Teacher Professional Development Saturday Workshop 1 (24 Oct 2009)
A PD workshop has been conducted for the participating teachers in the ITEST-Nano project on 24 Oct 2009 (Saturday). This was the first of the four on-going Saturday workshops planned for the school year. The agenda for the workshop was as follows:
| Time: | Agenda Item | |
| 9:45 - 10:00 am | Registration | |
| 10:00 - 10:45 am | VMD module | |
| 10:45 - 11.30 am | Nano Experiment | |
| 11:30 - 12:15 am | Parallel Sessions: NetLogo and Garageband | |
| 12:15 - 12:30 pm | Webinar demonstration: Dim Dim | |
| 12:30 - 12:45 pm | Teacher sharing | |
| 12:45 - 1:00 pm | Lunch and program announcements |
Venue:
Graduate School of Education
University of Pennsylvania
5th Annual NanoDay @ Penn (28 Oct 2009)
Each year, the Nano/Bio Interface Center sponsors a full day of exhibits, demonstrations, and laboratory tours to highlight nanotechnology research across the campus. Area high school classes participate along with undergraduate and graduate students alike. This event is crucial to boosting student interest in science, technology, engineering, and math-related careers. This year, the Annual NanoDay @ Penn takes place on 28 Oct 2009 (Wednesday).
ITEST teachers are able to bring classes to tour the exhibits about
nanoscale science that will be staffed by our research labs. There is
also a multimedia show playing tin the exhibit halls. Over 35
regional high school students will have their research posters on
display as well. All the behind the scenes tours have been booked
for some time now. If there is interest, arrangements for
free admission to the Penn Museum can be made to supplement your visit.
If you are interested in attending, the event is FREE. Group sizes
are limited to one class per teacher along with adequate adult
chaperons. There is a food court at 36th and Walnut along with many
other lunch options around campus.
Click here for more information regarding NanoDay @ Penn. Please contact Jim McGonigle, NBIC Program Coordinator for questions and registration regarding these programs at 215-898-5151 or email jmcgon@seas.upenn.edu. You can also refer to the itest-nano.ning.com to download the registration form directly from the Forum section.
ITEST-Nano Summer Workshop (27 Jul - 14 Aug 2009)
This summer's ITEST professional development session went off without a hitch during the months of July and August. 17 high school science teachers from the School District of Philadelphia participated in the exciting workshop.
Over the course of three weeks, teachers experimented with cutting edge nanotechnology research and problem-based learning pedagogy to get ideas for innovative lessons for the 2009-2010 school year. In groups of 2 to 4 teachers who shared similar subject interests, they constructed curricular units based on the 5 component variables of the ITEST-Nano curriculum and instruction framework. In addition, they learned about real world nanotechnology careers, so as to help inspire their future students to seek out paths to make these careers possible. Keeping to the need for 21st century learning, teachers engaged with computer simulations, Google groups and social network sites (like Nings), and podcast software to help build learning communities in their classrooms.
In addition to this training, ITEST summer workshop teachers piloted their curricular units in a summer institute experience with almost 40 Philadelphia-area high school student volunteers. Groups of teachers collaborated on their lessons, as small teacher communities formed around similar interests. Some of the lessons taught by groups focused on how advances in nanotechnology can help researchers better understand and treat diabetes, others dealt with water and air pollutions, and cancer treatment. The students provided feedback about their learning experiences. Given this important feedback, the teachers were able to reflect and modify their units for implementation in their regular classes during the school year. And as the teachers' evolving units were constructed with school district standards for Grade 9 Physical Science and Grade 10 Biology in mind, these units can be directly applied to their school classes now already underway.
CONGRATULATIONS to Sarita Saju: Student in ITEST-Nano program wins science award (Mar 2009)
Sarita Saju, student from George Washington High School involved in the ITEST-Nano program, recently received top awards at science fairs for her nanotechnology project, titled "Polymer-Wrapped Carbon Nanotubes as Electrode Materials for Supercapacitors." Her project was based on work during her internship with expert scientists from the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
When asked about how she first came to know about nanotechnology, Sarita recalled "during the 2008 summer, I was able to participate in the ITEST-Nano camp. I learned a lot about nanotechnology, in fact, I didn’t even know anything about technology when I first participated. After a week of researching and investigating a problem and finding a solution using nanotechnology, I found myself very attracted to the subject."
Sarita expressed that after the summer camp, she wanted to learn more about some applications of nanotechnology. So, on encouragement from her teacher, she applied for an ITEST-Nano internship at the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania, where she was able to learn and experiment with supercapacitor applications. Sarita illustrated her experiences, "my professor, Mariem Rosario-Canales, explained countless times the fundamentals and evaluation of supercapacitors. ITEST-Nano gave me an opportunity to expand my career options. I never worked in a lab until my first internship, and I realize I like working in a lab environment. I can never thank the teachers and professors from ITEST-Nano enough for giving me a wonderful, amazing experience."
Awards Won by Sarita:
The Office of Naval Research Naval Science Award
1st place at George Washington Carver Science Fair
1st place at Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science, Science Fair
Poster presented at the science fairs
Applications for 2009 Summer Camp for 8 - 10th grade students are now open. Students who are interested in participating in the summer camp, kindly email Lei Liu at leil@gse.upenn.edu for more information.
