posted by: Tom Loughran
Come rally around the Saint Joseph’s County Public Library’s One Book, One Michiana effort by supporting these science activities this month. What a great idea!
(Click the Full Screen button on the lower right corner of this slideshare document to get a closer view.)
posted by: Tom Loughran
In the next couple of months we have two excellent opportunities for student participation in Science and Engineering. The Exoplanet Masterclass is for high school students; the National Robotics Week event is open to the general public.
Take a peek and take your pick!
Errata: an earlier version of this post incorrectly identified the dates for both events:( The dates are now correct:)
posted by: Tom Loughran
Our sixth annual Collaborating for Education and Research Forum was held on February 23, 2013 in Jordan Hall of Science on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. Over 140 attendees participated in the event. Thanks to all involved. Below is the “raw data” from our photographer. We had some technical difficulties in an earlier attempt to share them here; these seem to now be resolved:)
Images courtesy of Matt Cashore, University of Notre Dame.
posted by: Tom Loughran
I got to Code for South Bend on Saturday…or rather, I got to the presentation on the projects they undertook that day. It was a fantastic experience. I had spent six hours earlier in the day listening to some of the best ideas around for promoting STEM education in Michiana. By the end of my time at Code for South Bend, it was clearer to me than ever that even the best of our typical conversations about STEM education are overlooking a hugely important element that is crucial to Michiana’s future. Kids need to code. Take 10 minutes to watch this very fine defense of that claim.
Want to learn to code, but don’t know where to start? Consider starting here, at Code Academy. See my first mistake and first success, below. There are many free resources beyond this one, but I’d start here if you’re starting from scratch. (You can move on to Scratch, a free and easy-to-use program, later:)
Here’s work that one local High School student has done with MATLAB, very early on in the learning process. (He had already learned to code in another language, Java, and was only just a month or so into learning MATLAB.) Very plainly, he’s learning to tell the computer what he wants it to do. For those really interested, his code is here.
posted by: Tom Loughran
This fantastic event, scheduled for this Saturday, February 23, conflicts with our Collaborating for Research and Education Forum. But if you have the time and the spark, consider attending. Register for Code for South Bend here. Even if you have more interest than technical aptitude, there are projects here for you, including the writing of a South Bend-area wiki.
If you are attending the Forum, consider joining the Code for South Bend event (as I will) for the concluding presentation of projects at 5:00 pm. Hope to see you there!
posted by: Tom Loughran
Don’t miss the 6th Annual Collaborating for Education & Research Forum on February 23, 2013 from 8:15 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. in Jordan Hall of Science on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. We’ve compiled a wonderful program for this year’s event!
SPECIAL GUEST
Glenda Ritz – Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction
PANEL DISCUSSION
On the Road to High Quality Instruction: Creating a Culture of Support for Teachers
MICHIANA SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CENTER PLANNING
President Greg Jones will present an overview of the MSTCi Strategic Plan
LEARN more about Teacher Quality Metrics
REVIEW great STEM Related Opportunities for Teachers & Students
MEET new collaborators in STEM engagement activities
VISIT the lunchtime Project Fair & register for various summer activities
ENJOY a free continental breakfast and lunch
RECEIVE 5 PGPs for participating (teachers only)
REGISTRATION IS FREE, BUT SPACE IS LIMITED.
To register, visit events.michianastem.org.
Please register by Feb 20th to attend.
Continental breakfast begins 8:15a.m.
Program begins promptly at 8:50a.m.
If you have already registered, but cannot attend, please contact tblacket@nd.edu.
posted by: Tom Loughran
It’s early to tell, but it looks like we’re in for quite a show later this year. Comets can be astonishingly beautiful “pokes” from the cosmos, giving us a glimpse of natural processes that are typically too long in duration or too far in distance to make much of a cultural impact. This new comet could provide an exceptional educational moment. And unlike last year’s transit of Venus, no one saw this one coming…until just recently. Watch the four minute story, below.
