Center for the Advancement of Math and Science Education

CAMSE seeks to transform math and science teaching in South Dakota and beyond by educating preservice and inservice teachers and others on STEM content, promoting effective teaching methods that foster deep, meaningful learning, and influencing educational policy decisions.

College of Education & Behavioral Sciences, Black Hills State University
Established: 1997

http://www.bhsu.edu/camse

Profile submitted by Dr. June Apaza

Vision and Goals

The Center for the Advancement of Mathematics and Science Education (CAMSE) is a statewide Center of Excellence funded primarily through grant support and contracts. The center was established in 1997 with a mission of improving the teaching and learning of mathematics and science at all levels, K-16. Some specific areas of emphasis include: professional development opportunities for K-12 teachers in mathematics and science content, pedagogy, and leadership; enriching experiences for K-12 teachers and students; and research on the teaching and learning of mathematics and science.

Center/Program Structure

CAMSE is an independent unit within BHSU allied with the Schools of Education, Natural Science, and Mathematics. CAMSE has a staff of seven; five professional and three support staff. Of the five professionals, four have faculty appointments. Two work with undergraduates and graduate students in science education, two work with graduate students in math education. Most of the professional staff are involved in educational research specifically focused on effective math and science education.

Externally, all CAMSE staff members work with outreach efforts at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in the former Homestake Mine in Lead, SD. In addition, CAMSE has a role in working with the South Dakota Department of Education, and we have contractual relationships with many school districts across the state including districts in Native American reservation communities. CAMSE maintains an extensive collection of instructional materials for math and science education in grades K-12. These include kits, inquiry math programs, teacher resources, and others. We also do public service work in math and science education including conferences, science fairs, and public informational meetings.

Description of Programming

CAMSE created the first Math Specialist and Science Specialist programs in South Dakota for inservice teachers. These programs train teachers in appropriate content, issues of teaching and learning, and educational leadership. Teachers who complete the programs are prepared to step into leadership positions within their districts. 165 and 29 teachers have completed the math and science programs respectively; an additional 114 and 100 teachers are enrolled.

Project PRIME, established in 2001, has been funded primarily by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF-MSP) and is a partnership between CAMSE/BHSU, the Rapid City Area School District, and Technology & Innovation in Education (TIE). PRIME is described in more detail below. South Dakota Counts Phase III is an on-going partnership between CAMSE/BHSU and the South Dakota Department of Education to provide statewide professional development designed to build broad-based expertise and leadership to improve elementary mathematics instruction. The Shannon County Mathematics Improvement Project is a four-year US Department of Education-funded project designed to provide intensive, sustained mathematics professional development for every teacher and paraprofessional in the Shannon County School District.

CAMSE/BHSU partners with Bennett County, Colman-Egan and Eagle Butte school districts, to support the South Dakota Counts Middle School Mathematics Project. The Advanced Placement™ Power via On-line Engagement (APPLE) program enables recipients to develop or sustain programs that prepare low-income students to participate in Pre-AP® and AP® courses and college board exams. Inquiry into Radioactivity (described below) is a NSF-TUES project developing researched-based course materials to help college non-science majors and high school students understand radioactivity and ionizing radiation. The Modeling for All South Dakota project is providing professional development in the Modeling Pedagogy for physics and other STEM teachers of grades 8-12. CAMSE is partnering with Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) to deliver diverse education and outreach programs and to develop the Sanford Science Education Center.

Successes and Impacts

CAMSE partnered with Rapid City School District and TIE (a local education services entity) on Project Prime, an NSF-funded Math and Science Partnership. Initially funded for five years, supplementary funding extended the project to a total of eleven years of carefully designed professional development. The project resulted in a near-complete transformation of how math is taught in grades K-8, and substantial changes in grades 9-12 within the district. RCAS adopted Investigations and Connected Mathematics and Core Plus and trained 575 teachers to use these materials effectively. About 12,000 children per year in Rapid City no grapple with big ideas in mathematics on a daily basis. For this work, CAMSE was awarded the 2011 Christa McAuliffe Award for Excellence in Teacher Education by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). The success of the PRIME project is documented in an article in the July 2013 issue of the Mathematics Enthusiast as well as in numerous presentations at NSF MSP research conferences. The NSF TUES Inquiry into Radioactivity (IiR) project is developing and testing course materials to promote radiation literacy among non-scientists. IiR materials have been demonstrated to result in significant improvements in the understanding of ionizing radiation, its origins, and how it causes harm. Research within the classroom is uncovering significant learning difficulties that are documented in papers and posters linked at the IiR website: http://www.camse.org/radiation.

Elements Contributing to Success

CAMSE was created as a South Dakota Center of Excellence and receives funding from the SD Board of Regents. This base funding gives us durability and enables us to plan and support a larger number of activities than we would be able to do on grant and contract funds alone.

CAMSE established its reputation through two large NSF-funded projects: The seven-year BLAHST project supported teacher change in ten school districts throughout the Black Hills region, and BLAHST workshops gained a reputation for high quality. Project PRIME, mentioned above, established CAMSE's reputation in math professional development over eleven years. CAMSE has long-standing relationships with school districts across South Dakota and is recognized for its high quality professional development in math and science education.

In addition, because of our large collaborative efforts with the South Dakota Department of Education we are seen as the primary statewide resource for high quality K-12 mathematics and science education.

Teaching assignments in Education and Science – graduate and undergraduate - contributed to CAMSE's success within BHSU by providing exemplars for math and science instruction.