THE SECOND MINNESOTA CONFERENCE:

"Keeping Students Engaged in STEM"

June 13-14, 2008        (For more information see below)

Ø      Minnesota State Colleges and Universities has been selected to be one of four systems nationwide to partner in a National Science Foundation grant to build and sustain regional networks or faculty and administrators committed to improving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teaching and learning.

Ø      Leadership for the grant is provided by Project Kaleidoscope, a nationwide informal alliance of colleges and universities committed to building and sustaining strong undergraduate STEM programs.

Ø      To participate, colleges and universities must commit to sending institutional teams of faculty and administrators to workshops in Minnesota during 2008 and a national meeting in June 2009 in Washington, D.C.

Ø      The first Minnesota Conference, Keeping Students Engaged in STEM, is April 25-26 at Southwest Minnesota State University. Participants will:

   o        Share teaching strategies that will keep undergraduates engaged in STEM courses;

   o       Discuss system-wide and institutional transformations required to support increasing the number and quality of STEM majors

   o       Begin the process of creating sustainable social networks of faculty and administrators committed to using research-based pedagogical and assessment approaches to strengthening STEM learning

   o       Learn about research-based teaching pedagogies from state and national experts

Ø      The grant requires institutional teams of 1-2 faculty and at least one administrator attending a series of four 1-day workshops between April and December 2008 culminating in a National meeting of all four collaborating higher education systems in June 2009.  To be part of this NSF/Minnesota State Colleges and Universities collaboration, the individual Minnesota State Colleges and Universities institution must commit to participate in ALL 5 workshops (the four 1-day workshops and the National Conference).  Faculty representing each institution may vary from workshop to workshop.