John Wilkes, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Robert Yager, NASTS President

PLENARY II

Introduction: Janice Koch, Conference Planning Committee

Speaker: Dava Sobel, author of Longitude

Topic: "A Social Incentive to Invention"

9:30-10 a.m., Exhibits/Coffee Break

10-11 a.m., Concurrent Sessions I

1.0 Workshop Values and Religion Springfield

Deva Beck and Jeremy Wright, The Wellness Foundation, Washington, DC

Andrew D. Zimmerman, Delaware Technical and Community College and Center for Energy and Environmental Policy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19711

This presentation builds on previous efforts to develop a conceptual/theoretical basis for democratizing technological decision making and for defining citizenship within the context of technological society. It flows from the premise that most people need and deserve an opportunity to develop or heighten their awareness of the pervasively political nature of large-scale complex technologies, and to develop insights about their actual and potential roles as citizens of the sociotechnical order. Simulation case studies, complete with role plays, will be used to model real-life technological decision making situations. (Continued in Concurrent Session II)

John W. Judkins, Columbia High School, Maplewood, NJ 07040

The field of Forensic Science provides an ideal forum for the integration and application of science, technology, and problem solving skills to real life situations. This workshop will present hands-on Forensic Science activities that integrate several sciences and technologies. The participants will be provided with a workbook, anticipatory set suggestions, video and material resources, and authentic assessment ideas with some possible scoring rubrics. (Continued in Concurrent Session II)

Susan Burns and William Peruzzi, New York State Education Department, Albany, NY 12234

Participants will be engaged in and discuss one of the hands-on middle school STS activities from the New York STS Education Project. The presenters will then facilitate a discussion following showing of two 12-minute video programs from the video series, Just Think: Problem Solving Through Inquiry. The videos illustrate the design and inquiry problem-solving techniques present in the STS activity. The other videos in the series will also be described.

John Daly, Greendale School, Worcester, MA 01606; Jeff Alderson, Brian Wilkie and Philip Harting, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA 01609

Presider: Joyce Gleason, MAST and Worcester Public Schools, Worcester, MA

Since 1991 a series of units on energy have been developed at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and tested in area schools with varying degrees of success. This presentation will report progress in using the wealth of information that Worcester Polytechnic and the Worcester Schools have developed for the past six years to create model energy education units for Middle School students. A sixth grade"energy debate" and a seventh grade"nuclear power debate" will be featured.

Barry Werner, Middlesex Community College, Bedford, MA 01730; James Amara, Minuteman Science and Technology High School, Lexington, MA 02173; and Pam Weathers, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA 01609

Middlesex Community College, Minuteman Science and Technology High School, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute are collaborating on a coordinated high school through college effort to develop biotechnology curricula to conform to national skills standards and serve as a national model. Special features of this program include the integration of biotechnology into nonscience courses, extensive hands-on and project activity, and articulation of programs from high school through a four-year college. An overview of the project will be presented by the three principal investigators who represent the three institutions involved. Supported by NSF DUE9454642.

Patrick DeSantis and Ann Marie Liseno, Worcester Public Schools, Worcester, MA

Attribute Blocks are mathematics manipulatives that focus on the development of problem solving and critical thinking. Our unit on Integrating Attributes in Math and Science begins with the children learning how to identify the four main attributes: size, shape, color, and thickness. Our lessons involve hands-on models using Attribute Blocks to discover likenesses and differences with the attributes of mystery powders, among them corn meal, salt, pepper, sugar, baking soda, and dry yeast. (Continued in Concurrent Session II)

STS in Elementary Schools in Israel

Liat Ben-David and Ruth Novik, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv, Israel

Science in a Technological Society (known by its Hebrew acronym, MABAT), Israel's national elementary school science curriculum, was developed at the Science and Technology Education Center at Tel-Aviv University. Based on the STS approach, the curriculum focuses on seven key issues confronting problems relevant to humans, technology, and the environment: Energy and Matter, Earth Science, Health and Quality of Life, Artificial Environment, Information and Communication, Life Systems, and Ecology and the Environment. Several approaches intertwine in the process of curriculum development: problem solving orientation, technology as extension of man, a systems approach strategy, and the achievement of scientific and technological literacy for all. The project will be introduced at the conference by a multimedia presentation.

