About Integrating STEM Education at CU Boulder
News Archive
White House Releases Additional Photos of Chancellor's Visit
Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano visited the White House Jan. 6, 2010, as one of four public research university leaders representing about 120 universities pledging to address the national shortage of science and mathematics teachers. At the event, DiStefano accepted an honor for CU-Boulder's comprehensive commitment to STEM education. Additional photos of this event were recently released. CU Release >> Daily Camera Story
PhysTEC's recent teacher recruiting video features CU alumnae
The PhysTEC project has produced a video to excite and inspire physics majors to pursue careers in teaching. Two CU-Boulder alumnae are featured in the video: Shelly Stachurski majored biochemistry and was a Noyce Fellow at CU; and Vera Ananda majored in physics and got her teaching certification from CU-Boulder. She was also a Noyce Fellow while at CU. Shelly is currently teaching at Welby New Technology High School and Vera is teaching at Greenlee ECE K-8, both in Denver, CO. Learn more about PhysTEC
Noah Finkelstein Moderates Session at CWA
On Tuesday, April 6th, Noah Finkelstein moderated a panel discussion session called “War on Science” as part of the 62nd Conference on World Affairs.
Article about STEM in A&S Magazine
An article about STEM education efforts at CU Boulder, “Turning Students on to Science and Math” was published in a recent addition of the online Arts & Sciences Magazine. Read the full article
Carl Wieman nominated for position in Obama administration
On March 22nd President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Carl Wieman as Associate Director for Science in the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Read the full press release
PhET named Website of the Week
Voice of America recognized PhET as an "interesting and innovative online destination" by naming it Website of the Week. Read the full article
CU President focuses on STEM education in February newsletter
The feature article in Bruce Benson's February newsletter highlights the STEM education programs at CU's campuses and emphasizes the important role CU is playing in STEM education reform. Read the full article
Eric Stade wins 2010 Burton W. Jones Award
In recognition of his extraordinarily successful teaching, iSTEM Co-Director Eric Stade was selected by the Rocky Mountain Section of the Mathematical Association of America as the recipient of a 2010 Burton W. Jones Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics.
Noah Finkelstein testifies before U.S. House subcommittee on state of STEM education
On February 4th, Noah Finkelstein, Associate Professor of Physics and iSTEM Co-PI, was invited to testify about strengthening undergraduate and graduate STEM education before the U.S. House of Representatives Research and Science Education Subcommittee of the Committee on Science and Technology.
CU Release >> Read the Testimony
>>
Watch the webcast >>download RealPlayer for free!
CU STEM Teacher Prep Highlighted at Education News Colorado Site
iSTEM, CUTeach, the Learning Assistant Program, and PhET were recently highlighted in "CU a leader in preparing STEM teachers," an article posted by Julie Poppen on www.ednewscolorado.org. Read the full article
President Obama Recognizes CU's STEM Ed Efforts, Chancellor Visits White House
Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano visited the White House Jan. 6, 2010, as one of four public research university leaders representing about 120 universities pledging to address the national shortage of science and mathematics teachers. At the event, DiStefano accepted an honor for CU-Boulder's comprehensive commitment to STEM education. The visit coincided with the launching of Educate to Innovate, a $250 million public-private partnership to train more math and science teachers and improve K12 math and science education. CU Release >> Daily Camera Story
Nobel Laureate Tom Cech Encourages Students to "Go Out and Teach!"
As Nobel Laureate Tom Cech congratulated and graduates of the Winter class of 2009, he emphasized the importance of teaching and learning, "you are part of a new revolution, and the University of Colorado is leading this revolution. What revolution, you ask? No, I’m not talking about the switch from Styrofoam to paper soup bowls in the Alfred Packer Grill. The revolution is in undergraduate TEACHING and LEARNING." read the full speech
LA Program engages Students in Math and Science Teaching
The Learning Assistant Program was recently highlighted in the Arts and Sciences Magazine and in a campus news release for it's role in engaging students in math and science and introducing them to the possibility of teaching. The Learning Assistant program, or LA program couples course transformation with teacher recruitment and preparation. It is an affiliate program of iSTEM. more>> A&S Magazine, News Release
CU President and Nobel Laureate Note Importance of STEM Education
In an article in the Denver Post, CU President Bruce Benson and Chemistry Professor and Nobel Laureate Thomas Cech describe how the Univeristy of Colorado classroom has shifted from teaching to learning with an emphasis on interactive and engaging classroom practices. They highlight the Learning Assistant Program and Science Education initiative as key agents in this process. more>>
Prof. Hertzberg Brings Science to Fluid Mechanics Education
Jean Hertzberg, Mechanical Engineering was awarded support from iSTEM for her efforts in Fluid Mechanics Educaiton. Hertzberg will implement a round-table discussion at the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics (DFD) Meeting providing an opportunity
for fluids educators to discuss topics of mutual interest, such as
curricula comparisons, best practices, simple experiments and demos,
and use of concept questions. Hertzberg first began bringing discussions and sessions on education to the DFD meeting in 2006.
Finkelstein Participates in CU's Diversity Summit
Noah Finkelstein, Associate Professor of Physics and an iSTEM PI, received a 2009 Campus Diversity Award, with Dr. Laurel Mayhew, for the Partners in Informal Science Education (PISEC) Program.
Otero Gives Keynote for Latino/a Retention Efforts
CU Boulder recently hosted the Hispanic In order to improve the recruitment, outreach and graduation rates for Colorado Latina/o students. Thanks to Chancellor DiStefano’s vision and continuing support, CU Boulder recently hosted the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities - Colorado (HACU-CO). A keynote address was made by iSTEM Director, Professor Valerie Otero.
iSTEM Symposium Responds to Crises in Education
Over 150 participated in Integrating STEM Education's First Annual Symposium for STEM Education. Provost Stein Sture kicked off the event followed by the Associate Dean from Engineering, Brian Argrow, Associate Dean Susan Beatty from Arts and Sciences, and Dean Lorrie Shepard from the School of Education. Recipients of the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in STEM Education were acknowledged by their Deans. The event included a poster session featuring 27 programs and 33 posters. Full story with photos, news services story
President Obama Highlights the UTeach Program
In a speech on July 24th to the US Department of Education in which he announced the Race to the Top, President Obama spoke of the importance of preparing more well-trained math and science teachers. He acknowledged the UTeach program for its success in this realm. CU is one of 11
initial replication sites, with CU Teach, and is recognized as
a national leader in teacher recruitment, preparation, and support in
STEM, “universities and nonprofit
organizations can launch programs like UTeach at UT Austin that allows
aspiring teachers to get a math or science degree and teaching
certificate at the same time.” full speech
Mike Klymkowsky Wins Best Should Teach Gold Award
Dr. Klymkowksy was one of two awardees this year for the Graduate School's Best Should Teach Award. The award recognized outstanding academic leaders from the CU Campus.
Klymkowsky is a Professor of MCD Biology as well as a project Director for iSTEM and CO-Director of the CU Teach Program.
Valerie Otero wins the Provost's Faculty Achievement Award
Dr. Otero was recognized for her article in Science describing the Learning Assistant model. She and her coauthors documented
that the use of LAs not only substantially improves student learning in transformed
courses, it also increases the learning of the Learning Assistants themselves such that
their performance on the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation measure is greater
than that of incoming physics graduate students. read more
Dr. Stephanie Chasteen does pod casts for Science Magazine
In the July 10th pod cast, PER researcher Dr. Stephanie Chasteen does an interview on the current challenges of Nuclear Waste Management. The July 17th features an interview on the tiger moth's ability to jam the sonar of their bat prey. Dr. Chasteen is a Science Teacher Fellow and part of the Physics Education Research group at CU. Listen to the pod casts. Visit Dr. Chasteen's Blog.
I3 Announces recipients of The Chancellor's Award for Excellence STEM Education
Congratulations to all the recipients of the Chancellor's Faculty and Graduate Awards for Excellence in STEM Education! Faculty awards were made to Clayton H. Lewis, Computer Science; Eric Frew, Aerospace Engineering; Erin Furtak, School of Education; and Steven Pollock, Physics. Seven Graduate Awards were made. More about about the Chancellor's Awards can be found on the Current Fellow's Page.
CU Hosts APLU's Science and Math Teacher Imperitive
I3 Professors play a leading role in the conference, which brings together over 100 Public Universities that have commited to creating more well trained math and science teachers. CU was chosen to host the conference for it's role as a national leader in science and math education transformation and teacher preparation. The APLU noted Colorado's participation in the proceedings and highlight of the event. Read more or vist the SMTI website
CU-Boulder program helps inspire science and math education initiative: CU Teach, DBER, and STEM Colorado are recocnized as natinal leaders for science and math education reform. Read more.
CU Professor Diane Sieber talks Colorado Public Radio about digital distraction in the classroom. Sieber informally correlated students behavior w.r.t. digital devices ("virtual absenteeism") to test grades, gave students that feedback, and here discusses students' mores on using digital devices in the classroom. To listen to the interview, click here.
i3 at CU Boulder kicks off it's efforts to build a national Institute for STEM Education and Transformation. i3 is integrating effots to transform math, sceince, and teachnology education and the way math and science teachers are prepared. Read more
Physics Today features the CU Learning Assistant Program's efforts to train and recruit more science teachers. Read more
The Daily Camera highlights i3 project manager and DBER researcher Michael Klymkowsky (MCDB) in the effort to reform science education nationally. Read more
Square Root Day Comes to CU: Math Professor and i3 project manager Eric Stade participates in 9/9/09 activites. Read more
CU's Learning Assistant Program is Nationally Leading: Professors from 14 other institutions accross the country gather at CU to learn how to replicate the Learning Assistant program. The LA program is providing a national model for k12 math and science teacher recrtuitment and prepartion. Read more
CU Receives 2.5 million from the National Math and Science Initative to replicate the UTeach program, a highly successful teacher preparation program at the University of Texas at Austin. For over five years, faculty have been working to transform undergradiate math and science classes, now CU Teach will transform the math and science teacher certification program within the School of Education. read more
Learning Assistant Model Receives 2.5 million dollar Grant: The National Math and Science gave the Learning Assistant Model for Teacher Preparation a boost with a new 2.5 million dolar grant. The Learning Assistant model couple teacehr recruitment with course transformation. read more