Archived Department Highlights 2013-2014

As usual, we have many programs and projects taking place in Science Education to support and research science teaching and learning at all levels. Here are some of the highlights:

Al Colburn works closely with our Masters of Science in Science Education students as the program coordinator and recently hosted (with Laura and other faculty) a get-together at the Colburn and Henriques home to welcome new graduate students and faculty. Al continued being active with service activities, serving on eight committees last year (nine if you count the one that never met!). He parlayed his student teaching observations into a potential article submitted at the end of the year, and is finally following-up the study he and Laura completed several years ago re: clergy ideas about science, religion, evolution, and creationism. The new study would include interviews with clergy who also hold science degrees.

Jim Kisiel has incorporated service learning into his graduate class SCED553 Learning Science in Informal Settings; this year, received an award from CCE to support students' evaluations of educational programs at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium and Crystal Cove State Park. He is also a project advisor and mentor for the NSF-funded project Zoo and Aquarium Action Research Collaborative; the project supports staff from a variety of institutions as they conduct research to support their educational practices.

Jim has also worked with two recent Science Education graduate students to publish scholarly papers based on their thesis work.

Susan Gomez Zwiep has been providing professional development for K-8 teachers in Stockton, Escondido and Wapato, WA in the areas of math and science pedagogy and curriculum design, science content knowledge and problem based learning.

Susan is co-PI on the HSIStem project which is funded by the U.S. Department of Education to expand, enhance and improve educational opportunities for Hispanic students. In addition to contributing to the overall management of the project, she assists faculty as they implement new teaching and assessment strategies in their courses.

Laura Henriques has been very busy coordinating summer science camps for area elementary and homeless children. Additionally, as California Science Teacher Association President she is was involved with the review and adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards. Just because they're officially adopted doesn't mean the work stops there. She'll be helping with the California Framework and implementation discussions as well. She is also oversees the Foundational Level General Science Program which helps elementary teachers gain a middle school science credential. This is part of the Bechtel funded project with Bill Straits.

Lisa Martin-Hansen is supervising student teachers and pursing a new grant project focusing upon the implementation of middle school science curriculum (SEPUP).

Bill Ritz (emeritus) has unfortunately been recuperating from a car accident but is on the mend and progressing with the activities associated with that. If you'd like to send him a card, you may contact our office and we'll let you know the proper address to contact him.

Bill Straits and Bill Ritz have coordinated the A Head Start on Science project providing professional development to preschool teachers in LA, Orange counties and in ... China! Bill Straits serves as a co-PI and taught science methods for the Bechtel-funded, UTEACH/STEM project with STEM education as a focal point of CSULB student teacher and LBUSD master teacher experience. (Bill Straits has also been a new dad for 8.5 months – congratulations!)

Tim Williamson has been busy with the Single Subject Credential Program meeting with numerous potential students explaining the science credential program to them and getting them ready to sign-up for the appropriate courses. He set-up orientations for student teachers, university supervisors and master teachers. Once again, CSULB is the largest producers of secondary science teacher candidates in the state. Tim's advising and oversight helped us reach this milestone.

Of course, we have our wonderful part-time instructors, teacher mentors, and student teaching supervisors working with us this semester. Thanks to them for all they do to support our students and programs.

We hope our newsletter finds you well. Please stop in for one of our professional development sessions (see the information on our website). We'd love to see you. Best wishes for a great school year!

- Lisa

The Science Education Master's program continues to be an active and exciting place. Fall 2013 saw a cohort of eight new students join us. As we welcome this new group of informal, elementary, middle and secondary educators to our ranks we bid a fond farewell to the 11 graduate students who completed their studies this past year.

Several of the eleven grad students joined us at the May graduation ceremony. Prior to the College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics graduation we held a Science Education hooding ceremony. At this event, family and friends watched as the graduates got hooded by their thesis advisors.

In addition to the classes and thesis projects, all the graduates presented at conferences or professional meetings. Many of this year's graduates worked on projects in the department collecting data, schlepping equipment, doing evaluation reports, or working with preservice teachers and kids. We are pleased to see so many of our graduate students sharing their work beyond the boundaries of our campus.

This past year Shanon Tabata, Sue Magdziarz, Stephanie Barone, Melanie Vartabedian and Tamara Galvan all presented at national meetings. Melanie Vartabedian, Chuck Kopzcak, Britain Bombard and Britt Legaspi were all published.

Sue Magdziarz's thesis, Examining Participation in a Dolphin Observation Citizen Science Program, was selected as the Outstanding Science Education Thesis. Sue and Tamara Galvan were selected as the Department's Outstanding Graduate Students.

2012 - 2013 Graduates

Each of this year's graduates is listed along with the title and a brief description of their thesis.

Stefanie K. Barone

"Examining Beneficial Outcomes Among Families at a Small Community Zoo Animal Show"
For this project, Stefanie worked with educators at the Santa Ana Zoo to look at their animal shows, where a presenter introduces animals and environmental messages to the zoo visitors. Little research has been done to understand the use of live animals in educational programs. This study examined families' perceived benefits of attending the animal show, as well as whether there were different outcomes depending on whether or not visitors could also touch the animals during the presentation.

Britain Bombard

"Literature Circles Book Club for Science and Language Arts"
For Britain's thesis she studied students from an urban middle school who participated in a Science Book Club using the literature circles format. These students voluntarily attended twice weekly lunch meetings, reading book choices that followed their 7th grade science classes. Groups of three to six participants were formed to read the same text. Each participant performed rotating jobs to improve group discussions during meetings. When a group completed a book, participants created a presentation to share what they learned with the other groups in the club and the researcher/teacher. Her research measured gains in science content knowledge, reading comprehension, and literary response and analysis using CST-ELA and district benchmarks scores as the measure for gains. An ANCOVA showed that while no gains were found in CST-ELA scores or science content knowledge, it did show gains in language arts in the areas of reading comprehension and literary response and analysis.

Michael A. Diaz

"Conceptions of Evolution Among Urban Middle School Students in Los Angeles" Although considerable work has been done examining high school and college students' understanding and acceptance of evolution, very few have looked at how middle school students make sense of this important theory. For his research project, Mike conducted a qualitative study to better understand common understandings, and misconceptions, related to evolutionary theory.

Deborah D. Drab

"The Effects of Different Gender Groupings on Middle School Students' Performance in Science Lab"
Decades ago Debbie read an article indicating that boys tended to hog science equipment during laboratory investigations leaving the girls to do the recording and clean-up. After that she started grouping her students into single-sex lab groups. Her thesis gave her the opportunity to see whether or not single-sex or mixed gender lab groups were more effective. She used a mixed methods approach in her study. Four class sections were studied over an entire year. Each class alternated semesters of being homogenously or heterogeneously mixed. Pairs of advanced and general classes were on alternating semesters to control for differences that might be attributed to the difficulty or nature of the labs. Debbie looked at student achievement on the lab reports, on-task vs. off-task behavior during the lab, manipulation of materials, and students' perception of which grouping strategy they believed helped them be more scholarly. Results indicate that honors classes did better in single-gender groups while general education classes did better with mixed gender groups.