Teacher Professional Development Saturday Workshop 3 (28 Feb 2009)
A PD workshop has been conducted for the participating teachers in the ITEST-Nano project on 28 Feb 2009 (Saturday). This was the third of the four on-going Saturday workshops planned for the academic year. The agenda for the workshop was as follows:
| Time: | Agenda Item | |
| 9:15 - 9:30 am | Registration | |
| 9:30 - 10:30 am | Misconceptions on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology | |
| 10:30 - 11.30 am | Implementation Issues and Suggestions | |
| 11:30 - 12:15 am | Teachers' Presentations | |
| 12:15 - 12:30 pm | Administrative announcements |
Venue:
Graduate School of Education
University of Pennsylvania
Application for Cohort 2 of the Project has begun (Feb 1 to May 31, 2009)
Project ITEST-Nano is calling for teacher applications to participate in Cohort 2 of the project. Application runs through May 31, 2009. However due to high demand, interested teachers are encouraged to send in their applications as early as possible. Click on this link to access the application page.
Teacher Professional Development Saturday Workshop 2 (6 Dec 2008)
A PD workshop has been conducted for the participating teachers in the ITEST-Nano project on 6 Dec 2008 (Saturday). This was the second of the four on-going Saturday workshops planned for the academic year. The agenda for the workshop was as follows:
| Time: | Agenda Item | |
| 9:15 - 9:30 am | Registration | |
| 9:30 - 10:30 am | Nanotechnology Concepts and Data Collection | |
| 10:30 - 11.30 am | Focus Group Interviews | |
| 11:30 - 12:15 am | Teacher Representatives Presentations | |
| 12:15 - 12:30 pm | Administrative announcements |
Venue:
Graduate School of Education
University of Pennsylvania
3700 Walnut Street, Room 300
Philadelphia
4th Annual NanoDay @ Penn (29 Oct 2008)
Each year, the Nano/Bio Interface Center sponsors a full day of exhibits, demonstrations, and laboratory tours to highlight nanotechnology research across the campus. Area high school classes participate along with undergraduate and graduate students alike. This event is crucial to boosting student interest in science, technology, engineering, and math-related careers.
This year, the Annual NanoDay @ Penn takes place on 29 Oct 2008 (Wednesday).
ITEST teachers are able to bring classes to tour the exhibits about
nanoscale science that will be staffed by our research labs. There is
also a multimedia show playing tin the exhibit halls. Over 35
regional high school students will have their research posters on
display as well. All the behind the scenes tours have been booked
for some time now. If there is interest, arrangements for
free admission to the Penn Museum can be made to supplement your visit.
If you are interested in attending, the event is FREE. Group sizes
are limited to one class per teacher along with adequate adult
chaperons. There is a food court at 36th and Walnut along with many
other lunch options around campus.
Click here for more information regarding NanoDay @ Penn. Please contact Jim McGonigle, NBIC Program Coordinator for questions regarding these programs at 215-898-5151 or email jmcgon@seas.upenn.edu.
Teacher Professional Development Saturday Workshop 1 (18 Oct 2008)
A PD workshop was conducted for the participating teachers in the ITEST-Nano project on 18 Oct 2008 (Saturday). This was the first of the five on-going Saturday workshops planned for the academic year. The agenda for the workshop was as follows:
| Time: | Agenda Item | |
| 8:45 - 9:00 am | Registration | |
| 9:00 - 10:00 am | Content upgrade on Graphene / Graphite | |
| 10:00 - 10.30 am | Hands-on activity on electrical resistivity | |
| 10:30 - 11:30 am | Teachers' sharing and presentation | |
| 11:30 - 12:00 nn | Administrative announcements |
Venue:
Graduate School of Education
University of Pennsylvania
3700 Walnut Street, Room 121
Philadelphia
Presentation at GSE-STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) Education Research Group Meeting (26 Sep 2008)
Speakers:
Dr. Susan Yoon, University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Lei Liu, University of Pennsylvania
Venue:
Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania
Room 332, 3700 Walnut Street
Philadelphia
Topic: ITEST Nano - Nanotechnology and Bioengineering in Philadelphia Public Schools
In this talk, we describe a project entitled Nanotechnology and Bioengineering in Philadelphia Public Schools (ITEST-Nano) based on a curriculum and instruction framework that addresses the need to incorporate cyberinfrastructure-enabled learning activities and current nano-scale science in standard high school science curricula.
The project is premised on 5 component variables addressing nano-scale and science content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge and workforce development goals: i) Real world science and engineering applications (e.g., current nanotechnology research); ii) Educational technologies to build content knowledge (e.g., simulations and imaging); iii) Information technologies for communication, community-building and dissemination (e.g., Web 2.0 tools); iv) STEM education and careers investigations (e.g., industry field-trips, internships, speakers); and v) Cognitively-rich pedagogical strategies (e.g., problem-based learning, peer-to-peer interaction).
During a three-week 75-hour summer teacher professional development workshop in August 2008, 16 public high school teachers and 25 high school students in the School District of Philadelphia participated to learn to construct and pilot curricular units based on the ITEST-Nano framework. This talk reports on some preliminary findings from the summer workshop.
Link to GSE-STEM Education Research Group website for more information.
Summer Teacher Professional Development Workshop 2008
The project successfully implemented a three-week summer teacher professional development with 16 teachers from the School District of Philadelphia participating.
During this workshop, teachers learn to construct curricular units based on the 5 component variables of the ITEST-Nano curriculum and instruction framework. The workshop included training on cutting edge nanotechnology research, computer simulations, building learning community through Google groups, creating podcasting products, real world nanotechnology careers, and problem-based learning pedagogy. These units were also aligned with school district standards for Grade 9 Physical Science and Grade 10 Biology.
In the third week of the summer workshop teachers piloted their PBL units in a summer institute experience with 24 high school student volunteers. The students provided feedback about their PBL learning experiences and the teachers subsequently modified their units for implementation in their regular classes during the school year.
Click here to download the Excel file for the schedule of the 2008 summer workshop.
Click here for the resources from the workshop.
|
|
|
| Check back for more news on ITEST-Nano | |
|
|
|
|