CLTW News & Events

2007 CLTW RESEARCH FORUM

Mark your 2007 calendar
CLTW Research Forum
April 26-27, 2007
Montana State University campus
Bozeman, Montana

Click link above to see a list of National Conference dates and locations: School Science & Mathematics Association (SSMA), American Evaluation Association (AEA), National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), and American Educational Research Association (AERA)

CLTW NEWS UPDATES

A strong replacement team recommended for UNC
In accordance with the recommendation of departing UNC Co-PI John Moore, the campus has recommended that Dr. Kathryn Cochran, Professor of Educational Psychology, replace Moore as the CLTW Co-PI at UNC. Cochran’s professional activities and publications show a long term involvement in research on science education. As the lead instructor for three CLTW courses (Cognition & Instruction in Math and Science Education I & II, and Introduction to Research in Math and Science Education), Cochran has consistently received among the highest teaching evaluations in the Center. She has also been invited to serve on more doctoral committees at other CLTW campuses than any other Center faculty member. The CLTW Leadership Team believes Cochran will provide stability and leadership at UNC, and recommends her approval by NSF. Dr. Henry Heikkinen has returned to UNC for one year to serve as Interim Director of the Mathematics and Science Teaching Center (MAST), where CLTW has been housed. Heikkinen and Cochran are good colleagues, and Heikkinen will provide Cochran with support in areas such as administering the grant budget, and co-hosting regular research seminars and gatherings for Center Fellows at UNC. The CLTW Leadership Team welcomes Henry Heikkinen’s re-engagement in the Center after a length absence.

A departure from UNC and an opportunity for new collaboration
As of July 2006, Dr. John Moore, the CLTW Co-PI for the University of Northern Colorado, since Fall 2001, has moved to take a position as Director of the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory (NREL) at Colorado State University. The CLTW leadership team and Moore hope that he will be able to maintain Center involvements through his new position at CSU. The Center he directs engages over 30 affiliated tenure-track and research scientists. Moore believes it would benefit NREL faculty to begin connecting their scientific research agendas with STEM education agendas. He believes that his success in “both worlds” – scientific research and STEM education, especially focusing on recruiting and mentoring first generation college students – are attractive to the NREL Search Committee which see ecology and natural resource education as an area of growth for the Laboratory. Moore and PI Elisabeth Swanson have discussed ways to begin involving NREL scientists in CLTW activities, for example, by engaging them in distance delivery coursework, accompanied by field work, for science and math teachers.

CLTW Research Coordinator assumes key statewide role – Dr. Dalton Miller Jones was recently appointed by the Governor of Oregon as a Regent in the Oregon University System. Miller Jones, who starts a long-awaited sabbatical this year, begins his Board of Regents duties in Fall 2006. In this role, he will be able to influence higher education decisions in Oregon regarding access for all students to post-secondary opportunities in science and mathematics. Miller Jones will remain involved in CLTW, but cannot yet predict how his new role will influence his level of activity with the Center.

A new Co-PI for UM - In late Fall 2005, a new Co-PI joined the Center at the University of Montana. Dr. Georgia Cobbs, Curriculum & Instruction (Mathematics Education), has been an active presence on her campus and Center-wide. Dr. Cobbs has been active for several years in a campus support organization for Native American students. She met in June with Dalton Miller Jones (PSU) and Genie Canales (UNC) to redesign the Center course titled, “Diversity & Equity in Science and Mathematics Education I”. She is teaching the course this Fall Semester (06) for Miller-Jones while he is on sabbatical. Finally, Dr. Cobbs is hosting the Annual Conference of the School Science and Mathematics Association, to be held in Missoula, MT on October 26-28th 2006. With her encouragement, many Center faculty and Fellows submitted papers and will be on the program.