Tamara Marie Galvan

"Making Connections: Listening to Visitors Conversation at Different Styles of Sea Jelly Exhibits"
After working as a research assistant in a project aimed at understanding how families engage with touch tank exhibits, Tamara decided to continue this line of research with the question: 'How do visitor experiences at the touch tank different from their experiences with the same animals in traditional 'glass tank' exhibits?' More specifically, Tamara decided to compare experiences at a sea jelly touch tank (yes, 'jellyfish') and the experiences at a normal, non-touch sea jelly exhibit. She decided to look for any differences in the kinds of connections that families made between their experiences at the exhibit, and their prior knowledge and prior experiences.

Amanda Elizabeth Malpede

"Using Laboratory Conclusions to Investigate the Effectiveness of Verbal and Written Feedback"
This study investigated students' perceptions, preferences, and performance writing laboratory conclusions after receiving different types of feedback on their laboratory notebooks. One group received written feedback, the other verbal feedback (via audio recorded mp3 files). Performance differences were statistically insignificant, but students did differ in their perceptions and feedback preferences.

Wendy E. Hagan

"Project GROW: A Scientist - Science Teacher Collaboration"
Wendy's thesis combined her love of environmental science, the nature of science, and inquiry. She partnered with Dr. Whitcraft from the biology department to create Project GROW – Guided Research On Wetlands. Her class is using Dr. Whitcraft's data to develop and answer questions about the Talbert wetlands in Huntington Beach. The class took a field trip to the wetlands with Wendy and Dr. Whitcraft, participated in a variety of in-class lessons to help them understand how to develop and answer scientific questions, graph and analyze data, and write scientific reports. Their culminating project was a written research paper and oral presentation. Wendy's next step is reflection and revision of the project for future iterations. She and Dr. Whitcraft are leading a short course at CSTA where they will share the scientist-science teacher collaboration project and the use of real data in the high school classroom.

Susan F. Magdziarz

"Examining Participation in a Dolphin Observation Citizen Science Program"
Citizen science projects are designed to engage the public in science by asking them to make observations or collect real data that is then shared with scientists. Sue looked at a citizen science project that she developed at Crystal Cove that encouraged visitors to observe dolphin behaviors off the coast. Were general visitors to the Crystal Cove Cottages, who may not have any interest in science, willing to participate in such a data-collecting program? Sue's research examined whether 'science identity' influenced people's decision to engage in Citizen Science.

Jodi McInerney

"Using Interactive Demonstration Activities as a Strategy for Instruction of Online High School Chemistry Students"
As a chemistry teacher in an on-line high school, Jody was interested in how students performed laboratory investigations. She conducted a quasi-experimental mixed methods action research study with 103 high school chemistry students to examine the relationship between participation in online synchronous lessons, student understanding of chemistry concepts and success on laboratory activities. The study investigated the impact of different instructional strategies on student success on chemistry labs as defined by lab completion rates, lab performance and concept understanding. The data show students who participated in the synchronous lessons were more successful in labs than those who did not. Different instructional strategies yielded different levels of student engagement and information gathered about student learning during synchronous lessons.

Melanie Ani Vartabedian

"Examining the Impacts of a Roaming Docent"
As an educator at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, Melanie noticed that many visitors would ask her questions about different animals and exhibits found in the main exhibit hall—even when she was in a gallery at the other end of the aquarium site! For her thesis project, she proposed the development of a 'roaming docent', a staff or volunteer who could be found in the main gallery and would answer any questions visitors had about what they were seeing. Not only did she document how visitors used these roaming docents, she examined how interaction with the roaming docent changed the visitor experience compared to visitors who didn't interact with the docent.

The Head Start on Science Project seeks to encourage children's sense of wonder while simultaneously rekindling that same spirit in their teachers. This past summer we provided two, 5-day workshops here on campus at CSULB. More than 50 pre-k teachers from Los Angeles and Orange Counties participated in hands-on training designed to make them comfortable, confident, and capable of doing developmentally-appropriate science with young children. These participants came to understand that children, who DO science, are eager to talk about, write about, and read about their experiences with the natural world.

The Head Start on Science Project at CSULB has been training Head Start and other teachers and administrators of young children for more than fifteen years, and participants unanimously applaud the scope, content, and quality of our workshops.

In addition to our summer institutes here at CSULB, for several years we have collaborated with the China National Institute for Educational Research. This work has led to a Mandarin translation publication in Beijing of a Chinese edition of our award-winning teacher's guide (A Head Start on Science: Developing a Sense of Wonder – NSTA Press, 2007) and several workshops and presentations for Chinese educators both here in Southern California and in China. The HSOS Center in China has trained nearly 1000 teachers in over 400 schools in eight proveniences across China.

This collaboration continued this past year as a contingent of kindergarten teachers, school administrators, and dignitaries traveled from China to participate in HSOS training. The session was a great success and we are planning to have another visit by Chinese educators this Fall. The Head Start on Science continues to be a worldwide leader in encouraging science learning experiences for young children.

PhysTEC Program Sustained Beyond Funding

For the past three years the Physics & Astronomy Department and Science Education Department have been collaborating on a Physics Teacher Education Coalition grant. Physics at the Beach, our PhysTEC program, was designed to increase the number of physics majors who would consider teaching physics, support area high school physics teachers, and increase the number of majors. On all fronts the program has been successful!

Two new courses were developed as part of the project. PHYS390, Exploring Physics Teaching, introduces physics majors to physics teaching and learning. Students spend time in high school physics classrooms, undergraduate physics labs and tutoring undergraduate physics students. PHYS490, Special Topics, is a one semester course for prospective and practicing physics teachers. Each semester focuses on a different topic in high school physics and helps students figure out how best to teach that content. There is a strong emphasis on sequencing instruction, identification and analysis of physics laboratories and demonstrations, and problem solving. Both classes were developed during the grant and both live on beyond the grant's funding. Both classes are co-taught by a high school physics teacher and a CSULB faculty member. Our resident HS Physics Teachers have been: Rod Ziolkowski (2010-11), Katie Beck (2011-12), Kevin Dwyer (2012-13), and Meredith Ashbran Casalino (2013-14).

Monthly Physics Demo Days bring together future teachers and current teachers as they share physics demonstrations. Topics rotate throughout the year to align with the content being taught in the high schools. These are held the second Thursday of the month, 4:30-5:30 and all are invited to attend.

Each semester high school physics teachers and a few of their students are invited to attend the PhysTEC Physics Teacher Open House. The Saturday morning events include a physics talk, hands-on activity, lab tours and brunch. It's a nice opportunity for physics enthusiasts of all ages to come together and talk physics. The next event is Saturday, October 12.

NGSS

On September 4, 2013 the California State Board of Education adopted the Next Generation Science Standards. This is the first step in many towards updating California's science standards for K-12. In an effort to keep our students, alums and area teachers informed, CSULB has hosted workshops about NGSS during the review and adoption process. Last spring, we hosted informational sessions and a pair of review sessions for teachers to come together to review and provide feedback on earlier drafts of NGSS.

Now that NGSS has been adopted, the next steps will include the writing of a California Science Framework, development and review of instructional materials, and new state science assessments. These will take some time, so it will be a while before NGSS is fully implemented in classrooms. That doesn't mean that teachers need to wait to start implementing NGSS. At this point, teachers are encouraged to incorporate the science and engineering practices and the cross-cutting concepts that are embedded in NGSS. Making this sort of change will help teachers (and students) transition from our current standards to the new standards.

On campus, we are integrating the new standards into our methods courses and helping our preservice teachers get up to speed on the NGSS. The California Department of Education and the California Science Teachers Association have websites with lots of resources to help educators make sense of NGSS, follow the timeline and stay abreast of changes.

These are exciting times for science education in California. Check out our "upcoming events" section of the website as we'll be hosting some NGSS related workshops during the 2013-2014 school year.

UTEACH/STEM Project

Preparing Elementary Teachers in a Model, Scalable, STEM-Rich Clinical Setting (aka: UTEACH/STEM) is a collaborative effort among the Colleges of Education and Natural Sciences and Mathematics at California State University, Long Beach and the Long Beach Unified School District. With the generous support of the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, this program provides professional development in science and mathematics, with technology and engineering providing context; training teachers to teach the STEM disciplines in an integrated and inquiry-focused way so that students understand science and mathematics in a real world context.

Last year, our first year of this program, UTEACH methods instructors and supervisors from CSULB to organize cross-curricular planning and co-teaching methods. We provided STEM professional development to 35 master teachers and 58 CSULB student teachers across six elementary schools in LBUSD (Cleveland, Carver, Whittier, Monroe, Willard, and Longfellow Elementary Schools). Working in co-teaching teams (each made up of one master teacher and two student teachers), participants have been incorporating STEM subject matter taught in professional development sessions into lesson plans across the curriculum. Each school was provided with lab materials and STEM education resources necessary to support these high quality and inquiry-based STEM lessons, and each school site held a Family Science Night during the month of March. Additionally, three Educational Leadership doctoral students (EDD) at CSULB were recruited to conduct the formative and summative evaluations of the project.

The UTEACH/STEM project has only just begun, and additional project components to further support CSULB student teachers and LBUSD master teachers in their STEM instruction are continuing.

Noyce Scholars Program Comes to an End

Back in January 2004 California State University, Long Beach was awarded an NSF Noyce Scholars Program. After eight years of supporting STEM majors interested in teaching in high need schools, CSULB sent off its last cohort of Noyce Scholars this past spring. The 2012-2013 cohort of scholars were another outstanding group of talented future teachers. Scholars are supported financially and academically. They received $15,000 per year (in exchange for teaching in high need schools upon graduation) and they received mentoring and additional professional development. They performed field work and tutoring in our partner schools (Long Beach Poly High School and Pioneer High School), participated in a bimonthly professional development seminar series, student taught in our partner schools and participated in additional professional development activities.

California State University, Long Beach's Noyce Scholars programs have been very successful. During Noyce I & II we supported 65 scholars, 28 math and 37 science candidates. Our Noyce I Scholars have been out in schools for a while now and data indicate that they are staying in teaching longer than the national average and staying in high need schools at higher rates that the national average. The retention rate for alumni who graduated five or more years ago is 83% (national average is ~50%). The 37 Noyce I alumni "owed" 83 years of teaching in high need schools. They have already taught >150 years in high need schools and more than 200 years overall. In addition to staying in high need schools longer than average, they are moving towards leadership positions. Many of our alums are department chairs, overseeing STEM initiatives, serving as faculty advisors to student clubs and more.

We are grateful to the National Science Foundation for having supported the Noyce Programs on our campus. The 65 Noyce Scholars who benefited from the program will be impacting thousands of students each year of their career and we anticipate that they will be long, successful teaching careers indeed!

2013 Robert Rhodes Award

The Robert Rhodes Award is given to a secondary science student teacher who demonstrated outstanding work as a student teacher, was involved in the life of the department and professionally throughout the credential program. Jennifer Lara was selected as this year's winner. Jennifer earned her chemistry credential from us. She completed field work and student teaching at Pioneer High School, working with Julie Bermudez (Noyce Alum and 2006 Rhodes Awardee). Jennifer earned her degree in Chemical Engineering at UCLA. She has been involved with MESA and other programs which encourage girls and under-represented groups to consider STEM careers. Jennifer was a Teaching Associate at Young Scientists Camp, she attended the CSTA and Western Regional Noyce Conferences. Jennifer was hired at Downey High School to teach chemistry. We look forward to watching her teaching career.

Outstanding Initial Credential Candidate

Ashley Contreras was selected as the College of Education's Outstanding Initial Credential Candidate Ashley Contreras had several jobs working in informal education settings since earning her marine biology degree in 2009. She worked at the Ocean Institute, Newfound Harbor Marine Institute and the Long Beach Marine Institute teaching in camps, leading field trips, developing programs and interacting with the public. She also volunteered at other marine science institutions. In addition to her work at informals, she spends time on the weekends teaching migrant children to read. As her Master Teacher says, "She spends her evenings planning interesting activities and searching for high interest readings for these reluctant readers." She has continued to teach math and reading to youngsters throughout her student teaching semester. Ashley did her student teaching at Lakewood High School. Congratulations Ashley!

2013 Future Science Teacher Awardee

Tania Hughes was selected by CSTA as the 2013 Future Science Teacher Awardee. Tania Hughes just completed her multiple subject credential program. She was part of the S.D. Becthel, Jr. Foundation funded STEM Rich Clinical Teacher Preparation Program. As part of this program Tania participated in additional professional development in science and STEM, helped plan and implement a family science night and she taught numerous science units during her student teaching experience. Tania is spending a year with the Peace Corps in Mozambique. When she returns to the US she plans to get additional teaching authorizations for middle school science and math. Through the professional development and opportunities within the STEM-Rich Clinical Teacher Prep Program she found that she really likes science. Congratulations to Tania. It's exciting to see elementary teacher candidates so excited about teaching science.

Tania is the ninth CSULB student to earn the CSTA Future Science Teacher Award.

CSULB Teacher Candidates Participate in Paid Summer Research Experience with the STAR Program

Seven CSULB teacher candidates (and recent alums) majoring in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields participated in a nine-week research internship as part of the STEM Teacher and Researcher (STAR) program. The paid research experience is meant to provide science and math teachers with an opportunity to do cutting edge research in a National Laboratory, NASA Research Center, NOAA Laboratory or a private industry research setting, alongside a research mentor. STAR Fellows do research and participate in weekly education workshops focusing on how to transfer the research experience into their teaching practice. This includes focusing on the nature of science as well as figuring out how to bring the excitement of science research into the K-12 setting. STAR Fellows build expertise in inquiry learning activities aligned with Next Generation Science Standards and the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, ultimately developing an inquiry-based science or math lesson based on their summer research. At the end of the summer the STAR Fellows present their research via a poster or oral presentation. Fellows have the opportunity to return to the lab in subsequent summers.

The weekly education workshop and lesson plans are designed to help the STAR Fellows make the link between what they are doing in their lab and what they will be doing in their K-12 classrooms. The workshops are co-taught by a professor in a science or math education field and an experienced K-12 science or math teacher who help guide the Fellows throughout the nine weeks.

CSULB had seven students participate this summer. Carey Baxter and Aiyana Emigh participated last summer, but the other five Long Beach students were new this year. To date CSULB has had 16 STAR Fellowships awarded to our students. Consider applying next year to join this rich research opportunity. Information about the STAR Program and deadlines for applications are available online at starteacherresearcher.org.

Read on to see what our students did this summer!

