Overview and Logistics
This workshop brings together faculty who teach introductory natural science courses with an environmental connection. While this workshop specifically targets 2-year college faculty, we welcome all involved in teaching introductory college-level science courses who incorporate or are interested in incorporating environmentally-relevant issues into their curriculum.
We have two major goals: to share practices and strategies that promote student success, and to build a community of faculty interested in integrating fundamental science concepts and local and regional environmental issues in the Great Lakes region into our courses.
At this workshop, we will:
- share practices that promote the success of ALL students,
- discuss strategies that develop students' science identity, important for both student success and improving representation in STEM fields,
- consider strategies to incorporate our local and regional environment into our courses, including opportunities for students to work with scientific data, and
- explore ways to connect concepts and skills across the curriculum.
Participants are encouraged to share experiences, ideas, and questions, particularly related to:
- incorporating practices that support student success,
- utilizing real-life applications and connections, using your local and regional environment, in your courses, and
- collaborating with STEM colleagues to augment and connect concepts across courses.
We would like everyone to leave this workshop as a member of a solid networking community of educators with greater knowledge of strategies that support academic success for ALL students, with concrete plans for implementing such practices into their own classrooms, and a forum for discussion and sharing of teaching ideas focused on environmental concepts and issues.
Workshop Goals
- Share practices that promote student success.
- Understand and apply strategies to support students' science identity.
- Map out a plan of action for supporting the success of ALL students in our courses.
- Identify resources that support integration of local and regional environmental issues into our courses.
- Develop strategies for building on "cross-over" concepts through collaboration with other STEM courses your students take.
- Build a community of faculty interested in integrating fundamental science concepts and local and regional environmental issues in the Great Lakes region into our courses.
Date and times
This workshop will take place on Saturday, May 11, 2019, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
A tentative schedule is provided in the program section.
Expectations
Workshop participants are expected to:
- Participate in all sessions during the workshop, develop a plan of action, and complete the end of workshop evaluation survey.
- Bring a Syllabus/Course Outline of Record for any STEM course.
- Bring ideas and/or activities incorporating local/regional environmental issues into your STEM course.
- Bring ideas and/or activities highlighting key STEM concepts that cross over into other introductory college courses.
Cost
This workshop is free to participants, thanks to funding from the National Science Foundation.
Registration
While this workshop specifically targets 2-year college faculty, we welcome all involved in teaching introductory college-level science courses who incorporate or are interested in incorporating environmentally-relevant issues into their curriculum.
Pre-registration is required.
Facilities, Directions, and Parking
This workshop will take place at Delta College Main Campus, located at 1961 Delta Road, University Center, MI (between Bay City and Saginaw). Delta College's main campus occupies one main building with many interconnected wings designated by letters. We will be meeting in N007, which is on the lower or courtyard level near our campus cafeteria. Some activities will be held elsewhere nearby on campus. Parking is free in most areas; participants are encouraged to park in the West Parking lot and enter the building in the E-wing.
A pdf of a map of campus and surrounding area can be viewed here.
Food
A working lunch and coffee breaks will be provided. If you have dietary restrictions or preferences, please notify us when you register for the workshop, or contact Wendy Baker (wjbaker@delta.edu).