Mallinson Institute for Science Education

Students and Faculty in the News

The director of the Mallinson Institute for Science Education, Dr. Bill Cobern, is currently at work in Turkey on a Fulbright Award.

---- Reporting from Turkey ----

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

Since arriving in Turkey on September 16, I have given eight public lectures to over 600 science education faculty and graduate students. The three lectures I use are titled:

• Reconstructing the Inquiry Teaching of Science
• The Competing Influence of Secularism and Religion on Science Education in America's Secular Society: Lessons to be Learned
• Worldview Theory and Science Education Research

If one may judge from the Google hits on our MISE webpages, the lectures have been well received, as our hits from Turkey are up significantly.

I am enjoying my time in Turkey very much. The faculty and students have been very interested in discussing science education research, the Turkish people are incredibly hospitable, and the Turkish cuisine is fantastic!

We are pleased with the two Turkish graduate students currently enrolled at MISE. I am hoping, however, that my trip to Turkey and all the conversations will lead to additional applications. I am also hoping to visit Turkey again in the future!

---- bc ----

For Turkish nationals interested in studying science education at MISE

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Congratulations to MISE faculty Heather Petcovic and Charles Henderson, and grad students Jacinta Mutambuki and Jeff Barney, on their recent publication in Research in Science Education:

• Petcovic, H. L., Fynewever, H., Henderson, C., Mutambuki, J. M., & Barney, J. A. (2012). Faculty grading of quantitative problems: A mismatch between values and practice. Research in Science Education. Advanced online publication. DOI 10.1007/s11165-011-9268-8.

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MISE faculty and graduate students presented papers at the 2012 International Conference of the Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE), held in Clearwater Beach, Florida, from January 4-7:

David Schuster, William Cobern, Brandy Skjold, Betty Adams, Amy Bentz, Kelly Sparks - Assessing Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Inquiry Science Instruction

Amy Bentz - Using Case Based Scenarios as a Discussion Tool for Formative Assessment in Pre-Service Teacher Education
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Dr. Charles Henderson is the the author of a recent journal publication:

Henderson, C., Beach, A., & Finkelstein, N. (2011). Facilitating change in undergraduate STEM instructional practices: An analytic review of the literature. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 48(8), 952-984. doi:10.1002/tea.20439
http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/tea.20439

Dr. Megan Grunert received "The Stanley Kirschner Award" from the Michigan College Chemistry Teachers Association for a presentation she gave at their fall meeting, November 12, 2011. The board votes on the best presentation from the meeting. The title of her presentation was "Re-setting: How the Pedagogical Ecology of Academia Influences the Development of Women's Self-Efficacy Beliefs in Chemistry."
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Dr. Megan Grunert and Dr. George M. Bodner have a paper published in the December issue of the ICASE Bulletin titled Underneath it all: gender role identification and women chemists’ career choices (Science Education International, Vol.22, No.4, December 2011, Special Issue, 292-301.)

Dr. Renee' Schwartz is the author of a book chapter for a recent Springer publication:

Schwartz, R. S. (2011). The nature of scientists’ nature of science views. In M. S. Khine (Ed.), Advances in nature of science research: Concepts and methodologies. Springer Publishers. p.153-188.

William Mamudi was awarded a Graduate Student Travel Grant, which covered costs for his attendance and presentations at the 2011 Summer Meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers and the Physics Education Research Conference, both in Omaha, NE.

Dr. Megan Grunert presented some of her work at a Gender and Women's Studies seminar on the campus of Western Michigan University, on Thursday, October 20. The presentation was titled: "Underneath it All: Gender Role Identification and Women Chemists' Career Choices."