Aiyana Emigh (SSCP Biology)

• "Rescuing Acetylcholinesterase from nerve Agent Inhibition: Protein Dynamics Driven Drug Discovery"
• Lab Site – Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
• Research Mentor – Brian Bennion

Severe morbidity and mortality consequences result from irreversible inhibition of human acetylcholinesterase by organophosphates (OPs). Oxime-based reactivators are currently the only available treatments but lack efficacy in the central nervous system (CNS) where the most damage occurs. Computational docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations reveal complex structural barriers that may reduce oxime efficacy. These results may guide future drug designs of more effective countermeasures.

Ashley Contreras (SSCP Biology)

• "Behavioral Variation Among Two Clades of Leptasterias spp."
• Lab Site – Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental
• Studies, San Francisco State University
• Research Mentor – C. Sarah Cohen

Leptasterias spp. are six-rayed sea stars found along the rocky intertidal of the northeast Pacific Alaska to Santa Catalina Island, southern California. In central California, three clades of Leptasterias are found in separate or mixed populations, in diverse habitats that range from shallow pools of sea grass and algae to bare rock exposed to crashing waves. Two clades of Leptasterias were collected, Y-Clade from Mile Rock, San Francisco and L. aequalis from Pigeon Point, San Mateo to test for behavioral variation that may relate to habitat differences among clades. To measure differences in activity, the righting response was timed at both field sites and in the lab. Behavior related to feeding was additionally compared in the lab between the two populations using response to barnacle prey. It is hypothesized that stars living in sea grass and algae extend their arms and tube feet to move and collect food particles in the water. Stars living on rocks and within crevices may use their tube feet and arms to conform to the irregularities of the rock surface with a tight suction and feed directly on their prey. These experiments will provide measures of behavioral variation among the clades and help determine if behavioral variation may be a related to habitat or genetic differences.

Bree Person (SSCP Biology/Physiology major, Chemistry Minor)

• "Discovering Ionic Liquid Resistant Genes"
• Research Mentor – Michael Thelen & Douglas Higgins

Plant biomass is a rich source of sugars that can be converted to biofuels by engineered microbes. However, because the lignocellulose in biomass is insoluble in aqueous conditions and recalcitrant to enzymatic degradation, thermochemical treatment is required to break apart the lignin and cellulose polymers before sugars can be released. One of the most effective chemicals for doing this are known as ionic liquids, which are salts that are molten at temperatures below 100° C. Although these solvents have many unique properties that are ideal for solubilizing lignocellulose, they have been found to inhibit the growth of bacterial strains used to produce biofuels. We therefore searched for molecular mechanisms in bacteria that enable normal growth in the presence of ionic liquids and that can be engineered into our laboratory strains. To approach this, we are screening many environmental isolates as well as complex metagenome DNA samples for ionic liquid resistance genes. Our initial studies have resulted in several genes that hold great promise for increasing the efficiency of microbial biofuel production by constructing ionic liquid tolerant strains of E. coli.

Carey Baxter (SSCP Physics)

• "Characterization of Samples for Optimization of Infrared Stray Light Coatings"
• Lab Site – NASA Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility
• Research Mentor – Zaheer Ali

NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is a converted 747SP that houses a 2.5 m telescope that observes the sky through an opening in the side of the aircraft. Because it flies at altitudes up to 45,000 feet, SOFIA gets 99.99% transmission in the infrared. Multiple science instruments mount one at a time on the telescope to interpret infrared and visible light from target sources. Ball Infrared Black (BIRB) currently coats everything that the optics sees inside the telescope assembly (TA) cavity in order to eliminate noise from the glow of background sky, aircraft exhaust, and other sources. A reflectometer and emissometer were used to measure and characterize the coatings in terms of their ability to absorb stray light. These measurements were then compared to the BIRB currently used. Though Aeroglaze Z306 showed lower better (lower) reflectance values than Desothane, neither of these coatings showed better reflectance values than the current BIRB. These characterizations help us to determine an improved recipe for TA cavity coating.

Jessica Mejia (SSCP Math, Noyce Scholar)

• "VENUS RADIATIVE TRANSFER MODEL: Input Generation"
• Lab Site – NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• Research Mentor – Pin Chen

The principle objective of this project is to acquire systematic studies of the atmosphere and surface of the Earth's sister planet, Venus. VIRTIS-M-IR (1-5 µm) on the European Venus Express Mission provides radiation measurements and a valuable database to obtain diligent studies and information regarding Venus's topography. An atmospheric Radiative Transfer Model will be utilized to calculate radiative transfer of electromagnetic radiation through Venus's atmosphere. To implement the use of the Radiative Transfer Model it is necessary to generate physical parameters for the retrieval accuracy of the deep atmosphere and surface features. This project concentrates on generation of the Spectroscopic Input Data (Required for Radiative Transfer Simulations) Exploring the physical and chemical processes in the atmosphere of Venus along with the study of the interactions between deep atmosphere and the planetary surface will close fundamental knowledge gaps about Venus's formation and its climatic evolution. It is critical to conduct a detailed investigation of surface and near surface regions to help determine and understand the onset of a runaway greenhouse effect that led to the radical environmental conditions on present Venus. These studies can help analyze and educate on Earth's current battle against the greenhouse effect.

Lindsey Skelton (SSCP Mathematics and Spanish major)

• "Smart Sampling of Radon Levels to detect Underground Nuclear Explosions"
• Lab Site – Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
• Research Mentor – Steve Hunter

One element of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) is the provision for an on site inspection (OSI). The purpose of an OSI is to monitor for the occurrence an underground nuclear explosion (UNE) in violation of the treaty. Detection of certain rare radioactive noble gases transported to the surface can be an excellent indicator of a UNE. These gases can be very difficult to capture and require specialized sampling methods. This study aims to determine an algorithm that will increase the efficiency of the subsurface gas sampling technique being used to detect UNEs. The original short-term and long-term average ratio algorithm was determined not to be as efficient as the algorithm using a percentage of the maximum radon level. By increasing the concentration levels of the samples we collect, we also increase the accuracy of our UNE detectors.

Shawn Kirby (SSCP Chemistry & Physics)

• "Use of Thermodynamic Models for Optimizing Fuel Treatment Processes"
• Lab Site – Air Force Research Laboratory
• Research Mentor – Andrew Guenthner

Dyes are often added to fuels for tax purposes, but they cause degradation of the fuels. Current technologies vary in the efficiency with which they can remove unwanted dyes from fuel sources. It would be advantageous to remove the dyes prior to their use in critical aerospace applications. We have used Hansen Solubility Parameters to develop an "ideal solvent" that can be used to extract these dyes from fuel. This will also be applied to removal of sulfur compounds from fuels. Sulfur compounds in fuels create sulfates during combustion, which in turn react with water to make sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid damages engine components and the environment. Thus, this research could lead to great benefits for both the environment and the aerospace community.

NOTE: Abstracts and photographs taken from STAR 2013 Abstracts & Proceedings.

In 2003, the Science Education Department started a group called the Association of Future Science Educators (AFSE). The group is both a National Science Teachers Association and California Science Teachers Association Student Chapter. Students who participate in 3 or more events per year are eligible for a discount on their CSTA membership.

AFSE hosts events each month to help future and practicing teachers learn new science, try out new lessons and make connections with the science education community. Last year, more than 250 students attended our different events.

