 A $36,000 Eisenhower
Grant will fund a summer workshop at Black Hills
State University designed to improve science
teaching in grades 7-12, particularly as it
relates to physics. The
18-day summer workshop is titled “Physics
Modeling Workshop for School Technology
Infusion.” The principal investigator and
grant author is Dr. Rena Faye Norby, assistant
professor of education at BHSU.
Story
The July 5 through 28 workshop will
accommodate 20 high school physics and physical
science teachers. After completing the workshop,
these teacher experts will serve their schools
and school districts as leaders reforming science
teaching to meet state and national standards.
The workshop will
attract science teachers from public and private
sectors including BIA and reservation schools.
The schools involved will then have at least one
Technology in Science Teaching (TST) leader to
model the best use of technology in the science
classroom, to train other teachers and to advise
schools on cost-effective infusion of technology
into science courses.
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Norby said, “We hope to build and improve
communication between physics and physical
science teachers in South Dakota by providing a
web site for them; and we hope to provide a
variety of ways to learn physics using hands-on
methods that will improve learning of physics for
all South Dakota students.” Workshop
participants will earn four to six semester hours
of graduate credit. There will be a total of 150
hours of contact time. To receive six hours of
credit, participants must participate in
follow-up sessions and classroom visitations. The
project is designed to develop a corps of expert
teachers as part of a regional system of Local
Physics Alliance (LPA).
According to Norby, “strengthening of physics content
knowledge for some teachers who may not be
certified in physics, and a review of physics
concepts for those who are certified in
physics” are critical needs addressed by the
workshop.
Assisting Norby with the workshop are high
school physics instructors Jerry Loomer, Rapid
City, and Harlan Heitz, Mina. Both teachers are
experienced in the modeling method as a
systematic approach to the design of curriculum
and instruction. When using the modeling method,
teachers act as facilitators of learning rather
than dispensers of knowledge.
Information on the
summer workshop is available by contacting Norby
at 642-6226.
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