CCNY PREM

CCNY PREM faculty have designed a novel high school experimental science curriuculum in collaboration with CCNY Education faculty. This course has been incorporated into the New York City Department of Education's After School Professional Development Program (ASPDP) course offerings. Educators who are seeking to enhance their curriculum and earn professional development credit can register for this summer workshop at the ASPDP website https://pci.nycenet.edu/ASPDP/

This course offering in the physical sciences is designed to enhance participant knowledge and practice of experimental research methods in material science. The content of this course is multidisciplinary, introducing concepts and applications of engineering, chemistry, physics and mathematics through the lens of contemporary research methodologies and guided inquiry. The course is intended for physical science educators who are interested in developing a set of hands-on experimental teaching modules (ETMs) for implementation in high school physical science courses.

The theoretical bases for the proposed ETMs are the pedagogical philosophy of constructivism [Bransford, J.; Brown, A. L.; and Cocking, R. R. 2000], [Brooks, J. G. and Brooks, M.G., 1999] and the methods of directed inquiry and active learning [Their, H., 2001]. Students learn through actively engaging with the relevant concepts and methods in a series of hands-on experimentation to answer open-ended questions that are relevant to current issues in academics and industry. To this end, lessons are structured to develop understanding of key concepts at both fundamental and applied levels. The content of an ETM is constructed to parallel the educational/learning standards for the high school grade level and school system. ETMs are also designed to encourage integration with other subjects in the curriculum. For example, concepts of visco-elasticity can connect the chemistry of polymers with the physics of fluid mechanics. Subsequently, a set of design questions can be introduced where simple mathematical tools can lead students towards the implementation of visco-elastic materials. The fundamental principles are directly applied in the engineering of a variety of materials from drug delivery vehicles to novel light-weight body armor. The long-term goal of the program is to empower science educators to help build collaborative partnerships between teachers, and the university research community to address key education and research objectives recognized by the National Science Foundation. Such partnerships will serve to better prepare students for the rigors of college STEM studies.

For further information regarding this program, please refer to our course syllabus. Syllabus