Syllabus
Use the navigation links above to access other information that is essential to this course: Home page, Technology prerequisites, Registration (how to), Instructor (how to contact, etc.), Class session outline, Websites, and Written assignment details.
Overall Course Objective
The overriding course objective is to advance teachers' understandings of how to utilize plant science content for secondary student science and math enrichment. This semester's offering will place an emphasis on experimental design so as to gather data for statistical analysis using Excel, as well as applying inquiry-based methodologies that really "work" in classroom settings.
Important Issues Related to Course Content
Safety of All Club Activities: All HSTA club activities must be carried out in accordance with science safety precautions for the regular school classroom, which includes that students are not to do any activities that involve human pathogens or human body fluids. Here is the "Science Education Safety" website of the Council of State Science Supervisors, which also provides links to other valid safety resources: http://csss.enc.org/safety.htm . If in doubt about the safety of an activity, check with expert information sources or authorities before doing it.
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Course Texts
Students and Research. 2000. Cothron, JH, RN Giese, and RJ Rezba. 3rd Edition. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co. (Known as "Red Book")
Spiraling Through Life with Fast Plans : An Inquiry Rich Manual.2001.Greenler, R. et al. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt (This text will be provided to all enrolled teachers. If you do not have a copy, request one from the instructor. NOTE: The text will be provided to teachers at the Fall Workshop.
WebCT course: Practice
posting messages with attachments to on-line discussion folders
and reply to messages in threaded discussions. An orientation
to posting is available at webct.wvu.edu,
then go to Discussions, then Practice site. Your username is your
first initial, followed by the first seven digits of your last
name. Your password is your day of birth (ex: if Feb. 6, then
enter 06), followed by the last 4 digits of your social security
number or your new WVU ID, which is a 7 digit number. If this
doesn't work, then please call me at my office or at home (see
instructor website) or e-mail oithelp@mail.wvu.edu.
Readings and Web sites (assignments are
listed on the navigation link at top of this page titled: Class Session Outline)
Inquiry
Ways of Fostering Teachers' Inquiries into Science Learning and Teaching: (van Zee, E H. Ways of Fostering Teachers' Inquiries into Science Learning and Teaching. 2000. Part 2: What Does Inquiry Look Like? Edited by J Minstrell and E H van Zee. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Washington, DC. 100-119.) A copy of this article will be provided to each teacher who signs up. Full permission has been granted for use during this course.
http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/html/3.html
National Science Standards for Science Teaching. See Teaching Standard A-E.
http://www.nwrel.org/msec/science_inq/
Science Inquiry Model. Very nice descriptions to "What Is...", Components of Inquiry, Teaching Strategies, and Resources.
http://www.nsta.org/565
Earn $1,500 and a free ride to the annual National Science Teachers Association conference in Dallas, TX. for your inquiry teaching. Deadline is October 15, 2004.
Experimental Design
Students and Research. 2000. Cothron, JH, RN Giese, and RJ Rezba. 3rd Edition. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co. (Known as "Red Book")
http://agsci.eliz.tased.edu.au/default.htm
Discover How Scientists Discover (in Tasmania!), good description of independent and dependent variables. Click on Site Map to begin. Must install shockwave.
http://helios.bto.ed.ac.uk/bto/statistics/tress2.html#DESIGN%20OF%20EXPERIMENTS
Simple and clear explanation with fun examples.
http://www.sytsma.com/phad530/expdesig.html
Basics of Experimental Design using non-technical terms for various techniques of design.
http://www.isd77.k12.mn.us/resources/cf/SciProjInter.html
Basic description of an experimental science project without too much detail.
http://www.scienceteacherprogram.org/biology/Perez03.html
Good example activity for carbon dioxide and elodea plant.