AFSE Fall 2013 Events

• Tuesday, Sept 24. 6:00-8:00pm. Engaging lessons for K-8 classrooms. Join teachers from CSULB's Young Scientists summer science camp programs as they share exemplary lessons and labs. Location: PH1-223.
• Wednesday, October 2. 6:00-8:00pm. Connecting Literacy and Science. Join Bring Me A Book Foundation Regional Training Coordinator, Colleen Triesch as she provides literacy strategies connected to science, generating the power of reading aloud with children. Incorporated into this workshop, teachers will be engaged in research based activities for both the classroom and to send home to children and their families. Location: LA5-271.
• Thursday, November 7. 6:00-8:00pm. Something's Fishy! Join educators from San Pedro's Cabrillo Marine Aquarium for a squid dissection and rocky shore talk with quadrat survey. Location: LA5-265.
• Friday, November 15. 8:30-3:30pm. Biotech Workshop - Join Damon Tighe, Curriculum Trainer for BioRad as you participate in three different hands-on labs. DNA Extraction, Bacterial Transformation and an Inquiry Dye Electrophoresis with STEM emphasis. Get tips on grant writing and receive a coupon for BioRad kits. (event repeated on Saturday)
• Saturday, November 16. 8:30-3:30pm. Biotech Workshop - Join Damon Tighe, Curriculum Trainer for BioRad as you participate in three different hands-on labs. DNA Extraction, Bacterial Transformation and an Inquiry Dye Electrophoresis with STEM emphasis. Get tips on grant writing and receive a coupon for BioRad kits. (this is a repeat of Friday's workshop)
• Tuesday, November 19. 6:00-8:00pm. Nature of Waves, Comparing Colors and Selective Transmission. Join Denis Baker and Dilani Ross from LabAids as we explore a brand new curriculum aligned with the NGSS middle school standards. Location: LA5-265.

In response to the 2011 teacher lay-offs (mostly elementary teachers), CSULB teamed up with Long Beach Unified School District, the S.D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation, David & Lucille Packard Foundation and the South Bay Workforce Initiative Board to create a program to help the out-of-work veteran teachers earn a Foundational Credential in science or mathematics. The fully funded program provided the teachers with three content courses and a secondary subject matter methods course.

Candidates did lots of work outside of class. In addition, they did field work and taught in an after-school setting as part of their methods class. They wrote and field tested lessons, several of which ended up in a compilation of STEM activities. The edited collection of activities is available online (stem-activities.org). Future cohorts of students will write and field test additional lessons which will be added to the book.

The first cohort was quite successful with 85% of science candidates and more than 50% of math candidates earning their single subject foundational level credential. Many of those teachers have been hired back by their district.

The program is a joint effort between College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics, College of Education and the College of Continuing & Professional Education. The Foundational Level Credential Program was nominated for and recognized by the Association for Continuing Higher Education as the 2013 recipient of the Distinguished Program Award in the Outstanding Credit Program category.

Additional cohorts of students have been moving through the program. The current cohort is funded by the S.D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation. A new cohort will start the year-long program in May 2014.

• Read more at http://www.csulb.edu/misc/inside/?p=41379.
• For more information about the Math Program, contact Babette Benken (Babette.Benken@csulb.edu).
• For additional information about the science program, contact Laura Henriques (Laura.Henriques@csulb.edu).

Publications

• Gomez-Zwiep, S. & Benken, B.M. (2013). Using Content-rich Experiences Within Professional Development to Expand Teachers' Knowledge and Perceptions of Mathematics and Science. Journal of International Mathematics and Science Education, 11 (2), pp. 299-324.
• Gomez-Zwiep, S., Benken, B.M., Nguyen, H.T. & Hakim-Butt, K. (in press). Bridging Barriers between Higher Education and K-12 Settings: A Collaborative Professional Development Model for Improving Secondary English Learner Instruction (Chapter). In Creating Collaborative Learning Communities to Improve English Learner Instruction: College Faculty, School Teachers, and Pre-service Teachers Learning Together in the 21st Century.
• Harris, D. & Gomez-Zwiep, S. (2013). Between Slopes and Points: Teaching Students How Graphs Describe the Relationships Between Phenomena, The Science Teacher, March.
• Henriques, L. (2012). 2012 California Science Education Conference. A Bit Hit! California Classroom Science 25 (3). Available at http://www.classroomscience.org/2012-california-science-education-confe…
• Henriques, L. (2012). Grant writing for your classroom. California Classroom Science 25 (3). Available at http://www.classroomscience.org/grant-writing-for-your-classroom
• Henriques, L. (2013). Recruiting Students into High School STEM Classes. California Classroom Science 25 (8). Available at http://www.classroomscience.org/recruiting-students-into-high-school-st…
• Henriques, L. (2013). Responding to NGSS Critiques – Anticipating the Final Release. California Classroom Science 25 (7). Available at http://www.classroomscience.org/responding-to-ngss-critiques-anticipati…
• Henriques, L. (2012) What makes for an effective science demonstration. California Classroom Science 25 (1). Available at http://www.classroomscience.org/what-makes-for-an-effective-science-dem…
• Henriques, L. (2012). Western Regional Noyce Conference Bring Together Future Math & Science Teachers. California Classroom Science 25 (4). Available at http://www.classroomscience.org/Western-Regional-Noyce-Conference-Bring…
• Henriques, L. (2013). Consider Nominating a Colleague for a CSTA Award. California Classroom Science 25 (9). Available at http://www.classroomscience.org/consider-nominating-a-colleague-for-a-c…
• Henriques, L. (2013). The Next Generation Science Standards Were Released – What's Next? California Classroom Science 25 (9). Available at http://www.classroomscience.org/the-next-generation-science-standards-w…
• Legaspi, B. & Straits, W. (2013). Is it living or non-living? In L. Froschauer (Ed.), A Year of Inquiry: A Collection for Elementary Educators. (pp. 164-169). Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.
• Nguyen, H.N., Benken, B.M., Gomez-Zwiep, S. & Hakim-Butt, K. (in press). Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Enhancing Faculty's Preparation of Prospective Secondary Teacher Candidates for Instructing English Language Learners. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.
• Pomeroy, R.J. & Henriques, L. (2013). NGSS: What's Next? Teachers. California Classroom Science 25 (6). Available at http://www.classroomscience.org/ngss-whats-next
• Ritz, W. & Straits, W. (2013). Birds of a feather: Birding adventures with young children. Science and Children, 50 (7), 86-90.
• Shea, L.M., Shanahan, T.M., Gomez Zwiep, S. & Straits, W.J. (2012). Using Science as a Context for Language Learning: Impact and Implications from Two Professional Development Programs. Electronic Journal of Science Education, 16 (2).
• Upson, L., Gross, R., Goodman, J., & Straits, W. (2013). Picture this! In L. Froschauer (Ed.), A Year of Inquiry: A Collection for Elementary Educators. (pp. 81-85). Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.

