Teaching Seminar

Professor Karen Cummings

Dr. Karen Cummings is an Associate Professor of Physics at Southern Connecticut State University. She received her Ph.D. from the University at Albany, State University of New York. Since graduating she has focused most of her research efforts on the learning and teaching of physics including the effective use of technology, development of problem solving ability in introductory students, and development of curricular materials for use in modern learning environments. Dr. Cummings is coauthor of Understanding Physics, a text designed to work with interactive learning strategies.

Promising Practices in STEM Education

In late 2008 the U.S. National Academy of Sciences held a series of two workshops in which they gathered evidence of improved learning outcomes in college level science courses. The goal was to try to determine if there was evidence of practices that succeed across a range of institutions and in the hands of educators other than the developers.  Workshop findings were later summarized in a book published by the National Academy entitled “Promising Practices in STEM Education”.   In this presentation I will reflect on my participation in these workshops and summarize the consensus findings. In addition, I will provide several concrete and practical suggestions of how these “best practices” can be implemented in lecture and laboratory settings.

This presentation will be followed by a short workshop in which participants can engage in one or more activities aimed at helping students reflect on the nature of science and the scientific process.

Talk: 9:00 am - 10:15 am
Workshop: 10:45 am - 11:30 am
Coffee & Pastries: 8:30 am

All are welcome to attend. Please RSVP (Talk, Workshop, or both) by December 9, 2016.