2020 OSTA/WSTA virtual Conference on Science Education

Philip Mote is vice provost and dean of the Graduate School and remains active in the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute (OCCRI) and the NOAA-funded Climate Impacts Research Consortium (CIRC) for the Northwest. He is very active in leadership of the 60,000-member American Geophysical Union, as President of Global Environmental Change, member of the Council, Vice Chair of the Council Leadership Team, and a member of the Board. Philip was the founding director (2009-19) of OCCRI and remains involved in communicating climate science within Oregon. He earned a B.A. in Physics from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Washington.

Saturday Morning Keynote (.5 PDU)
Dr. Kate Evans

Kate Evans is the Washington State University Tree Fruit Research & Extension Center, Wenatchee, WA Interim Director, Professor of Horticulture (pome fruit breeding). Kate leads WSU’s apple scion and pear rootstock breeding programs which released the Cosmic Crisp® brand apple recently to the Washington apple industry. Kate is currently also the Interim Director of WSU’s Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center, based in Wenatchee, which also houses programs on entomology, post-harvest pathology, tree fruit physiology, post-harvest systems, orchard management/production systems, organic/sustainable agriculture, small farms and tree fruit extension. Kate came to Wenatchee from the U.K. where she led an apple and pear breeding program at East Malling Research for 16 years. She received all her formal education in the U.K., a BSc(hons) in Genetics/Plant Biology and a PhD in plant molecular biology.

Saturday Lunchtime Keynote (.5 PDU)

Dr. Noel Schulz

Noel Schulz is the Edmund O. Schweitzer III Chair in Power Apparatus & Systems in School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Washington State University Pullman. Noel Schulz received her B.S.E.E. and M.S.E.E. from Virginia Tech. She received her Ph.D. in EE from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Noel has been active for over 26 years in teaching, research, and service at six U.S. universities. She teaches electrical engineering and power engineering topics. In research and graduate studies, she has graduated 45 MS and 13 PhD students; published 175 papers and 2 book chapters; and brought in over $40M in external research through individual and collaborative projects including a U.S. National Science Foundation CAREER award. Dr. Schulz is a Fellow of IEEE and the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE). Noel has been active in the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) serving on the PES Governing Board for 12 years from 2004-2015, including as PES President 2012-2013. Her research interests are in power system design, analysis and operations including rural electrification, smart grid, renewable energy, shipboard power systems, and intelligent system applications. Her other leadership interest areas are increasing the number of women and under-represented minorities in STEM as well as international engineering solutions. In 2014 she received the IEEE HP Harriet B. Rigas Award based on her efforts to encourage women students and faculty in engineering careers. Dr. Schulz also serves as the WSU representative on the Board for Washington STEM (https://washingtonstem.org/). In addition to her role on the faculty, she serves as the Washington State University First Lady. Noel and her husband Kirk have two grown sons, Tim and Andrew.

Session Descriptions

The Meaning Beyond The Words: How Language, Race, & Culture Impact Science Teaching & Learning

Presented by: Bryan Brown, Ph.D. – Stanford University

This presentation explores how race, culture and language intersect to create the condition of contemporary learning. For years, research on the language of classrooms explored how they way we say things impacts students’ sense of belonging. Despite this research, Science and Technology Education have failed to adequately explore how issues of race, language, and culture shape the outcomes of teaching and learning in science. Through a sequence of research, this presentation explores the theoretical and pragmatic aspects of this dilemma. From a theoretical perspective, the talk will explore the Language-Identity dilemma. As students learn, the way academic language is taught to them can present a cognitive and cultural conflict. From a cognitive perspective, if science is taught without respect to the implications of how language is learned students can be misunderstood and misunderstand the teacher’s complex discourse. From a cultural conflict perspective, students’ may feel they are cultural outsiders when the language of the classroom positions them as outsiders. The presentation provides an overview of a series of qualitative and quantitative experiments that document the realities of this complex interaction.

Level: K-12

Subject: General Science Education, Educational Equity

PDU's: 1

Using Daily Life Probes to Uncover Students' Ideas in Engineering & Technology

Presented by: Cary Sneider, Portland State University, Mihir Ravel, Portland State University, & Page Keeley, NSTA, Past President

Learn how to use purposefully designed, engaging questions to elicit and address students’ commonly held ideas about core concepts and practices in engineering and technology.

Level: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

Subject: Engineering, Earth & Space Science, Environmental Science, General Science, Informal Science Education, Life Science, STEM

PDU's: 1

Supporting All Students to Make Sense of Phenomena By Building on All of Their Intellectual Resources

Presented by: Philip Bell, Professor of Learning Sciences and Human Development, University of Washington College of Education; Executive Director, Institute for Science + Math Education. Nancy Price, Research Scientist, University of Washington College of Education, Institute for Science + Math Education

Abby Rhinehart, Research Scientist, University of Washington College of Education, Institute for Science + Math Education

Deb Morrison, Learning Scientist, University of Washington College of Education, Institute for Science + Math Education

All students bring amazing intellectual resources to make sense of natural phenomena. Come learn how to notice and leverage them in your teaching.

