2010 SUMMER INSTITUTES
FOR PHILADELPHIA AREA K-12 TEACHERS
Sponsored by Bryn Mawr College
and the Bryn Mawr/Haverford K-16 Collaborations in Science and Mathematics Education
with support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Program Outline: This new three-week Institute will provide selected K-12 teachers, counselors, administrators, and others with the opportunity to work with college faculty and students on ways to move classrooms and curricula toward a more inquiry-based mode of both science education and education generally. It will draw on contemporary understandings of the brain as a foundation for thinking about both science and inquiry across disciplines, and explore in detail ways to more actively engage students in their own education at all educational levels. Special attention will be given to hands on activities, to classroom dynamics, and to the use of technology.
Institute sessions will include lecture/discussions and participatory demonstrations of classroom activities by both college faculty and K-12 teachers, as well as time for general discussion and for the development of new curricula and web-based curricular materials by Institute participants. Conducted in a workshop format, the Institute will be organized both to facilitate continuing professional development by past participants in the summer institute program and to engage teachers new to the program in a mutually supportive professional development community that values diversity of backgrounds and perspectives. Institute participants will be selected to enhance this diversity. Enrollment will be limited to twenty. The Institute co-directors are Wil Franklin and Paul Grobstein, who are respectively Lecture and Laboratory Coordinator and Professor in the Department of Biology at Bryn Mawr College. Franklin teaches several courses, as well as organizing introductory biology laboratories, and has previously directed summer institutes on interdisciplinary science education and inquiry. Grobstein teaches a course in Neurobiology and Behavior and has previously directed summer Institutes on Brain and Behavior. Both are involved with the continuing development of educational resource materials on the Serendip website.Institute Requirements and Follow-up: Participants will be expected to play an active role in the Institute, including participation in public on-line discussion so as to help others interested in inquiry approaches in education. They will also be expected to provide evaluations of the Institute experience, prepare a written proposal describing plans to make use of Institute experiences in their own classrooms, to experiment with these during the following academic year, to engage in continuing on-line discussion of their experiences, and to prepare a report of the their year's activities to be published on the web so as to be available to other interested teachers. Participation in subsequent years is contingent on completing all Institute obligations.
Institute Schedules and Location: This Institute will take place at Bryn Mawr College from 12 July through 30 July. Sessions will be held from 9 am. to 4 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays. Lunch will be provided.
Eligibility: High, middle, and elementary school teachers, as well as department heads and science supervisors, are eligible. Teachers interested in integrating science with other curricula are particularly welcome.
Incentives: Participants will receive 90 hours of Act 48 credit, and a $750 stipend. An additional $300 per participant to purchase educational supplies and materials will be available to teachers submitting cogent curriculum proposals and agreeing to provide a written report on their experiences.
Principal's Commitment: Institute participation requires signature of principal.
Application procedures: Information and application forms are available on line at http://serendipstudio.org/exchange/hhmi/summerapplication. See http://serendipstudio.org/local/suminst/ for information about the general program and other available Institutes.
For more information: Wil Franklin, Department of Biology, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pa. 19010, 610 526-5090, wfrankli@brynmawr.edu; Paul Grobstein, Department of Biology, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pa. 19010. 610 526-5098. pgrobste@brynmawr.edu