into practical and accessible problems students can relate to and understand, and to encourage their active participation in the learning process.

"While student data are still under analysis, teachers report their students are more motivated to learn and they attend class more often and retain concepts longer than with traditional teaching methods," said Jordan Rose, program associate for the Center for Science Education (CSE), which helps administer the program.
View Full Article

 

Atlanta Journal-Constitution
2/13/05

'MAKE IT EASIER FOR TEACHERS TO IMPROVE'
About a dozen teachers in the metro area have worked with the Center for Science Education at Emory University to improve their skills. The center received a grant from the National Science Foundation to offer the program to small groups of teachers.

Through the program, graduate students in specific science areas helped middle and high school science teachers in Atlanta, Decatur, DeKalb County and Fulton County schools develop new classroom lessons. The graduate students shared their knowledge about science with the classroom teachers. Gerda Louizi, a biology teacher at North Springs High School in Fulton County, who participates in the program, said the graduate students helped teachers better understand science concepts.

"I think we would see an improvement in science if we could make it easier for teachers to improve," she said. "So many teachers are embarrassed to ask for help. It takes a lot of courage to admit that you don't understand something, especially when it is the topic you are already supposed to be an expert in."
View Article [registration required]

 

CSE - Amanda McAlister
2/11/05

BOOSTING K-12 SCIENCE AND MATH ACHIEVEMENT AS A COMMUNITY OF TEACHERS
Uri Treisman lectures on how college faculty can help minority students achieve excellence.
View Article

Essays on Education

Learning from Dandelions - by Karen E. Eifler, University of Portland, Oregon

"We sow with all the art we know and not a plant appears; A single seed from any weed a thousand children rears." - anonymous

I pulled the first of many dandelions from my front yard today. For once I took a closer look at this pernicious weed that consumes so much of my scant gardening time and was struck by a number of lessons I could apply to my work as a teaching professor:

1) Observed closely, the delicate fuzz on a dandelion is actually a cloud of minute barbs. When that cloud of spikes take flight, whether launched by a child's blowing, a gentle breeze or even an accidental kick, they allow the fuzz containing the promise of more dandelions to anchor just about anywhere. Wouldn't it be great if I could develop just as many "hooks" in my work with students so that memories of the content we explore would fly beyond their latest exam or paper and anchor some place where they could take root? It's hard to predict where dandelion fuzz will land. This means I must create multiple entry points into more of the lessons I teach. I could also work harder to get students to stop and create their own hooks-- inviting them to craft quickwrites, single sentence summaries of class sessions, metaphors and sensory images to elaborate on challenging course material.

2) Over several seasons of pulling dandelions I have learned that they are opportunistic and will grow wherever there is the smallest opening. They don't seem to care about soil composition, the aesthetics of where they happened to have landed, or whether the suns shines on them from the south or the north. They look for any tiny fissure and seize the space, be it a crack in cement, a dry patch of lawn or my already full window boxes. I can even imagine them laughing at these deterrents. What kind of learning would my students experience if I seized on openings in their minds and hearts with something like a dandelion's tenacity? Maybe I need to spend more time talking with my students in those minutes before and after class, or invite email dialogues through which I might discover what captures their imagination and fuels their passion. Even if I can't work those interests into teaching the material, perhaps my students will catch a glimpse how invested I am in their mastery of the material and development as professionals. Someone once said, "students will not care how much you know until they know how much you care." Seeking those receptive openings, while laughing at the deterrents, is one way to exercise the care I wish to communicate.

3) Truth be told, I love the vibrant yellow of dandelions. When it feels impossible to conquer the waves of saffron invaders, I can persuade myself that they are flowers, not weeds. Maybe some of the students who drive me craziest with their unwillingness to acquiesce to my particular vision of how learning should transpire need to be looked at with changed eyes. There have been moments in my teaching when I have worked hard to present the Revealed Truth from my discipline only to have a student respond with a pithier, more straightforward rendering--one that captured the thought in a way that made it more accessible and memorable for everyone in the room. I should re-frame the way I respond to those students and celebrate what philosopher Maxine Greene has called "the disruptions of the taken-for-granted" rather than grinding my teeth. And here's an even more radical notion: perhaps I should work on seeing some of my colleagues from a more positive perspective.

4) Despite being subjected to tough environmental conditions and outright hostility from me, the foliage on the dandelions maintains its robust green hue even as the grass around it withers to the color and texture of straw. That capacity hints at deep, efficient reserves of energy and mechanisms of resiliency that I could do well to emulate myself and nurture in my students.

5) I get a fresh chance every spring to start over in my lawn and garden, and each spring I pledge "this year will be different. I will treat the yard earlier, tend it more carefully and surely face fewer weeds." It occurs to me that I say approximately the same thing each semester: "I will seek more resources, organize better, find out more about the students, give them more and earlier feedback and be less frazzled at term's end. . ." the list goes on. One wonderful thing worth celebrating about teaching: unlike many other professions, I do truly get a fresh start every fourteen weeks.

 

Careers in Science - Selected Emory Faculty Interviews

Ever wondered what it's really like to be a scientist? Or what it takes to succeed in this increasingly competitive market? The Emory College Center for Science Education collected 22 first-hand accounts from prominent Emory scientists to offer you a sneak peek into their professional lives. Find out what professional research is like, how much schooling is required to become a scientist and what makes these scientists tick. All interviews conducted by Christopher Mimms and edited by P.J. Gallagher.

Click on a faculty member's name to read more: