Tag Archives: science literacy

Holly White, M.S.

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Congratulations to Holly White for successfully defending her thesis, entitled, “GROUNDWATER EDUCATION: AN INVESTIGATION OF STUDENTS’ USE OF A GROUNDWATER MODELING TOOL”.  For the past two years, Holly has worked as a graduate assistant as part of the Forbes Group, conducting research on K-12 and undergraduate students’ use of the Hydrogeology Challenge to reason about groundwater, as well as serving as a teaching assistant for the SCIL 109 course. Prior to that, Holly was a student in the 109 course and UCARE undergraduate researcher with the E2FEW project.   It has been a pleasure to work with Holly as both project PI and her advisor. Molly’s thesis study was conducted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Science in UNL School of Natural Resources.  Her committee members included Drs. Dave Gosselin and Trenton Franz.

Forbes Group 2018

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It was a big summer of transition in the Forbes team, with team members moving on to next steps and new team members coming on board.  Congrats to newly-minted Ph.D. Tina Vo who will begin a tenure-track position at UNLV as an Assistant Professor of Science Education in August.  Dante Cisterna, UnICORN project postdoc, is also starting a new position at ETS in July.  Destini Petitt completed her M.S. in the School of Natural Resources and will begin doctoral studies in the Dept. of Geography and Earth Sciences at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.  Ashley (McKenzie) Sutter (formerly Peterson), will leave us for a second time to return to her position with USDA.  And, finally, Florian Böschl, doctoral student at the University of Leipzig in Germany, will return home after a summer in Lincoln.  We wish them all the best!

Joining the team are two new SNR doctoral students, Amie Sommers and Kim Carroll-Steward, undergraduate research assistant Brooke Mott, and incoming postdoctoral researcher Ranu Roy, who recently completed her Ph.D. at Indiana University.  They join a fantastic continuing group of team members, including SNR doctoral student Diane Lally, postdoc Devarati Bhattacharya, and undergraduate research assistants Holly White, Isabella Catalano, and Nancy Theodor.

Research published on undergraduate students’ socio-scientific reasoning about wildlife

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Congrats to Ashley (McKenzie) Sutter for publication of her thesis work in the International Journal of Science Education.  Utilizing value belief norm (VBN) theory and construal level theory (CLT), the study explores how undergraduate students reason and make decisions about prairie dog conversation issues.  The research, which was conducted in the SCIL 101 course (Science and Decision-Making for a Complex World), is grounded in the use of structured-decision making as a teaching and learning strategy in large enrollment, undergraduate STEM courses.  Findings from the study illustrate the interrelationships between students’ values, problemmatization of the issue, and science-informed decision-making.  

Sutter, A.M., Dauer, J.M., & Forbes, C.T. (2018). Construal level and value-belief norm theories: Implications for undergraduate decision-making on a prairie dog socio-scientific issue. In International Journal of Science Education, 40(9), 1058-1075.

2018 NC-FEW International Invited Conference

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Over the past two years, I have been working with an amazing group of colleagues to cultivate and establish a transdisciplinary community of educators and education researchers who focus on the Food-Energy-Water-Nexus.  In May, we were fortunate enough to be able to take the next major step forward in this endeavor.  Through funding through the USDA-NIFA Higher Education Challenge grant program, APLU’s Network of STEM Education Centers Research Action Cluster grant program,  the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Virginia Tech, we were able to hold an invited conference with nearly 50 participants from over 40 U.S. and international institutions.  The conference –  Innovating Teaching and Learning in the Food-Energy-Water-Nexus: Toward a National Collaborative for Food, Energy, & Water Systems Education (NC-FEW) – was held May 22-23 in the Washington, D.C. metro area at the Virginia Tech Executive Briefing Center. Conference participants had opportunities to share their research and engage with colleagues from a diverse array of disciplinary backgrounds (education, STEM disciplines, agriculture, natural resources) to articulate and shape discourse around a systemic approach to FEW-Nexus education and education research. We benefited tremendously from insights of invited speakers, including INFEWS program officers Rachel Melnick (USDA-NIFA) and Tom Torgersen (NSF), Kacy Redd (APLU/NSEC), and Jeff Weld (White House Office of Science and Technology Policy).  A special thanks to Co-PIs and conference planning committee members Hannah Scherer, Hui-Hui Wang, Nicole Sintov, and Kelly Millenbah for helping plan and facilitate the conference, as well as staff from the UNL Center for Science, Math, and Computer Education (CSMCE).  We look forward to next steps advancing the goals and priorities of this developing network.

2017 Nebraska K-12 Science Education Summit

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For the second consecutive year, Sara Cooper, Science Education Director at the Nebraska Department of Education, and I had the distinct pleasure of welcoming science teachers, administrators, university faculty, and policymakers from around the state at the Nebraska K-12 Science Education Summit.  This year’s event featured a workshop on the Next Generation Science Standards, invited talks by Dr. Phil Bell, Professor and Shauna C. Larson Chair in Learning Sciences at the University of Washington, and Dr. Christine Cutucache, Associate Professor and Haddix Community Chair of Science at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, as well as nearly 40 presentations of innovative science education curricula, resources, and other programs.  Co-sponsored the Nebraska Department of Education, IANR Science Literacy, NebraskaSCIENCE, the Center for Science, Mathematics, and Computer Education, Nebraska 4-H, and the Nebraska Collaborative for Food, Energy, & Water Education, the 2017 Summit drew over 250 participants  and showcased the recent adoption of Nebraska’s new state science standards.  Be sure to check out media coverage from UNL and ABC Channel 8 KLKN-TV.

 

Published research on undergrad students’ reasoning about water SSIs

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Many thanks to all members of our research and instructional team who collaborated on a study investigating undergraduate students’ reasoning about water-focused socioscientific issues.  Carried out in the first iteration of the revised SCIL 101 course (formerly AGRI/NRES 103) with more than 200 students, study results illustrate strengths and limitations of students’ thinking about the use of groundwater for agriculture in the context of a multi-week course module.  Thanks to Dr. Jaime Sabel for leading this effort!

Sabel, J.L., Vo, T., Alred, A., Dauer, J.M., & Forbes, C.T. (2017). Undergraduate students’ scientifically-informed decision-making about socio-hydrological issues. Journal of College Science Teaching, 46(6), 64-72.

2016 Nebraska K-12 Science Education Summit

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On Monday, December 12th, over 175 science educators from across the state of Nebraska had the opportunity to come together at Nebraska Innovation Campus in Lincoln for the Nebraska K-12 Science Education Summit.  Organized and led by Sara Cooper, Science Education Director at the Nebraska Department of Education, and I, the event provided a forum for science education administrators, science teachers, STEM faculty, and stakeholders to engage in statewide discussions about K-12 science education efforts.  This included a workshop on the Next Generation Science Standards and Nebraska state science standards, as well as concurrent sessions in which UNL faculty and others shared innovative science education resources and strategies with practitioners.  We were fortunate to have Chancellor Ronnie Green stop by in the afternoon to welcome attendees and provide some critical insights into the importance of collaboration between K-12 schools and the NU system.  The event was co-sponsored the Nebraska Department of Education, IANR Science Literacy, NebraskaSCIENCE, the Center for Science, Mathematics, and Computer Education, Nebraska 4-H, and the Nebraska Collaborative for Food, Energy, & Water Education.  This was a wonderfully productive experience for all involved and we look forward to holding the event again in future years to enhance and synergize the teaching and learning of science in Nebraska.

Fall, 2016 teaching SCIL 101 Science and Decision-Making for a Complex World

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In the Fall, 2016 semester, I had the wonderful opportunity to teach one of four large sections a required course for all CASNR students – SCIL 101 Science and Decision-Making for a Complex World.  The class, re-conceptualized and redeveloped from a long-standing introductory course (AGRI/NRES 103 Introduction to Agricultural and Natural Resource Systems), involves students learning to make science-informed decisions about agriculture and natural resource issues.  Comprised of four modules designed around food, energy, and water issues, SCIL 101 offers students the opportunity explore these challenges issues from multiple perspectives, ultimately conducting independent research on a question of their choosing.  My section of the class this fall had 130 students, almost half of which were CASNR undergraduate students from Rwanda studying in IANR to become future agricultural leaders in their home country.  I am also very lucky to have had the opportunity to work with an amazing team of graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants, including WELL project graduate students Diane Lally and Destini Petitt, and Science Literacy graduate student McKenzie Peterson.

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2017 UNL STEM Education Research Retreat

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In October, the 2017 STEM Education Research Retreat was held on East Campus in Hardin Hall in partnership between the Center for Science, Mathematics, and Computer Education, IANR Science Literacy, and the Nebraska Collaborative for Food, Energy, & Water Education.  Over 75 UNL faculty, postdocs, and graduate students representing nearly all of UNL’s academic Colleges and Extension participated in this year’s event.  Over 30 posters were presented in two consecutive poster sessions, showcasing the high-quality and innovative STEM education research being conducted at the university and across the state.  Participants also participated in an interactive webinar with NSF Program Officers to learn more about the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) funding program.  It was a pleasure to co-plan and host this event in conjunction with colleagues from across campuses.  Kudos to Devarati Bhattacharya, Erin Ingram, Tina Vo, Diane Lally, Kari Nelson, Destini Petitt, and McKenzie Peterson for presenting their research, including work from the MoHSES, WELL, and UnICORN projects.    IMG_0799 IMG_0800 IMG_0807 IMG_0808IMG_08112016-10-18 13.03.51

Collaboration w/ ReSTEM Institute at University of Missouri

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Thanks to Troy Sadler, Laura Zangori, and the rest of the team with the ReSTEM Institute in the University of Missouri College of Education for a engaging and productive couple of days of collaboration with Jenny Dauer and myself.  It was a great conversation around socio-scientific issues, science-informed decision-making, and science literacy in a range of K-16 contexts and across an array of unique projects.  I look forward to working with ReSTEM as the external evaluation team on the Fostering Undergraduate Students’ Disciplinary Learning and Water Literacy (WELL) project, funded by an NSF IUSE grant (DUE-1609598), and the SCIL/AECN/NRES 109: Water in Society course over the next 3 years.
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