William Grogan, Hossein Hakim, and Douglas Woods, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA 01609

The leading architect of the WPI plan of education discusses the Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP), a graduation requirement in which every student solves a problem at the interface of science and technology on one hand and social concern or human values on the other. He will be joined by two members of the WPI Projects Board, who will describe the overseas"Project Centers" at which about one third of WPI students do their IQP. Based on the premise that the IQP would be of interest to other institutions, this presentation will review the formation of its objectives, its operational techniques, intellectual expectations, and unexpected strengths and booby traps. WPI students who went to these centers will share their experiences in Session 6.72.

Ken Edwards, Motorola, Mansfield, MA 02048;

Paul A. Livingston, Nashoba Regional School District, Bolton, MA 01740

Learning Leadership Teams (LLTs), comprised of representatives of all school stakeholder groups and supported through national and local corporate sponsors, serve as a forum in which corporate resources, total quality management leadership ideas, community concerns, and educational goals all get pooled into an effort to produce improvement in student learning. LLTs produce real results critical to student success such as increases in the number of students taking higher level courses and improved instructional strategies.

Catherine Stephenson, Indiana University of PA, Indiana, PA 15705

Saturday Science -- a fun and highly effective program designed to engage students and family members in hands-on STS-based activities -- will be presented. Workshop attendees will receive tips on management and strategies to start up a similar program of their own and will participate in a sampling of indoor/outdoor environmental education lessons which were used to launch the program. At the conclusion of the workshop samples of lessons as well as copies of letters sent home to introduce and solicit participation of Family Science will be provided to all in attendance.

Beverly Nelson, Hackensack High School, Hackensack, NJ 07601

I have found the traditional way of teaching science is not the best way to reach most students. Teaching the science, technology links, and societal concerns of our global issues does work. I have been working on alternative ways to teach and assess science for the general level student, especially the low-motivated and the underserved. I will share sample lessons, alternative methods of instruction, and tips on how to help these students succeed in science and enjoy it at the same time. You will have the opportunity to participate in one of these activities.

11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m., Concurrent Sessions II

Don Conroy, North American Coalition on Religion and Ecology, Washington, DC 20005

Rodney Peterson, Boston Theological Institute, Boston, MA

A Role-Playing Primer for TechnoCitizens

Andrew D. Zimmerman, Delaware Technical and Community College and Center for Energy and Environmental Policy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19711

Continuation of Session 1.1.

John W. Judkins, Columbia High School, Maplewood, NJ 07040

Continuation of Session 1.2.

John L. Roeder, The Calhoun School, New York, NY 10024

This workshop will involve participants in activities from one of the modules for Middle Level Science developed by the New York Science, Technology, and Society Education Project. These activities follow from an opening experience imparting the limited supplies of fossil fuels and lead to formulation of plans for an energy future without fossil fuels. Handouts will be provided.

Ken Kozberg, Goddard School of Science and Technology, Worcester, MA

Goddard teachers who were trained in the Aries project will present their experiences teaching units on sound, light, time, astronomy, and water using the Aries model. Teachers who want to make science come alive in their classrooms but who feel uncomfortable teaching science will come away with practical techniques and a clear understanding of the science involved in these units.

Barry Werner, Mariluci Bladon, and Jessie Klein, Middlesex Community College, Bedford, MA 01730

Middlesex Community College, with support from the National Science Foundation, is developing curriculum for an interdisciplinary biotechnology program using a team approach in which faculty meet to discuss and develop connections across disciplines. The presentation will describe the biotechnology program, the curriculum development process, infusion of biotechnology and relevant applications into science and nonscience courses. Samples of curriculum materials will be available. Supported by NSF DUE9454642.

Sandra K. Enger, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242

Bioethical issues can be the basis for an interactive forum in the STS classroom. Examples of a case study approach for using bioethical issues in the classroom will be modeled. Background for case study writing will also be provided.

Patrick DeSantis and Ann Marie Liseno, Worcester Public Schools, Worcester, MA

Continuation of Session 1.61.

Jeffrey Alderson and Maria Salvati, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA 01609

Discussant: Deirdre Loughlin, Worcester Public Schools, Worcester, MA

Presider: James Hamos, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, MA 01655

John Wilkes, and Lance Schachterle, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA 01609; and Charles S. Weiss, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA

WPI's Interactive Qualifying Project is the main vehicle for the far-reaching WPI STS effort which touches every graduate in some way. Started by John Wilkes and influenced by Rustum Roy at the Technological Literacy Conferences, the WPI-NASTS connection was built on the efforts of 140 students in 65 projects since 1989 as part of the School-College Collaborative begun by Lance Schachterle. Holy Cross has developed the Youth Exploring Science (YES) program for students of color in grades 6-8 to spend a week on the campus kindling their interest in science and a Sabbatical program for secondary school science teachers to"retake" undergraduate science courses to learn about changes in their fields while their classes are taught by Holy Cross science graduates interested in teaching as a possible career.

