K-12 education
terrasig | December 23, 2009On December 14 (last week), the US National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) released the findings on adolescent drug use and trends as determined from the 35th annual Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey (press release). The ambitious survey is conducted with NIDA funding* by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Sciences led currently by Dr. Lloyd Johnston. The larger survey began in 1975 with only high-school seniors and was expanded in 1991 to include 8th and 10th graders to improve the ability to measure changes as a population progresses through school. A very detailed white…
terrasig | November 17, 2009
Brandon Haught is Director of Florida Citizens for Science Communications and has been a tireless advocate for science education across this large and educationally diverse state. His blog, an activity of the larger Florida Citizens for Science organization, carries this mission:
This blog is used to keep track of the good, bad and ugly science news in our state and beyond. We tend to focus on educational issues. When a science class makes the news for doing something interesting or positive, I try to make sure a post goes up here about it. When a Florida scientist gets out into the…
terrasig | October 12, 2009
I can't believe October's here already and it's time again for our annual social media challenge to raise money for US science teachers. Last year, eight generous, erudite, and good-looking Terra Sig readers donated at total of $1,972 to impact the lives of 1,865 students.
I've got started a little late but three of you already hunted me down and have donated a total of $1,737 - due primarily to our perennial megadonor, Diana, who shares the good fortune in her life with kids to combat the anti-science nonsense she sees around this country.
DonorsChoose.org is "an online charity connecting…
terrasig | February 25, 2009Okay people, these students in Miss Stacy Baker's biology classes and Extreme Biology blog have been rocking my world for quite some time. They've now burst onto the national media and were all the buzz of the recent ScienceOnline'09 conference.
For those not familiar with the story, Stacy Baker is a biology teacher at the Calverton School in Huntingtown, Maryland, who began a website for student activities and class notes back in 2006. With the boundless enthusiasm of ninth-graders and more seasoned AP biology students, the site has become interactive: a blog, Extreme Biology, with videos…
terrasig | February 13, 2009Like many of my readers, I am continually blown away by the parenting skills and science education abilities of my friend and colleague, Dr Janet D Stemwedel (aka Dr Free-Ride). Among her many gifts is her Friday feature with her family documenting how kids learn about science. And like her commenters state, I'd love to see these posts compiled into a book.
As an aside, having children returns one, whether one likes it or not, back to the days of asking "why" about everything (or, more appropriately, being forced to answer why about things you've taken for granted for 20 or more years). One…
terrasig | January 20, 2009
It'll be a few days before I can get together posts on this past weekend's ScienceOnline'09 conference in frigid North Carolina. The Friday Fermentable Live! was a terrific success and it already looks like there are seven posts out there (for example, Eva Amsen on her Nature Networks blog, Expression Patterns, put up an account with vasectomy-like precision).
I had the honor of participating in two sessions: one on gender and allies in STEM, online and off, with the youthful Alice Pawley and Zuska and another on pseudonymity/anonymity and building online reputation with PalMD. Speaking…
terrasig | October 19, 2008I've been a bit too quiet on my end during this third year of ScienceBlogs.com participation in the October Blogger Challenges for DonorsChoose.org. DonorsChoose.org was launched by Charles Best, a Bronx schoolteacher who recognized that public schools around the US were underfunded, particularly in districts with a high abundance of poverty:
Charles Best leads DonorsChoose.org, a simple way to fulfill needs and foster innovation in public schools. At this not-for-profit web site, teachers submit proposals for materials or experiences that their students need to learn. Any individual can…
terrasig | October 2, 2008As I alluded to in the previous post, many science bloggers like us are currently running challenges to readers to donate to projects at DonorsChoose.org.
This great organization has been a sponsoring clearinghouse for all kinds of educational projects proposed by US public schoolteachers, many of which are very basic activities for which public funds are not available, then donors like you and I get to choose to whom we wish to send a few doubloons.
Independently of the ScienceBlogs drive, I just learned that American Express has selected DonorsChoose as five finalists who are competing…
terrasig | October 2, 2008I am completely crushed, hammered, and otherwise incapacitated at work right now - apologies to readers who are looking for some natural products and pharmacology wisdom. It is in my brain but just not making it into pixels right now.
In the meantime, I did want to let readers know that we are participating for our 3rd year in the DonorsChoose.org Blogger Challenge here at ScienceBlogs. More later on the program and my interests, past experiences, etc.
In the meantime, you can check out some of the projects about which I am passionate at:
Terra Sigillata's "More Abel To Do Science" Blogger…
terrasig | May 25, 2008So here's a bizarre convergence of the controversies surrounding cognitive performance-enhancing strategies and the end-of-grade (EOG) testing stress on teachers and students.
Esther Robards-Forbes reports in yesterday's Charlotte (NC) Observer that a third-grade teacher was arrested for contributing to the delinquency of minors by giving three students adult-strength multivitamin pills in advance of their EOG tests:
A third-grade teacher at Marvin Elementary in western Union County was arrested and suspended from his job after he was accused Friday of handing out vitamin pills to three…
terrasig | March 30, 2008In attempting to re-engage my academic brain stem, I've been doing a little continuing education the last couple of weeks at various forums hosted by the University-That-Tobacco-Built. Last week I had the pleasure of attending a forum of the Duke student organization, Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE), that featured four academic leaders (who were women) and Bora Zivkovic discussing non-bench science careers.
