An Introduction to STEMTEC and Pathways to Change

STEMTEC is the Massachusetts Collaborative for Excellence in Teacher Preparation. The first step in preparing future teachers is to have them experience effective teaching in college science and mathematics courses. The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Teacher Education Collaborative (STEMTEC) summer institutes familiarized 150 faculty members with a variety of teaching strategies recommended in the National Science Teaching Standards. These faculty incorporated the techniques into one or more of their courses during subsequent academic years, and many of them reported on their progress during a research conference, Pathways to Change, which STEMTEC sponsored in the summer of 2000. Eleven papers, based on these conference reports, are included in this volume

Active-Learning Methods to Improve Student Performance and Scientific Interest in a Large Introductory Course

Teaching methods that are often recommended to improve the learning environment in college science courses include cooperative learning, adding inquiry-based activities to traditional lectures, and engaging students in projects or investigations. Two questions often surround these efforts: 1) can these methods be used in large classes; and 2) how do we know that they are increasing student learning? This study, from the University of Massachusetts, describes how education researchers have transformed the environment of a large-enrollment oceanography course (600 students) by modifying lectures to include cooperative learning via interactive in-class exercises and directed discussion. Assessments were redesigned as "two-stage" exams with a significant collaborative component. Results of student surveys, course evaluations, and exam performance demonstrate that learning of the subject under these conditions has improved. Student achievement shows measurable and statistically significant increases in information recall, analytical skills, and quantitative reasoning. There is evidence from both student surveys and student interview comments that for the majority of students, the course increased their interest in science -- a difficult effect to achieve with this population. Educational levels: Graduate or professional, Graduate or professional

Map the Campus with GPS

Objective: To use a Global Positioning System device to collect data in order to construct a campus map. Note: These instructions are for a Garmin 72 GPS. Refer to the GPS Basics document, the manual, or an on-line manual at http://www.garmin.com/products/gps72/ for additional informatio

Active Methodologies in Higher Education: Perception and Opinion as Evaluated by Professors and Their Students in the Teaching-Learning Process

The goal of this study is both to determine the opinion that professors and students at the university have of active methodologies and to describe the perception and opinion of the modes of organization, methodological focuses, and evaluation systems that define the teaching-learning process. On surveying the professors and the students in their classes, we found significant differences in 32 of the 92 variables in common. The content of these results shows that professors and students are believe they are making progress toward a learning-centered model, that implementation of active methodologies implies new functions in their teaching practice

The evolution of saline lake waters: gradual and rapid biogeochemical pathways in the Basotu Lake District, Tanzania

The biogeochemical evolution of solutes markedly alters the chemistry in the closed-basin maar lakes that comprise the Basotu Lake District (Tanzania, East Africa). Examination of 11 (out of 13) lakes in the Basotu Lake District identified two distinct evolutionary pathways: a gradual path and a rapid path. During the course of biogeochemical evolution these waters follow either the gradual path alone or a combination of the gradual and rapid paths. Solute evolution along the gradual path is determined by all of the biogeochemical processes that for these waters appear to be tightly coupled to evaporative concentration (e.g. mineral precipitation, sorption and ion exchange, C0 2 degassing, and sulfate reduction). Rapid evolution occurs when mixing events suddenly permit H 2 S to be lost to the atmosphere. The chemistry of waters undergoing rapid evolution is changed abruptly because loss of every equivalent of sulfide produces an equivalent permanent alkalinity.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42881/1/10750_2004_Article_BF00026937.pd