Week Ten September 21 - 27, 2008

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

Week Ten September 21 - 27, 2008

The following is a summary of the activities that I have been engaged in during the week of September 21 - 27 as they relate to the work I am doing here at UMCE as part of my Fulbright Scholarship.

ISS from UTEP at UMCE

On Monday, September 22, Sunay Palsole, Director of Instructional Support Services (ISS) from UTEP was here in Santiago, and we visited on the campus of UMCE. We also attended meeting with the director of Information technology here at UMCE to discuss future collaborations and resource sharing. Afterwards, we visited with the Dean of the College of Science, Juan Vargas, to discuss some of the administrative mechanisms for helping interested Ph.D. students here at UMCE to effectively enroll in the new Ph.D. program in the Teacher Education Department.

Fulbright Chile Presentation for Doctoral Students

On Tuesday, September 23, I gave a presentation entitled “Choosing a Doctoral Program of Study That Works For You” to 25 Chilean Fulbright Nominees for Doctoral and Master’s programs. The goal was to share my experiences and knowledge with the participants and guide them on how to choose a Ph.D. program. I also included information on how to define their study objectives, how to choose the right professor that will chair their committee, and how to search for programs/professors. I also had the opportunity to give them information about UTEP top doctoral programs.

The audience was Chilean Fulbright Nominees. Most of them have already been approved for a Fulbright grant and now they are working in their applications to the US Universities. They are representatives of three of Fulbright Chile’s Programs:

1. The Equal Opportunities Scholarship. The grantees will do Ph.D. in 2009. The BIO (Beca Igualdad de Oportunidades) grantees will start a total immersion English training program from August 11th to October 20th.
2. The selected Master grantees.
3. The grantees selected for Ph.D. Programs starting in 2009 (Beca de Doctorado en Ciencia y Tecnología Fulbright-CONICYT y Fulbright Mecesup)

Meeting at US Embassy

On Wednesday, September 24, I attended a reception at the home of the US Deputy Director, Carol Urban that was held for a delegation of university presidents and chancellors from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). The group is visiting Chile from September 24-30 in order to meet with Chilean higher education authorities and attend the XV World Congress of the International Association of University Presidents (IAUP) that will take place next week in Viña del Mar.

US Embassy Story:

http://www.usembassy.cl/OpenNews/asp/pagDefault.asp?argInstanciaId=2&argNoticiaId=4145

Meeting with Dean Juan Vargas concerning possible Ph.D. candidates

On Thursday, September 24, I met with the Dean of the College of Science, Juan Vargas, to look over the materials related to interested Ph.D. students here at UMCE who desire to enroll in the new Ph.D. program in the Teacher Education Department. The main goal was to identify the top students who would be most ready to work to join the program and be integrated into a dissertation phase in due consequence. The resulting list of possible candidates was then shared with Dr. Tinajero and Dr. Macias in order to prepare them for a discussion prior to an onsite visit here and an evaluation of candidates to take back and share with the TED faculty. The goal of this effort is to have a small cohort of UMCE students joining the Ph.D. program within the coming year.

Personal Transition to Work in Spanish

I have had some interesting experiences this past week in my working world in Spanish, as the cross over to English as an international language was also very apparent. I have often felt that having 2 languages is a real benefit, and I know that to be true in El Paso. Yet, I have come to see how that is a big push here in Chile, as in many ways, the need to learn English and apply that skill to the international community is very apparent in the education system. It also seems that it is ripe for future collaborations with our university and specifically, the Department of Teacher Education, with our incredible strength and skills in bilingual education. I think faculty in this area should really look to see how they might also come to Chile to aid in this transition and to study the impacts of their approaches.

UMCE Notes

School is back in full swing after the break around the fiestas patrias, and many of the classes are getting ready for mid-terms over the next few weeks. The work is really starting to pick up as is the atmosphere on campus, as spring unfolds all around.

Here are a few news items that appeared on the UMCE Web site concerning my work here in Santiago.

El Mercurio Story
http://www.umce.cl/enlinea/noticias/20080922_dr_skateboard_mercurio.html

Strategies for Teaching and Learning
http://www.umce.cl/enlinea/noticias/20080911_estrategias_innovadoras_fisica.html

Week Nine September 14 - 20, 2008

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

Week Nine September 14 - 20, 2008

The following is a summary of the activities that I have been engaged in during the week of September 14 - 20 as they relate to the work I am doing here at UMCE as part of my Fulbright Scholarship.

