Newswise — The University of Massachusetts Amherst is hosting a national conference, titled "Best Practices for Science Education: Retaining Science and Engineering Undergraduates, Sustaining the Science and Engineering Workforce," on June 24 from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Murray D. Lincoln Campus Center.
"The conference will respond to a serious problem at the national level, namely, the large percentage of students who enter college interested in science and engineering disciplines that switch to other majors, while the number of job opportunities in these fields has quadrupled," says Dean George Langford of the UMass Amherst College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. "This disparity has led to outsourcing of talent, which undermines the U.S. leadership position in educating and training the next generation of innovators."
Register online and view a complete schedule at www.nsm.umass.edu/conf08/.
The keynote address will be given at noon by Linda Slakey, director of the Division of Undergraduate Education at the National Science Foundation. Slakey worked at UMass Amherst from 1973 until 2006, and served as dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, dean of the Commonwealth College, chair of the department of biochemistry and molecular biology, and professor of biochemistry.
Panelists at a session which will address the issue of implementing change include Saundra McGuire, associate dean at Louisiana State University, Keith Barker, associate vice provost at the University of Connecticut, and Graham Walker, the American Cancer Society Research Professor of Biology at MIT.
Inspired by the National Academy of Science's Rising Above the Gathering Storm report, this conference will identify activities that increase the number of undergraduates in science and engineering disciplines, and highlight curriculum reform and best practices for retaining these undergraduates. The ultimate goal is to expand the number of graduates entering the Massachusetts science and engineering workforce, and build momentum and visibility for legislation changes and new funding opportunities.
The conference features four breakout sessions. Two concurrent sessions will examine issues of classroom effectiveness, focusing on large enrollment classes and creating a community of scientists. Another set of concurrent sessions will explore ways to build research into the curriculum, looking at more effective introductory lab courses and alternatives to these labs.
The conference is sponsored by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, a University of Massachusetts Amherst Research Leadership in Action grant, and the College of Natural Science and Mathematics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
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