àWorkshop Announcement --- WISER II at OSU  Feb 21 & 22, 2008

 

Dear colleagues,

 

            We are pleased to announce that NSF will be sponsoring a second Workshop on Infrastructure in STEM Education Research (WISER II) at The Ohio State University on February 21 and 22, 2008.  The focus will be on the integrated development, deployment, and research use of the resulting data for instruments to support assessment efforts.  This WISER meeting seeks to recognize a shared vision of the value of this infrastructure and on forming a concrete plan to make it happen.

 

            The event will be a working meeting where attendees are part of one or two working groups.  There are two primary goals:

 

1)  To stimulate interdisciplinary conversation and collaboration in research areas of interest to multiple disciplines. For this workshop, three topics have been chosen:

 

·                                   Assessment of STEM Problem Solving Skills and Processes

·                                   Assessment of Student Epistemological Beliefs (beliefs and attitudes about learning in STEM)

·                                   Assessment of STEM Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices

 

2)                  To form organizing committees in each major STEM discipline to guide the development of DANSER, the Database for Assessments of National STEM Education Research. The purpose of DANSER is to provide a national peer-reviewed on-line database that links background data about students, instructors, courses, and institutions to student learning, teaching practices, and other assessment data.  We hope to create this shared infrastructure to serve STEM education researchers in

 

·                                Astronomy

·                                Biological Sciences

·                                Chemistry

·                                Earth Sciences

·                                Engineering

·                                Mathematics

·                                Physics

·                                Statistics

 

Session organizers for each topic will send participants a set of questions to consider prior to the conference, as well as a detailed agenda for that group’s work.  Large blocks of time will be available for discussion and further work on these topics during the conference.  Each group will present a draft summary of their activities connected with the conference in a plenary at the conference’s end.  Reports from the session organizers will be combined into an overall report to NSF at the conclusion of the workshop.

 

All expenses will be paid by NSF, including travel, lodging, and meals.  Further details about the conference can be found at www.inqueri.org.  Those interested in participating are asked to send a brief statement detailing their interest to Kathy Harper at the e-mail address below.

 

Please direct any questions to Dennis Pearl, [log in to unmask], 614-292-3887 or Kathy Harper, [log in to unmask], 614-292-1525.

 

 

Kathy Harper             [log in to unmask]                                         

                                                 

Director, Undergraduate Course Development
Department of Physics
Managing Director
INitiative for Quantitative Education Research Infrastructure (INQUERI)

 

Mail:  191 W Woodruff Ave; Columbus, OH  43210

Office:  Smith Lab 1106E

Phone:    614-292-1525

===

Dr. Garry D. McKenzie

School of  Earth Sciences

The Ohio State University

125 S. Oval Mall

Columbus OH 43210-1398

 

[log in to unmask]

Phone    614-292-0655

Fax        614-292-7688