Free Professional Development Opportunity for Teachers Using Investigations in Environmental Science
Is your school thinking about offering environmental science for the first time or switching to a new environmental science program in the next two years? If so, then you may be interested in an opportunity for free professional development for environmental science teachers.
The GEODE Initiative at Northwestern University is pleased to offer a free professional development opportunity to a limited number of high school environmental science teachers. This opportunity is available to schools that adopt Investigations in Environmental Science, a new inquiry-based environmental science textbook, and will be implementing it for the first time in 2007-08 or 2008-09. The professional development is being offered as part of a research study on professional development sponsored by the National Science Foundation and led by researchers at the University of Michigan.
The study is investigating the relative benefits of face-to-face and online professional development, and teachers selected to participate will be assigned at random to groups receiving different portions of the professional development in a face-to-face summer workshop and online throughout the year.
Teachers selected for the study will receive 48 hours of professional development (valued at $2000) and a stipend at the completion of each year of the study (total of $1500 over two years). Accepted teachers and their principals must have purchased (or commit to purchasing) the instructional materials, must commit to participating fully in the summer and academic year professional development workshops, and must commit to participating in the study, including classroom data collection, for two years.
Some other advantages for teachers who are selected for this professional development opportunity:
* Receive direct access to the developers of the curriculum, both face-to-face and online.* The developers of the curriculum designed and are running the professional development.
* Participate in a collaborative learning environment with other teachers around the ountry also learning to use the Investigations in Environmental Science curriculum.
Investigations in Environmental Science: a Case-Based Approach to Environmental Systems is a research-based, case-based, inquiry high school environmental science course that was developed by Northwestern University with the support of the National Science Foundation.
* Or contact: Beth Kubitskey, 610 E. University, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (734) 647-2975 iopd-info@umich.edu
