Week Seventeen November 9 – November 15, 2008

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

Week Seventeen November 9 – November 15, 2008

The following is a summary of the activities that I have been engaged in during the week of November 9 – November 15 as they relate to the work I am doing here at UMCE as part of my Fulbright Scholarship.

Motivational Demonstration of Action Science at Colegio

On Monday, November 20, I did a demonstration at Colegio Saint Gabriel's de Providencia here in Santiago as part of Prof. Raul Ilufi’s class in Physics. My demo was done on the physics of action science and included concepts in forces, motion, Newton’s Laws of Motion and simple machines. I performed for 2 groups of students, each group of approximately 75 students, and did the lecture and demonstration completely in Spanish. 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 the campus. The idea was to engage the students in a constructivist activity that would motivate them to work in physics and the concepts associated with their curriculum.

Meeting at US Embassy

On Monday, November 10, I attended a reception at the home of the US Ambassador, Paul E. Simons that was put on for a visit to Chile by a group of Representatives from the US House. The group included 8 representatives from California, New York, North Carolina, Indiana and Tennessee. It was interesting to talk with these leaders and also to hear their thoughts about the role of the US in its interactions with Chile in the coming years.

More on the visit:

http://santiago.usembassy.gov/OpenNews/asp/pagDefault.asp?argInstanciaId=2&argNoticiaId=4238

Argentina Science Education Workshops

On Wednesday, November 12, I left for Argentina in order to participate in a series of workshops in the southern, central and northern parts of the country. The invitation to participate I a series of different events came at the request of Fulbright Chile and the Ministry of Education in Argentina, who are engaged in the 2008 Year of Science in the country. The program was put together mainly through ProFOR (Programa de Formación y Capatación para el Sector Educativo), who established the agendas and made the final arrangements on locations. I worked directly with their offices to set up my materials and to establish the agenda for the workshops that would be held in Villa Angostura (near Baroloche in Patagonia), Buenos Aires (the capital city), and Concepción del Uruguay, in the providence of Entre Rios 4 hours north of the capital.

ProFOR Web Site

http://www.me.gov.ar/profor/

Fulbright Argentina Web Site

http://www.fulbright.edu.ar/esp/index.asp

Argentina Science Education Workshops – Villa Angostura

On Wednesday, November 12, I arrived in Villa Angostura in the afternoon after a flight to Buenos Aires, a transport to another airport, for domestic flights and the final flight to Baroloche, and then via bus to Villa Angostura. In this remote and beautiful setting, a group of Science education professors from the University of Buenos Aires had set up a weeklong workshop for students who were in programs to become science teachers, in the areas of biology, physics, chemistry and mathematics. The group also had a series of master teachers involves, and had participants from many locations, including Ushuaia, Mendocino and Buenos Aires.

That evening, I did a demonstration for the group and my demo was done on the physics of action science and included concepts in forces, motion, Newton’s Laws of Motion and simple machines. I performed for the group of approximately 50 students, and did the lecture and demonstration completely in Spanish. 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 the campus. The idea was to engage the students in a constructivist activity that would motivate them to work in physics and the concepts associated with their curriculum.

The next day, I gave a workshop on the concept of the center of gravity and used a constructivist approach that centered on the aspects of engagement, exploration and explanation. The workshop was for 90 minutes and the students interacted with me in a brainstorm session and then viewed a small video clip of the use of the center of gravity in action sports. After this, I put students into groups of 3-4 members and had them do a hands-on activity on this concept using materials that are readily available in schools, such as cardboard, string, paper clips and pencils. After the activity, we had a discussion on the methods and the content and I finished with a short presentation on the constructivist method of teaching and learning.

Argentina Science Education Meetings – Buenos Aires

On Friday, November 14, I returned to Buenos Aires with members of ProFOR and went immediately to their offices for a luncheon meeting with staff members from the Ministry of Education. This conversation centered on my ideas and work in science education and on the use of specific methods of teaching science to both student and adult learners. After this meeting, I went to the offices of Fulbright-Argentina where I met with the Director, Dr. Norma González, and we spoke about not only science education, but the Fulbright experience. She also was a Fulbright scholar who went from Argentina to the US to receive both her Master’s and Doctoral degrees. Fulbright-Argentina is celebrating their 50th year with their program and we discussed the impacts that this programs brings into the lives of its participants.

Personal Transition to Work in Spanish

I have been working hard on my Spanish and this week I continued with a veritable immersion in the areas of speaking, writing, listening and reading in Spanish. It was also a time of engaging in both technical and conversational language all the time, so there was a great need to think on my feet and to demonstrate my command of the language to my new colleagues. In this manner, I felt like I really have progressed in my abilities and this type of transition, from one language in immersion, to another at a different place, is a skill that I think I can further develop when I get back to UTEP: