Expand your summer PD with six choices for graduate courses
Take advantage of graduate courses for science teachers this summer through the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Nebraska Math and Science Summer Institutes, with offerings in a variety of formats.
To be as flexible with scheduling as possible, NMSSI courses are offered in-person, via web conferencing (on Zoom), and online (asynchronous). Science courses integrate cross-cutting concepts across several disciplines so that secondary teachers can take a variety of courses from within or beyond the scope of the courses they typically teach.
The following six courses are available in Summer 2023 for grades 7-12 science teachers:
ASTR 892: Life in the Universe for STEM Teachers
May 30-June 30, online (asynchronous)
This course on astrobiology focuses on the question “Are we alone in the Universe?” and applies scientific reasoning to the possibility of life somewhere other than Earth. It will study how life arose, how it has evolved over time and the conditions necessary for life to exist. It includes topics and pedagogical strategies in astronomy, biology, geology, paleontology and chemistry, and utilizes an integrative interdisciplinary approach needed to study today’s complex problems. This course may also be appropriate for seventh- and eighth-grade teachers. This course is appropriate for mathematics teachers with secondary certification.
BIOS 891: Physiology in Extreme Environments
July 10-21, 2p.m. – 4 p.m., web conferencing
This two-week course will explore organismal physiology in extreme environments. Students will engage with real-world examples of extreme physiology and adaptations in harsh environments such as how giant mammals can survive in deserts, how mosses and ferns can thrive in the tundra, and how some fish endure sulfidic water! Additionally, overarching themes across multiple physiological systems will be integrated cross-cutting concepts in physics and chemistry.
GEOS 898: Methods in Geoscience Field Course Instruction
June 10-25, travel, leaves from Lincoln
This course, directed toward in-service teachers, comprises a 16-day inquiry-based field course and science-immersion discovery experience in Wyoming, Nebraska and South Dakota. The primary aims of this course are to improve educators’ ability to teach inquiry, gain knowledge and understanding of geoscience, and to demonstrate effective teaching methods that teachers can integrate into K-12 science learning environments. Department consent will be required to register; e-mail dharwood1@unl.edu. Food, accommodation, and transport are provided at no cost.
GEOS 898: Nebraska Geology Through Time
June 26-30, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Lincoln
This course is a one-week tour through key events in the geologic history of Nebraska. We will begin 1.8 billion years ago, with the mountain-building events that created the oldest rocks in Nebraska. Subsequently, we will step through time in chronological order, taking a couple of virtual field trips. The course may include a tour of the paleontology displays in the State Museum, learning in detail about the Highway Paleontology program and Nebraska’s Cenozoic Megafauna. We will finish with an overview of relatively recent (~5 million year) geomorphologic and geologic processes in Nebraska, so that students are equipped to incorporate a Nebraska-based examples into a variety of learning modules.
PHYS 892: Vectors in Introductory Physics
July 17-28, M-F, 9 a.m.-noon, Lincoln
Vectors are reviewed by exploring problem-solving strategies for the (typically "harder") starred end-of-chapter problems in high school textbooks and extended into 3-dimensions with the introduction vector algebra that defines "cross" and "dot" products. All material will be presented at a level understandable to those with only a background in algebra. Building upon the interpretation of simple straight line to curved graphs of time-varying motion, force, and energy, the basic algebraic definitions of physical quantities are used to gently introduce the calculus concepts of differentiation and integration. All material will be presented at a level understandable to those with only a background in algebra.
TEAC 864: The Nature of Science in Science Teaching
July 10-Aug. 10, online (asynchronous)
Pre- and in-service teachers who take this course will develop a familiarity with different philosophical and epistemological approaches to science, explore ways to include NGSS scientific and engineering practices in our science curricula, and construct a set of warranted assertions about science, learning, and our teaching practices. We will explore the historical foundations of the three visions of science and science literacy. While this is not a science teaching methods course, the course content will be presented from a science educator’s perspective with practical applications to the science classroom. We will consider ways that science educators can develop understandings of science as a practice in teaching through the way we use language, the laboratory activities and investigations we choose, and how instructional choices convey to students an image of science, scientific knowledge, and scientists.
Visit the course catalog to see more details: https://go.unl.edu/nmssi-course-catalog-2023.
NMSSI courses that are not online asynchronous qualify for a 20% tuition discount on resident tuition for Nebraska teachers. You can apply now for additional NMSSI Fellowships, and read more about the costs at https://scimath.unl.edu/nmssi-costs-2023.
How to Apply and Enroll
If you took a class at UNL in the past year, you are eligible now to register through MyRed: https://myred.nebraska.edu. If you are NOT an active graduate student at UNL currently (active meaning you have taken a course in at least one of the past three semesters and have not recently graduated), you will need to apply to UNL as a graduate student first before you can register. Here is a link to the admission application: https://go.unl.edu/gradapp. You can apply as a non-degree-seeking, post-baccalaureate student without declaring a master's program, so search for “post” in the program selection step. Once admitted to UNL, please log in to http://go.unl.edu/gradappstatus to complete the decision form, and within 1-2 business days you should then be able to enroll via MyRED.
The Benefits of the NMSSI:
• Each course is worth 3 graduate credit hours
• Courses are offered utilizing several instructional models to allow for flexibility in scheduling
• Don’t want to declare a master’s degree yet? Enroll in one simple application as a post-bac student at https://go.unl.edu/gradapp
• Teachers can apply for additional tuition fellowships from the NMSSI: https://forms.gle/ZiBsQbnbcRJWtXmu5
Take advantage of these professional development opportunities conveniently and affordably. Join the NMSSI community and “learn in place!” Contact us at nebraskamath@unl.edu with questions.