One of the joys and challenges of teaching is the process of developing activities for students. This summer, Penn State Abington will offer science educators the opportunity to explore the world of astrobiology while creating engaging projects for their classrooms. (more)
Carla Zembal-Saul, holder of the Kahn professorship in STEM education at Penn State, is co-author of a newly released book designed to support K-5 teachers in integrating explanation-driven science in their classrooms. "What's Your Evidence? Engaging K-5 Students in Constructing Explanations in Science" (Pearson, 2012) examines the importance of scientific explanation in elementary science instruction. Zembal-Saul's co-authors are Katherine McNeill, faculty member at Boston College, and Kimber Hershberger, a third-grade teacher at Radio Park Elementary School in the State College (Pa.) Area School District. (more)
Penn State education majors are encouraged to register for a two-week, three-credit immersion course in the classrooms of urban Philadelphia schools. The course, "CI 295D: The Philadelphia Urban Seminar," offers its participants a unique immersion experience and exposure to diversity in Philadelphia's public school system. The course runs from May 21 to June 2. (more)
M. Kathleen Heid, distinguished professor of mathematics education at Penn State, was an invited keynote speaker at Matematikbiennalen, the 2012 Mathematics Biennial Conference held Jan. 26-27 in Umea, Sweden. The biennial conference hosts approximately 3,000 mathematics teachers from that country. (more)
The next Academic Leadership Academy will convene on June 24, with participants from all over the country in attendance. The keynote speaker will be Christopher Brown, president of Alcorn State University. (more)
Fran Arbaugh, an associate professor of mathematics education at Penn State, has been elected president of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE), the country's largest professional organization devoted to the improvement of mathematics teacher education. (more)
Children of deployed U.S. military members face a number of stressful issues, and teachers in Pennsylvania's schools often need to lend special support to those children and their families. Penn State and Operation: Military Kids provide teachers and others who work with military families with the training they need to address these unique challenges. Learn how Penn State is guiding teachers as they help children cope on the home front. Penn State for PA (PSU4PA) tells the stories of Pennsylvania residents whose businesses and communities have been transformed by Penn State teaching, research and service. (more)
Gwendolyn Lloyd, professor of mathematics education at Penn State, has co-authored a new book with Beth Herbel-Eisenmann of Michigan State University and Jon Star of Harvard University.
The book, titled "Developing Essential Understanding of Expressions, Equations, and Functions: Grades 6-8" (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics [NCTM], 2011), is part of NCTM's Essential Understandings series. This series, edited by Penn State faculty member Rose Mary Zbiek, aims to help teachers deepen their understandings of mathematical topics that are critical to students' learning but challenging to teach. (more)
Attending a financially poor school may have more of an effect on unhealthy adolescent weight than family poverty, according to Penn State sociologists. Poor schools even influence how parental education protects kids from becoming overweight. "It was once thought that family income was the main factor when we talk about the research on adolescent weight," said Molly Martin, assistant professor of sociology and demography. "That's not true. The environments the children live in play a key role in weight problems among adolescents." (more)
A new book co-edited by Gwendolyn Lloyd, Penn State professor of mathematics education, offers strategies and resources for using Standards-based curriculum materials in mathematics teacher education. Lloyd collaborated with Vanessa Pitts-Bannister, of the University of South Florida Polytechnic, to produce "Curriculum-Based Activities and Resources for Preservice Math Teachers." The book follows on the heels of research that Lloyd and Pitts-Bannister conducted over several years. In their work, Lloyd and Pitts-Bannister examined strategies for using innovative curriculum resources to improve preservice teachers' understandings of mathematics teaching and learning. (more)
