Thursday, March 27 9:30–10:30 AM

Featured Presentation: Preparing Students and Teachers to Learn Effectively for a Lifetime

Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Room 210A

As technology-rich learning environments continue to evolve, as the modern learning landscape becomes increasingly digital within and outside of schools, and as technology ushers in radical change even in our core disciplines, the challenge of engaging students and ensuring them world-class learning experiences takes on ever-greater importance. Learn how emerging learning resources and digital tools work in concert with ISTE’s recently released National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) to ensure that our young learners are prepared to thrive in their global futures.

Presenter(s): Don Knezek (Chief Executive Officer, International Society for Technology in Education, Washington, D.C.)

Bio: Don Knezek, CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), is recognized internationally as a leader in transforming education with technology. He has led innovation in the classroom from the district-level perspective and through large multi-state projects in the U.S. Don is Co-Chair of the Educational Technology Advisory Committee to the Texas State Board of Education, Co-Director for the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) Project—an important ISTE initiative, and recently directed the National (USA) Center for Preparing Tomorrows Teachers to Use Technology (NCPT3). Don is providing consulting services to ministries of education around the world, sharing his valued expertise in preparing education leaders and teachers to thrive in an increasingly digital world.

FORMAT: Featured Speaker
SUBJECT: General Science
GRADE LEVEL: General
CONFERENCE STRAND: Instructional Technology: Research and Applications for the Science Classroom

Thursday, March 27 11:00 AM–12:30 PM

General Session: Exploring Space Through a Teacher’s Eyes

Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Grand Ballroom

Barbara Morgan shares her experiences and insights as a crewmember on NASA’s STS-118 Space Shuttle mission.

Presenter(s): Barbara Morgan, NASA Astronaut

Bio:

Astronaut Barbara Morgan began her teaching career in 1974 on the Flathead Indian Reservation at Arlee Elementary School in Arlee, Montana, where she taught remedial reading and math. Over the next several years she continued to teach, first at McCall-Donnelly Elementary School in McCall, Idaho, where she taught remedial reading/math and second grade from 1975 to 1978. The following school year, Morgan taught English and science to third graders at Colegio Americano de Quito in Quito, Ecuador. She returned to McCall-Donnelly Elementary School in 1979, where she taught second, third, and fourth grades until 1998.

In 1985 Morgan was selected as the backup to Christa McAuliffe for NASA’s Teacher in Space Program. Following the Challenger accident, Morgan assumed the duties of Teacher in Space designee as she continued to teach at McCall-Donnelly. Her NASA duties included public speaking, educational consulting, curriculum design, and serving on the National Science Foundation’s Federal Task Force for Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering.

Selected by NASA as a mission specialist in 1998, Morgan reported to the Johnson Space Center. Following two years of training and evaluation, she was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Space Station Operations Branch, where she worked in Mission Control as prime communicator with on-orbit crews. She also served in the Robotics Branch of the Astronaut Office. Morgan has logged over 305 hours in space, completing her first space flight in 2007 as a mission specialist on the crew of STS-118, an assembly mission to the International Space Station. STS-118 (August 8-21, 2007) was the 119th space shuttle flight, the 22nd flight to the station, and the 20th flight for Endeavour.

FORMAT: Featured Speaker

Thursday, March 27 12:30–1:30 PM

Mary C. McCurdy Lecture: Science on Ice: Connecting Scientists and the Public During the International Polar Year

Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Room 210A

The “Live from the Poles” collaborative education project aims to go beyond sound bites to convey the full experience of polar research with all its trials, triumphs, and nuances. It uses a multimedia approach, including online photo essays posted daily during expeditions, videos, interviews, podcasts, animations, and audio clips—plus live satellite phone calls to audiences in major museums and science centers throughout the country. In this presentation Chris will share results from the first three expeditions. For more information, visit http://polardiscovery.whoi.edu. This project was funded by the National Science Foundation and the Richard King Mellon Foundation.

Presenter(s): Chris Linder (Research Associate, Physical Oceanography Dept., Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Mass.)

Bio:

Chris Linder grew up about as far from the ocean as you can get—the cornfields of southeastern Wisconsin. But while he plied the waters of the local lakes fishing with his dad, he dreamed of deeper waters and a future as an oceanographer. In 1990 he found the ocean at last, launching his fledgling oceanography career at the United States Naval Academy. He was drawn to fieldwork, which culminated in a Trident Scholar research project using side-scan sonar to map oyster beds in the Severn River, which flows into Chesapeake Bay. His studies continued after graduation with a Navy scholarship to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Masters Program in Ocean Engineering, where he studied the physics of the shelfbreak front south of New England.

Chris then served as a meteorology and oceanography officer in the United States Navy. During his time living in southern Spain, he traveled extensively and developed a strong interest in photography. In 2000, he returned to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution as a research associate in the Physical Oceanography Department, where his passions for oceanography and photography were united.

During four scientific expeditions to the polar regions, Chris and a science writer have chronicled the process of conducting scientific fieldwork “on the ice” through still photographs, insightful written essays, and audio and video clips posted to the Polar Discovery website (http://polardiscovery.whoi.edu). In addition, at select times during the expeditions, they placed satellite phone calls to eight partner museums for live Q&As between the museum audiences and researchers. The first two expeditions were to the Arctic and the third to Antarctica. The final expedition will be to Greenland in July 2008.

When not riding the waves for Woods Hole, Chris runs a private photography business specializing in adventure, landscape, and documentary photography. His stories and images have appeared in national magazines such as Outdoor Photographer and Wired, as well as galleries and museums including The Field Museum and Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. He is also the author of The Photographer’s Guide to Cape Cod and the Islands.

FORMAT: Featured Speaker
SUBJECT: General Science
GRADE LEVEL: General

Thursday, March 27 3:30–4:30 PM

Featured Presentation: Unleashing the Power of Data to Improve Science Teaching and Learning

Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Room 210A

Many schools are faced with the challenges of closing achievement gaps, building robust professional learning communities, and using data effectively to guide instructional improvement. Come learn about a structured process of collaborative inquiry that is unleashing the creativity and resourcefulness of educators to meet these challenges. Through collaborative inquiry, school-based, grade-level, or course- or subject-specific data teams construct meaning of student learning problems and embrace and test out solutions together through rigorous use of multiple data sources and ongoing reflective dialogue.

Presenter(s): Nancy Love (Director of Program Development, Research for Better Teaching, Acton, Mass.)

Bio:

Nancy Love is Director of Program Development at Research for Better Teaching in Acton, Massachusetts, where she leads this education consulting group’s research and development. She is the former Director of the Using Data Project, a collaboration between TERC and WestEd, where she led the development of a comprehensive professional development program to improve teaching and learning through effective and collaborative use of school data. This program has produced significant gains in student achievement as well as increased collaboration and data use in schools across the country.

Love has authored several books and articles on data use, including A Data Coach’s Guide to Improving Learning for All Students: Unleashing the Power of Collaborative Inquiry (2008, Corwin Press), Using Data to Improve the Learning of Each Student (in press with Corwin), Using Data/Getting Results: A Practical Guide to School Improvement in Mathematics and Science (2002, Christopher-Gordon Publishers, Inc), and Global Perspectives for Local Action: Using TIMSS to Improve U.S. Mathematics and Science Education (2001, National Research Council) with Susan Mundry. She is also well known for her work in professional development as a presenter and author of articles and books, including Designing Professional Development for Teachers of Science and Mathematics (Second Edition) with Susan Loucks-Horsley, Kathy Stiles, Susan Mundry, and Peter Hewson (2003, Corwin Press).

FORMAT: Featured Speaker
SUBJECT: General Science
GRADE LEVEL: General
CONFERENCE STRAND: Using and Abusing Data

Thursday, March 27 3:30–5:30 PM

Featured Panel: A Private Universe—Twenty Years Later

Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Room 210C

This session celebrates the 20th anniversary of the award-winning video A Private Universe, famous for its scenes of Harvard graduates in caps and gowns describing their ideas about the seasons. Drs. Matthew H. Schneps and Philip M. Sadler will recount the history behind this work; “children” who appeared in the film will talk about their experiences being filmed and describe what happened to their science learning after the filming took place; and prominent leaders in science education will discuss the impact this film has had on science teaching in the United States.

Moderated by Phillip Sadler (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Mass.)and Matthew H. Schneps (Cambridge, Mass.).

Presenter(s): Kathleen M. Fisher (Center for Research in Mathematics and Science Education, San Diego State University, San Diego, Calif.); Heather Mars (Portland, Ore.); Joel Mintzes (University of North Carolina, Wilmington); Joseph Novak (Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, Tarpon Spring); Bassam Shakashiri (University of Wisconsin, Madison); James H. Wandersee (Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge)

FORMAT: Featured Speaker
SUBJECT: General Science
GRADE LEVEL: General

Friday, March 28 9:00–10:00 AM

Featured Presentation: Re-engineering the Curriculum

Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Room 210A

Although humans make the majority of the objects we interact with and use during our day-to-day lives, the current school curriculum focuses very little on how our human-made, or designed world, is made. Pens, cars, pills, buildings— all are technologies and result from the engineering design process. An increasing number of states now include the engineering process and the nature of key technologies in their learning standards. Introducing engineering integrated with science or as a separate discipline into the curriculum offers a wonderful project-based learning vehicle for the entire K–12 spectrum that not only brings to life mathematics and the sciences but connects them with social studies, language, and the arts. Dr. Miaoulis will describe the value of including engineering in the formal curriculum and share examples of success in various learning environments. He will discuss the curriculum content for elementary, middle school, and high school, and how engineering makes science engaging for both boys and girls and for all types of learners.

