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Busy Summer 2004
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As part of the initial phase of the Puerto Rico Math and Science Partnership (PRMSP),
more than 1,300 K-12th grade science and mathematics teachers from
161 public schools all over the Island, participated in a two-week professional development workshop. Teams of exemplary teachers and university professors at
each of the four PRMSP Zones (Río Piedras, Cayey, Humacao, and Mayagüez offered
the workshops after participating themselves in the Training the Trainers program during the previous two months. The PRMSP professional development
model centers on promoting depth of understanding of content knowledge by
modeling the best active-learning
strategies and continuous assessment methods.
Teachers are engaged in inquiry activities in which they reflect on the learning
process, and discuss ways in which the activities can be enhanced, adapted or
expanded. The teachers
recommendations on the improvement of activities are being incorporated into the
educational materials used to later be posted on the PRMSP
webpage. The accompanying photos give
a good picture of the activity that went on this summer at the four “corners” of
Puerto Rico. These participants constitute the first cohort of three which will
be inducted into the science and mathematics educational enhancement initiative,
sponsored by the National Science Foundation over five years.
Starting in Au gust 2004, the
participants of the PRMSP workshops will begin to implement the high quality,
challenging curricular materials in their classrooms to enhance math and science
learning among all their students. The approach to the implementation of the
enhanced curriculum is to develop schools as learning communities in which all
participants collaborate in transformation of the teaching and learning process.
During the school year, participants will be provided with ongoing support by
the PRMSP regional teams. A group of 30 schools that will serve as Regional
Math and Science Resource Centers for participating schools in the particular
geographic regions has been selected and is being prepared during the summer to
begin operations in August 2004.
Summer 2004 also has been busy
for over one-hundred K-12 students, mostly from low income
families, through the five Summer Camps sponsored by PRMSP at the different
partner sites:
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A Nanotechnology Research
Camp is cosponsored by the Río Piedras Zone through the UPRRP Campus
Chemistry Department where 9 students and their teachers are working in a
research laboratory for 8 weeks (from June 2 to July 28).
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The Río Piedras Zone is also
sponsoring the camp held on July 6-13 at Inter American University-Bayamón
entitled: Water Quality Assessment and Ecosystem Health for junior and
senior students.
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The Cayey Zone is sponsoring
two Summer Camps, one held on July 13-17 at Hacienda Buena Vista in Ponce by
the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico entitled: Science and Natural History
at Hacienda Buena Vista for six grade students
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The second camp in the Cayey
Zone was held from June 7-18 at the Pontifical Catholic University entitled:
Strengthening Knowledge and Skills in Science, Mathematics and oral
communication through Environmental Science Experiences for junior
students.
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The Humacao Zone is
sponsoring a camp from June 28 to July 2 at La Cabezas de San Juan Natural
Reserve by the Conservation Trust of PR entitled: Math and Sciences in
Ecology for six graders.
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