NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
June 2011 News & Announcements Alice J. Teter* Journal of Chemical Education, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53715, United States ABSTRACT: This article highlights current information of interest to the chemical education community. KEYWORDS: General Public, Public Understanding/Outreach, Conferences, Professional Development
’ CALM CHEMISTRY TEACHERS NEEDED! Indiana University has been awarded a federal education grant to study the effectiveness of an online learning tool for chemistry called CALM (Computer-Assisted Learning Method). CALM was developed in 1996 by the Department of Chemistry at Indiana University, Bloomington and is primarily used by chemistry teachers in the form of an online homework system that allows the assessment and tracking of student performance to chemistry questions. CALM has been and will continue to be a free service for teachers and students. The CALM Project is in the process of recruiting teachers into the third year of a three-year randomized control study. The study needs approximately 70 teachers who have not used CALM in the past and are teaching at least one general chemistry course in the fall of 2011. Participating teachers will receive a $150 stipend. Also, because all teachers participating in the CALM study (those assigned to both treatment and control groups) will receive training during a CALM workshop on the IU campus, teachers may be eligible to count the workshop time as up to 12 15 hours of professional development. The workshop aligns with most states’ professional development standards as it addresses the integration and utilization of technology inside and outside of the classroom, furthers content knowledge, helps to plan instruction that is appropriate for students at all levels, and facilitates the development of alternative teaching methods for differentiated instruction. Contact Rebekah Sinders (
[email protected]) for details about CALM and the research study. Some information is available at http://calm.indiana.edu/ (accessed Apr 2011).
problems and improve quality of life. Applicants from all disciplines are encouraged to apply before the June 30, 2011 deadline. The program is intended to fund projects in life sciences, chemistry, quality assurance, environment, research, and industry. The grants are divided into two phases. Phase I grants are issued to fund further evaluation and development of technologies; up to 10 grants of up $10,000 will be awarded. Phase II grants are issued to mature a proposed technology through proof of concept in a way that enables the potential of market commercialization; up to two of these awards will be granted for up to $100,000 each. Grant recipients will be chosen based on the ability of the solution to change the world for the better, scientific prowess, creativity, technical merit, and commercial viability. The program welcomes applications from around the world. To learn more about the grant program and application process, visit http://blueoceangrants.com/ (accessed Apr 2011) or phone Ocean Optics at 727-733-2447. Nanoscience for Teachers: An Online Course
Teachers, welcome to the world of Nano! Would you like to learn more about nanoscience and nanotechnology, and how you can incorporate these topics into your curricula? This summer, Central Michigan University in partnership with the NSEC at University of Wisconsin—Madison is offering an eight-week online course for teachers about nanoscience, starting June 20, 2011. This course covers a variety of nano-related topics, highlights activities for use with students, and enables instructors to incorporate nanoscience into their particular courses. Teachers will receive 2 hours of graduate credit for completing the course, and partial support for tuition and fees is provided. For more information or to reserve a space, contact Janice Hall Tomasik right away:
[email protected]; telephone, 989-774-3330.
’ JUNE DEADLINES AND EVENTS
2011 cCWCS Crystallography Workshop Still Open
These workshops are organized under the auspices of the NSF-sponsored Chemistry Collaborations, Workshops, and Community of Scholars (cCWCS), the successor to the Center for Workshops in the Chemical Sciences (CWCS). They provide a background and contemporary perspective on various topics in the chemical sciences, along with methods to introduce these topics into the college curriculum. cCWCS is supported by the NSF CCLI program as a Phase III project. Aspects of the impact of the program at a wide variety of institutions are discussed on the cCWCS Web site, where you
Undergraduate Award in Inorganic Chemistry
The ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry is soliciting nominations for the 2011 ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry Undergraduate Award in Inorganic Chemistry. Submit nominations for the 2011 Award to http://www.acsdic.org/awards.htm (accessed Apr 2011) before June 30, 2011. Questions can be directed to
[email protected]. Optical Sensing Technologies Grants
Designed to provide funding for new technologies in optical sensing, Ocean Optics’s Blue Grants and Challenges program seeks innovative and novel optical sensing technologies that solve Copyright r 2011 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
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Journal of Chemical Education
NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
will find the online application: http://www.ccwcs.org/ (accessed Apr 2011).
’ THINKING AHEAD Earth Science Week 2011
It is not too early to begin thinking about Earth Science Week (October 9 15, 2011). True, it is some time in the future, but planning now will make it easier to incorporate Earth science activities into your schedule when fall does arrive. This year’s theme, Our Ever-Changing Earth, can be used to help students learn about natural processes that change the planet. Much more detailed information is available at http://www.earthsciweek. org/ (accessed Apr 2011).
’ WEB SITES OF ONGOING INTEREST A number of Web sites regularly add information about programs and funding sources for science educators. They sometimes post dates and deadlines too late to make it into print. Here is a partial list of such sites. We encourage you to visit them often (all accessed Apr 2011). • International Year of Chemistry: http://www.chemistry2011. org/ • Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge: http:// www.wecanchange.com/ • American Geological Institute: http://www.agiweb.org/ geoeducation.html • AGI Earth Science Week: http://www.earthsciweek.org/ • ACS Grants: http://www.acs.org/ (Home > Funding & Awards > Grants) • Dorothy and Moses Passer Education Fund: http://www. divched.org/index.php?module=webpage&id=19 • National Science Foundation: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/ • NSF Education and Human Resources: http://www.nsf. gov/dir/index.jsp?org=EHR • ACS Meetings: http://www.acs.org/ Home > Meetings • National Science Teachers Association: http://www.nsta. org/ • Research Corporation for Science Advancement (Cottrell College Science Awards and Cottrell Scholar Awards): http://www.rescorp.org/ ’ DO YOU HAVE NEWS OR ANNOUNCEMENTS TO SHARE? If you have news or announcements of interest to the chemical education community, send a brief description to Alice Teter at
[email protected].
’ AUTHOR INFORMATION Corresponding Author
*E-mail:
[email protected].
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