Presenter(s): Ioannis N. Miaoulis (President and Director, Museum of Science, Boston, Mass.)

Bio:

Ioannis (Yannis) N. Miaoulis, is President and Director of the Museum of Science, Boston. Originally from Greece, Dr. Miaoulis came to the museum after a distinguished association with Tufts University. There, he was Dean of the School of Engineering, Associate Provost, Interim Dean of the University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and Professor of Mechanical Engineering. Miaoulis greatly increased the number of female students and faculty at the university, designed collaborative programs with industry, and more than doubled research initiatives. An innovative educator with a passion for both science and engineering, Miaoulis also championed the introduction of engineering into the Massachusetts science and technology public school curriculum. This made the Commonwealth first in the nation in 2001 to develop a K–12 curriculum framework and assessments for technology/engineering.

Miaoulis spearheaded the creation of the National Center for Technological Literacy® (NCTL) at the Museum of Science in 2004. Supported by corporate, foundation, and federal funds, the NCTL aims to enhance knowledge of engineering and technology for people of all ages and inspire the next generation of engineers, inventors, and scientists. The Museum of Science is the only science museum in the country with a comprehensive strategy and infrastructure to foster technological literacy in both science museums and schools nationwide. Miaoulis also leads the museum’s life sciences initiative, strengthening current exhibits while creating new biotechnology and medical technology exhibits and programs.

Miaoulis holds a doctorate degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in economics from Tufts University. He has published over 100 research papers and holds two patents. He has also been honored with numerous awards for his research efforts and community service, including the Presidential Young Investigator award, the Allan MacLeod Cormack Award for Excellence in Collaborative Research, and the William P. Desmond Award for outstanding contributions to Public Education. He was named by President George W. Bush to the National Museum and Library Services Board and is also on the Commonwealth Readiness Project Leadership Council, charged by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick with creating a 10-year strategic plan to improve public education in the state.

FORMAT: Featured Speaker
SUBJECT: General Science
GRADE LEVEL: General
CONFERENCE STRAND: Sharpening the Edge in Science

Friday, March 28 10:30 AM–12:00 PM

Shell Science Seminar: Neutrinos: Eighty Years of Surprises—So Far

Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Room 210A

From the beginning, the neutrino has surprised and baffled physicists. Introduced by Wolfgang Pauli to explain the "missing energy" in beta decay, the neutrino went undetected for 25 years. As recently as 15 years ago, neutrinos were thought to be massless and conserved in three separate families. Neither of these things is true. We will start at the very beginning and examine the experimental results of the past 15 years, ending with several unanswered questions and possible techniques for finding answers.

Presenter(s): Len Bugel (Stratton Mountain School, Stratton Mountain, Vt.)

Bio: Len Bugel, a science and math teacher at Stratton Mountain School in Vermont, is also a former DOE TRAC teacher, having participated in the TRAC program at Fermilab during the summer of 1994. He is a member of the NuTeV collaboration, a group of scientists working on a deep inelastic neutrino scattering experiment at Fermilab, and is presently working with the BooNE collaboration in a search for neutrino oscillations and helping to build SciBooNE. He is the recipient of the first Fermilab Teacher Fellowship and spent a sabbatical year (1995-1996) continuing the research he began as a TRAC teacher.

FORMAT: Featured Speaker
SUBJECT: General Science
GRADE LEVEL: General

Friday, March 28 10:30 AM–12:00 PM

Shell Science Seminar: The Second Half of the Genetic Code: Protein Folding— How It Works, and How It Goes Wrong

Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Room 210C

The information encoded by genomic DNA is transmitted from a sequence of nucleotides to a sequence of amino acids. This latter chemical information is sufficient to specify the three-dimensional structures of proteins, which in turn enable them to carry out the array of functions required by an organism—from signal transduction to catalysis to immune defense. How the linear sequence of amino acids guides the process of three-dimensional structure formation is known as the “protein folding problem.”

In recent years, a growing number of diseases, including many late-onset neurodegenerative diseases, have been recognized to arise from mistakes in protein folding, often leading to aggregation of misfolded polypeptide chains. In this presentation I will introduce the research field that seeks to understand the chemical principles behind protein folding, to learn how this crucial process takes place in the cellular environment, and to develop approaches for therapeutic intervention when protein folding goes awry.

Presenter(s): Lila M. Gierasch (Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Chemistry, Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Mass.)

Bio:

Lila M. Gierasch. Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Department of Chemistry at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, holds a PhD in biophysics from Harvard University. She joined the faculty of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1994, assuming the position of professor and head of the Department of Chemistry, where she spearheaded a period of rebuilding and launched major programs in innovative chemical education. She became head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the fall of 1999.

