education
Louise Walder has been leading a garden club at Prosperity Gardens for several summers. She is a long-time gardener and loves to see children enjoy learning and discovering the world of vegetables and herbs. She will be discussing the possible link between the classroom and healthy eating at home.
The CSK8 Research Group (Maya Israel, Quentin Wherfel, Melinda Snodgrass, and Saad Shehab) will lead a discussion about the wide-ranging initiatives to include computer programming and computational thinking in K-12 instruction, and implications for academically diverse learners. They will also share their approach to studying computing education and some implications for K-12 instruction.
Peter Braunfeld will be leading a discussion about Common Core. The Common Core Mission Statement asserts that "the standards are designed to be robust, and relevant to the real world." But a sampling of the Common Core test items utterly fails to support this thesis. This seminar is designed to help attendees understand the abyss between pious hopes and dismal reality.
May Berenbaum, head of the University of Illinois Entomology Department, will discuss why pollination makes for a great topic for K-4 education.
Suzanne Lee (Council of Teacher Education, College of Education) will provide an overview of the new teacher certification program, Ed-TPA, that is required this year for all new teachers. The talk will be presented with parents and other citizens in mind rather than education experts. Through this short presentation, I hope that participants will find out how to separate facts from hearsay about the program. I will also provide some links to resources to help those interested to learn more about the process and its impact on teacher training programs.
In response to the launching of Sputnik almost 60 years ago, the US has struggled to reform school mathematics. We've spent large sums of money on new curricula, teacher training and technology. What seems to be working, and what remains to be done?
Brenda Pacey, University of Illinois Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Affiliate Director, provides brief history of the growth of PLTW high school, middle school, elementary STEM curriculum program implementations across the state - from 12 high schools in 2004-05 to over 200 K-12 schools and 35,000 students in 2014-15. Join us for reflections and observations about the impact of PLTW STEM participation on students.
Each year, over one million college students enroll in math classes that do not count towards degree credit and serve to delay their time to graduation and use up resources. This talk provides a brief introduction to the major issues and trends related to these pre-college level math classes and then outlines a current effort to help accelerate students through these classes. This will include initial data from a study examining student experiences in this class.
The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessment is the new standardized test to be used in all Illinois k-12 schools starting this Spring. It will used to assess mathematics and language arts at all grade levels from 3 - 8 and once in high school. The assessment is not without controversy. Come to the pizza lunch this Friday and find out why. Try your hand at a few sample items from the math portion. Learn about the development and implementation of the assessment.
Learn how to create a simple 3D printer made from an office projector and common objects. Participants will print small plastic objects to take home, and resource links will be provided to anyone interested in making their own 3D printer. We will also discuss how to borrow the 3D printing equipment for use in classrooms.
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