Bonnie Kaiser, Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10021

In Rockefeller University's Precollege Science Education Program, juniors and seniors engage in graduate-level research and enter science competitions. They gain mentored laboratory research experience and have access to national and international competitions. Since 1992, 250 students and 31 teachers have worked at Rockefeller. In 1995-96 two students won the Westinghouse Science Talent Search. Committed to providing opportunities for all gifted and talented students in the greater New York area, the Precollege Science Education Program held its first local international science and engineering fair (ISEF). Seventy high school students from 16 schools engaged in a dialog about their science in a poster/research report competition with 60 judges, half of them Rockefeller scientists and the other half master science teachers from partnership schools. Our students won a first place in biochemistry and a third place in zoology at the ISEF in Tuscon; and a first place which volunteer professionals listed in a directory come to classrooms to assist K-12 teachers in need of expertise in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

12:15-1:30 p.m., Lunch WORCESTER-SPRINGFIELD

Introduction: Richard Deitrich, Chairman, Values & Religion Assembly

Topic: "Values and Religion in the Technological City"

1:30-2:30 p.m., Concurrent Sessions III

3.0 Panel Values and Religion Springfield

Rodney Peterson, Boston Theological Institute, Boston, MA, Chair

Lawrence Agbemabiese, Caroline Bitzer, Kyung-Jin Boo, and John Byrne, Center for Energy and Environmental Policy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716

Ahmad Zargari, Morehead State University, Morehead, KY 40351 and

Charles E. Coddington, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL 61920

As technology advances to meet the changing needs of society, educational institutions must be equipped to help students understand, apply, and control technology for the improvement of our living conditions. To prepare technology literate citizens and highly skilled workers, the schools' curricula should react to and predict the life requirements of their students. This presentation will introduce a curriculum that could provide students, at all levels, with an awareness and understanding of the skills needed to participate in a technological environment.

Sylvia Ware and Ann Benbow, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC 20034

Art Hobson, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701

Because all students take at least a few science courses, it is feasible to teach STS topics to everyone by including these topics within general science courses. This is easy to do in courses for nonscientists, because they are flexible, conceptual, and taught to students whose interests span a broad range. I have written a text (Physics: Concepts and Connections (Prentice-Hall, 1995)) for my large-enrollment liberal arts physics course, which, in addition to physics, its philosophical context, and such societal topics as transportation, exponential growth, ozone depletion, and global warming, also includes the two topics to be discussed: the search for extraterrestrial intelligence and pseudoscience with emphasis on the evolution/creationism controversy.

Phillip G. Sokolove and Susan M. Blunck, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250

This workshop will reveal what happened in an honors biology course at UMBC when an STS approach was used for the first time. The experiences in the course will be analyzed from the perspectives of the students and professor. Specific teaching and assessment strategies will be discussed, and examples of student projects and other resources will be shared. Participants will come away from this workshop with many ideas for implementing STS teaching strategies in college and university level science courses.

James Amara and Ron Midgett, Minuteman Science and Technology High School, Lexington, MA 02173

The Minuteman Science and Technology High School Biotechnology Academy was designed to form a"school within a school" with academic and technical teachers working in teams. This novel curriculum allows students to work on integrated projects which combine academic and technical learning while promoting self-sufficiency. Curriculum for grades 9-12 will be completed for the Biotech Academy by August 1997 and fully piloted by May 1999. Both faculty and students involved in the curriculum will participate in the roundtable. Supported by NSF DUE9454642.

Caryn McCrohon and Patty Jacobs, Goddard School of Science and Technology, Worcester, MA; and Maureen Reddy, Clark University, Worcester, MA

The panelists will discuss the process involved in a long-term collaborative research project centered around science literacy issues in an urban elementary school. Their story melds together the voices of teacher research and academic research as they explore topics such as habits of mind, student science talk, and science dialogue journals.

