Media Advisory: Science Educators Converge at UB for Online Classroom Symposium

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- More than 30 middle school, high school, pre-service science and college educators from states ranging from Michigan to Massachusetts will come together on the University at Buffalo's North (Amherst) Campus today (Wednesday, July 15, 2009) to discuss the latest online resources to help them teach complicated scientific concepts to students who need science knowledge now more than ever.

Randy Yerrick, a UB professor and associate dean of educational technology in the Department of Learning and Instruction in UB's Graduate School of Education, whose cyberspace lesson plans on better ways to teach science are being used by teachers throughout the country, has coordinated the all-day science education conference. It runs from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Basement Computer Lab, Room 14 of Baldy Hall.

The conference will feature the work of the Concord Consortium, a nonprofit science education think tank and development center sponsored by federally funded programs.

Robert Tinker, Ph.D., president emeritus of the Concord Consortium, will make his first Western New York appearance to demonstrate his methods used in data collection, modeling and online learning environments. Tinker's science-teaching techniques have created hundreds of teaching resources and activities that incorporate easy-to-follow, state-of-the-art models any teacher can take advantage of, all designed to make the abstract concepts of science more accessible and memorable to students.

Those attending the event will learn how to get free access to the latest resources, develop lessons, use new tools and set up their online classroom environments to use throughout the year to supplement existing lessons.

"Students today work in an environment outside of school that is so wired and connected, while their science classrooms are often still operating with at least two-decade-old technology," says Yerrick. "Events like this are meant to help connect teachers and professors to the latest tools to help students and their teachers use the same tools, talk the same language and share the same thinking space."

The event is sponsored by the UB Department of Learning and Instruction and the Multimodal Multidimensional Model Project (M3P) for science, led by Yerrick, Suzanne Miller, associate professor, and Mary Thompson, assistant professor, all in the Department of Learning and Instruction.

Press arrangements: Charles Anzalone in UB's Office of Communications at (716) 645-4600, or (716) 440-8824 onsite.