CLTW Roles and Responsibilities
Elisabeth Swanson is the Principal Investigator
of The Center for Learning and Teaching in the West at Montana
State University. She focuses on preparing doctoral fellows in
the sciences, mathematics and education as they conduct research
and outreach to improve the science and mathematics learning of
high need student populations as well as conducting research to
better understand and narrow achievement and participation gaps
in science and mathematics. Coordination of ongoing professional
development for science and mathematics teachers in the Portland,
Oregon public schools and in numerous rural and reservation schools
in Montana and Colorado.
Primary Research Interests
Elisabeth received her undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley,
and her Ph.D. in Science Education from the University of Georgia
(1987). Her early professional experiences as a science teacher
and outdoor leader in remote areas in the western United States
influenced her current interest in providing and conducting research
on innovative delivery of professional development and graduate
education opportunities to teachers who are isolated (rural, urban)
by geographic distance and other barriers. Elisabeth helped to
found an interdisciplinary MS in Science Education program at
MSU that has provided distance learning coursework to an international
audience of teachers for close to a decade. Elisabeth’s
current work focuses on the design of professional learning networks
for rural, reservation teachers of science and mathematics, and
includes collaborative research projects with tribal colleges.
Recent Publications
Smith, C., & Swanson, E. (Eds.), (December 2005).
Preparing future science and mathematics teachers: Innovations
of the NSF Centers for Excellence in Teacher Preparation continuing
today. Science/Math Resource Center, Montana State University
with contributions from a national sample of NSF CETP Projects
Wheeler, G., Jaffe, R., Swanson, E., & Moir, E. (2005)
Online mentoring and professional development for new science
teachers. In C. Dede (Ed.), Online teacher professional development.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard School of Education.
Wheeler, G., Jaffe, R., Swanson, E., & Moir, E. (2005)
Leadership/editorial team for the development of science, mathematics
and pedagogy-focused modules for an interactive website serving
300 beginning science and mathematics teachers and their mentors
in a national demonstration project.
Nelson, K., Simonsen, L., & Swanson, E. (2002). Research
issues for mathematics education in rural communities: Focus on
Native Americans. Proceedings of the NSF-sponsored ACCLAIM Research
Forum, McArthur, OH, November 2002.
Swanson, E. (2001). Montana Teacher Excellence Preparation
Program in Railsback (Ed.) Supporting Beginning Teachers: How
Administrators, Teachers, and Policymakers Can Help New Teachers
Succeed. Portland, OR: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory,
36-39.
Other Relevant Professional Information
Dr. Elisabeth Swanson is the Director of the Science/Math Resource
Center (SMRC) at Montana State University, a position she has held
since 1996. First established in the early 1970’s with National
Science Foundation funding, SMRC has received continuous funding
from public and private sources for 30 years. The Center’s
original mission – to support the improvement of science and
mathematics education in K-12 schools, at colleges and universities,
and for the general public – is still being carried out today.
During Swanson’s tenure, the Center has focused on research
and professional development to (1) better support teachers of students
from diverse cultural, language and economic groups, (2) provide
online and onsite science and math learning opportunities for teachers
and students in remote locations (rural, reservation or urban).
Swanson currently leads the three-state NSF Center for Learning
and Teaching in the West, which provides an online core curriculum
and research fellowships to 60 doctoral Fellows in the sciences,
mathematics, and education at five partner universities. She is
also a Co-PI of a NSF Math and Science Partnership that provides
content-focused mentoring for close to 500 early career science
and math teachers in 16 states via distance technologies. As Co-PI
of a NSF GK-12 award entitled Science and Society Fellows: Partnering
with Rural Schools in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Elisabeth
focuses on K-12 classroom scientific research and increasing the
capacity for future partnerships between academic scientists and
K-12 educators. NSF awarded a Math and Science Partnership entitled
Big Sky Science Partnership to Salish Kootenai College in October
2006. Elisabeth is a Co-PI and leads the MSU partnership. She is
currently an Associate Editor for the Journal of Research in Science
Teaching, heads a National Science Teachers Association task force
to develop standards for mentoring beginning science teachers.