Presider: James Doyle, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA 01609

The Introductory Biology Experiment with Type Alike and Maximally Diverse Student Groupings: The Case for Diversity in Student Project Groups

Judy Miller and John Wilkes, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA 06109

The Differential Equations Class Experiment With Cognitively Diverse and Type Alike Study Sections: The Case for Homogeneous Groupings

Monaca McNall, James Rogers, and Sean Barrett, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA 01609

Jung-Il Cho, Chonnam National University, Kwangju, South Korea 500-757 and

Do-Yong Park, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52246

This presentation describes workshops conducted by the University of Iowa's Science Education Center for 110 Korean science teachers in 1995 and 1996 and assesses the effect of these workshops in teachers' construction of a constructivist learning environment on the basis of the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey. Proposals for a follow-up program to increase the effect of these workshops will be offered.

Current STS Efforts in Korea and the Iowa SS&C Model as an Example for Korean STS Teacher Education Programs

Jung-Il Cho, Chonnam National University, Kwangju, South Korea 500-757 and

Myeong-Kyeong Shin and Do-Yong Park, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52246

The Iowa SS&C Model can be an effective model for Korean science teacher education, especially in training teachers how to teach science in a social context. This presentation focuses on problems in implementing an STS-oriented curriculum and module development, developing a spirit of working together among teachers, and relating school science to home and society in Korean science education.

Music as the Social Context for STS

Donna Daley, Lincoln Park Community School, Somerville, MA 02143; Robert Pereira, Quabbin Regional District, Barre, MA 01005; and Martha Jergensen, Forest Grove Middle School, Worcester, MA 01605; James Adushkevich, Jeff Alderson, Mike Driscoll, Keith Strang, Mark Plunnecke, Mike Pasierb, and Nate Howells, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA 01609

This session consists of three twenty-minute"work in progress" presentations on two curricula developed through collaboration between student teams from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and music teachers in surrounding schools. One links music and acoustics directly. The other links twentieth century history of music with the recent history of electronics. Teachers will describe their actual classroom experience, using slides and hands-on demonstrations, and WPI student development and revision teams will share their intent and progress to date.

2:30-2:45 p.m., Exhibits/Coffee Break

Introduction: Thomas Liao, Conference Planning Committee

Topic: "Science, Technology, and Society, Sea Lions, Sharks, Penquins . . . all come together at the NEW New England Aquarium"

3:45-4:15 p.m., Exhibits/Coffee Break

4:15-5:15 p.m., Concurrent Sessions IV

4.0 Panel Values and Religion Springfield

Deva Beck and Jeremy Wright, The Wellness Foundation, Washington, DC

Presider: James Doyle, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA 01609

Changes in Students' Decision Making-Oriented Higher-Order Cognitive Skills (HOCS) Profiles

Uri Zoller, Haifa University-Oranim, Kiryat Tivon 36006, Israel

By means of a specially developed questionnaire, this study examined university students' decision making-oriented higher-order cognitive skill (HOCS) profile changes in addressing science-technology-environment-society (STES) issues. The findings are discussed in the context of evaluating students, courses, and instructor practices. The study's results indicate that student profiles have remained fairly stable after an approximate two-month time interval. These results point to the need for implementing specific strategies to foster and reinforce higher-order thinking in the classroom. This evaluative study is important in the context of the transferability of decision making-oriented HOCS within and across disciplines, an important consideration for the design and evaluation of courses and programs aiming to facilitate the development of these skills.

Teaching STS Cross-Culturally

Sally Wyatt, University of East London, London E15 1E4, UK

In 1993 a small group of universities in different European countries launched an innovative masters program entitled"Society, Science and Technology in Europe." Eleven universities in nine countries currently participate, with approximately 100 students each year. Students follow a common curriculum in the first semester at their home universities, taught in the appropriate language. Each university offers one or two specialist options in the second semester. Students choose which option to follow and then move to that university to follow a short taught course and prepare a master's thesis under specialist supervision. This presentation will outline the history of this program and identify some of the problems encountered in delivering a program that spans the boundaries of language, discipline, and educational culture.

John Wilkes, Andrea Kodys, Michael Riley, and Mike Caprio, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA 01609

Jerry Streichler, Epsilon Pi Tau, LaJolla, CA 92039 and

James DeLaura, Central Connecticut University, New Britain, CT 06050

The Journal of Technology Studies serves more than 12,000 subscribers, members of Epsilon Pi Tau, and libraries throughout the world. This workshop is designed to describe the types of materials that can be published , the review process, and the ways and means pursued to provide support to authors throughout the process. Following this workshop is an Exemplary Initiation of new members into Epsilon Pi Tau, an international honorary for the professions in technology.

