Science and Mathematics Education Center
Professional Development
The Science and Mathematics Education Center has a long history
of providing outstanding academic year and summer professional
development programs for our science and mathematics teachers in
the Central Valley. Our programs have included workshops and
institutes in the Hesthenes “Modeling Science” approach
and we look forward to continuing to offer more modeling programs
this coming summer through our new partnership with the University
High School. SMEC has also had a long history of collaboration with
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) with
special partnerships at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Pasadena.
Our NASA enriched summer programs have provided teachers with a
wealth of NASA data, resources, and materials for the classroom.
SMEC plans to continue this rich partnership into the future. SMEC
has been associated with several California Math and Science
Partnership programs based in our local school districts. Our
future mathematics teachers, for example, recently were fortunate
to be part of an exciting “Lesson Study” program in
mathematics teaching as part of Sanger Unified’s CaMSP
project. SMEC has been a partner with the Central Valley Science
Project summer science programs for years and has co-sponsored
outstanding speakers series provided by the San Joaquin Valley Math
Project. Fresno State science and mathematics faculty as well as
our colleagues in the Kremen School of Education and Human
Development in addition to faculty from our community college
partners have been instrumental in providing some of the many
excellent professional development experiences to date and we look
forward to continuing that tradition of excellence in the future.
Visit our new SMEC Web Site for a regular update of SMEC academic
year and summer professional development programs for Central
Valley’s science and mathematics teachers including, of
course, our own future science and mathematics teachers. You are
also invited to visit the
MERLOT Science
Education Community and eventually its counterpart for
mathematics teachers, to learn about professional development
opportunities, resources, support and other important information.
As you visit this site, developed under SMEC’s leadership,
you are encouraged join the list serve and sign up as a member of
MERLOT. It’s free.
Often, it is nice to visit other parts of the state or
nation to gain new knowledge about science, math, or teaching
science and mathematics. Outstanding professional development
programs abound throughout the state and the US. Many teachers are
interested in honing your best practices in science and mathematics
education and meeting the new credentialing demands? You can find
out about the many exciting professional development opportunities
for California Science Teachers by visiting www.cascience.org and
nationally by visiting www.nsta.org. You can learn about similar
opportunities in math by visiting
http://www.cmc-math.org/.