Enhancing Connections:
The K-16 Community and Integrating Science in the Curriculum

Changing Pedagogies in Math and Science Education, a new "praxis" course (Victor Donnay)

Flowing Uphill: Lessons Learned While Working with K-12 Teachers (Juan Burciaga)

Students preparing to teach in elementary school, in most institutions including Mount Saint Mary College, do not receive adequate exposure to the sciences they will be expected to teach nor do they learn to integrate mathematical concepts with scientific applications. This lack of preparation makes it increasingly difficult for prospective teachers to meet new education standards and receive certification. In response to this problem, the Divisions of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and Computer Sciences, working cooperatively with the Division of Education has developed several new courses integrating math, science and technology (MST). These courses are intended to promote scientific and mathematical literacy, overcome math and science phobias, and allow students to see the connections of these disciplines to their own lives. . Two of the three courses in the sequence are theme-based, incorporating many fields of mathematics and science into courses with themes such as "The Hudson River" and "Energy". This sequence of courses serves as the students¹ math and science core and also satisfies the college requirement for computer literacy. While these courses will initially target elementary education/ special education pre-service teachers, when fully developed and evaluated, they will become the math and science core required of all non-science students at the college.

GK-12 and GeoKids: Bringing place-based learning to urban Philadelphia children (funded in part by NSF, pending final award notification)

This project builds on strong existing collaborations between Saint Joseph's University (SJU) science faculty and a Philadelphia museum, the Wagner Free Institute of Science (WFIS), and between WFIS staff and principals at three nearby urban Philadelphia public schools. GK-12 Fellows are M.S candidates or advanced undergraduates studying Biology or Environmental Science. Each year 4-8 Fellows will collaborate with WFIS education specialists, SJU faculty, and K-6 teachers to develop and present semester-long thematic units to students attending schools in one of Philadelphia’s most underserved neighborhoods. “GeoKids” incorporates a place-based approach that uses the local environment as a resource to teach earth and life sciences--a unique and challenging learning strategy for an inner-city program. GeoKids emphasizes hands-on science, project-based learning, and development of fundamental skills such as reading, writing, and observing. The program includes annual summer workshops where Fellows, K-6 teachers, and participating SJU and WFIS educators review curriculum standards, study in appropriate content areas, and become more familiar with education issues specific to students from the target schools. Doctoral education students will collaborate with an education assessment expert in designing and administering assessment tools. Expected outcomes of the program include: development, testing, and documentation of environmentally-based lessons, K-6 teachers empowered to develop their own place-based lessons, SJU faculty and graduate students committed to enhancing science literacy, and incorporation of GK-12 program elements into existing Service Learning activities at SJU.

Penn-Merck Collaborative for the Enhancement of Science Education (Jane Horwitz)

Penn Summer Science Initiative - Summer Course in Materials Science for High School Students (Andrew McGhie)