Level: K-20

Subject: STEM

PDU's: 1

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Systemic Racism; Creating “A New Normal” for STEM Education with Social Justice for All Students

Presented by: Okhee Lee, Professor of Childhood Education NYU. Her research areas include science education, language and culture, and teacher education.

The COVID-19 pandemic offers an unprecedented context to engage all students in societally relevant problems. The presentation proposes an instructional framework that STEM education, by foregrounding justice and capitalizing on new advances in STEM disciplines, could offer solutions to systematic racism. Specifically, the instructional framework leverages data science, computer science, and multidisciplinary convergences of STEM disciplines, which have become key to finding solutions to the pandemic. By harnessing the affordances of new advances in STEM disciplines to address systemic racism, the instructional framework presents one approach to creating “a new normal” for STEM education with social justice for all students.

Level: K-20

Subject: STEM, Equity

PDU's: 1.5

Appreciating Living Processes

Presented by: Emily Martin, Hood River County School District, Hood River Valley High School, Ilarion Merculieff, Wisdom Weavers of the World, & Milt Markewitz, Pull Together Now (Non-profit)

Indigenous and wisdom traditions have valuable lessons to address climate change. Participants will explore living system attributes and participate in an embodied exercise for use in the classroom.

Level: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

Subject: Environmental Science, Biology, Chemistry, Earth & Space Science, Engineering, General Science, Informal Science Education, Life Science, Physical Science, Physics, Preservice Science Education, STEM

PDU's: 1.5

Science Curriculum Topic Study (CTS)- NGSS Version

Presented by: Page Keeley Author/Consultant; Past President NSTA

Experience elements of the new Science Curriculum Topic Study- 2nd Edition to learn how this versatile tool and set of resources supports the new vision of teaching and learning for teachers and science leaders. Learn about the expanded set of resources based on the original NSF-funded project, now updated to address the three dimensions of the NGSS. Experience a sampling of a 6 outcomes CTS study procedure to 1) build teachers' content knowledge, 2) clarify learning goals, 3) consider instructional implications, 4) identify commonly held ideas, 5) examine connections and articulation, 6) identify assessment expectations.

Level: K-20

Strand: STEM, Leadership

PDU's: 1.5

Argument-Driven Engineering in Grades 6-8: Three-Dimensional STEM Design Challenges

Presented by: Victor Sampson Associate Professor of STEM Education, The University of Texas at Austin

This session is an introduction to a new approach to instruction called Argument-Driven Engineering (ADE). ADE gives students an opportunity to learn how to use crosscutting concepts, core ideas from mathematics and science, and science, engineering, and mathematical practices to design a solution to a meaningful problem. This instructional approach also provides context to help students develop foundational literacy skills because they must read, write, speak, and listen in order to obtain, evaluate, and communicate information during each design challenge. In this session, participants will learn about the stages of the ADE instructional model, how it was designed, and how it is aligned with the NGSS, CCSS-ELA, and CCSS-Mathematics.

Level: Middle School

Strand: STEM, Equity, Inclusion, Diversity, Social Justice

PDU's: 1

Frameworks for Disrupting Anti-Blackness, Colonization, and Racism in the Science Classroom: Engaging in Justice-Centered Science Pedagogy

Presented by: Deb Morrison Learning Scientist, University of Washington College of Education, Institute for Science + Math Education

Jeanne Chowning, Senior Director, Science Education, Fred Hutch

Hanako Osuga, Science Resource Coordinator, Fred Hutch

Kathleen Arada, Graduate Researcher, University of Washington College of Education, Institute for Science + Math Education

Learn how to examine your science classroom activity from a justice-centered science educational framework to engage diverse histories with respect to science learning.

Level: K-20

Strand: STEM, General Sciences, Equity, Diversity, Social Justice

PDU's: 1

All Students' Ideas Matter

Presented by: Page Keeley, Author/Consultant; Past President of NSTA

Students bring a variety of ideas to their learning that can be used as hinge points for teaching and learning during face to face and remote learning. Explore purposeful questions designed to reveal what students are thinking at any point during an instructional cycle and how they can be used to engage all students in examining their own and their peers' thinking and support conceptual change.

Level: K-20

Strand: STEM, Distance and Virtual Learning

PDU'S: 1

STEM: Teaching about the Intersections of Biology, Race, and Racism: Strategies and Resources

Presented by: Jeanne Ting Chowning, PhD Sr. Director, Science Education, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Deb Morrison PhD, Learning Scientist, University of Washington College of Education, Institute for Science + Math Education; Hanako Osuga, Science Resource Coordinator, Fred Hutch

We’ll explore the intersection of racism, the construct of race, genetic variation, and the history of science to support biology educators in discussions with students through a new curriculum developed by Fred Hutch and educators.

Level: K-20

Strand: Biological and Life Sciences, Equity, Diversity, Social Justice

PDU's: 1

Three-Dimensional Learning Experiences about the Sun, Earth and Moon

Presented by: Dennis Schatz Retiring President, National Science Teaching Association

It is never too early to get ready for the 2023 and 2024 solar eclipses. See how solar astronomy activities provide three-dimensional learning experiences to learn about the motion of the Sun, plus lunar phases and solar/lunar eclipses.

Level: Middle School

Strand: Earth and Space Sciences

PDU's: 1