Gierasch’s research focuses on protein folding, with a major emphasis on the uniquely challenging aspects of protein localization and folding in vivo. Many major human diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, Alzheimer’s, and prion diseases, are now known to arise from “mistakes” in the process of folding and assembly of proteins. The medical importance of understanding the phenomenon of folding together with the richness of information available from the human genome has set the stage for a period of vigorous research in this area. Gierasch has published over 200 papers in her career; and her work has been continuously supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health. She received an NIH Director’s Pioneer Award in 2007 to support her work on protein folding in the cell.

Gierasch is the recipient of numerous awards and honors. She has held both Sloan and Guggenheim Fellowships, received the first Vincent du Vigneaud Award for Young Investigators in Peptide Science, is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and is a past-president of the Biophysical Society. Notable among her many external professional activities is the fact that she has been a member of both the National Advisory Council to the General Medical Sciences Institute of the National Institutes of Health and the Advisory Committee to the Math and Physical Sciences Directorate of the National Science Foundation. She is currently Editor-in-Chief of Biopolymers: Peptide Science and belongs to numerous editorial advisory boards.

FORMAT: Featured Speaker
SUBJECT: General Science
GRADE LEVEL: General

Friday, March 28 1:30–3:00 PM

Shell Science Seminar: Sickle Cell Disease: Lessons to Learn

Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Room 210A

This presentation will focus on ways that educators can use teaching points on sickle cell disease to reinforce lessons in the biological and medical sciences. The genetics, pathophysiology, clinical complications, and treatment of sickle cell disease can be taught to students of various educational backgrounds as a tool to spark interest in the health care sciences.

Presenter(s): Kim Smith-Whitley (Clinical Director, Division of Hematology, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), and Associate Director, Clinical Sickle Cell Program, Philadelphia, Pa.)

Bio:

Dr. Kim Smith-Whitley is Clinical Director of the Division of Hematology at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the Associate Director of the Clinical Sickle Cell Program. She completed her undergraduate work at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. She has funding from the National Institutes of Health for research on pulmonary complications in children with sickle cell disease and complications of transfusion in this patient population. She also has a patent on a mannequin designed to teach families about the medical complications of sickle cell disease.

Dr. Smith-Whitley is currently involved in a blood donor program with the American Red Cross to recruit African American blood donors for children with sickle cell disease who need transfusions. Her other research interests in sickle cell disease include methods to improve quality of life and to improve methods for patient and family education.

FORMAT: Featured Speaker
SUBJECT: General Science
GRADE LEVEL: General

Friday, March 28 1:30–3:00 PM

Shell Science Seminar: The Search for Earth-sized Planets Around Other Stars

Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Room 210C

During the last decade, astronomers have finally begun finding planets around other stars. We still don't know anything about the number of planets like the Earth (none of the known planets has a solid surface). A NASA mission (Kepler) should directly answer the question by finding many such planets, including some in the “habitable zone.” This dedicated space telescope will monitor more than 100,000 stars for several years, looking for the telltale dip in their light caused when a planet crosses in front of them.

Presenter(s): Gibor Basri (Professor of Astronomy and Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion, University of California, Berkeley)

Bio:

Gibor Basri holds a PhD in astrophysics from the University of Colorado. A Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellowship brought him to Berkeley, where he is a professor of astronomy. His work in the 1980s concentrated on star formation as well as stellar activity. In the past decade he has continued work on these topics, particularly for low-mass stars, as well as becoming an early pioneer and world expert in the study of brown dwarfs.

Dr. Basri has numerous publications. He was awarded a Miller Research Professorship in 1997 and became a Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer in 2000. In December 2001 he became a co-investigator on NASA’s Kepler mission, which has as its goals the discovery of extrasolar terrestrial planets and the characterization of all planets in inner solar systems.

Dr. Basri is involved in science education and in encouraging the participation of minorities in science. He was the founding Chair of the American Astronomical Society’s Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy. His efforts on behalf of increasing diversity at UC Berkeley were recognized by the Chancellor's Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence in 2006. He has served since 1998 on the board of the Chabot Space and Science Center and as a board member for the "I Have a Dream, Oakland" Foundation for a decade. He is now the founding Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion for the Berkeley campus.

FORMAT: Featured Speaker
SUBJECT: Earth Science
GRADE LEVEL: General

Friday, March 28 2:00–3:00 PM

AGU Lecture: Ocean Acidification: The Impact of CO2 on the Oceans

BCEC, Room 210B

The current rapid rising in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels may spell trouble for the oceans because of ocean acidification. Our intensive use of fossil fuels is fundamentally changing the chemistry of the sea, pushing surface waters toward more acidic conditions. Ocean acidification may be one of the largest long-term threats to a wide-range of ocean plants and animals, from microscopic plankton to economically important shellfish and crustaceans to massive coral reefs.