One of the panelists was an old colleague, Dr Rochelle (Shelly) Schwartz-Bloom, an award-winning neuropharmacologist and educator in the Duke Department of Pharmacology &…
terrasig | March 12, 2008[Welcome mental_floss blog and Daily Kos readers. After you read about this outstanding young woman, you can learn more about me, my life story, and this blog here.]
If you read elsewhere at ScienceBlogs.com, you'll know that several bloggers have been discussing race and gender issues in the scientific and medical research communities as well as the challenges facing young scientists who pursue academic research careers. So, I was overjoyed this morning to see this glowing face on Shivani Sud, a local young woman of Indian heritage who took first prize in the Intel Science Talent Search (…
sporte | February 10, 2008A few weeks ago I attended a education conference at Pacific Science Center entitled, "A Conversation that Can Change the World."
It was interesting. Everyone was pretty enthusiastic at the meeting and there was a lot of positive energy.
We got to see Theresa Britschgi from Seattle Biomedical Research Institute make Jack Faris, President of the Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association, get dressed up in a biohazard protection suit.
We heard from Dennis Schatz about the Pacfic Science Center's outreach programs.
We had our required moment of technical failure when Ran Hinrichs,…
terrasig | November 21, 2007I was looking through more links tonight after posting earlier on the Polk County school board's intention to introduce intelligent design into the science curriculum.
I saw this post, An Open Letter to the Polk County, Florida School Board from The Austringer, Dr Wesley Elsberry. Turns out that Elsberry is a product of [a] public schools [and two parochial schools] in Lakeland, the largest city in Polk Country.
From his compelling open letter:
I was born in Lakeland, Florida, and lived for eighteen years there. My parents still live there. I still care about what happens in my home town.
To…
terrasig | November 21, 2007 All the kool kids are keeping their eyes on the Polk County, Florida, school board and their contention that 'intelligent design' should be taught alongside evolution in their public schools.
Fortunately, several states have groups of concerned citizens who contend that actual science should be taught in schools, lest we continue to suffer as a society from the erosion of critical thinking skills.
Florida Citizens for Science (FCS, or FlCfS) is one of those valuable groups. Brandon Haught has been doing a terrific job keeping us apprised of local developments via the Florida Citizens for…
terrasig | November 7, 2007Okay, here's one final update on our drive to raise DonorsChoose.org funds for K-12 teachers to conduct projects in their classrooms.
An e-mail came in today from Charles Best, the Bronx schoolteacher who established DonorsChoose:
Thanks in great part to the attention ScienceBlogs generated, we made Internet history! During the month of October, readers of more than a hundred blogs gave $420,000 to classroom projects on DonorsChoose.org, benefiting 75,000 students. To put that in perspective, it took four months for the hugely successful Facebook causes application--with millions of users--…
terrasig | October 30, 2007I chose not to plague you with incessant reminders to contribute to our drive to raise funds for projects at DonorsChoose.org - where public school teachers propose class projects and you decide which ones to fund. Just one post at kickoff and another halfway through. We just completed the drive for our local NPR station so I know that badgering can grow on you no matter how worthy the cause.
But you readers have been incredibly responsive and generous in donating to the Terra Sig "Save the Science" projects. With a total of $2,806.47 donated thus far, we are 70% of the way towards our goal…
terrasig | October 14, 2007Yesterday we spoke a bit on the progress of our DonorsChoose blogger challenge to raise funds that will support teacher projects in underserved areas to "Save the Science." Before joining this effort a year-and-a-half ago, I had not heard of DonorsChoose but I knew it was a great idea as soon as I learned of the model.
Well, I also now just learned a little more about the guy who got it all started, Charles Best. Best was just recognized a "Cool Old Person" by DoSomething.org ("the site for old people who want to help young people do something"). By my account, Best does not qualify as an…
terrasig | October 13, 2007Well, I've really got to hand it to Terra Sig readers, some of the most thoughtful and generous folks I've come across. Our "Save the Science" blogger challenge at DonorsChoose now stands at $1,881, 47% of the way toward our $4,000 goal.
For those reading for the first time, DonorsChoose.org is a fundraising organization for K-12 public schools, those mostly in underfunded districts. Teachers propose projects, then donors like you and I get to pick which project we want to fund, wholly or partially.
The Terra Sig "Save the Science" project list is here, with instructions on how to give.…
terrasig | October 2, 2007As you've probably seen elsewhere on ScienceBlogs, a number of us are teaming up to raise funds for teacher projects at DonorsChoose.org. DonorsChoose is a clever fundraising model for K-12 education projects where public funds don't quite meet the needs of teachers and kids.
The idea is that teachers propose projects and "donors choose" which ones they would like to support. You can choose to donate to a number of projects or fund a single one, depending on what moves you the most. Many DonorsChoose projects are at school with a high level of poverty or in areas of the country where…