Physics Project in El Mercurio

On Sunday, September 14 I was in the Education section of the Mercurio, the oldest newspaper in Santiago and was featured for my work in the local schools, along with Prof. Claudio Perez.
The article can be accessed online here:

http://www.mer.cl/modulos/catalogo/Paginas/2008/09/14/MERSTVS025AA1409.htm

Fiestas Patrias – National Holidays

This week, the classes were suspended for students, professors and staff as a break for celebrations of national independence (fiestas patrias), that happened on September 18 and 19, 2008. It was really like spring break in September, a unique experience for me.
The 18th and 19th of September are marked as such to commemorate the independence of Chile from Spain, and although there is some dispute as to whether it happened for real in 1808 or 1810 (actual independence came in April of 1818), there is no debate on the days themselves. Chileans circle these days in red on their calendars in the beginning of the year and plan their festive times to come filled with the national dance, la cueca, grilled meats (asados) on open flames, a flavorful wine-sangria type drink (chachi) served in a horn, and of course, the ever-present and flavorful empanada.

Many people celebrate the days with family and friends; others diverge on Parque O’Higgins in Santiago for the national parade, some head to the shore, some to the mountains, some even head out of town to Buenos Aires. Whatever the plan, it includes getting ready to party and to celebrate the national days of independence, to kick off the cold of winter and embrace the coming of spring, and to acknowledge the identity and unity of an entire nation.

Week Eight September 7 - 13, 2008

Week Eight September 7 - 13, 2008

The following is a summary of the activities that I have been engaged in during the week of September 6 - 13 as they relate to the work I am doing here at UMCE as part of my Fulbright Scholarship.

Meeting at US Embassy

On Wednesday, September 10, I attended a reception at the home of the US Ambassador, Paul E. Simons that was hosted by the Washington, DC think tank, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). This group is best known for its creating the interfaces that spawned the communication of the Internet, and lead to Tim Berners-Lee’s development of the World Wide Web. DARPA is the U.S. Department of Defense central research and development organization with the mission to conceive, develop, and demonstrate advanced technology that would lead to new military capabilities. I did make some contacts, as I did think that the work we are doing at UTEP, both in Engineering and Homeland Security, might be ripe for some type of collaboration in the future.

More on the visit form DARPA:

http://santiago.usembassy.gov/OpenNews/asp/pagDefault.asp?argInstanciaId=2&argNoticiaId=4105

Physics Project in El Mercurio

On Sunday, September 14 I was in the Education section of the Mercurio, the oldest newspaper in Santiago and was featured for my work in the local schools, along with Prof. Claudio Perez.

The article can be accessed online here:

http://www.mer.cl/modulos/catalogo/Paginas/2008/09/14/MERSTVS025AA1409.htm

Physics Instruction at Liceos

On Monday, September 8, I worked at the 2 local high schools implementing the physics project from la UMCE. The first school, Liceo Juan Antonio Ríos, has approximately 15 students in the project. The second school, Liceo Capitán de Corbete Pedro Gonzáles, has 2 sections of students, the first with approximately 30 students and the second with 35 students. I did another brief demonstration at each school, followed by data gathering for the physics experiments. We set up instrumentation with the student teams who gathered data with both traditional materials such as tape measurers and stopwatches as well with motion sensors. This was done in order to get data from the movement so that the student teams can construct data driven computer models.

Class Schedules at UMCE

This week, the classes were suspended for students, but professors and staff did have to attend and work on campus. There was also concern throughout the city for the 11 of September, which marks the date of the military coup of Pinochet in 1973. This day is marked often with conflict and demonstration throughout the city. This month also features the coming celebrations of national independence, that happen September 18 and 19 and is 2 days of national celebration.

Data Analysis of Student Attitudes in Science and Computers

I have continued to input my survey data from both the classes at UMCE and from the 2 liceos, and should have a solid set of preliminary data from which to draw my comparison studies. I am inputting everything in Excel at this time, as it is just pre-test data, but will be able to use SPSS to analyze the statistics once the post-tests are done. The goal is to have data pre and post in the areas of attitudes, efficacy, technology use and content information in physics for the students at UMCE and hopefully have the pre and post in the areas of attitudes and content information in physics for the students at the liceos. We have also worked on the data analysis for the content area pre-exams for the students here at la UMCE, and have established baseline scores for the groups.

