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When you think of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New
Mexico, you probably think of the atomic bomb. It was here, during
World War II, that physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer oversaw the
Manhattan Project, the top-secret government program that developed
the bomb.
But today, several Los Alamos scientists are making a contribution
of a different kind -- to the creation of a new generation of
highly trained math and science teachers. The Los Alamos Science
Education Team is harnessing the lab's resources to help create
a largely Internet-based math, science, and technology curriculum
that is used and revised by public school science teachers in
New Mexico. All the participants share ideas and train each other
through e-mail, listservs, and web pages. The Science Education
Team -- a group of program developers, professional educators,
and science education specialists -- is responsible for bringing
the Los Alamos scientists and public school teachers together
to make the program work.
Called TOPS
(Teacher Opportunities to Promote Science), the program is designed
to improve the knowledge and teaching skills of elementary, middle,
and high school math and science teachers in rural schools in
New Mexico. The Los Alamos scientists -- a cadre of physicists,
material scientists, astronomers, chemists, space scientists,
and engineers -- serve for the most part as consultants on math,
science, and technology content primarily in the areas of telecommunications,
astrophysics, and space science. Teachers, in turn, contribute
ideas about how best to teach the content. The goal is to create
an academic curriculum that replicates the authentic tasks of
scientists.
The involvement of the scientists is a key feature of this program.
The scientists -- who volunteer their time for this project --
are conducting research in several fascinating areas, including
how to improve satellite transmissions and how to capture and
record stellar events such as supernovas, sunspot activity, and
lightning strikes on Earth. Their availability lets teachers delve
into cutting-edge research.
The scientists also help the teachers develop a K-12 curriculum
that is linked directly to the real world. Drawing on the scientists'
expertise, a teacher can point directly to the national laboratory
to show students how the science they are learning is applied
in the real world -- and how math and technology relate to that
science. Shannon Morris, an elementary school teacher in Aztec,
N.M., says this real-world connection has been especially beneficial
to elementary teachers and students. "So many times, you can find
great opportunities in science and technology, but they are geared
toward high school or college," she says.
Curriculum online
The TOPS program has 12
different curriculum units, all of varying degrees of difficulty
and complexity, and all available on the web. One unit, "Light
Years," explores astrophysics by studying constellations, molecular
motion, satellite motion, energy movement, and the life cycle
of a star. Developed for grades four through 12, the units for
each grade attempt to build on what was learned in the previous
grade. As they develop curricula to meet the needs of their education
communities, TOPS teams (roughly four to six teachers per school)
select specific topics tied directly to ongoing scientific research,
and then design appropriate classroom projects to go along with
that research. One team, for example, formed a partnership with
the Nonproliferation and International Security Division at Los
Alamos to develop lessons on the FORTE (Fast On-Orbit Recording
of Transient Events), a satellite project that tracks lightning
strikes on the Earth's surface.
A key feature of the TOPS program is the integration of math,
science, and technology through thematic teaching units. This
approach demonstrates the application of the National Council
of Teachers of Mathematics math standards to the teachers' curriculum
design and the use of the standards as a tool for teachers and
students alike to become more reflective mathematicians. For example,
with the help of a math professor and Los Alamos staff, TOPS teachers
learned to use high-powered graphing calculators to calculate
the mass of a star.
The scientific concepts, however, are the main threads that
tie the curriculum together. Most of those threads are designed
around the national science standards and are emphasized throughout
a child's education. For instance, when exploring the concept
of how sound moves from a transmitter to a receiver, elementary
students will work to understand that basic fact. In middle school,
they will begin to examine sound waves and their relationship
to pitch. Then, in high school, they will study sound-wave frequency
and the mathematical relationships between amplitude and pitch.
The sequenced curriculum makes it especially important that
students' initial encounters with scientific concepts be accurate
and that they see new information as building on what they've
already learned in previous grades. This is where the Los Alamos
scientists come in: They are the content experts.
The program's web networks make it easier to build in the vertical
alignment that allows students to explore specific scientific
concepts deeper and deeper as they progress through school. Teachers
share ideas for better ways to teach a topic while the scientists
help correct scientific misconceptions. E-mail, listservs, and
web sites keep everyone in constant contact, making TOPS an ever-evolving
professional development program. Says one New Mexico science
teacher: "TOPS has rejuvenated me. I see teaching in a much more
positive way. It's like finding your first love. TOPS made me
look at myself as a teacher again."
