The Puerto Rico-Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (PR-LSAMP) invites you to participate in the 17th Best Practices Conference on Teaching and Learning (BPC): Practical Approaches in STEM Education and Research
Rationale and main focus of the 17th BPC:
Participants in the previous BPC at UPRM in March 2018 voiced interest in addressing practical challenges in STEM education related to student misconceptions, student engagement, and producing scholarly works using data collected in courses and projects. This interest, and the global call for evidence-based practices in both STEM education and student interventions, led our PR-LSAMP team to organize the 17th BPC on practical approaches related to misconceptions, multiculturalism, and the production of scholarly works. Furthermore, there will be space for faculty to showcase their research and data on STEM education and to begin transforming existing data and ideas into scholarly works in STEM education and research.
Professional development and networking:
Participants will have the opportunity to share ideas, discuss concepts, and explore potential teaching and research directions during this BPC. For context, all speakers are fully bilingual, Spanish and English, and have educational and research experiences in Puerto Rico. BPC Participants may include faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, teachers, and informal educators. PR-LSAMP will provide a Certificate of Participation to each participant. This Certificate can be used for ethics and professional development hours.
Dates:
October 26 & 27, 2018
Location and general agenda*:
Session 1 - October 26 (8 AM – 4:30 PM) – Plenary talks, poster session for faculty projects in STEM education and research, and short presentations showcasing STEM education projects in Puerto Rico
Teatro Monseñor Vicente Murga, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico (PUCPR)-Ponce
Session 2 - October 27 (8 AM – 12 PM) – Faculty workshop on transforming existing STEM education practices and data into publishable products and dissemination activities.
Sala Madre Teresa de Calcuta, Edificio Perea, PUCPR-Ponce
Light breakfast and lunch will be served to all registered participants on October 26, and light breakfast will be served to all registered participants on October 27.
INVITED SPEAKERS**:
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Improved stories about Galileo and Darwin: How to fix historical myths in STEM Education
Abstract: Was Darwin really inspired by finches? Did Galileo drop objects from the Leaning Tower of Pisa? As part of the UTeach program, I teach a course titled “Perspectives on Science and Math,” since 2005. UTeach is a STEM teacher preparation program that has been replicated in 46 universities in 22 states. Early on, its directors chose to include history of science and mathematics as a required component for training science and math majors to become schoolteachers. For decades, history and philosophy of science had grown into professional research fields, so the goal is to incorporate accurate academic findings into STEM education. I will discuss two such examples, about Darwin and Galileo. As a professor, for years I taught traditional discovery stories about them until I gradually did my own research in history of science using primary sources. I found that there are myths in popular stories, but that these stories can be improved and converted into discovery learning activities in which students confront a scientific puzzle in ways similar to how past scientists originally encountered them. |
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![]() Lilliam Casillas-Martínez, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Biology Director of the Puerto Rican Outstanding Undergraduate Diversified Program (PROUD) University of Puerto Rico, Humacao |
Teaching to increase equity in STEM: Empowering underrepresented students using culturally-responsive strategies
Abstract: The Teaching to Increase Diversity and Equity in Science (TIDES) subdivision of the Project Kaleidoscope was dedicated to increase the learning outcomes and retention of students historically underrepresented in the STEM disciplines, particularly computer science. A main problem alluring Latinas to fields like Computational Biology (CB) is how to preserve their femininity in these male-dominated careers. Consequently, an empowering program, “Cybernetic Girls can be Pinky”, to allure Latinas into CB was implemented with a series of culturally-responsive strategies in three core courses in Biology. Courses were revamped, for example, the Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory implemented the Tiny Earth were students conducted a research project with local soils. All Tiny Earth modules were translated to Spanish to promote equity and make them more accessible to students. To fully empower students we also provided a Women in Science course that emphasizes the accomplishments of Puerto Rican scientists nowadays. At the faculty level, we started regional meetings in collaboration with the Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) and invited STEM faculty at Hispanic Serving Institutions to share their success stories. The meetings not only contemplated their best practices but also highlighted the culturally-responsive strategies implemented that resulted in an increased retention of Latinos in their STEM classrooms. As a consequence of those initiatives, a Puerto Rican Outstanding Undergraduate Diversified (PROUD) Program addressing Inclusive Excellence at the University of Puerto Rico-Humacao (UPR-H) under the guidance of professionals from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes was recently established. The main goal of the program is to establish a Center for Teaching and Learning to support STEM faculty in how to publish their educational strategies, particularly those addressing Latino retention. We plan to describe how the Center operates within Puerto Rico to then impact Latinos at other HIS’s. Please join us for an interactive and informative session in how to increase equity and inclusion for Latinos in STEM classrooms.
