Campus Connection

Two Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction grants will help UW-L faculty partner with K-12 schools to help students meet national science and math standards. The grants, totaling $348,000, were awarded to UW-L’s Math and Physics Departments to work with four areas school districts and eleven schools in northern Wisconsin. Through workshops, academic year follow-up sessions and discussions about student evaluation and teaching strategies, UW-L faculty will help teachers learn about and implement the standards. "By partnering with local teachers — we bring our expertise and they bring their expertise," says Jenni McCool, a math education professor and project director. "Ultimately, the result would be to grow teacher knowledge about content and pedagogy, so they can best meet the needs of all students." “A Lot of Science," an approximately $144,000 grant, was awarded to UW-L’s Physics Department for year two of a two-year commitment. UW-L physics faculty will help K-12 teachers work to meet Next Generation Science Standards, likely to be released in spring 2013. The standards aim to get science teachers on the same page in preparing America’s students with a strong foundation in science for the 21st century. They move away from the ‘mile-wide, inch thick’ science curriculum mentality toward a more in-depth look at concepts, which are revisited and expanded upon in later grades. Physics faculty Gubbi Sudhakaran and Jennifer Docktor are the grant coordinators. A total of about $204,000 was awarded to UW-L’s Math Department for one year of a two-year commitment. Mathematics faculty will work with Grade 4-8 teachers to address the recently adopted Common Core State Standards. The standards focus on core conceptual understanding and procedural knowledge expected of all students. The project will develop the content knowledge and the professional practices of teachers in order to enhance the mathematical learning of students. Area school districts partnering through the grants include La Crosse, Onalaska, Tomah and Holmen.