Presenter(s): Scott Doney (Senior Scientist, Dept. of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Mass.)

Bio:

Scott Doney is a senior scientist in the Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. He first came to Woods Hole as an undergraduate in the Sea Education Association “SEA Semester” program and later returned to the WHOI/MIT Joint Graduate program for a PhD working on transient tracer data in the ocean. After a decade working at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, he came back to Woods Hole.

In 2000 Dr. Doney received the James B. Macelwane Medal from the American Geophysical Union (AGU). The medal recognizes significant contributions to the geophysical sciences by a young scientist of outstanding ability. He is particularly interested in the crossover between science and policy, especially in the area of climate change. His recent work has focused on how rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels from fossil fuel burning is lowering the surface ocean pH and potentially harming organisms that build shells from calcium carbonate such as corals.

FORMAT: Featured Speaker
SUBJECT: General Science
GRADE LEVEL: General

Friday, March 28 3:30–4:30 PM

Life Members Featured Presentation: Science and Health Is More Than Taking Medicine When You're Sick

BCEC, Room 210A

We all know about chemistry's contribution to increasing the quality of life with medicines. But another important contribution is in the area of diagnosing disease. The multi-billion diagnostics industry was first begun in a relatively small laboratory where I worked and this is the story.

Presenter(s): Helen M. Free (Retired, Bayer HealthCare/ Diabetes Care, Elkhart, Ind.)

Bio:

Helen M. Free holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the College of Wooster, a master's degree in management in the health care field from Central Michigan University, and honorary doctorates of science from both schools. She joined Miles Laboratories (now Bayer Healthcare) in 1944, and her career includes wide experience in laboratory work, management, growth and development, manufacturing, and marketing related to her main interests in the field of clinical chemistry and medical devices, and in management in the health care area.

Dr. Free holds several patents and has published over 200 papers. She has also held many elected positions in scientific societies, including president of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry in 1990 and president of the American Chemical Society in 1993. Among her national awards are the ACS Garvan medal, the Hall of Excellence of the Ohio Foundation of Small Colleges, and the Kilby Foundation Award. She and her husband were married for 53 years when he died in 2000 (nine children). Together they were honored by Medical Economics Press and the Laboratory Public Service National Leadership Award. They were inducted into the Science and Engineering Hall of Fame and the National Inventors Hall of Fame for their work on the development of urinalysis reagent strips and self tests for blood glucose used worldwide by persons with diabetes.

FORMAT: Featured Speaker
SUBJECT: General Science
GRADE LEVEL: General

Friday, March 28 3:30–4:30 PM

Featured Presentation: After Dover: The New Creationism

Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Room 210B

Although the 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover trial was a test of the constitutionality of teaching Intelligent Design (ID)—which ID failed—the creationist movement has evolved new strategies calling for teaching the “strengths and weaknesses of evolution” or the “critical analysis of evolution,” which are creationism in disguise.

Presenter(s): Eugenie C. Scott (Executive Director, National Center for Science Education, Inc., Oakland, Calif.)

Bio:

Dr. Eugenie C. Scott is Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education, Inc., a not-for-profit membership organization of scientists, teachers, and others that works to improve the teaching of evolution and of science as a way of knowing. It opposes the teaching in science classes of “scientific” creationism and other religiously based views. A former college professor, Scott lectures widely and is called upon by the press and other media to explain science and evolution to the general public.

Scott is the author of the 2004 book Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction and co-editor (with Glenn Branch) of Not in Our Classrooms: Why Intelligent Design Is Wrong for Our Schools. She has served as President of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists and has been honored by both scientists and educators. Among her awards are the National Science Board Public Service Award, AIBS Outstanding Service Award, Geological Society of America Public Service Award, AAAS Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility, California Science Teachers Association Distinguished Service Award, and National Association of Biology Teachers Honorary Membership award, “the association’s highest honor.” She holds honorary DSc degrees from McGill University, Ohio State University, Mount Holyoke College, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Rutgers University.

FORMAT: Featured Speaker
SUBJECT: General Science
GRADE LEVEL: General

Friday, March 28 5:00–6:00 PM

Robert H. Carleton Lecture: Teaching Science as Inquiry: Contemporary Challenges and Opportunities

BCEC, Room 210A

This presentation will provide insights about teaching science as inquiry and make connections to contemporary issues, such as preparing a 21st-century workforce and climate change.

Presenter(s): Rodger W. Bybee (Executive Director Emeritus, Biological Sciences Curriculum Study, Colorado Springs, Colo.)

Bio:

Rodger W. Bybee has been active in education 40 years. At BSCS, he was principal investigator for five new National Science Foundation (NSF) programs, an elementary school program, two high school programs, and a college program. His work at BSCS also included serving as a principal investigator for programs to develop curriculum frameworks for teaching about the history and nature of science and technology for biology education at high schools, community colleges, and four-year colleges, and curriculum reform based on national standards.

