New England

SCI-New England Considers Water Related Civic Challenges

Worcester Polytechnic Institute Convenes 200 at Water Innovation Workshop

On October 24, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) hosted thought leaders from academia, industry, and the government for a day-long workshop focused on issues of water supply abundance, access, and safety. This innovative workshop, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, featured over 200 registrants and was conducted in partnership with SENCER, the New England Water Innovation Network, and the Campus Compact organizations from Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. Also in attendance were the U.S. Water Partnership, the UMass Water Resources Research Center, and the United States Geological Survey. Karen Kashmanian Oates, co-founder of SENCER and NCSCE, hosted the event and was joined in leading the program by Robert Sanford and Winnie Yu, both co-directors of the New England SENCER Center for Innovation.

2015 marked the 15th SENCER Summer Institute and the 15th anniversary of SENCER, an occasion which gave us the opportunity to collectively reflect on where SENCER has been and on the direction of SENCER going forward.

The past 15 years of SENCER have yielded important accomplishments toward our goal of expanding civic capacity by applying the science of learning the learning of science. More than 2,500 educators and students from over 500 institutions from 45 states and 9 countries have participated in our annual Summer Institutes and Washington Symposia. Our efforts have resulted in 50 model courses, curricular approaches to improve science learning, 16 backgrounders, syntheses of the issues we use to teach science, and nearly 100 papers in our International Journal. All of this in the service of the many thousands of students, faculty, and communities impacted by the work of the National Center through educators’ participation in these endeavors.

SENCER’s path forward includes several new approaches toward accomplishing our goals. In addition to continuing work on the SENCER-ISE, and Engaging Mathematics initiatives, we are identifying further outgrowths for SENCER programs. We are also identifying new opportunities for participation in SENCER symposia, both at the regional level, through a focus on our regional SENCER Centers for Innovation, and with new national meetings in the coming years to further develop SENCER practitioners.

We have chosen experiential learning as our broad theme for this meeting. The morning sessions look at the challenges and strategies of teaching science on-line, offering insights into classroom learning as well as projects and field-based activities. Field-based courses highlight the interdisciplinary nature of science, the mentoring relationships that make science approachable for both science and non-science majors, and the links between science and the liberal arts. A STEM contest as described below engages students personally as well as practically–using the campus as a classroom. Community engagement links projects with service, networking, and resource building that can lead to internships as well as career exploration and opportunities. We get a picture of the emerging possibilities for learning and applying science that technology is enabling.

The afternoon sessions highlight experiential learning in a variety of formats: a project-based initiative that is being shared with faculty from a number of colleges, a project linking classes across colleges, and one that links students within colleges and secondary schools. Experiential learning is not a new discovery, rather it is one well suited to science education–education aimed at real-world considerations. Brining science applications to light using an experiential project-based platform has a growing role in our courses across many disciplines.

We invite you to join us as we explore the possibilities.

Registration for this meeting is free, and there is some support available for student-faculty pairs. If you would like more information on this, please contact Tara Mann, SCI-New England Co-Director at [email protected] or Frank Catano at [email protected]

Meeting Agenda
8:30-9:15 am, Registration and breakfast, dining center, Miles room

9:15-9:25 am, Welcome to SNHU and this regional gathering from Dr. Patricia Lynott, Provost and Senior VPAA, and Dr. Frank Catano

9:25-9:45 am, Welcome to SENCER and to the New England SCIs by Drs Rob Sanford, Tara Mann, and Winnie Yu

10:00-11:15 am, concurrent sessions, A Frost Hall

11:30 am-12:30 pm, concurrent sessions, B Frost Hall

12:45-1:45 pm, lunch, Dining Center, Miles Room

2:00-3:15 pm, concurrent sessions, C Frost Hall

3:15-3:30 pm, wrap-up, Dining Center, Miles Room

Session titles and presenters

Concurrent Sessions A:
COCE Teaching Science On-line: Strategies and challenges of teaching science on line, Webinar demonstration (Gwen Britton, Jill Nugent, Dr. Richard Schultz)

Field-Based courses: multidisciplinary approach to field studies in Pacific Northwest, “lessons learned” (Dr.’s Joseph Corbin, Frank Catano)

Utilizing field based activities to support student learning and engagement: Presenters will discuss their experiences in organizing, implementing, and assessing student experiential learning throughout the Colleges of the Fenway consortium. (Drs. Lisa Lobel, Ryan Antolick, and Ellen E. Faszewski, Michael Berger, and Henderson Pritchard)

Concurrent Sessions B:
STEM contest: engaging students with on campus activities–STEM activities often succeed when students have a personal reason to be engaged. This presentation will discuss the results of a recent competition in which students were tasked to incorporate STEM ideas into a feasible concept for a future residence hall on the SNHU main campus. (Dr. Megan Sawyer)

Community resources and STEM activities: what’s in your community? This session will feature a panel discussion among educators and community partners discussing projects and partnerships. The session will focus on what projects are developed, how partnerships were formed, and what to do when questions arise. (Tabitha Dunn, Campus Compact and panelists)

SENCER Nuts and Bolts: Sencer aims and objectives (Dr.’s Robert Sanford, Tara Mann, Winnie Yu)

Concurrent Sessions C:
Project-Based Courses: WPI experience (Dr. Art Heinricher)

Rain Garden: “The formation, running, and benefits of experiential learning in collaboration with a third grade class.” (Drs. Joseph Corbin, Allison Cummings, Sheehan; Kelly Hobbs, community engaged learning, Michael Weinstein, student)

4 Weeks of Water: A collaborative project between environmental science classes at New England College, White Mountains Community College and Plymouth State University. Presenters will include both faculty involved in the project and several students from the various colleges

The SENCER Center of Innovation – New England will be holding a regional meeting on Saturday, April 5th at Southern Connecticut State University from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM. Registration is free and can be done here.

Agenda

Directions

Driving directions can be found at: http://www.southernct.edu/about/directions.html

The meeting will be held in Engleman Hall B 121.  It is building 11 on the expanded image after you click on the map.  Parking Lot 2 is next to the construction site of the Science Building and has limited capacity.  Parking Garage Building 4 and Lot 12 are also suitable lots.

Read a summary of the meeting.

Agenda for the meeting will include:

• How service learning and Campus Compact support SENCER collaborations
• Examples of Faculty/student/community collaborations
• Student perspectives
• How to integrate SENCER into your CV and your tenure portfolio

The deadline to register for the meeting is Friday, October 19. The cost is $10 per person, payable in cash or by check at the door. There is no charge for student participation. To register please go to here.

For more information, please email Ellen Faszewski ([email protected]) or Michael Berger ([email protected]). This meeting is co-sponsored by SENCER, New England Campus Compact, Wheelock College, and The Colleges of the Fenway Center for Sustainability and the Environment.