Presentations

• Benken, B.M., Hakim-Butt, K., Nguyen, H., & Gomez Zwiep, S. (2013, April) Impact of a Multiyear Program Intervention: Meeting English Language Learners' Needs by Restructuring Teacher Education. Research poster presentation at the annual meeting for the American Education Research Association, San Francisco, CA.
• Dwyer, K. & Henriques, L. (2012). Favorite Physics Demonstrations. California Science Education Conference, San Jose, CA. Oct 20. (available at http://laurahenriques.wordpress.com/csta-2012)
• Gomez-Zwiep, S. & Straits, W. J. (2013, January). Inquiry Science: The Gateway to English Language Proficiency. Presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Science Teacher Education. Columbia, SC.
• Gomez Zwiep, S., Benken, B.M., Nguyen, H.T. & Hakim, Butt, K. (2013, April). Bridging Barriers Between Higher Education and K-12 Settings: A Collaborative Professional Development Model for Improving Secondary Language Instruction. Research paper presentation at the annual meeting for the American Education Research Association, San Francisco, CA.
• Henriques, L. (2012). Charge up your electricity unit. California Science Education Conference, San Jose, CA. Oct 19. (available at http://laurahenriques.wordpress.com/csta-2012)
• Henriques, L. (2012). Tips & Strategies for Successful Grant Writing for your Classroom. Western Regional Noyce Conference, Tucson, AZ. Nov 17. (available at http://laurahenriques.wordpress.com/wrnc-2012/)
• Henriques, L. (2013). Chemistry and the NGSS Practices. UTEACH Science Professional Development workshop. Long Beach, CA. May 7.
• Henriques, L. (2013). Development and implementation of a science camp for homeless children. Poster presented at Association of Science Teacher Educators, Charleston, SC, January 10.
• Nguyen, H.T., Benken, B.M., Gomez Zwiep, S. & Hakim-Butt, K. (2013, April). Professional Development in Higher Education: Enhancing Faculty's Preparation of Secondary Teacher Candidates for Instructing English Language Learners. Research round table presentation at the annual meeting for the American Education Research Association, San Francisco, CA.
• Pomeroy, R. & Henriques, L. (2012). Welcome session for first time attendees. California Science Education Conference, San Jose, CA. Oct 19.
• Straits, W.J. & Gomez Zwiep, S. (2013) Students' English Language and Science Achievement in a Blended Science and English Language Development Elementary Program. Research poster presentation at the annual meeting of the Association of Science Teacher Education, Charlotte, SC. **
• Straits, W. & Gomez Zwiep, S. (2013, April) The Effects of a Blended Inquiry Science and English Language Development Program on Elementary Students' English Proficiency and Language Arts Achievement. Research paper presentation at the annual meeting for the American Education Research Association, San Francisco, CA.
• Tabata, S. & Colburn, A. (2013). Level of Authority Used in a Guided Inquiry-Based Instructional Unit. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association of Science Teacher Educators, Charleston, SC, January 10, 2013.

Grants Written & Funded Projects

• California State University, Long Beach Noyce II: Recruiting, Supporting and Retaining Mathematics and Science Educators. PI on NSF (DUE 0833349) grant to fund scholarships for mathematics and science credential candidates and conduct a longitudinal study of Noyce I. ($500,000) 10/1/2008-9/31/2012. (Henriques)
• The California State University Long Beach Physics Teacher Education Coalition (CSULB PhysTEC) Project Co-PI on grant to recruit, support and retain physics teachers funded by American Physical Society. (2010-2013) $287,441 (Henriques with Physics Colleagues)
• Clancy Foundation. St. Joseph Elementary Hands On Science Experience: 2012-2013. $5,990. (Henriques)
• The Earl B. and Loraine H. Miller Foundation – Grant to support summer science camp scholarships and programming for homeless children in Long Beach. (2012) $20,000. (Henriques)
• HSI Stem Grant: Co-Principal Investigator, Awarded $4.4 million from the U.S. Department of Education to help increase the number of Latino students earning degrees in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. 10/1/11 – 9/30/16. (Gomez-Zwiep)
• Participated as co-Investigator in professional development effort designed to improve the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) instruction of elementary master teachers and the CSULB pre-service, student teachers they mentor in collaboration with the UTEACH project within the Teacher Education program (College of Education) at CSULB and Long Beach Unified School District and K-12 Alliance. Funded ($600,000)¹ by an S. D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation, STEM Education grant. 2012-2014. (Straits). ¹The total grant award was $900,000, but my involvement was primarily with one of the two components of this grant.
• S.D. Bechtel Foundation - Raising the Bar for STEM Education in California: Preparing Elementary Teachers in a Model, Scalable, STEM-Rich Clinical Setting. Co-PI on project to support STEM education for preservice and in-service elementary teachers. 2012-2015, funded at $900,000. (Straits, Benken, Henriques)

Service to Campus and Profession

• University Academic Senate, Vice-Chair (incl. Student Fee Advisory Comm, ATI Steering Comm and sub-committees, an HVDI task force, various award selection committees, etc.) (Colburn)
• Academic Senate Executive Committee (Colburn)
• Faculty Personnel & Policies Council (Colburn)
• Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects (Colburn)
• Chair, College Council, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, 2013. (Gomez-Zwiep)
• Member of College Council, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, 2009 – present. (Gomez-Zwiep)
• CNSM Awards Committee, 2012. (Gomez-Zwiep)
• CNSM RSCA Proposal Review Committee, 2013. (Gomez-Zwiep)
• Disney Planet Challenge: Assisted with the calibration of national judges for the national competition of elementary and middle school student environmentally based projects. Participated in judging for national winners. 2010-2012. (Gomez-Zwiep)
• Escondido Union School District science pedagogy consultant for mathematics teacher training: facilitated grade level teams in mathematics lesson development. Escondido, CA 6/17–7/21/13. (Gomez-Zwiep, Straits)
• Panel Review Member: National Science Foundation. Reviewed proposals for Discovery Research K-12 (DRK-12) program 2013. (Gomez-Zwiep)
• University Awards Committee, CSULB, 2011-2013. (Gomez-Zwiep)
• University Teacher Prep Committee, member CSULB, 2012-2013. (Gomez-Zwiep)
• Wapato Middle School content specialist for summer school teacher training: developed and presented a one-week science content and one-week project based learning training for 6-8 grade teachers. Wapato, WA 8/12 – 8/20/13. (Gomez-Zwiep, Straits)
• WestEd/K-12 Alliance Content specialist for Pittman Science Academy: one-week integrated science content course for K-8 grade teachers. Topic: Life Science. Stockton, CA 7/8-7/12/13. (Gomez-Zwiep, Straits)
• President-Elect, California Science Teachers Association (President's term begins 7/1/13) (Henriques)
• Science Expert Panel – commission appointed by Superintendent of Public Instruction Torlakson (Henriques)
• Awards Committee review member, Association for Science Teacher Education, 2011-2013. (Straits)
• Presented with S. Gomez-Zwiep at the annual CNSM Faculty Research Symposium, CSULB, Inquiry Science: The Gateway to English Language Proficiency, 2013. (Straits)
• Reviewer for Issues in Teacher Education, California Council on Teacher Education, 2013. (Straits)
• Co-Director of the Head Start on Science program. Department of Science Education, California State University Long Beach, 2010-present. (Straits)
• Career Day Speaker. Los Alisos Middle School. Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District, 2013. (Straits)
• Review Panelist for Science and Children, National Science Teachers Association, 2011 - present. (Straits)
• Co-coordinator of SCED 475, Teaching Science K-8, Department of Science Education, California State University Long Beach, 2005-present. (Straits)

Approximately 200 youngsters were engaged in exciting hands-on science this summer in our two summer science camp programs. SEE US Succeed! (Science Education Experience to help Underserved Students Succeed!) completed its sixth year while the Young Scientists' Camp program finished its 14th year. Both camps have a dual purpose of providing academic enrichment in science to area youngsters while simultaneously providing a mentored science teacher experience for CSULB teacher candidates. Since its inception, more than 2,700 kids have participated in the program and close to 300 preservice teachers have had the opportunity to teach alongside a science mentor teacher.