FORMAT: Featured Speaker
SUBJECT: General Science
GRADE LEVEL: General

Saturday, March 29 8:30–10:30 AM

The Planetary Society Lecture: Planetary Citizenship in the Next Space Age

BCEC, Room 210B

Bill Nye, scientist, engineer, comedian, author, and inventor, is a man with a mission: to help foster a scientifically literate society, to help people everywhere understand and appreciate the science that makes our world work. Bill discovered that he had a talent for tutoring in high school while growing up in Washington, D.C. He spent afternoons and summers demystifying math for his fellow students. When he wasn’t hitting the books, Bill was hitting the road on his bicycle. He spent hours taking it apart to “see how it worked.”

Bill’s fascination with how things work led him to Cornell University and a degree in mechanical engineering. After graduation, he headed for Seattle and work as an engineer at Boeing. “There’s a hydraulic resonance suppressor tube on the 747 horizontal stabilizer drive system that I like to think of as my tube,” he says. “I’ve always loved airplanes and flight. The space program was very important to me as a kid.”

It was in Seattle that Bill began to combine his love of science with his flair for comedy, when he won the Steve Martin look-alike contest and developed dual careers as an engineer by day and a stand-up comic by night. Eventually, he quit his day engineering day job and made the transition to a midmorning-to-late-night job as a comedy writer and performer on Seattle’s home-grown ensemble comedy show Almost Live. This is where Bill Nye the Science Guy® was born. The show appeared before Saturday Night Live and later on Comedy Central, originating at KING-TV, Seattle’s NBC affiliate. With fellow KING-TV alumni Jim McKenna and Erren Gottlieb, Bill made a number of award-winning shows, including the show he became so well known for, Bill Nye the Science Guy.

While working on the Science Guy show, Bill won seven national Emmy Awards for writing, performing, and producing. The show won 28 Emmys in five years. In between creating the shows, he wrote four kids’ books about science. His fifth book, Bill Nye’s Great Big Book of Tiny Germs comes out in the spring of 2005. He is the host of two currently-running television series. The 100 Greatest Discoveries airs on the Science Channel. The Eyes of Nye airs on PBS stations across the country.

Bill has also worked extensively to set up and promote the EarthDial Project, a set of sundials around the world visually reminiscent of the MarsDials and linked together on the World Wide Web. People everywhere can use the site and the process of building their own sundials to gain a deep understanding of geography, astronomy, and our society’s complex system of timekeeping. Bill has two patents on educational products—a magnifier made of water and an abacus that does arithmetic like a computer—and a patent pending on a device to help people learn to throw a baseball better.

Bill Nye is a graduate of Cornell with a BS in mechanical engineering. He holds honorary doctorate degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Goucher College. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Planetary Society.

Presenter(s): Bill Nye (Spokesperson, Consultant, and On-air Host, Noggin Television [MTV Networks], Seattle, Wash.)

FORMAT: Featured Speaker
SUBJECT: General Science
GRADE LEVEL: General

Saturday, March 29 10:30 AM–12:00 PM

Shell Science Seminar: The Black Experience in Science Education: Research, Theory, and Practice

Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Room 210C

The purpose of this presentation is to provide an overview and synthesis of the issues that impact the science achievement of African American students.

Presenter(s): Lamont A. Flowers (Distinguished Professor of Educational Leadership and Executive Director, Charles H. Houston Center for the Study of the Black Experience in Education, Eugene T. Moore School of Education, Clemson University, Clemson, S.C.)

Bio:

Dr. Lamont A. Flowers is Distinguished Professor of Educational Leadership and Executive Director of the Charles H. Houston Center for the Study of the Black Experience in Education at Clemson University. The mission of the Charles H. Houston Center for the Study of the Black Experience in Education is to examine and address critical issues as well as disseminate information about the Black experience in education in the State of South Carolina and throughout the United States. The Charles H. Houston Center achieves its goals by conducting research and program evaluations, implementing educational programs, and pursuing collaborations and partnerships. Dr. Flowers is also the Interim Chair of the President's Council on Community and Diversity at Clemson University.

Dr. Flowers holds a BS in accounting from Virginia Commonwealth University, an MA in social studies education from the University of Iowa, and a PhD in higher education from the University of Iowa, where he served for two years as the manager of the Afro-American Cultural Center. He served as a visiting assistant professor at the Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University before beginning his professorial career at the University of Florida. While at the University of Florida, Dr. Flowers taught courses in the areas of higher education administration, student affairs administration, and educational leadership. He also served as an associate director of the Institute of Higher Education in the College of Education at the University of Florida.

