PrISM Courses beginning January 2010

IMPORTANT: You must register directly with the university offering these courses. Each university/college has developed its own PrISM Oregon webpage where program, course, and registration information is available. Please consult the following PrISM webpages for course registration instructions:

• Eastern Oregon University PrISM Webpage
• George Fox University PrISM Webpage
• Lewis & Clark College PrISM Webpage
• Portland State University PrISM Webpage
• Oregon State University PrISM Webpage
• University of Portland PrISM Webpage
• Western Oregon University PrISM Webpage

TUITION: The seven colleges and universities have agreed to a common, equivalent PrISM tuition level. The formula for converting between quarter-term and semester credits is: Semester credit hours x 1.5 = number of quarter credit hours; quarter credit hours x .67 = number of semester credit hours. Three quarter-term credits is equivalent to two semester credits. A 3-credit quarter-term-based course at a public university has a tuition of $1,102; a 2-credit semester-based course at an independent college/university has a tuition of $1,102.

TUITION ASSISTANCE: Partial tuition assistance (60% to 80%) is available for teachers employed in Oregon schools through a Title II-A University/School Partnership grant. Click on Tuition Assistance in the navigation bar on the left.

MATHEMATICS FOCUS COURSES

OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY - SED 588 Mathematics Curriculum Instructor: Maggie Niess Credits: 3 quarter-term credits Course Record Number (CRN): Dates: 01/04/10 — 03/19/10 Delivery Method: Online course This course focuses on current trends in mathematics curriculum, the history of these trends, and the rationale for mathematics reform. The course emphasized the integration of math, science, and technology.

PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY - CI 510 Deepening your understanding of number sense and operations for pK through grade 4 Instructor: Nancy Anderson Credits: 3 quarter-term credits Course Record Number (CRN): Dates: 01/04/10 - 03/19/10 Delivery Method: Online course Gain a deeper understanding of numbers, representations, relationships, and number systems; the meanings of operations and relationships among those operations; and reasonable estimation and fluent computation. Review the real-number system, place value, the behavior of zero and infinity, meanings and models of basic operations, percentages, and modeling operations with fractions, often with the aid of concrete, physical models that enhance understanding. Learn how to apply what you have learned to practices in your own classroom. This course is organized around the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Curriculum Frameworks to help you better understand the mathematics concepts underlying the content you teach and to know what standards-based lessons look like in the classroom.

SCIENCE FOCUS COURSES

OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY - SED 598 Science Curriculum Instructor: Emily van Zee Credits: 3 quarter-term credits Course Record Number (CRN): Dates: 01/04/10 — 03/19/10 Delivery Method: Online course This course focuses on current trends in science curriculum, the history of these trends, and the rationale for science reform. The course emphasized the integration of math, science, and technology.

PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY — G510 Great Basin Exploration: Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Instructors: Michael Cummings, Vern R. Beeson Credits: 3 quarter-term credits Course Record Number (CRN): Dates: January 19, 2010 - June 12, 2010. Course extends over winter and spring terms. Delivery Method: fieldwork and online This course provides teachers with experiential knowledge of the natural history (geology, ecology, hydrology), human history, and wildlife refuge management issues of the Northwestern Great Basin of Oregon. Online discussions of readings (January 19 - April 23) prepare for a required field-based workshop hosted by Malheur Field Station, Princeton, Oregon (April 23-25). Follow-up activities explore effective approaches for utilizing course materials in classrooms and field trips to the Great Basin (April 26-June 11).

INTEGRATED COURSES

GEORGE FOX UNIVERSITY — EDFL 515 It's About Time Instructors: Linda Samek Credits: 2 semester credits Course Record Number (CRN): Dates: 01/11/10 — 04/30/10 Delivery Method: Online course This course is designed for K-5 teachers to explore important concepts related to time and the teaching of time in the elementary classroom. Participants will engage in activities around calendars, clocks, and the history and development of timekeeping. Teachers will use their own geographic locations in developing materials for teaching concepts related to timekeeping, seasons, and phases of the moon. Timekeeping will be explored from historical, cultural, mathematical, and scientific perspectives.

OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY - SED 520 Integrating Technology & Literacy In Learning Math & Science Instructor: Maggie Niess Credits: 3 quarter-term credits Course Record Number (CRN): Dates: 01/04/10 — 03/19/10 Delivery Method: Online Course Explore integrating multimedia information and communication technology that support student sin becoming critical thinkers and creative producers of their knowledge and understanding in mathematics and science. This course builds skills in (1) creating webpages specifically with designing portfolios that communicate integration of technology in science/mathematics and in designing WebQuest/WebInquiry units, (2) designing dynamic spreadsheets for exploring mathematics and science problems, and (3) creating digital stories in PowerPoint as a means of communicating mathematical or scientific understandings. Participants need Dreamweaver for creating the webpages and Office for the spreadsheet and PowerPoint work. (Dreamweaver is available through the OSU Bookstore along with the course textbook, Guiding Learning With Technology.)

OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY - SED 583 Socio-Cultural Dimensions of Free-Choice Learning Instructor: Shawn Rowe Credits: 3 quarter term credits Course Record Number (CRN): Dates: 01/04/10 — 03/19/10 Delivery Method: Online course Investigates connections between theories of free-choice learning and the fundamental concepts of sociology, social psychology and anthropology: social stratification, social structure and interaction, social institutions, and cultural background. Real world examples will be included to support learning leaders' efforts to facilitate the socio-cultural dimensions of lifelong science and mathematics learning. Participants will explore the nature of science and mathematics content that is learned outside the classroom, and how to best utilize place-based learning for the benefit of an overall education in science and mathematics as well as the use of learning communities that enhance learning through apprentice-like experiences.

PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY - CI 510 Engaging in Science: Astronomy for Classroom Teachers Instructor: Barbara Shaw Credits: 3 quarter-term credits Course Record Number (CRN): Dates: 01/04/10 - 03/19/10 Notes: Online + one face-to-face meeting, March 6, Goldendale Observatory State Park (WA), 1:00 to 5:00 pm and 7:00 to 10:00 pm Develop more exciting and engaging lessons by integrating astronomy mathematics and science across the curriculum. Your students will make the connections and reach the understandings in astronomy science and mathematics that will prepare them for the new rigorous graduation requirements. Using the State of Oregon Mathematics and Science Benchmarks together with the goals of NASA in the 21st century, examine the concepts in astronomy, planetary science, and cosmology. Your students will apply mathematics and science principles to their own lives, families, and communities when you hold your own star party modeled after our class (together with your family or significant other) star party at the Goldendale Observatory State Park in Goldendale, Washington, one of the largest telescopes for public use in the world.