Week Four August 10-16, 2008

UTEP-UMCE News – Dr. Bill Robertson, Fulbright Scholar, UTEP Assistant Professor

Week Four August 10-16, 2008

The following is a summary of the activities that I have been engaged in during the week of August 10-16 as they relate to the work I am doing here at UMCE as part of my Fulbright Scholarship.

Quinta Normal Schools – Physics in Secondary Schools

On Monday, August 11, Claudio Perez Matzen and I went to visit 2 schools in the Quinta Normal who are participating in a project in physics education in which we both we will be working this fall. The first school, Liceo Juan Antonio Ríos, is and there are approximately 15 students in the project. The second school, Liceo Capitán de Corbete Pedro Gonzáles, is and has 2 sections of students, the first with approximately 30 students and the second with 35 students. The main idea is to use the physics of skateboarding as a focus and have the students engage in experiments and modeling that use both traditional methods and computer programs, such a s Excel, Modellus and Data Studio. We administered 2 surveys on attitudes (science and computers) as well as basic tests on physics and technology concepts to be covered during the units. We will evaluate these as pre-tests and administer the instruments at the end of the unit as a post-test measure.

ECBI Workshops

On Tuesday, August 12 and Wednesday, August 13, I participated in part of a workshop utilizing the ECBI (Enseñaza de las Ciencias Basada en Indagación) approach that utilizes a hands-on approach to teaching physics, chemistry and biology. The workshop was over basic principles of inquiry and the way to go through the learning cycle, following the approach of focalization to exploration to analysis and then to evaluation. In many ways, this is also like ht 5 Es of constructivism, and the techniques of the constructivist classroom, student-centered, teacher-facilitated lessons using questions to drive student learning were common themes throughout the workshops.

The first day was spent working in small groups on experiments using this approach and the second day was spent in a series of workshops at different grade levels. I was in charge of leading a small group of colleagues through the 5th grade basic science materials on Movement and Design. This material is similar to that used in schools in Juarez, and I had participated in similar work when the group from Chile visited here in January of 2007. You can see some of the pictures from the workshop at the following URL: (http://picasaweb.google.com/drsk8board/ECBITaller).

Meeting with UMCE Administration

On Tuesday, August 12, I met during the Noon hour with the administration of UMCE, including Rector (University President), Dr. Raúl Navarro Piñeiro; the Prorrector (University Provost), Dr. José Martínez Armesto, and the Director of Graduate Studies Postgrado, Dr. Mario Leyghton Soto. The meeting was a chance for them all to meet me and for me to have an interaction with them as a member of the visiting faculty at UMCE. They expressed a great interest in having our universities continue to work together, and were very encouraged about our new Ph.D. program in TED. They had met previously with Dr. Tinajero and Dr. Hampton on a number of subjects, and were interested at increasing the exchanges of faculty and students both in Santiago and in El Paso. They also asked me if I would work with a local school that UMCE has been working with as a magnet school, and I said I would be happy to assist in anyway I could. I will be planning a site visit in the next week or so to meet some of the staff and look for a project to do with the students at the school.

Preparation for Spring Semester

I am preparing to begin my interactions with students in the new classes at UMCE which will begin on Monday, August 18. I will be participating directly in classes associated with the new physics project, and am preparing a list of seminar options for the faculty to look over to see where my areas of expertise might best match to their course offerings. My goal is to participate in each of the 4 modules as well as interact with the entire faculty.

I have also been working on new evaluation instruments on efficacy (STEBI-B) in Spanish and technology use for studnets in Spanish. These will be reviewed by the physics faculty and then prepared and delivered to the students as part of my Fulbright Study. I am also planning to make this available for the faculty to use in subsequent semesters, as the project will continue here in the 2009 academic year.

The faculty had to finalize all grades this week and have only a few days off (Thursday and Friday) between semesters this term in order to get ready for the second semester, which will begin August 18.

UMCE facts

You can access some general photos of the Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencia de la Educación (UMCE) from around the campus at the following URL: (http://picasaweb.google.com/drsk8board/UMCE)

You can also see some interesting News from UMCE regularly on the Noticias area of their Web site (http://www.umce.cl/investigacion/noticias.html).

Personal Transition to Work in Spanish

In the past week of my academic work here, I had new challenges which involved direct interactions with faculty in the Science departments around the topics of inquiry based science education. I feel that my methods as an instructor utilizing constructivist approaches are solid, and feel that my group not only understood my facilitation, but was able to see how they might use this in their own teaching. I feel that I am expanding on my skills as an instructor in Spanish, and this will surely help me when I return to UTEP. I also know that the coming interactions with the students will bring unique challenges that I am looking forward to as well, and see this as a valuable part of my work at la UMCE.