On Wednesday November 5th, the Office of STEM Education Partnerships held a day-long Summit on STEM Education at Northwestern University. Both high school science teachers and school administrators were interested in learning more about this program and the ways research communication is at the intersection of the English and Language Arts and Mathematics Common Core State Standards as well as the Next Generation Science Standards for K-12 education.
There were a variety of ways in which CIERA staff, faculty, and students participated. Michelle Paulsen (Program Director for CIERA’s Reach for the Stars) was on the organizing committee and shared the science communication training that Ready, Set, Go has brought to graduate students and post docs at Northwestern.Assistant Professors Yoram Lithwick and Claude-André Faucher-Giguère presented at a joint session for high-school math and science teachers interested in bringing their research into the classrooms. Many teachers signed up, expressing an interest in summer professional development opportunities for themselves that would better prepare them to help their students with independent research opportunities in astronomy. In addition, Meagan Morscher and Peter Ashton served on a panel that answered questions for high school students about research, undergraduate, and graduate school opportunities.
This event was also covered by The Daily Northwestern