Like most colleges and universities, Northwestern has devoted new resources to academic support programs in recent years. Current models have had an emphasis on STEM courses and underrepresented students. They include academic year offerings (Academic Mentoring Program, Gateway Science Workshops) and transition programs for incoming students (BRIDGE, BioExcel). Though successful in many ways, these programs have suffered from their own particular limitations, which include enrollment caps, limited duration, and target populations.

This presentation covers a partnership between Northwestern’s Math Department and its Office of Residential Academic Initiatives to supplement academic resources on campus with new models for residential spaces. This is in part a response to the challenge of retaining first-year students in STEM courses. The partnership includes regular peer-led tutoring sessions and instructor-led midterm/final exam “review study tables in dining halls.” We will explain the steps required to generate awareness and enthusiasm among tutors, instructors, and students. We will also address challenges and obstacles encountered along the way both within the Calculus program and Residential Services. This is the second year of a developing initiative. We will share preliminary data for everything from awareness and satisfaction to participation to performance.

Our new initiatives have inspired a program for residential academic support in other disciplines including chemistry, economics, psychology, statistics, and the writing program. This is done with a partnership with the Northwestern Searle Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning.

Martina Bode is the Charles Deering McCormick Distinguished Senior Lecturer in the Math Department. Brad Zakarin is Director of the Office of Residential Academic Initiatives.

In this session, we will discuss how specific changes in the natural sciences sections of the Medical College Admission Test might affect undergraduate education in biology, physics, and chemistry. We will also discuss some of the ways various colleges and universities are addressing pre-medical education in light of the revised MCAT.

On February 19, 2014, the State of Illinois officially adopted the Next Generation Science Standards to go into effect by the 2016-17 school year. In response to the new NGSS standards and the need for high-quality science education throughout Chicago, the NGSS Collaborative Science project began serving Chicago K-12 schools in fall 2013 and has just completed its first year as a program funded by the Chicago Community Trust. The Collaborative project is being carried out using a strategic alliance of two school districts (Chicago Public Schools and Archdiocese of Chicago), and three universities (University of Loyola Chicago, DePaul University, and University of Chicago), with additional support provided by the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Polk Bros. Foundation. The Collaborative project’s main goal is to enhance the learning experiences and achievement successes in sciences for Chicago elementary and high school students through professional development supports. In the first year of the NGSS Collaborative project, program professional development activities were delivered to designated science teacher leaders. Teachers were offered 3 Teacher Leader Institute (TLI) workshops (6-hours each) and 3 Professional Learning Community (PLC) meetings (3-hours each). In total, 183 unique teachers participated in at least one TLI or PLC workshop from 87 different schools.

In this session we will provide a brief description of the Collaborative model, highlight quantitative findings from year1 analysis, and delve deeper into the qualitative findings specifically related to teachers' attitudes and perceptions regarding what they learned from the professional development workshops and meetings and what they planned to implement in their classroom. We will engage participants in an interactive discussion utilizing strategies and tools implemented in the project on the implications of the work presented. Specific discussion questions will include:

1. What if any key elements are we missing regarding professional development of elementary and middle grades science teachers;
2. What lessons learned can be brought to your current work; and
3. What changes do you expect to see in undergraduate science education once NGSS are fully implemented?

Contributors: Nayantara Aberham and Stacy Wenzel, Loyola University Chicago

University instructors and K-12 teachers are increasingly being asked to generate evidence to support claims that their courses positively impact student learning. This breakout session will review the NRC (2001) “assessment triangle” and discuss cognitive factors that are often neglected when developing or choosing assessments to measure student learning. In addition, the session will attempt to dispel several common misconceptions about educational assessment, and review a series of quality control indicators that should be considered when using concept inventories or other classroom tests.

Students benefit from designing classroom materials and working with their peers. We have student researchers create semester-long real-world modeling projects for our calculus II students to use. These projects are a key component of our calculus II course. By creating projects for other students to use in the course, student researchers have the opportunity to do mathematical research early in their careers. It also gives them the chance to present their work at conferences. Additionally, we employ embedded peer tutors in the course. We have performed a qualitative study analyzing how these experiences enhance student learning.

Participants in this session will explore this for their own institutional setting and give feedback on this project.

SENCER (Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities) is a vibrant community of practice of science educators (broadly defined) from hundreds of institutions nationwide dedicated to applying the science of learning to the learning of science, all to expand civic capacity. SENCER courses and programs connect science, technology, engineering, and mathematics content to critical local, national, and global challenges. SENCER improves science education by focusing on real world problems and, by so doing, extends the impact of this learning across the curriculum to the broader community and society. We do this by developing faculty expertise in teaching "to" basic, canonical science and mathematics "through" complex, capacious, often unsolved problems of civic consequence. Using materials, assessment instruments, and research developed through SENCER, faculty members design curricular projects that connect science learning to real world challenges.

This session will provide an opportunity for discussion among participants to share their experiences in incorporating civic challenges in their teaching. We invite those who have successfully ‘sencerized’ courses as well as those who are new to the approach.

The presenters are co-directors of the SENCER Center for Innovation – Midwest. The March 13 Chicago Symposium will focus on the SENCER approach in depth. The SENCER Regional Meeting will follow that symposium on March 14. More information about these events will be available at this presentation.

Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) Chicago is a one day symposium for middle school girls to show them the diverse experiences science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers have to offer. Students attend several workshops each in which a woman professional leads a hands-on activity and shares her experience doing science. The goal is to excite and empower girls about their ability to succeed in science-related professions. Simultaneously, parents attend workshops and panel discussions providing information regarding community programs and resources to assist them in facilitating their child's success. EYH Chicago is entirely volunteer-run with a vast majority of the organizers graduate students from local universities.

Our session will discuss the merits and drawbacks to involvement of graduate students in educational outreach. We will introduce several of our graduate students's experience, lead an example hands-on EYH activity, and reflect on the impact of involvement in EYH Chicago for graduate students.