Fulbright Chile and la UMCE

I have received an appointment with the Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educación (UMCE) in Santiago, Chile. I will begin this appointment to begin in July of 2008 in order to coincide with the beginning of the second semester at UMCE, as indicated in the invitation letter. Professionally, I have realized in my collaborations with my colleagues at UMCE that we have complimentary and congruent visions and understandings of science education, and that the collaborative efforts we are pursuing would be strengthened by an experience such as a Fulbright award would afford.  The fundamental tenets of our profession align directly, and my desire to collaborate with highly skilled and like minded educators would help me grow immensely as a multicultural science educator at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), in the surrounding Juárez, México area and other Hispanic serving locations both in the US and abroad. Living in the border region of the Southwestern United States has convinced me that my future as a science educator rests on my ability to communicate effectively in both English and Spanish. Becoming a Fulbright Scholar would provide the opportunity for a transformative experience for me personally and professionally, one I am highly motivated to secure and achieve. I believe that my appointment at UMCE will enable me to grow in my abilities as a multicultural science educator in order to speak, read, write and communicate more effectively in Spanish.

In correspondence with the faculty at UMCE, I have identified a series of topics for lectures from my areas of expertise that seem most relevant to their needs.  These areas include constructivism, Problem-Based Learning (PBL), and the Critical Thinking Curriculum Model (CTCM).   Constructivism is a learning strategy that builds upon students' existing knowledge, beliefs, and skills. Within a constructivist approach, as students encounter new information, they work to synthesize new understandings based on their current experiences and their prior learning. In other words, the constructivist approach to learning states that learners of all ages build new ideas on top of their personal conceptual understandings. PBL is an inquiry-based approach that can be defined as both a curriculum and a process. The curriculum consists of carefully selected and designed problems that engage the learner in the process of acquiring critical knowledge, developing proficiency in problem solving, engaging in self-directed learning, and participating in collaborative teams. The CTCM is a multidisciplinary approach designed to encompass computer technology, a current real world issue, and effective learning and teaching practices.

For the research aspect of this project, I plan to provide a detailed analysis of the use of online tools and assess their appropriate use in science education classes. The purpose will be to measure learning achievements in Chilean students and to provide comparisons with science education students attending UTEP. The research results will be utilized in order to develop future plans for collaborative work between the two universities. This research methodology for the study may be defined as the design, collection, and interpretation of data and information in order to understand the value of an instructional methodology. To measure the increases in student learning in science and technology, specific educational objectives will be tested and the results analyzed.  Students participating in the research study will be enrolled at UMCE and be participating in their new curriculum, which is purported to be theoretically more student-centered and technologically assisted. The main objective of the research project will be to determine if the new curriculum does increase student learning in objective areas as defined by the host institution.