Dr. Flowers has authored or co-authored more than 65 scholarly publications in the areas of academic achievement, student retention, and educational leadership, including an edited book entitled Diversity Issues in American Colleges and Universities: Case Studies for Higher Education and Student Affairs Professionals and a co-authored book entitled Thinking Like A+ Winner: Success Skills for College Students. He also serves as a senior associate editor for the College Student Affairs Journal and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Professoriate.

Dr. Flowers' research explores and examines the experiences and outcomes of African Americans from pre-kindergarten through college. More specifically, his research examines the issues impacting the recruitment, retention, academic achievement, and educational outcomes of African American students and other racial and ethnic minority students in educational institutions; diversity issues in educational institutions; assessment of cognitive development, psychosocial development, and educational outcomes; best practices pertaining to the training and professional development of educational professionals; organizational and leadership issues in educational institutions; and using technology for instructional, advising, mentoring, and research purposes.

FORMAT: Featured Speaker
SUBJECT: General Science
GRADE LEVEL: General

Saturday, March 29 11:00 AM–12:00 PM

Paul F-Brandwein Lecture: Teaching About Environmental Problems: Insights from the 2006 Program International Student Assessment (PISA)

BCEC, Room 210B

Results from the 2006 PISA test will be used as the basis for this presentation. Perceptions of 15-year-olds about global problems such as climate change, world hunger, and resources will form the basis for discussion of the need to teach about environmental problems.

Presenter(s): Rodger W. Bybee (Executive Director Emeritus, Biological Sciences Curriculum Study, Colorado Springs, Colo.)

Bio:

Rodger W. Bybee has been active in education 40 years. At BSCS, he was principal investigator for five new National Science Foundation (NSF) programs, an elementary school program, two high school programs, and a college program. His work at BSCS also included serving as a principal investigator for programs to develop curriculum frameworks for teaching about the history and nature of science and technology for biology education at high schools, community colleges, and four-year colleges, and curriculum reform based on national standards.

FORMAT: Featured Speaker
SUBJECT: General Science
GRADE LEVEL: General
EVENT SPONSOR: Paul F-Brandwein Institute

Saturday, March 29 1:30–3:00 PM

Shell Science Seminar: Access and Opportunities for Linguistic and Cultural Minorities in the Science Classroom: Research-based Assessment and Instruction

Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Room 210C

Science has entered into the age of accountability measures. As English language learners are the fastest growing sector of the school-age population, high-quality science instruction for this group has gained considerable importance.

The need for making informed programmatic/instructional and assessment decisions that include cultural and linguistic factors has immediate and long-term implications for the education of minority students.

This discussion will draw on the work of several NSF-funded research projects from the Center for the Study of Culture and Language in Education at WestEd. Come learn about assessment and instructional designs in order to support and promote academic success in science for linguistic and cultural minorities.

Presenter(s): Ursula Sexton (Senior Research Associate, Center for the Study of Culture and Language in Education, WestEd, Oakland, Calif.)

Bio:

A native of Colombia, South America, Ursula Sexton is a senior research associate with the Center for the Study of Culture and Language in Education in the Mathematics, Science and Technology program at WestEd. She conducts research and manages projects that investigate the roles that cultural diversity and language play in mathematics and science assessment development, testing, and instructional practices. She is also involved in school reform, teacher professional development, and the use of technology in education. Her work focuses on research, evaluation, and development that impact ELL students and other underserved minorities, including indigenous communities. She is an advisor, presenter, and writer for state, national, and international science education projects and organizations as well as a published author in science education and editor and advisor of children’s science books and education modules.

Sexton was appointed by the White House as educator representative on the Ocean Education Conference and Presidential Exploration Charter panels. She also served as a reviewer on the U.S. Department of Education's Mathematics and Science Expert Panels and for National Science Foundation programs. She has contributed to the development, translation, and scoring of large-scale science assessments and is an advisor for math and science curriculum and professional development programs in Alaska, New Mexico, and California. As co-author of Making Science Accessible to English Learners: A Guidebook for Teachers, she presents workshops in conjunction with the book.

As a teacher leader and researcher, Sexton serves as a bridge between research and practice, motivating and encouraging people at all levels of the educational system to reflect on their beliefs and practices. As a former bilingual/science teacher, she coordinated and developed science programs, led professional development and curriculum reform, and taught K–14 students and teachers. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including 1994 California Presidential Awardee for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, California State University East Bay Teacher of the Year 1999, and the 1998 Shell Science Teaching Award. She currently serves on NSTA’s Multicultural Science Education Committee.

FORMAT: Featured Speaker
SUBJECT: General Science
GRADE LEVEL: General

Saturday, March 29 1:30–3:00 PM

Shell Science Seminar: Colliding Scientific Knowledge and Scientific Discovery: An Example in Stem Cell Biology

Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Room 210A

Science is typically taught from the perspective of what is "known," when in fact the essence of science is the discovery of what is "unknown." Science is most transcendent when these two motivations collide. I will present a present-day example of a paradigm-shifting scientific collision regarding the nature of chromosome segregation in adult stem cells.