Week Seven August 31 – September 6, 2008

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

Week Seven August 31 – September 6, 2008

The following is a summary of the activities that I have been engaged in during the week of August 31 - September 6 as they relate to the work I am doing here at UMCE as part of my Fulbright Scholarship.

Presentation at Campus Santiago de la Universidad de Talca

Last week, I participated as part of a panel at the American Academy of Science and Technology, an initiative in partnership with the US Embassy and the University of Talca. On the US Embassy Web site, there was a story entitled, “Panel of U.S. and Chilean Experts Discussed Innovative Strategies for Science Education”. The 5 panelists, including myself, met with students and educators on August 29, at the American Academy of Science and Technology, at University of Talca’s Campus Santiago. The article has some good text on both my projects and UTEP. It is available in both English and Spanish, and can be accessed at the following URLs:

English (http://www.embajadaeeuu.cl/OpenNews/asp/pagDefault.asp?argInstanciaId=2&argNoticiaId=4075)

Spanish (http://www.embajadaeeuu.cl/OpenNews/asp/pagDefault.asp?argInstanciaId=1&argNoticiaId=4074)

Upcoming Presentations for Spring Semester at UMCE

I recently submitted 2 papers to be considered for the upcoming presentations at UMCE, and was notified that I was accepted for both. The conference will be here in Santiago from October 1-3 and will focus on innovative uses of technology in teaching and learning in science education. I will be participating as part of a panel on the use of technology in science education and will also be delivering a presentation on a paper that I submitted and was accepted for publication. The paper is entitled “Ciencia de acción: Educacion transformativa en fisica” and was written in Spanish. The paper will be published in a peer-reviewed magazine here in Chile and should appear in the spring.

Faculty Meeting

On Wednesday, September 3, I attended the regular weekly staff meetings with the Physics department on the new physics project they are implementing this semester. At this meeting, we went over the use of evaluation and diagnostic tools as a way of gaining information on the make up of a class and their understandings of concepts. I was able to talk a bit about how we use online tools, such as those in WebCt and Blackboard, to get assessment data rapidly online. I also spoke about the need for the department to perhaps standardize some instruments, and put them online so that they could be used by all the faculty without being a burden in terms of time for professors. I am going to try and do this with the instrument I have been using and see if I can make it work in their online platform Moodle. I think this will help the department to better understand the attitudes and efficacy of their students and hopefully serve as a model for future content driven assessments across the department.

Physics Instruction at Liceos

On Monday, September 1, I worked at the 2 local high schools implementing the physics project from la UMCE. The first school, Liceo Juan Antonio Ríos, has approximately 15 students in the project. The second school, Liceo Capitán de Corbete Pedro Gonzáles, has 2 sections of students, the first with approximately 30 students and the second with 35 students. We worked with the student teams in order to develop an active hypothesis that they can use to construct a computer model to simulate movement in a straight line. I worked with Prof. Perez in facilitating the group discussions to get students to come to consensus on a single line of investigation, which we will implement in the following week.

Changes in Class Schedules at UMCE

Last week, there were some changes to the class schedules as student protests fueled a few days of change on the campus. From what I can best determine, this happens each September as the days of remembrance of past political conflicts rise to the surface. The month also features the coming celebrations of national independence that happen September 18,19 and are 2 days of national celebration.

Data Analysis of Student Attitudes in Science and Computers

I have continued to input my survey data from both the classes at UMCE and from the 2 liceos, and should have a solid set of preliminary data from which to draw my comparison studies. I am inputting everything in Excel at this time, as it is just re-test data, but will be able to use SPSS to analyze the statistics once the post-tests are done. The goal is to have data pre and post in the areas of attitudes, efficacy, technology use and content information in physics for the students at UMCE and hopefully have the pre and post in the areas of attitudes and content information in physics for the students at the liceos.

Personal Transition to Work in Spanish

I have had a bit of an upswing in both my pursuits in writing and speaking, especially in my communication among the faculty and the students. I think that having to deliver a lot of materials in Spanish as well as write both presentations and articles in Spanish has been starting to pay off. I am also beginning to understand the cadence of the language here, which is often faster and very different than Spanish in El Paso. Although I know I have a long way to go, I am seeing some positive results from my persistence and from my immersion. Having a couple of great mentors has helped as well, and I can better how I can help to mentor others at UTEP once I return.

