Northwest Ohio Center of Excellence [NWO]
Vision, Goals, & Activities for 2007/2008

NWO Vision:

The Northwest Ohio Center of Excellence aims to advance science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education for people of all ages. Our purpose is to work with community partners to (a) generate new knowledge about the science of teaching and learning, (b) apply this knowledge by developing the expertise of K-12 educators and higher education faculty, (c) increase public support for, and understanding of, the STEM subject areas, and (d) to stimulate the interest of young people, especially those in underrepresented groups, in these rewarding fields of study and career opportunities.The following NWO goals guide this vision.

NWO Goals & Activities: NWO will attain the above goals through the following goal-aligned activities:

Goal 1: Develop the expertise of pre-service and in-service teachers and higher education faculty through research-based professional development framed by investigative science and mathematics teaching and learning.

  Center Activities:

    • Conduct monthly regional professional development meetings [NWO Inquiry Series for K-12 science and mathematics pre-service and in-service teachers]. Continue in the FY-08 scope of work.
    • Host the annual one-day regional conference for pre-service and in-service teachers and higher education faculty [NWO Symposium]. Continue in the FY-08 scope of work, but reduce to a one-day event.
    • Host and co-sponsor Praxis II Preparation Workshops for AYA science and mathematics pre-service teachers. Continue in the FY-08 scope of work.
    • Co-sponsor undergraduate professional organizations [NWO-SECO and NWO- CTM]. Continue in the FY-08 scope of work.
    • Co-sponsor learning communities and/or seminars for higher education faculty focused on improving science and mathematics teaching. New in the FY-08 scope of work.

Affiliated Projects:

  • Continue to develop MAT graduate programs, adding a biology MAT for AYA science teachers and interdisciplinary MAT for middle grades science and mathematics teachers. New in the FY-08 scope of work, will use ODE – MSP DREAMS grant funds for this work, but Center faculty and staff very much involved in this work.
  • Conduct an annual Summer Inquiry Institute and AY follow-up sessions for elementary science and mathematics teachers using funds provided by ODE – MSP program (NWO – TEAMS). New in the FY-08 scope of work, will use ODE – MSP TEAMS grant funds for this work, but Center faculty and staff very much involved in this work.

Goal 2: Recruit and retain students into STEM and STEM education disciplines.

Center Activities:

  • Host the Annual NWO Future Teachers Conference. Continue in the FY-08 scope of work.
  • Launch a collaborative STEM recruitment campaign aiming at increasing student interest and participation in STEM disciplines. We will seek additional state and/or federal funds to further develop these recruitment activities. New in the FY-08 scope of work.

Goal 3: Conduct and communicate collaborative research on how people best teach and learn science and mathematics and/or on the barriers and enablers related to current reform efforts.

Center Activity:

a.  Host and Co-Sponsor the COSMOS research community for higher education faculty, graduate students, and support staff. Continue in the FY-08 scope of work, but research action teams will be an addition to the regular research community. The action teams [consisting of 3-5 members] will conduct a research study focused on how people best teach and learn science and mathematics or on the barriers and enablers related to current reform efforts. We anticipate a minimum of 3 new collaborative research projects launched this year. Nearly half of the funding needed for this activity comes from the BGSU Center for Teaching and Learning.

Goal 4: Develop and sustain a regional collaborative alliance including university, school, and community partners through a shared vision and collaborative spirit for tackling current STEM education issues.

Center Activities:

  • Host monthly COSMOS Collaborative Council [CCC] meetings with regional school partners to plan new collaborative projects and sustain on-going projects. Continue in the FY-08 scope of work [this idea was launch mid year 2006/2007].
  • Maintain semi-annual meetings of the Center’s Executive Board of Directors to focus on building a collaborative alliance and shared decision-making body to guide and coordinate regional activities aimed at improving science and mathematics teaching and learning across the region using equitable and shared-responsibility approaches. Continue in the FY-08 scope of work, but this year we now have approved by-laws to guide this board [*attached].
  • Reconstruct the current NWO/COSMOS websites to be more user-friendly and inclusive of the NWO/COSMOS activities. New in the FY-08 scope of work.
  • Develop New Business and Community Partnerships. New in the FY-08 scope of work.

Goal 5: Increase the leadership capacity for science and mathematics education in northwest Ohio.

Center Activities:

  • Increase the number of teacher and faculty professional presentations of classroom best practices at the NWO Inquiry Series meetings, the NWO Symposium, and the Future Teachers Conference and at other local, regional, state and national forums. Provide mentorship to these emerging leaders. Continue in the FY-08 scope of work, but more explicit efforts on mentorship.
  • Collaborate with the Ohio Resource Center to develop additional teacher and faculty-developed resources. Discontinued in FY-08 scope of work, as we’ve tried to work with ORC in getting the lessons our teachers and faculty have generated to be reviewed and added [linked] to the ORC, yet it appears this is not the goal or current undertaking of the ORC? We will continue to collaborate with the ORC in all of our professional development programs by showing regional teachers and faculty the useful materials found at the ORC.

Affiliated Projects:

  • Develop a cadre of regional teacher-leaders for Northwest Ohio through the DREAMS Summer Leadership Institutes, newly developed academic year content courses and pedagogical-content study [Curriculum Topic Study or Lesson lab]. Teachers will have opportunities to earn an MAT and/or a science or mathematics specialist endorsement as a result of this experience. This activity will be supported by ODE – MSP funding [DREAMS project], yet Center faculty and staff will work very closely with this project. New in the FY-08 scope of work.

* Submit annual report. Continue in FY-08 scope of work.