Plant Science
Plant Growth:
http://www.biology-online.org/3/7_meristems.htm
http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/e28/28.htm
Effect of Light on Plants: http://www.biology-online.org/3/9_effect_light.htm
Plant Hormones:
http://www.biology-online.org/3/5_plant_hormones.htm,
http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookPLANTHORM.html#Auxins
A Plant Cell Model: http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/cells/plantcell.html
Tropism: http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/T/Tropisms.html
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Other Course Resources: Fast Plant Kit and Light House
Each enrolled teacher will be given a Wisconsin Fast Plants manual, Fast Plant kit and set of lights. The kit includes seeds, pots, watering equipment, and instructions. Teachers need to contact me by September 15 to receive these materials at Fall Workshop.
Class Contact Time
A 3-credit semester course at WVU has 45 contact hours (includes breaks) and attendance is expected. Additionally, individuals are expected to devote at least two hours to study and assignments out of class for every hour of contact time. See the section below on Grading to ascertain how attendance affects your course grade.
As part of this 45 hours of contact time, you may count 24 hours of HSTA club meeting time. The remaining 21 hours of contact time is distributed across the following:
- (11 hours) Attending the Fall Workshop, September 24-25 at Riverside High School in Charleston, and specifically the Grad Course session on Friday evening.
- (3 hours) Communication through various venues (i.e., e-mail, phone calls, site visits) with the WVU Faculty person teaching this course.
- (4 hours) Web CT discussion board for specific assignments
- ( 3 hours) Assigned Internet investigation of related websites.
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Class Session Outline
The Class Session Outline is accessed through the "Class Session Outline"
link on the top of this page. It shows how the class contact time
is spread across each month and gives the readings and other written
assignments to complete each month.
Assignments
The Class Session Outline lists and provides the instructions for each reading and written assignment, along with the point value of each written assignment. So you have quick access to just a list of the written assignments, the "Written Assignment Descriptions" page provides a separate list of each of these assignments. ALL WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS NEED TO BE WORD PROCESSED--SIZE 10 TO 12 FONT--AND SUBMITTED AS EMAIL ATTACHMENTS TO THE INSTRUCTOR ( jbardwell@hsc.wvu.edu). All assignments are due by December 15, 2004. Late assignments are not accepted unless a request deemed acceptable to the instructor is made in advance.
Grading
The maximum points possible for the 10 written and on-line assignments in this course total 100. A grading scale based on the maximum points possible appears below. However, it is not possible to earn the 70 points needed for a C in this course if you miss the Fall Workshop Friday session, or do not conduct regular HSTA club meetings with your students during the Fall semester. If you need to take a grade of Incomplete, the request must be made in writing and approved by the instructor no later than November 25. Such requests are approved only under special circumstances.
90-100 points A
80-90 points B
70-79 points C
Assignments turned in as electronic files will not be returned, so please keep a copy. Late assignments are not accepted unless a request deemed acceptable to the instructor is made in advance.
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Syllabus Changes . The instructor reserves the right to make changes in the course syllabus.
Academic Integrity. "The academic development of students and the overall integrity of the institution are primary responsibilities of WVU. Academic dishonesty is condemned at all levels of life, indicating an inability to meet and face issues and creating an atmosphere of mistrust, disrespect, and insecurity. Faculty, students, and administrators have shared responsibilities in maintaining the academic integrity essential for the university to accomplish its mission." (West Virginia University 1998-2000 Graduate Catalog, pp. 45-46.)
Social Justice Syllabus Statement . West Virginia University is committed to social justice. I concur with that commitment, and expect to foster a nurturing learning environment based upon open communication, mutual respect, and non-discrimination. Our University does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, age, disability, veteran status, religion, sexual orientation, color or national origin. Any suggestions as to how to further such a positive and open environment in this class will be appreciated and given serious consideration. If you are a person with a disability and anticipate needing any type of accommodation in order to participate in this class, please advise me and make appropriate arrangements with Disability Services (293-6700).
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Last
Updated on August 31, 2004 by J Bardwell
