2002 Summer Conference Announcement Registration Schedule Call for Papers

2002 Summer Conference "Integrating Science and Mathematics Education Research into Teaching" June 23 to 25, 2002 · The University of Maine · Orono, Maine Sponsored by: The University of Maine - Center for Science and Mathematics Education Research Maine Mathematics and Science Teaching Excellence Collaborative (MMSTEC)

ABSTRACT Issues at the Intersection of Science and Culture: Lessons Learned from Teaching the Earth Sciences in Southern California Native American Communities Eric Riggs Research in science education has proceeded in recent years with the explicit recognition that there are unique barriers, needs and opportunities in teaching the increasingly ethnically and culturally diverse body of students encountered in K-12 and college classrooms. Also, most scientific disciplines have collectively come to realize that diversity in their own ranks is not what it should be, and that the general scientific literacy in ethnic and cultural minority communities is also often low. This talk will summarize the theoretical and practical issues in cross-cultural science education which have contributed to this state of affairs, and then turn to focus on the lessons learned in the first four years of the Indigenous Earth Science Project. The IESP works with Southern California Native communities to build local expertise in the Earth and environmental sciences on reservations, and also runs programs designed to bring elementary to high-school age children into science through directed learning experiences on their home reservations. We will present results of the project to date, as well as describe curricular approaches currently being developed in Southern California and elsewhere in North America which attempt to integrate culturally-based, traditional scientific knowledge with mainstream Earth science knowledge. Back to Announcement Page

Center for Science and Mathematics Education Research Maine Mathematics and Science Teaching Excellence Collaborative (MMSTEC)

This conference is supported by the U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Education (U.S. Department of Education Award Number R125K010106) and the National Science Foundation (NSF DUE #998-7444).