UMCE Notes

The faculty in Science has recently put up some information on the new Observatory facility and has posted a blog that is for the students in Physics and the entire college.

http://observatoriumce.blogspot.com/

Week Six August 24-30, 2008

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

Week Six August 24-30, 2008

The following is a summary of the activities that I have been engaged in during the week of August 24-30 as they relate to the work I am doing here at UMCE as part of my Fulbright Scholarship.

Presentation at Campus Santiago de la Universidad de Talca

On Friday, August 29, both Claudio Pérez and I participated as part of a panel at the American Academy of Science and Technology, an initiative in partnership with the US Embassy and the University of Talca. The panel of 5 presenters gave talks in Spanish over the theme of “Innovative Strategies for Science Education” (Estrategias Innovadoras para la Educación en las Ciencias) and I did my talk on Transformative Education (Educación Tranfoormativa). The event was held from 4 PM to 7 PM in the auditorium of the Santiago Campus of the University of Talca. It was well attended and the talks convered topics including action science, transformative education, space science, Microsoft school, modeling and mathematics on the Web.

Academic Presentations for Spring Semester at UMCE

I have prepared a list of 11 topics that I can use to give presentations in other professor’s classes in the physics department. This will help me to interact and network with the other professors in tangible ways as well as help me to increase my depth and breadth in my academic delivery here in Santiago. My goal is to participate in each of the 4 modules as well as interact with the entire faculty. This is also part of my Fulbright project, which is a Lecture/Research award, and an important part of my actual interaction with students in classes throughout the semester. This also will have an added benefit of being useful topics for multicultural science education once I return to UTEP.

Faculty Meeting

On Wednesday, August 27, I attended the regular weekly staff meetings with the Physics department on the new physics project they are implementing this coming semester. At this meeting, we discussed the issues of the physics units that are being developed in the areas of the workshop in scientific thinking that uses a problem-based learning approach, as well as the mathematical physics module. I have also been finalizing the translation for my evaluation instruments on efficacy (STEBI-B) in Spanish and technology use for students in Spanish. There will be a final review by the physics faculty next week 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.

Motivational Demonstration of Action Science at Liceos

On Monday, August 25, I did 2 demonstrations at the local high schools I am working at during this semester, here in Santiago as part of Prof. Claudio Perez's outreach class in Physics education. The first school, Liceo Juan Antonio Ríos, has approximately 15 students in the project. The second school, Liceo Capitán de Corbete Pedro Gonzáles, has 2 sections of students, the first with approximately 30 students and the second with 35 students. My demos were part of the beginnings for the student teams who will use data from my skateboarding to construct mathematical models and computer simulations. There was a lot of interest in the class as well as a large crowd that gathered that included both faculty and other students on both campuses. The idea was to engage the students in a constructivist activity that would motivate them to work within the teams to develop an active hypothesis that they can use to construct a computer model to simulate some of my movements.

Meeting with Informational Technology Division at UMCE

I had a meeting with members of the Informational Technology Division at UMCE and presented some of the work we are doing at UTEP, including the use of WebCT, Blackboard and Faculty Web sites. The group is part of a campus wide effort to better offer online services as well as train teachers in the use of technology to aid their instruction. In many ways, the efforts they are doing are similar to a fusion of our ISS and CETaL, so that technology can aid the teaching and also benefit students and teachers in access and availabity. The group was lead by a consultant from Spain, who has close ties to UMCE and has extensive experience in E-learning.

Data Gathering and Demonstration of Action Science at UMCE

On Thursday, August 28, I did another brief demonstration on the patio of the College of Education building at la UMCE, here in Santiago as part of Prof. Claudio Perez's class in Physics education. This was mainly at the request of the students and my colleagues who wanted to see physics in action. Afterwards we set up instrumentation with the student teams who gathered data with both traditional materials such as tape measurers and stopwatches as well with Pasco sensors. This was done in order to get data from the movement so that the student teams can construct data driven computer models.

UMCE facts

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) as well as additional information on the physics department (http://www.umce.cl/~fisica/principal.html).

Personal Transition to Work in Spanish

In the past week of my academic work here, I had new challenges but in many ways it also began to feel a lot like the work I do back in El Paso. I am beginning to see that my methods as an instructor utilizing constructivist approaches are solid, and that my efforts as a researcher will be useful and valuable. With increased interactions with students in real classes, 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 submitted an article for a conference and publication in Spanish as well as prepared and delivered all my materials in Spanish associated with the US Embassy/University of Talca presentations last Friday.