Other teachers are building on this enthusiasm. Joan Shandler
and Coleen Korce, teachers at Carlos Gilbert Elementary School
in Santa Fe, N.M., have created a space science program that is
used in their school and several other schools. The curriculum
is based on TOPS curriculum units, but tailored to the specific
needs and talents of teachers at Gilbert. In addition to regular
classroom learning, Gilbert holds a Cosmic
Conference in which the students have an opportunity to present
their work and be evaluated by teachers and their peers. The school
also created a program called Astronomy Nights. On these nights,
students and parents get together at the Santa Fe Community College
Planetarium to view stellar constellations and different features
of the night sky.
Learning through inquiry
Most of the TOPS lessons are inquiry-driven -- meaning students
are encouraged to investigate topics beyond what their teachers
have taught them. For instance, after discussing a specific topic,
a teacher will provide students with a list of web sites to investigate.
They are told to critique the sites, write a summary of what was
good and bad about them, and record the scientific or mathematical
knowledge they learned from visiting the sites. The students then
make a list of good sites to pass along to future students.
In the classroom, a teacher might begin with a brainstorming
session on how lightning works. Then the teacher has students
put their ideas into a concept map, a diagram of ideas linked
in much the same way hypertext makes conceptual links on the web.
The concept mapping software used by TOPS teachers allows them
to brainstorm and organize ideas easily. The program, called Inspiration,
allows kids and teachers to put ideas in separate boxes that can
be rearranged, updated, changed, and coded by color. Students
list questions that they think need to be answered to fully understand
how lightning works, then research the questions using the Internet.
In this way, the students' new knowledge builds on what they already
know, and their questions drive the discovery of new content --
what educators call a constructivist approach to learning.
Teachers in the TOPS program have also learned to use the Socratic
teaching method (based on the teaching style of the classical
Greek scholar Socrates) to probe a student's understanding of
a topic. Rather than looking for a set answer, the teacher asks
a series of questions that prompt students to explain how they
arrived at a given answer. In one case, a teacher might ask the
student to explain how a star transmits light, and then probe
the student's understanding by asking questions about how light
travels in space.
Over the course of their three years in the program, TOPS teachers
attend three two-week long summer institutes. Here, the teachers
are given instruction and practice in the tools of technology,
including concept mapping software, e-mail, web page development,
and File Transfer Protocol. They are also given instruction in
effective teaching techniques based on the expertise of educators
such as Jerome Bruner. Beyond that, they meet with mentors and
their TOPS teams to prepare curriculum for the web, and they visit
Los Alamos sites where state-of-the-art research is being conducted.
Later on in the school year, teachers attend follow-up workshops
to improve the techniques they learned during the summer institutes
and begin thinking about suggestions for seminar topics for the
upcoming summer institutes. During the follow-up workshops, teachers
also share their lessons with one another and demonstrate how
the Internet curriculum can be used in the classroom.
Connecting across the state
This ability to run a professional development program that
goes beyond school building walls is especially important in New
Mexico, a state that is inherently rural and diverse in both geography
and population. Creating workspaces using groupware, e-mail communication,
and web site collaboration has broken down the barriers erected
by geographic distance. These telecommunications tools allow participants
to perform two very important tasks: gathering information as
independent learners and collaborating on findings within a virtual
learning community. For instance, teachers often run into difficulty
with such tasks as integrating web links into PowerPoint presentation
software. Fortunately, there is usually someone in the TOPS network
who has already mastered such problems and is quickly available
to help.
As a group, the teachers' self-confidence in telecommunications
and technology use has greatly increased. As one teacher says,
"The learning was useful to me because I can now empower my students
in a more timely and effective way on computer skills. Also, I
am so much more hopeful that changes in technology will allow
easier access for my minority students, who have limited economic
resources in the global society."
Joanna Duran, a TOPS middle school teacher, says: "I feel as
though I am on the forefront of educational issues, and that is
where I like to be. TOPS has benefited my students because I am
now incorporating technology into my math classes, which I have
never done before."
"What have I gained from working in the TOPS program?" Duran
asks. "I think what I have gained the most is a network of colleagues.
It is so helpful to have connections at other schools and to share
a common ground. It feels as though we are all working toward
the same goal -- a better education for our students."
Bill Robertson
is a member of the Science Education Team at Los Alamos National
Laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M.
In Arizona, the Tucson Unified School District has teamed up
with the University of Arizona to create an online professional
development program for science teachers. At Hunterdon Central
High School in New Jersey, teachers receive continuing education
credit for online courses they have completed. At the University
of Virginia, a program called CaseNET combines on-site sessions
with online case studies to provide professional development opportunities.
Then there is the Online Internet Institute, a creation of classroom
teachers that is spreading its influence nationwide, working to
help teachers infuse technology into their daily lessons.
