The 8th Annual Symposium on STEM Education听was held听Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016 as听a celebration of CU Boulder鈥檚 internationally recognized STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education initiatives. This year鈥檚 event听highlighted some of the groundbreaking STEM education projects on campus, introduced a new generation of STEM education scholars, and brought together key CU Boulder stakeholders. Members of the community learned about and helped shape how we redefine learning and discovery in a global context, and set new standards in education, research, scholarship, and creative work to transform STEM education.
This year,听Doctoral Candidate in听Science Education Rebecca Swanson听was awarded the Chancellor's Award听for Excellence in STEM Education. This award is听among the highest level of recognitions on our campus听and demonstrates a profound commitment to educational innovation. The interdisciplinary partnerships that the School of Education听has听grown through the听CU Teach Math & Science Teacher Licensure program, an听internationally听replicated Learning Assistant program, as well as听our Noyce Scholars program听have been importantly supported by the听. Together both the School of Education and the center听have become national leaders in STEM learning, teaching, and teacher development.
Swanson is coordinating with for听her research project听titled, "Virtual Professional Development for Informal STEM Educators."
"Typically, STEM听educators teaching in informal, out of school environments are provided with one time trainings largely designed only to address logistical matters around the safety and basic needs of the children enrolled in their programs, without significant time spent addressing how to support learning through research based science teaching practices," Swanson said. "The purpose of this听study is to co-design and implement professional development for the summer instructors working for CU Science Discovery, and to examine the ways in which instructor participation in these camps informs their work in helping children learn science.
"By building on an established professional development model and prior studies of how individuals learn and collaborate in virtual spaces, this project will examine how readily available Web 2.0 tools can help instructors separated by space and time," she added.
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