BSCS | Professional Development | BSCS Science Institutes

Professional Development > Professional Development Services > BSCS Science Institutes

2007 Photo Gallery

BSCS Science Institutes
2009 - 2010 Institutes Announced!
Register Now!

Are you looking for a high-quality professional development program that goes beyond traditional summer institutes?

Are you seeking an experience that reinvigorates your passion for science and teaching?

If so, the BSCS Science Institutes (BSCS SI) are for you! The institutes, hosted in beautiful Colorado Springs, Colorado, focus on science content and pedagogy for teachers of science. The result: Improved teaching and learning of science in participants' schools.

Each BSCS Science Institute provides a professional development component, consisting of

multi-day onsite, inquiry-based experiences designed to deepen your science content, and
an online program with an asynchronous structure that provides continuing education and support during the school year without requiring out-of-classroom time.

These combined experiences provide rich learning environments that create a professional learning community among you and your fellow BSCS SI participants to further your professional development and support for inquiry-based science.

The 2009-2010 Lineup
(Course offerings dependent upon minimum registration requirements)

SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY SERIES

Scientific Inquiry in the Secondary Classroom
5-day onsite experience in Colorado Springs (13-17 July 2009)
1-year online, asynchronous, Professional Development course and
moderated professional learning community (1 June 2009 – 30 May 2010)

Scientific Inquiry in the Elementary Classroom
5-day onsite experience in Colorado Springs (13-17 July 2009)
1-year online, asynchronous, Professional Development course and
moderated professional learning community (1 June 2009 – 30 May 2010)

Advanced Study of Scientific Inquiry in the Classroom
5-day onsite experience in Colorado Springs (20-24 July 2009)
1-year online, asynchronous, Professional Development course and
moderated professional learning community (1 June 2009 – 30 May 2010)

LITERACY AND SCIENCE

Literacy and the Secondary Science Classroom
4-day onsite experience in Colorado Springs (20-23 July 2009)
6-month online, asynchronous, Professional Development course and
moderated professional learning community (July 2009 – December 2009)

CONTENT DEEPENING SERIES

Geology for Elementary Grades Teachers
4-day intensive content deepening experience in Colorado Springs (16-19 June 2009)
6-month online moderated professional learning community (July 2009 – December 2009)

Biology for Elementary Grades Teachers
4-day intensive content deepening experience in Colorado Springs (22-25 June 2009)
6-month online moderated professional learning community (July 2009 – December 2009)

Rocky Mountain Ecology and Evolution Responses to Climate
Change for Secondary Teachers
6-day intensive content deepening experience in Colorado Springs (13-18 July 2009)

Frequently Asked Questions
Need to know more? Contact Sam Spiegel at sspiegel@bscs.org or Aleigh Raffelson at araffelson@bscs.org

Read about the 2008-2009 Institutes
        [Scientific Inquiry in the Secondary Classroom]
        [Scientific Inquiry in the Elementary Classroom]
        [Evolution: Earth & Life]

Each Institute is based on research and practices that

provide effective professional development
enhance the teaching and learning of science subject matter through inquiry-based learning
deepen teachers' content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK)
model teaching strategies that promote conceptual understanding and meaningful learning
provide strategies for examining student work and reflecting on teaching practices
enhance teachers' science content knowledge that can influence student achievement

Download 2007 Evaluation Report and Executive Summary

Fees

The registration fee for each Institute (to be announced) includes the online experience and summer program in Colorado Springs described above.

The registration fee includes

access to the online PD portal from June 1 to May 30
week-long summer experience in Colorado Springs
welcome reception
2 dinners, lunch each day
highly-qualified instructors
supplies and resources as outlined in each institute description that follows

The registration fee does not include

transportation to/from Colorado Springs
housing (breakfast is provided for hotel guests)
dinner (other than the two evenings listed above)
ground transportation to/from the airport

Reasonably-priced housing has been arranged at a local hotel as well as transportation between the hotel and workshop location. Graduate credits are available for an additional fee.

To share information about the BSCS Science Institutes with your administrator, click here for downloadable letter.

Research base for the BSCS Science Institutes

Loucks-Horsley, S., P. W. Hewson, et al. (2003). Designing professional development for teachers of science and mathematics. Thousand Oaks, CA, Corwin Press.
Darling-Hammond, L., McLaughlin, Milbrey. W. (1995). "Policies That Support Professional Development in an Era of Reform." Phi Delta Kappan 76(8): p597-604.
Borko, H. (2004). "Professional Development and Teacher Learning: Mapping the Terrain." Educational Researcher 33(8): p3-15.
Dede, C. (2006). Online Professional Development for Teachers: Emerging Models and Methods. Cambridge, MA, Harvard Education Press.
NRC (1996). National science education standards. Washington, DC, National Academy Press.
Bransford, J. D., A. L. Brown, et al. (1999). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. Washington, DC, National Academy Press.
Bybee, R. W. (2006, February). Maintaining the integrity of science: Responsibilities of science education and BSCS. Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Symposium: Science Under Attack, St. Louis, MO, AAAS.
Shulman, L. S. (1987). "Knowledge and Teaching: Foundations of the New Reform." Harvard Educational Review 57(1): p1-22.
Veal, W. R. M., & James G. (1999). "Pedagogical Content Knowledge Taxonomies." Electronic Journal of Science Education 3(4).
BSCS (2006). BSCS biology: A human approach. Dubuque, IA, Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.
McNeill, K. L. L., David J.; et. al. (2006). "Supporting Students' Construction of Scientific Explanations by Fading Scaffolds in Instructional Materials." Journal of the Learning Sciences 15(2): p153-191.
Glass <<GETTING REMAINDER OF CITATION>>
Darling-Hammond, L., B. Berry, et al. (2001). "Does teacher certification matter: Evaluating the evidence." Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 23(1): 57-77