The new look of professional development programs is online
-- ranging from electronic forums for discussing new teaching
methods to courses for teachers trying to master a new software
program or the array of available Internet search engines. More
and more, schools are giving teachers continuing education credit
for online courses -- and that, teachers say, is making their
professional development pursuits easier and more effective.
Florence McGinn, an English teacher at Hunterdon Central High
School, says teachers appreciate online professional development
for a few important reasons. To begin with, she says online courses
allow "anytime, anywhere taking of a course." In other words,
busy teachers don't have to trek to the local university after
a long day at school and sit through a three-hour class, followed
by a 45-minute drive home.
But convenience is not the only benefit, says McGinn, who took
online courses and now teaches them. She says online courses give
teachers better opportunities to pace themselves. If someone wants
to race through course material in a week or two, she says, it's
much easier to do so in an online course than a traditional class.
On the other hand, teachers who are struggling to grasp material
in an online course can proceed at a slower pace, repeating steps,
and reviewing material that remains available on the Internet.
Hunterdon's program was created as part of the AT&T
Learning Network Virtual Academy. The Learning Network
was started in the fall of 1998 to offer web-based professional
development to teachers. Hunterdon teachers can earn continuing
education credits through the network. Teachers who want to earn
credit must undergo evaluation by online course teachers. Courses
are provided for a wide range of abilities, from novice technology
users to teachers dabbling in state-of-the-art technologies.
The number of online professional development programs for teachers
is growing quickly. Some programs are school-university partnerships,
others are funded by federal grants, and still others are designed
by technology companies. Here is a small sampling:
Virtual
Professional Development in Science Education. A collaboration
between the Tucson Unified School District and the University
of Arizona, this program aims to help science teachers better
understand national and state education standards and their role
in meeting those standards. Another goal is to help teachers learn
more effective ways to teach students the importance of scientific
inquiry. In addition to electronic discussions and assignments,
some classes require a few face-to-face meetings or attendance
at on-site workshops.
The Online Internet Institute.
This professional development program originated in 1995 with
the help of the National Science Foundation. Its primary goals
are to help teachers restructure curriculum and infuse technology
into their classrooms. It offers a combination of online and on-site
help for teachers. Among other things, the institute offers online
workshops in effective use of e-mail, how to use search engines,
evaluating Internet information, web publishing, intranets as
learning tools, Internet filtering, and the use of computer technology
for students with disabilities.
IMPACT II -- The Teachers
Network. Adopted by roughly 25 educational organizations
-- including the school districts of New York City, Houston, and
Fairfax County, Va., and the Illinois Mathematics and Science
Academy -- this program is designed to reward teachers who share
good teaching ideas and those who implement those ideas. The teachers
who package their ideas (they're called "disseminators") are awarded
grants. Teachers who tailor those ideas to their own classrooms
(they're called "adaptors") are also awarded money for their efforts.
The program is sponsored by the AT&T Learning Network.
Apple
Staff Development Online. A newcomer to the field, this
program was launched in March. Course instructors review assignments,
answer questions, provide additional resources, and troubleshoot
problems. The courses are highly interactive with teachers conversing
via e-mail with course instructors and each other. To a large
degree, these courses are geared toward mastering Apple technologies.
Courses available include AppleWorks 101, Internet 101, Webmaker
101, Hyperstudio 101, Introduction to ALI, Introduction to iMac,
Multimedia in the Classroom, and Internet in the Classroom.
Compaq
AdvanCE. AdvanCE course offerings include Bridging to
Windows 95, a course designed to bridge the gap for schools moving
from Macs to Windows environments; Integrating Technology, which
explores better ways of using technology in the classroom; Communication
and Collaboration Using the Web; Using Multimedia; and Designing
a World Wide Web Site.
21st Century Teachers Network.
Last year, an online poll conducted by the network and the National
Education Association found that 84 percent of teachers surveyed
said they need more training and mentoring in the use of technology.
To help fill the void, the network has created an intranet site
to allow teacher leaders to collaborate and have access to the
most current teaching materials and news. Beyond that, the organization
is attempting to build a national network of special-interest
groups organized by subject area, grade level, and geographic
region. The special-interest chapters will share teaching practices
and offer professional development opportunities to members.
Teaching Technology.
This Austin, Texas firm focuses on providing school districts
with training and resources to use technology more effectively.
Its staff includes teachers, courseware developers, and instructional
strategists. Among other things, the firm offers Train the Trainer
workshops, in which technology savvy teachers are trained to teach
professional development courses.
-- Sidebar by Kevin Bushweller
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