Fall Regional Science Conference

The Suffolk Section of STANYS, in partnership with Hofstra University, is proud to announce that the STANYS Fall Regional Conference will be held at the Mack Student Center on Monday, October 16th! Morning registration starts at 7:30am, and the cost of the day is only $65!

Our distinguished keynote presenter will be Professor Joseph Krajcik, the Lead NGSS Writer for Physical Science and Director for the CREATE for STEM Institute at Michigan State University.  Since the publication of the Next Generation Science Standards, Professor Krajcik has played an integral role in the development of formative assessments through the Concord Consortium. You can check out the following video from the National Science Teachers Association, where Professor Krajcik discusses the vision of the NGSS.

The Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation of Science Standards challenges the science education community to support students in developing deeper, useable knowledge to make sense of phenomena or solve problems. This will only occur when students make use of the three dimensions – disciplinary core ideas, scientific and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts. The Framework and the NGSS refer to this as 3-dimensional learning. Three-dimensional learning shifts the focus of science classrooms from environments where students learn about science ideas to places where students do science by exploring, examining and using science ideas to explain how and why phenomena occur and designing solutions to problems. Doing science to learn science helps students form useable knowledge to explain phenomena and make sense of problems. In this session, Professor Krajcik will provide an overview of each of the dimensions and show how they work together to enable students to explain phenomena or design solution to problems. Woven throughout his remarks, he will discuss the opportunities and challenges of engaging learners in three-dimensional learning.

After the keynote address, participants will be able to choose workshops in three separate sessions, with a provided lunch in between. We will be offering two unique double session workshops, where attendees can choose to attend Professor Emily Kang’s workshop on Implementing the NYSSLS/NGSS or to participate in an authentic modeling scenario with Donghong Sun from STEMteachersNYC. Representatives from the Right Question Institute will also be offering two sessions on the Question Formulation Technique, which is one method that STEM teachers could develop students’ ability to ask their own questions.

Besides the double sessions, teachers can also choose from a variety of other workshops from Long Island teachers and college professors focused on improving science education for all students! To check out the full list of workshops, please click here. The link for registration will be active soon for payment by credit card. District purchase orders will also be accepted. Please check back by September 8th for more information on registration!