Presenter(s): James L. Sherley (Senior Scientist, Programs in Regenerative Biology and Cancer, Boston Biomedical Research Institute, Watertown, Mass.)

Bio: James L. Sherley, MD, PhD, is a senior scientist at the Boston Biomedical Research Institute (BBRI) in Watertown, Massachusetts. Dr. Sherley joined the faculty of BBRI in 2007 to continue his research as a new member of BBRI Programs in Regenerative Biology and Cancer. Dr. Sherley graduated from Harvard College with a BA in biology in 1980 and completed MD and PhD degrees from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1988. After post-doctoral studies at Princeton University, he joined the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia as principal investigator in 1991. In 1998 he joined the faculty of the future Biological Engineering Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Sherley is a 1993 Pew Scholar, 2003 Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar, and 2006 NIH Director’s Pioneer Award recipient.

FORMAT: Featured Speaker
SUBJECT: General Science
GRADE LEVEL: General

Saturday, March 29 2:00–3:00 PM

NSTA/ASE Honors Exhange Lecture: Challenges in Science Education: A View from Across the Pond

Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Room 210B

The rate of expansion of our scientific knowledge and our technological capabilities increasingly puts pressure on science education in our schools and colleges. How do we as teachers and educators meet the challenges that this presents if we are to prepare our students both as citizens and as potential scientists, engineers, technologists and medics of the future? This talk, from a UK perspective, will outline some of these challenges and highlight possible ways forward starting with our own practice and efforts to influence policy.

Presenter(s): Derek Bell (Chief Executive, Association for Science Education, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, U.K.)

Bio:

Professor Derek Bell is Chief Executive of the Association for Science Education and has extensive experience not only of teaching and learning in science but also of the wider range of education issues, including teacher education, higher education, subject leadership in schools, research, project management, and network development. He has taught in schools and higher education institutions and has been involved in science education research and development, including the coordination of a major curriculum project.

Professor Bell has also undertaken a wide range of consultancies in the UK and overseas and is a member of several advisory / expert panels, including the STEM High Level Strategy Group, National Co-ordinators Group for the National Network of Science Learning Centres, the WISE National Co-ordinating Committee, and the Astra-Zeneca Science Education Forum. From 2002 to 2004 Derek was Chair of the Wellcome Trust Society Awards Panel. He is also a member of the Board of the Science Council, the Engineering Technology Board (ETB), and STEMNET. He was awarded his professorship by the College of Teachers in July 2007.

FORMAT: Featured Speaker
SUBJECT: General Science
GRADE LEVEL: General

Saturday, March 29 3:30–4:30 PM

Featured Presentation: Research and Development Work in the Service of Quality Education for Everyone: The Round World

BCEC, Room 210C

Changes in science and mathematics education have resulted from various national interests, such as the desire to win a space race or compete in the global economy. We have also witnessed educational reforms that emerged from ideals and the moral obligation to correct social injustices. Perhaps these reforms are motivated by the sense that we are still on a “round” world where the contraction of our social and physical spaces by technology requires a more literate species. Whether we see the world as flat or not, we are asked to see our work not simply as basic research or educational reform but as work that serves and is linked to social purposes. This presentation will explore how these links underlie some of the political boundaries in our educational community, as well as opportunities for collaboration that could achieve important education reforms.

Presenter(s): Frank E. Davis (President, TERC, Cambridge, Mass.)

Bio:

Frank E. Davis is President of TERC, a nonprofit research and development organization founded in 1965. TERC is well known for its innovative research, curriculum design, and reform work in science and mathematics education and educational technology. Before joining TERC, Davis was a professor at Lesley University in Cambridge, where he also directed the PhD program in educational studies and was a senior research associate of the Program Evaluation Research Group.

Davis has an ongoing relationship with the Algebra Project, a network of sites dedicated to improving mathematics achievement for African American and other minority students that was founded by Robert Moses. Davis has led research and evaluation efforts for the Algebra Project with support from the National Science Foundation and several well-known philanthropies. Prior to his appointment at Lesley in 1985, Davis was a professor at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, where he helped develop a mathematics program for adult learners interested in careers in public service.

Davis holds a doctorate from Harvard University Graduate School of Education and a master's in physics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He has been a visiting scholar at Stanford University, an American Educational Research Association Fellow at the National Science Foundation, and the recipient of a Danforth Graduate Fellowship while at Harvard University.

FORMAT: Featured Speaker
SUBJECT: General Science
GRADE LEVEL: General
CONFERENCE STRAND: Instructional Technology: Research and Applications for the Science Classroom