SEE US Succeed! is a partnership between Science Education and the Long Beach Unified School District which provides science camp to K-8 homeless children in the district. The two week program is taught in LBUSD schools (Bethune Transitional Center and Cabrillo High School) for Kindergarten through 8th grade students. Kids are recruited by their school counselors to participate in the program. It's a full day programming with science in the morning and afternoon activities provided by the Long Beach Community Action Partnership. Topics for kids this summer were:

• Kindergarten – Body Explorers
• 1st/2nd grade – Creepy Crawly Critters
• 3rd/4th grade – It's Not Magic, It's Science!
• 5th/6th grade – Engaging Engineering
• 7th/8th grade – Forensic Science Mysteries

The CSULB Mobile Science Museum visited camp as did the Traveling Scientist Program from Orange County's Inside the Outdoors.

In addition to providing science enrichment,

• 48 children received dental sealants or varnishes - provided by the Smile Bright Foundation
• 48 children received vision screenings - provided by the St. Mary's Low Vision Center
• 9 children needed glasses as a result of the screening and received glasses provided by the Downtown Long Beach Lion's Club
• All the campers received a brand new backpack, school supplies and two new school uniforms
• 12 children received new shoes during camp
• All kids received a camp t-shirt
• Information about community resources and support was sent home to each family
• 38 children received recorders and received lessons about music/sound and science
• All the kids received new books from the Ella Fitzgerald Foundation.

The program is supported by the Earl B. and Loraine H. Miller Foundation and various other groups and individuals. Jed Kim of Southern California National Public Radio (KPCC) did a great story about the camp which you can read/listen to online.

The Young Scientists Camp is held in science labs at CSULB. Kids this year explored earth and space science topics. This camp is tuition based but some financial aid is available. Kids in this program did on-campus field trips, visited the Science Learning Center, visited science research labs and had guest speakers. Scholarship funding was provided by the Ella Fitzgerald Foundation and various other individuals.

• 2nd/3rd grade – Digging into Science
• 3rd/4th grade – Curiosity in Science
• 5th/6th grade – Don't Mess With Mother Nature
• 7th/8th grade – Forensic Investigations
• HS Girls – Phun Physics (funded in part by the American Physics Society)

The Press Telegram came out to see the camp. They interviewed a couple of campers and enjoyed seeing the kids build their own seismographs. Their article included a few pictures and the kids were excited to see themselves in the press. View Press Telegram article.

The Young Scientists Camp programs thanks all the donors!
Contact Laura Henriques (Laura.Henriques@csulb.edu) if you'd like to contribute to the Young Scientists Camp program.

With the growing push for improved STEM learning and teaching, there has also been an increased push for science teacher professional development (and other instructional resources) aimed at helping support science instruction efforts in the K-12 classroom. Such opportunities are critical, especially for elementary teachers who may have been discouraged from teaching science in light of testing accountability in other critical subjects such as language arts and math. Yet, schools are only a small part of the science learning landscape. If consider that most of our time throughout life is spent outside of school (unless of course, you are a teacher or university professor), then it would stand to reason that our science learning continues well beyond the confines of the classroom. In fact, learning does happen outside of schooling, and it is often facilitated by educators at museums, nature centers, aquariums, and afterschool programs.

Dr. Kisiel, a former high school teacher and museum educator himself, continues to make efforts to help support these sometimes 'forgotten' teachers in their efforts to communicate and engage with learners of all ages. Such approaches have taken the form of a Southern California workshop series (generously funded by the Boeing Corporation) aimed at helping informal educators address different aspects of their practice (e.g. asking questions, informal assessment, English language learners) as well as numerous seminars at CSULB.

More recently, Dr. Kisiel has been engaged with educators from zoos and aquariums across the country as part of the NSF-funded project 'Zoo and Aquarium Action Research Collaborative' or ZAARC, led by researchers at Oregon State University and TERC. Educators participating in the program have been charged with developing action research projects that will help inform practice. As consultant for the project, Dr. Kisiel participates in bi-monthly conference calls with staff from four of the six participating institutions (Maryland Zoo, New England Aquarium, Phoenix Zoo and St. Louis Zoo) to discuss the progress of the different projects and provide possible suggestions for improvement. Through participation in the research process, the educators reflect on program goals and outcomes, as well as the very nature of science learning in these out-of-school settings. Staff participants are also developing a better understanding of the technical aspects of research and evaluation, as well as an awareness of the benefits of studying their practices. Each team is looking at a different research question suitable to their site. Project ranges from developing staff practices through reflective observation, to investigating changes in visitor conversation at an animal exhibit after implementation of an iPad-directed activity, to examining the impacts of an orientation talk on student engagement. The project will provide the field with new perspectives on how action research might lead to more reflective science instructors.

More locally, Dr. Kisiel has engaged informal educators through several local conferences geared toward museums and their staff. In February, Dr. Kisiel led a daylong workshop on evaluation and assessment at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History as part of the annual California Association of Museums conference. Later in the conference, four of his graduate students from the Science Education MS program (Informal Education option) had an opportunity to share the work they'd done for their respective thesis projects. The interactive poster session allowed these four informal educators to share their experiences (including studies of family visitors at zoos, aquarium docent interactions and even citizen science projects) with other informal educators in the region. The experience also provided the MS students with an opportunity to share their discoveries in a non-threatening way in advance of their final thesis defenses!

These professional development efforts will continue into the new year, with Dr. Kisiel attending the Association for Zoos and Aquariums annual meeting where he will help lead a special session on assessment and evaluation of education programs. The goal of this workshop is to help science educators understand the importance of aligning program goals with assessment approaches, as well easing the anxiety of collecting, and then using, evaluation data.

A Lesson Study Approach to Teaching Elementary Science

SCED 475 Inquiry-based, Elementary Science Lesson Assignment
at Kettering Elementary School

About the sixth or seventh week of each semester the daytime SCED 475 students visit a classroom at Kettering Elementary School (LBUSD). During their visit they interact with and teach elementary students (in groups of three-five students). During this time they implement an inquiry-based science lesson. The students will then reflect on the lesson taught and make modifications to it. Later in the semester they return to Kettering Elementary. They then have the opportunity to re-teach their revised lesson to a different group of students. Again they reflect on the lesson taught and make note of improvements to a written assessment. This process also consists of four related lesson study assignments.

Assignment I
Design and implementation of an inquiry-based science lesson

Students are required to develop a report which describes a lesson plan and provides information related to the lesson. The lesson plan must use the 5E learning cycle format and must be developed to teach specific objectives from the California Science Content Standards (These standards will be provided in mid-Sept by the classroom teachers at Kettering Elementary that we will be collaborating with). The lesson plans must include engaging, hands-on, inquiry activities.

Assignment II
Reflecting on the initial teaching experience

Effective teachers are reflective practitioners – they study their own practice, thinking back on their teaching and learning from their mistakes as well as their successes. We believe instilling this professional practice in prospective teachers is one of the best means for encouraging their future success. A list of prompting questions is will be provided. Please note that it is the 475 student's ability to articulate and critically reflect on the teaching experience, including their interpretation of student work that is being evaluated in this part of the assignment.