Marilyn Roode Decker, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02120;

Arthur Eisenkraft, Fox Lane High School, Bedford, NY

Jeff Jakobson and Joel Waterman, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA 01609

Presider: John L. Roeder, The Calhoun School, New York, NY 10024

Peter Veronesi, SUNY Brockport, Brockport, NY 14420

Participants will immediately be involved with a science investigation linked to a societal issue: waste. Following the activity, expectation criteria for students via rubrics will be modeled and current research findings discussed.

Lance Schachterle and students, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and

Mary Ann Toll, Elm Park School, Worcester, MA

A team of WPI students, their faculty advisor, and the classroom facilitator from Elm Park Community School will present the results of several projects that prepared new hands-on curricula to introduce urban third graders to science. Both student teams had to confront immediately the problems of trying to teach young students about important but abstract scientific concepts. Their reports will stress the societal contextualization needed to make the projects successful, as well as other classroom issues of student-teacher dynamics, team formulation, and ethnic diversity.

Joan S. Pundt, State University of West Georgia, Dalton, GA 30720

This presentation is for all the elementary teachers who have ever said,"I wish I never had to teach science again," or"Science activities never turn out right." The results of a survey on elementary teachers' attitudes toward mathematics and science will be presented. Participants will also work in cooperative groups to complete activities that would be appropriate for use in elementary classes. They will also discuss question/answer techniques which actively involve students and at the same time prevent an activity from"turning out wrong."

Presider: Howard Rafal, BBH Systems and Technologies

Classrooms Without Boundaries: STS and the World Wide Web

Rebecca Monhardt, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322 and

Leigh Monhardt, H.B. Lee Middle School, Dayton, ID 83232

This presentation describes an STS project undertaken by two eighth grade classes at H.B. Lee Middle School. Students identified a problem of local interest and impact, the utilization of water from the Bear River. After extensive research, students role-played all sides of the issue in a public forum and reached a consensus on how the river should best be used.

Utilizing the Internet to Aid Science Teaching and Collect Data

Kamariah Abu Bakar, University Pertanian Malaysia; Gary Varrella, University of Iowa; and Scott Hoegh, Hampton-Dumont Middle School, Hampton, IA 50441

The purpose of this study was to determine the retention of knowledge of eighth grade Iowa rural school students on a developed Scope, Sequence, and Coordination Internet multimedia module employing the STS approach and the theme of consumerism. Results of 39 student responses from two randomly-selected classes (of four) indicated no significant gender differences and that a majority of students retained at least one of the main ideas and had their research questions answered by designing their own experiments. Students were very positive about the use of the multimedia module, and a spillover effect of enthusiasm was observed when students were recording their experimental designs on the computer. Problems of data collection using the Internet are also discussed.

Donna Daley, Lincoln Park Community School, Somerville, MA 02143; Robert Pereira, Quabbin Regional District, Barre, MA 01005; and Martha Jergensen and the Forest Grove Middle School Music Department

This session follows the Panel Presentation,"Music as the Social Context for STS," to allow those attending to share ideas, materials, and strategies.

Arnold Pulda, Doherty High School, Worcester, MA 01605 and Helen Poirier, Oakham Elementary School, Oakham, MA 01068

Presider: Al Costa, Hughes Space and Communications, Billerica, MA 01821

This presentation will discuss the content of simulations and reflect on the value of using them. The first simulation attempts to recreate the world of Mediterranean trading nations during the Bronze Age. As representatives of various states, students must optimize the scarce resources which they possess and acquire the resources that they need but are not immediately available to them. The second brings students together in a simulation of an international conference at which delegates of the world's current nations must decide whether or not to collaboratively finance and build a"shield" around Earth to deflect an object from space on a collision course. In the third role-playing situation students are asked where and how they would locate a nuclear power plant near an urban area. After roles are assigned, the students then argue for various solutions to the problem, making their case to a local city council, which is charged with making the final decision.

5:15 p.m., Post-Session Activities

Exemplary Initiation of new members into Epsilon Pi Tau Massachusetts

Initiation team led by James DeLaura, Director of Region I, Alpha Eta Chapter, Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT 06040

Women and STS Discussion Group Rhode Island

Janice Koch, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY 11550

6-6:45 p.m. Cocktails -- cash bar available Assembly

6:45 p.m., Evening Banquet WORCESTER-SPRINGFIELD

Introduction: John Roeder, Conference Planning Committee

Topic: "Information Technology and Ergonomics"