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MISE students and faculty made a great showing at the recent 2011 Geological Society of America national conference, Oct 9-12 in Minneapolis, MN.  Graduate students Jeff Barney, Caitlin Callahan, Matthew Ludwig, Kate Rowbotham, and Amy Bentz, undergraduate Geography student Andrew Johnson, plus GEOS/MISE faculty member Heather Petcovic all made presentations that included:

1. Barney, J.B., Bentz, A.E., and McCowen, R.H., REACHING PRESERVICE TEACHERS IN A GENERAL EDUCATION OCEAN SYSTEMS COURSE THROUGH THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY [oral presentation]
2. Barney, J.B., and Petcovic, H.L., DISCOVERING MICHIGAN'S GEOLOGIC PAST: A HANDS-ON ACTIVITY FOR TEACHING REGIONAL GEOLOGIC HISTORY [poster presentation]
3. Callahan, C.N., and Petcovic, H.L., USING THINK-ALOUD AUDIO RECORDINGS TO UNDERSTAND PATTERNS OF THOUGHTS DURING GEOLOGIC MAPPING [oral presentation]
4. Callahan, C.N., Hayden, T.G., Sibert, R.J., and Ewald, S.K., AN INQUIRY-BASED APPROACH TO TEACHING ABOUT THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH [poster presentation]
5. Rowbotham, K.L., Petcovic, H.L., and Koretsky, C.M., GREEN, STINKY, AND SICK: UNDERGRADUATES' CONCEPTIONS OF EUTROPHICATION [oral presentation]
6. Miller, H., Llerandi-Roman, P.A., Mattox, S., Dobson, C., and Ludwig, M.A., INTEGRATING CLIMATE CHANGE FOR ELEMENTARY PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS: TALES FROM THE FIELD [oral presentation]
7. Johnson, A.C., Baker, K.M., and Petcovic. H.L., EXPERT-NOVICE STRATEGIES IN PROPOSING FIELD ROUTES DURING BEDROCK MAPPING [poster presentation]
8. Petcovic, H.L., STRATEGIES FOR CONFRONTING PRESERVICE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS' ALTERNATE CONCEPTIONS [invited oral presentation]
9. Petcovic, H.L., Caulkins, J.L., and Stokes, A., GEOLOGISTS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE VALUE OF FIELD CAMP [oral presentation]
10. Mattox, S., Rose, W.I., Klawiter, M.F., Engelmann, C.A., Huntoon, J.E., Vye, E. Gochis, E., and Petcovic, H.L., IMPLEMENTING LONG-TERM PROFESSIONAL DEVELOP FOR URBAN EARTH SCIENCE TEACHERS, INSIGHTS FROM THE MICHIGAN INSTITUTE FOR TEACHER EXCELLENCE PROGRAM [oral presentation]

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Dr. Charles Henderson’s research about the spread of research-based teaching strategies was featured prominently in a major initiative recently announced by  the Association of American Universities (AAU). The goal of this five-year initiative is to improve the quality of undergraduate teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields at its member institutions. Several of Henderson’s articles were cited in the report and the framing of the initiative was based on Henderson et al.’s categorization of change strategies.*

“To effect change in undergraduate STEM teaching, researchers have identified four strategies: 1) disseminating curricula and pedagogy; 2) developing reflective teachers (defined as those who use their own knowledge/experience/skill to improve their instructional practices); 3) enacting policy (including incentives and quality assurance measures); and 4) developing shared visions (including departmental-level collaboration and institutional-level actions). To be successful at changing teaching, especially in classes taken during the first two years of college, AAU’s effort must include aspects of all of these.”
-from AAU discussion draft
http://www.aau.edu/policy/article.aspx?id=12588

*Facilitating change in undergraduate STEM instructional practices: An analytic review of the literature, C. Henderson, A. Beach and N. Finkelstein.  To appear in Journal of Research in Science Teaching
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tea.20439/abstract

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Charles Henderson has received a new grant from the National Science Foundation, “Collaborative Research: Increasing the Impact of TUES Projects through Effective Propagation Strategies: A How-To Guide for PIs”, NSF#1122446.  Dr. Henderson will lead this $764,880, four-year collaborative project along with Renee Cole (University of Iowa) and Jeff Froyd (Texas Engineering Experiment Station).  WMU will receive $456,208. 

This goal of this project is to promote wider adoption and adaptation of research-proven learning materials and teaching strategies by undergraduate science and engineering faculty.  This will be accomplished through the study of existing programs as well as work with curriculum developers to design more effective propagation strategies.