Assignment III
Redesign and implementation of an inquiry-based science lesson

Here students add text to (in a different font) and delete text from (strikethrough) their original lesson developed in assignment one. The instructor wants to see the changes, so the original version must serve as the starting point. The format used in assignment one will be used again here. Additionally, student rationale for these changes must be explained. This explanation should be consistent with evidence from student work, which should be included, as well as the comments in the previous reflection assignment. In a separate document students will describe the reasons that prompted these changes.

Assignment IV
Reflecting on this entire teaching experience

At the conclusion of this teaching experience, the instructor would like the 475 student to reflect on the entire process of planning, implementing, reflecting, altering, and re-teaching a lesson. In order to allow them to more accurately represent this unique experience, this reflection is much more open-ended than the second assignment. Once again general prompts are provided.

by Susan Gomez-Zwiep

For the last five years, Bill Straits and I have been working on projects that blended science and English language development (ELD) in elementary schools. Our analysis of four years of student achievement data was indicating that science content could provide a powerful context for building English language proficiency. However, elementary teachers were the ones who did the difficult work of implementing the blended science/ELD lesson design in their classrooms. While I facilitated and supported these teachers, my time in elementary classrooms was limited and inconsistent.

From September - December (2012), I was a 3rd and 5th grade teacher at Glen View and Orange Glen Elementary Schools in Escondido, CA. The sites were selected based on a combination of elements: the large population of English language learners, a cooperative principal that would guarantee science could be taught for a minimum of one hour a week and teachers that were willing to collaborate with a science educator from Long Beach. We began the semester with a half-day of planning with each grade level to determine the flow of concepts and standards that would be addressed. The 3rd and 5th grade classes at Glen View wanted to focus on physical science standards so each Thursday I would teach a physical science lesson to two different 3rd grade classrooms and then walk across campus to teach another physical science lesson to one 5th grade class. Orange Glenn started their year with Earth Science so Friday's afternoons I would visit Orange Glen and teach Earth Science lessons. For fourteen weeks, I had the privilege of serving as the science teacher for these four classrooms. I had the benefit of teaching complete conceptual storylines that integrated English language development strategies and Common Core State Standards in ELA.

My original plan was to simply teach science lessons, test out some of the new pedagogical approaches our research was suggesting elementary teachers use, and develop my expertise teaching younger students. However, I became part of the 3rd and 5th grade teams and began working with grade level teams on other elements of instruction. We often meet afterschool, planning how the science content would be used to develop the students' oral and written language skills and utilizing student notebooks as a "sense making" tool for students. My lessons had to be typed up in a clear 5E format with teacher questioning and expected student responses identified for a range of student understanding because other teachers on the team used the lessons in their own classrooms. During our grade level team meetings we identified essential vocabulary, integrated sentence frames and graphic organizers into our lessons and how to use science notebooks to help students make sense of new content. It was the hardest I have worked since I started at CSULB and I enjoyed (almost) every minute.

Hispanic Science Institution – STEM grant

Last year, the California State University Long Beach was awarded a $4.4 million grant by the U.S. Department of Education to expand and enhance educational opportunities for, and improve the academic attainment of, Hispanic students. The CSULB HSI STEM initiative is a multidisciplinary collaboration between the College of Engineering (COE), the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (CNSM), and the National Council of La Raza (NCLR)/CSULB Center for Latino Community Health, Evaluation and Leadership Training. The goal of the CSULB HSI STEM program is to increase the number Latino students attaining highly valued degrees in the fields of science, technology, engineering or mathematics. One component of this project is the Faculty Development Professional Learning Community (FLC) led by Dr. Terre Allen, Director of the Faculty Center for Professional Development. Through online modules and workshops, STEM faculty have the opportunity to redesign their coursework, particularly in "gatekeeper" courses to improve student completion rates. Course modules focus on student data, student active and engaged learning techniques, and assessment in STEM. My primary role has been to assist faculty participating in the FLC as they integrate new teaching methodologies into their courses and try to assess the resulting student learning. The HSI STEM program includes summer and winter research experiences for students, student mentors (Promotores) and a summer bridge program.

by Alan Colburn

The Science Education Department was proud to welcome Yilmaz Kara last year. Yilmaz was a visiting scholar from Turkey who spent a year with us. His research took him to local classrooms where he observed and interviewed M.S. alumni and current students teaching hands-on, learning cycle based lessons. Beside the research, Yilmaz sat in on graduate classes, presented a seminar for grad students and faculty--where we got to learn about the Turkish educational system--and attended the annual meeting of the California Science Teachers Association in San Jose. This was his first large, K-12 focused science teacher convention, and I know he loved every minute of the experience. He even wrote about it for an article published by CSTA. We bid him a fond farewell last May as he returned to Turkey, with he and us both enriched by the experience.

We Have a New Chair!

The Science Education Department is thrilled to announce the appointment of Lisa Martin-Hansen as faculty member and department chair. Lisa joins CSULB after nine years at Georgia State University. Whilst in Atlanta, Lisa worked as a unit chair, graduate coordinator, and program developer while teaching courses in both science and education. With 19 publications, dozens and dozens of presentations at national and local conferences, and external grants, Lisa is well known in the U.S. science education community. She's currently a candidate for president of the Association of Science Teacher Educators. Her background includes being a faculty member at Drake University, a doctorate from the University of Iowa (Go Hawkeyes), and eleven years of experience teaching elementary and middle level science. We are tickled pink she decided to join the family of the Science Education Department faculty, staff, students, and alumni, and we look forward to working with our new colleague.

New Faces in the Department

We have had some changes in Science Education these past several months. As you have already read, Dr. Lisa Martin-Hansen is joining us as the new Department Chair. We are thrilled to have her with us and look forward to many years collaborating together.

We have seen other changes in the front office. Hellen Carcamo had a baby and went on maternity leave. We are excited about the new addition to her family and wish her the best while she and her son spend some time bonding. While gone, Xiao Wong has joined us. The Chemistry and Biochemistry Department was nice enough to loan us Xiao while Hellen was out. Xiao has been a great addition to the department, and we are so happy to have had her help and expertise while Hellen is gone.

Our department has been the recipient of funding from individuals and foundations. In this era when state and government funding is decreasing, private funding and donation become even more important for our survival and quality programming. This money allows us to support graduate students research and travel, provide professional development for pre-service and in-service teachers, and to maintain some of our existing activities. We are incredibly grateful to our donors of their support of our mission. We are a stronger university because of the donations you make to us and our programs. Thank you!

• S.D. Bechtel Foundation - Supporting clinical elementary science teacher preparation and professional development and supporting laid-off elementary teachers as they earn a middle school science credential
• The Earl B. and Lorraine H. Miller Foundation - Supporting summer science camp programs for homeless children
• JAPAJAG – Supported the summer science camp programs
• The Martin & Clarisse Clancy Foundation - Supported two weeks of science instruction at St. Joseph School
• Laura Henriques & Alan Colburn - Supported scholarships for summer science camp
• William C. Ritz - support of the Ritz Scholarship Fund.

Our Alumni Step Up! Won't you join them?

Several alumni make contributions each year. Please consider joining them by donating to our department. Larger donations earn you recognition on our Wall of Champions and membership in the CNSM Fellows. Small gifts go a long way as well! A gift of $25 or $50 allows us to do thing that our budget does not allow. For example, we can provide refreshments at our STAR Seminar Events, purchase new books for our resource library, or provide support for graduate students to attend professional conferences. We are grateful to all our donors and encourage you to consider doing what you can to help our department grow.