Spring 2004

In this issue...

• Get Close Support™ for Your Algebra Teachers
  Ready to Teach Algebra professional development modules provide Close Support for teachers of mathematics. Learn how you or your school district can participate.
  
  
• Perspective: Celebrating a Decade
  The Concord Consortium celebrates ten years of realizing the educational promise of computer and information technologies.
  
  
• Monday’s Lesson: Modeling Mutations
  With the Molecular Workbench model, students explore interactively the relationship between DNA and the shape of the protein for which it codes by examining the mutation responsible for Sickle Cell Anemia.
  
  
• Notes from the Molecular Classroom
  High school biology students learn with the Molecular Workbench model; Molecular Viewer software makes 3D visualizations possible; new drawing tool and improved authoring environment for Molecular Workbench.
  
  
• Tips from TELS: Advice for Blended Courses
  Technology Enhanced Learning in Science, which offered its first course on Assessment and Technology, shares advice for blended courses.
  
  
• MAC Reaches Three Million Records…and is Still Growing
  Halfway through its five-year funding period, the Modeling Across the Curriculum project reaches 6000 students in more than 300 classrooms worldwide.
  
  

Concord Consortium News

• Balanced Assessment

  The Balanced Assessment in Mathematics Program, housed at the Harvard Graduate School of Education for ten years, is now located at the Concord Consortium. The library of over 300 mathematics assessment tasks developed during the project remains freely available for teachers to use in their own classrooms. Reports on the Balanced Assessment approach to mathematics assessment and the distinctive objects x actions scoring system are available. Print publications produced by the Balanced Assessment program can be purchased through the Concord Consortium. http://balancedassessment.concord.org

• TEEMSS 2

  Technology Enhanced Elementary and Middle School Science project (TEEMSS2) has been funded by the Instructional Materials Development program at the NSF (Grant # IMD0352522). This two-and-a-half year, $2.7M project is developing and testing probeware-based science curriculum and software for grades 3-8. We plan to work with all the major vendors of probeware. We jumpstarted our efforts by hosting nine of the major probe developers (CMA Coach Probeware, CPO Science, Data Harvest, Fourier-Systems, ImagiWorks, PASCO Scientific, Texas Instruments, and Vernier Software & Technology) for an initial vendors' meeting in January 2004. http://teemss2.concord.org

The projects described in this newsletter are supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, the Noyce Foundation and others. All opinions, findings, and recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies. Mention of trade names, commercial products or organizations does not imply endorsement.

All Contents Copyright © 2004 The Concord Consortium. All rights reserved.