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![]() Wilson González-Espada, Ph.D. Professor of Physics and Science Education Department of Mathematics and Physics Morehead State University |
Publishable STEM Education manuscripts: A practical guide for research and dissemination at regional universities
Abstract: The generation of new knowledge is one of the most critical functions of a university. At research universities, reduced teaching loads allow faculty to engage in sponsored research and frequent publications. However, regional universities tend to be teaching-centered, with faculty assigned to higher teaching and service responsibilities. The increased workload demands reduce faculty’s opportunities to improve their scholarly productivity. The institutional culture of some regional universities might not foster scholarly activities, nor help faculty pursue grants or stimulate publishing. Individual, organizational, infrastructure, social, and economic factors can prevent faculty, who are passionate for their discipline and otherwise would have a significant publication output, to reach their scholarly goals. Using my professional experience as a framing device, my goal is for faculty to discover new ways to generate knowledge, even with high teaching and service loads. The concept of pedagogical action research will be discussed in the context of carefully planned in-class events (documenting student perceptions and attitudes with questionnaires; evaluating implementation of innovative curriculum, activities, technologies and assessments) and how they can lead to publications. In addition, scholarly development (summer fellowships, sabbatical, Fulbright fellowships, collaborating with undergraduate students in capstone projects and action research) can also lead to publishable results. Furthermore, I will highlight the importance of community science and local implications of new scientific discoveries, and how they can be used by faculty to write quality dissemination articles, publishable through venues such as Ciencia Puerto Rico, Diálogo Digital, and personal blogs.
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*Details of the (a) final agenda, (b) invited speaker presentation titles, abstracts, and biographies, (c) the poster session for faculty (please see below), and (d) workshop activities will be posted in September 2018.
**There will be invited speakers from Puerto Rican higher education institutions in the afternoon session of October 26. Details will be posted in September 2018.
Registration:
The workshop for faculty on October 27 has limited spaces available – we encourage faculty with STEM education data, draft manuscripts, blogs, drafts of STEM dissemination products, outreach projects and/or data, posters, conference presentations, and interest in producing future scholarly works in STEM education and/or interventions with students to register.
LIMITED SPACES…
17th Best Practice - October 26, 2018: 247 spaces left.
17th Best Practice Faculty Workshop - October 27, 2018: No spaces left.
Register for both sessions at: https://prlsamp.rcse.upr.edu/eregistration/
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: October 19, 2018
Friday, October 26th, 2018
Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico (PCUPR), Ponce
Monseñor Vicente Murga Theater
7:30-8:30am | Registration and Breakfast |
8:30-9:00am | Welcoming Remarks Jorge I. Vélez Arocho, Ph.D. President, PCUPR Presentation of Speakers Pablo A. Llerandi Román, Ph.D. PR-LSAMP, Assistant Director for Educational Research & Outreach |
9:00-9:45am | Alberto A. Martínez, Ph.D. Department of History University of Texas at Austin Improved stories about Galileo and Darwin: How to fix historical myths in STEM Education |
10:00-10:45am | Lilliam Casillas-Martínez, Ph.D. Department of Biology University of Puerto Rico-Humacao Campus Teaching to increase equity in STEM: Empowering underrepresented students using culturally-responsive strategies |
11:00-11:45am | Wilson González-Espada, Ph.D. Department of Mathematics and Physics Morehead State University Publishable STEM Education manuscripts: A practical guide for research and dissemination at regional universities |
12:00-1:15pm | Lunch |
1:15-2:30pm | Poster Session on STEM education projects and programs |
2:30-2:45pm | Presentations on Existing Programs and Interventions at PR Michelle Borrero, Ph.D. | University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras |
3:00-3:15pm | David Méndez, Ph.D. | Universidad del Turabo |
3:30pm | Break |
3:45-4:00pm | Josee Vedrine, Ph.D. | University of Puerto Rico-Humacao |
4:15pm | Closing Remarks Pablo A. Llerandi Román, Ph.D. |
Saturday, October 27th, 2018
Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico, Ponce
Madre Teresa de Calcuta Meeting Room
7:30-8:30am | Registration and Breakfast |
8:30-11:30am | Workshop on transforming existing STEM education programs and activities into proposals and publishable manuscripts Lead by: Wilson González-Espada, Ph.D. Department of Mathematics and Physics Morehead State University Alberto A. Martínez, Ph.D. Department of History University of Texas at Austin Lilliam Casillas-Martínez, Ph.D. Department of Biology University of Puerto Rico-Humacao Campus Pablo A. Llerandi Román, Ph.D. PR-LSAMP Assistant Director for Educational Research & Outreach |
11:30-12:00n | Leasons Learned & Closure Pablo A. Llerandi Román, Ph.D. |
Questions, comments, suggestions:
If you have questions or comments about this announcement or the 17th BPC please contact Dr. Pablo A. Llerandi Román at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by phone at 787-765-5170, x2013, x2016, or x2067.
Thanks, we look forward to meet you at the 17th BPC!