Welcome to Current Issues in Science Education

Welcome to Current Issues in Science Education, the third science education content course in your program. This course is meant to give you a broad view of what issues you may face as you enter into leadership and curriculum roles in K-12 education and beyond. You will use Google products (e.g., search, research, docs, slides, forms, etc.) to research and prepare your assignments. You will also submit six items to TK20, so you must purchase it (see syllabus). Reimbursement for the cost of the program is available to those in the UT Brownsville Science Collaborative.

This course is offered using a hybrid format. The success of the program depends on the course design and the amount of time that a student puts into collaborating and thinking deeply about the course assignments.  I will do my best to provide the best course design possible. However, to be successful as a student set a schedule to work on projects giving yourself enough time to think deeply about what is being asked.

Realize that the issues we investigate today, may be different tomorrow so the skills you develop in this course will serve you later on in your professional career as a science educator. Problems get resolved and society has a way of moving past the issues which are no longer pressing. It's also human nature to move on to new problems while the public loses interest about those that we are currently facing. Understanding which issues deserve our attention is one of the goals for the course. This understanding helps us to make decisions and offer recommendations and design solutions.

As a student in this course, I expect for you to participate with fervor and stay connected with those of similar interests. Communication in the course has to go beyond emails. We will use Google applications to reach others and begin conversations and continue to the dialogue, as well as, expand our reach.

Feel free to join in on a conversation whether its on this blog or another Google product. Each Google product provides an opportunity to comment and let those interested read your thoughts.

If you are not familiar with some of these applications visit the Google Training site HERE. I hope you have a great semester. If you need help my office hours are posted on the syllabus. I'm available by scheduling an appointment or web conference.