News & Notes - Science Education
According to the meteorologist on the news, June 2008 was warmer than average. Ahhh, the lazy days of summer! But, for AGPA, summer is anything but lazy!
Summer is the time that school teachers have extended periods of time available to attend Professional Development workshops. Therefore, we get busy and have fun! Yes, we do have fun. AGPA just completed our first of several Teacher Professional Development workshops for this summer. This weeklong workshop was in Dayton in collaboration with Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) Educational Outreach Group. If you live near Dayton, you should check out the opportunities that this group has available to you.
In addition to working with a wonderful staff of the WPAFB Educational Outreach Group, we met a number of enthusiastic teachers from the area that were eager to attend this inaugural Science and Technology Institute. We received very favorable comments on our final workshop evaluation. A few participants suggested that one week was too short and they would be excited for more! During the week, we discussed methods for teaching science, engineering problem solving, classroom implementation, which included both content integration and assessment, and, of course, an introduction to polymers.
AGPA has a number of other Professional Development opportunities we are involved with this summer. Two of these workshops are setup directly with Northeast Ohio school districts. However, our major Summer Institute for teachers in grades 4 and 5, which is a full two-week opportunity, is starting July 21st. Due to a few last minute cancellations, we still have space available. So, if you are looking for science content information, materials for your classroom, and fun, contact me (chelfer@uakron.edu) for more information.
- Carin Helfer, Assistant Director, Science Education Outreach