Comet Hale-Bopp provided a nice show nearly two decades ago. A South Bend Tribune article encouraging even new amateur astronomers to photograph the spectacle drew me into astroimaging. Below is an image I took, following those published instructions, with an ordinary SLR camera and print film–remember print film?–my first night out. Comet ISON could provide as good, and potentially much better, a target for new astroimagers. Big fun is on its way.
To whet your appetite for the big ISON show in the Fall, watch this video about a naked-eye comet that should peak on March 12 and 13 this year. March 5 and 12 are other key viewing dates.
posted by: Tom Loughran
We are pleased to invite you to Collaborating for Education and Research Forum VI to be held at Notre Dame’s Jordan Hall of Science on Saturday, February 23, 2013 from 8:30am to 2pm. The Forum is sponsored by the National Science Foundation and Notre Dame to foster a collegial approach to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education and research in Michiana. We will be discussing the opportunities and challenges facing the local STEM community. In previous years some 350 STEM professionals have participated in these Fora.
This year we will be offering local K-12 STEM teachers and administrators who register and participate in the entire event a Certificate for 5 State of Indiana Professional Growth Points.
For more information and to register please visit: Forum VI Registration We will welcome last minute registrations, but for planning purposes it would be helpful if you would register by Thursday, Feb 21.
If you have colleagues who you believe would appreciate knowing about the forum, consider forwarding this their way:)
For more information please call Therese Blacketor at 574-631-1264.
posted by: Tom Loughran
Dr. Steven Dick, Former NASA Chief Historian, will present a public lecture in Notre Dame’s Digital Visualization Theater, Jordan Hall of Science, on Saturday, February 23rd at 7 PM.
In 2006 Pluto was controversially demoted to dwarf planet status. This infamous episode is the point of departure for a discussion of the nature of discovery over the last 400 years of telescopic astronomy. What constitutes a “new class” of astronomical object? Who decides if a spiral galaxy, quasar, or pulsar is a new class? Has dark matter really been “discovered”? And how do these claims come to be accepted among scientists and the public?
posted by: Tom Loughran
Hubble Space Telescope observers need your help.
Did you know that Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observers rely–sometimes–on the ground-based observations of amateur astronomers to determine the best use of their space-based instrument? Below is an American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) announcement of a request for help: observers plan to view a (“cataclysmic“) variable star on January 11 and 12, but can only get the data they need if the star is behaving at a certain way (“not in outburst”) for the Hubble to observe it.
Trouble is, the pattern of behavior for the star isn’t well enough known for the team using the Hubble to be sure that star won’t be in that unacceptable state. So they are asking from help from the broader community of variable star observers. (You can join, by the way…they’ll train you. Visit http://www.aavso.org/outreach.) At the Notre Dame QuarkNet Center, we’ve had high school teacher and student teams participate in this sort of citizen-science for years. (See Bremen HS astronomy educator Aaron McNeely’s blog on his team’s asteroid discoveries; here’s one student’s investigation into variable stars and the work of the AAVSO.)
When teachers and students are effectively invited into the research community in this way, it looks a lot like science education. What else, other than effective invitation into the community, would we want out of science education: when new members take on the values, the tools, the culture of the research community as members, what else are they lacking? But if they remember long lists of facts and can spout theories without even being aware of, let alone belong to, the community that generates those facts and theories, we might well ask: “so what?” Perhaps it is the centrality of the research community that has been missing in STEM education. But it doesn’t have to be that way. The AAVSO and many other organizations are developing a craft of issuing effective invitations into STEM community. In my view, the best way to promote STEM education–and the associated prosperity that comes with a vibrant STEM community–is to promote integrated STEM community where ever you can. Make connections wherever you can, and maintain them. That’s what AAVSO is doing.
Here’s the text of the AAVSO announcement. (Just click it to view the published notice.)
