Teacher Academy Curriculum Projects
2008-09 Replication Grants
The purpose of the Curriculum Projects is to improve the training of new math and science teachers by transforming how and what pre-service teachers learn in college classrooms and the relationship between what they learn in their college course and what they observe and do in their host schools. For the past two years the Teacher Academy, through funding from the Petrie Foundation and a 3-year FIPSE grant, has supported curriculum development work on the campuses. In 2006-07 we supported 10 projects on seven campuses. In year 2, 2007-08, we supported 8 new projects and 5 continuation projects from year one.
In this third year of the curriculum grants, the focus is on the institutionalization of the courses and course sequences developed in the first two years and the replication of these developments at other Teacher Academy campuses. Seven exemplar grants were selected for both institutionalization on and replication. We are offering curriculum grants of up to $20,000 to replicate one of these seven exemplar projects (listed below). Replication does not mean lockstep duplication. For example, the exemplar project at Brooklyn College redesigned the introductory geology course to move from a survey style course to one that places greater emphasis on science process skills, technology, and discovery. Faculty in the biology department at another campus may submit a proposal to redesign a course or course sequence with the same shift in focus from survey to process skills and discovery. Or a chemistry department may see the value in creating a capstone course for the aspiring teachers on their campus and chose to use City College's creation of a capstone mathematics course as a model.
Collaboration between CUNY faculty and New York City Department of Education (DOE) teachers is integral to establishing and enhancing the connection between college coursework and fieldwork experience. To this end, where applicable, proposed curriculum project should include intensive and extensive collaboration between CUNY faculty and DOE teachers.
The P.I.s from the seven exemplar grants will be available to answer any questions about their projects during the pre-proposal stage. Their emails are listed in the grant descriptions below. In addition, some P.I.s may be available to act as mentors for replication grants during the grant period. Please contact the individual P.I.s directly.
The projects will run from January 2009 through September 2009.
Proposals are due by January 16, 2009 and P.I.s will receive notification by January 22, 2009. Download proposal guidelines and application here. Please contact Maura Donnelly with any questions. Maura.Donnelly@mail.cuny.edu 212 794-5779.
The seven exemplar grants are:
An Investigation of Multiple Factors Leading to Academic Challenges of Early College Seniors in Collegiate Level Mathematics Courses (Hunter College)
Hunter faculty worked collaboratively with secondary
mathematics teachers from Manhattan Hunter Science
High School to design new syllabi to
improve the performance of early college seniors and Teacher
Academy students in precalculus and
calculus courses at Hunter
College. Hunter faculty
implemented a new mathematics evaluation test (MAA) to improve assessment and
created an experimental skills training workshop to improve preparation for
calculus learning. Furthermore, the 16PF Personality Inventory was utilized to
improve the predictability of student success to inform admissions criteria for
mathematics majors entering the Teacher
Academy.
Project co-P.I.s: Rachael Welder- rwelder@hunter.cuny.edu & Naomi Nwosu -
Naomi.Nwosu@hunter.cuny.edu
Ways of Knowing: Making the Transition from High School to College (Queens College)
The Ways of Knowing project grew out of a need to examine
why students entering college and choosing to major in science and mathematics
were failing in such large numbers. Attrition rates were in the neighborhood of
40-45%. The project proposed a series of regular meetings between high school
and college teachers to identify the obstacles that were making the transition
so difficult. Having identified what we believed were major contributing
factors, we developed and implemented an intervention in the form of a summer
program aimed at addressing the problems that had been uncovered.
Project P.I.: Paul Longo - PVL4D@aol.com
Designing a Capstone Mathematics Course for Undergraduates (The City College)
The goal of the project was to examine existing mathematics courses at CCNY
and build a capstone course to enhance teaching and learning of secondary mathematics
education and help aspiring teachers understand pre-college mathematics in a
deeper way. Additionally, the Capstone course aims to strengthen content
knowledge while simultaneously working towards connecting key concepts and
underlying themes to enhance student learning. The Capstone course will
ultimately help aspiring teachers learn how to leverage their knowledge in
order to teach it as a coherent, reasoned activity and communicate its elegance
and power.
Project P.I.: Despina Stylianou - dstylianou@ccny.cuny.edu
Redesign of the Freshmen GEO1 Foundation Course: An Inquiry and Skills-based Approach for the Teacher Academy (Brooklyn College)
A
team of Brooklyn College
faculty and New York City Department of Education (DOE) Earth Science Teachers
redesigned the foundation geology course, GEO 1, required by all Teacher Academy students. GEO 1 has been taught
in a survey-style with broad but shallow content. The redesign team worked
together to place greater emphasis on science process skills, technology, and
discovery, and chose air quality as an integrating topic for skill and content
development throughout the course. While conducting term-long research within New York City, students
will apply the scientific method and develop skills necessary for practicing
geoscientists including making and giving presentations, online data searches,
statistical analysis, graphing, and using GIS and GPS.
Project
P.I.: Rebecca Boger - rboger@brooklyn.cuny.edu
Using Formative Assessment Tools in Mathematics Classrooms (The City College)
In this continuing project a CCNY mathematics teacher educator and three mathematics teachers at A. Philip Randolph High School focused on the use of technology to support assessment and improve student learning. The assessment tools used for this project were the eInstruction interactive response system (clickers) and the NYC DoE ACUITY assessement system. Over the course of the year, teachers learned to use this technology to support instruction and assessment in their high school mathematics classrooms. The college faculty observed classrooms and met with the teachers to discuss ways to more effectively utilize these tools. Together they developed teaching modules for pre-service and in-service teacher coursework and professional development on the use of technology to support instruction and assessment.
Project P.I.: Beverly Smith - besmith@ccny.cuny.edu
Increasing the Pool of Chemistry Aspiring Teachers at a Four-Year College (Queens College)
Existing undergraduate program in chemistry took 5 years or
more to complete for aspiring NY state chemistry teachers. To manage the course
load and graduate in 4 years, we designed a 120-credit Chemical Education
track, which will be available from Fall 2009, satisfying the New York State
as well as ACS certification requirements for Chemistry. This sequence which
was developed for CUNY Teacher Academy
students is attracting the attention of several freshman, sophomore, and
transfer students at Queens
College to consider
majoring in Chemical Education.
Project P.I.: Gopal
Subramaniam - gopal.subramaniam@qc.cuny.edu
Designing Mathematics Methods Courses for Teaching in Urban Secondary Schools (The City College)
The purpose of this work has been to design a two-semester
mathematics methods course. This course sequence aims to address the needs and
goals of the Teacher Academy Program and the Partnership for Excellence
project, that is, to be a part of the education of a new generation of
exceptional teachers who will inspire in middle and high school students
enthusiasm for science and mathematics. In particular, the course aims to
address the goals of “producing effective new teachers who are able to perform
effectively early on in raising student achievement” and “improving teacher retention
by providing pre-service teacher education and ongoing in-service professional
support”
Project P.I.: Despina Stylianou -
dstylianou@ccny.cuny.edu
