Welcome to the School of Education's newsletter, Sigma which you can access online at http://www.soe.umich.edu/sigma/index.html. If you have any comments or suggestions, please send them to . Deadline for submissions is noon on Wednesday. The next Sigma will be Friday, February 21, 2003.
Sigma Vol. XXXII, No. 06, February 14, 2003
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CALENDAR
** ALL STAFF RETREAT
Date: Friday, February 21
Time: 1:00 - 4: 00 p.m.
Location: Pendleton Room, Michigan Union
The Retreat will start promptly at 1:00, so please try to arrive early. There will be refreshments served during the event, but lunch will not be provided. For more information, contact SAC at soe.sac at umich.edu.
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Index
1. BALL PRESENTS AT DC SUMMIT
2. ES LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES FACULTY CANDIDATE PRESENTATIONS
3. CPTM PRESENTATION
4. UPCOMING ORAL DEFENSE
5. '03 SPRING COMMENCEMENT STUDENT SPEAKER SUBMISSIONS SOUGHT
6. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY IN THE CLASSROOM
7. U-M ONLINE DIRECTORY
8. MSTC CONFERENCE INFORMATION
9. INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL WARNING
10. CAMPUS EVENTS OF INTEREST
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1. BALL PRESENTS AT DC SUMMIT
Professor Deborah Loewenberg Ball recently gave an invited presentation at the "Secretary's Summit on Mathematics" in Washington, DC. The summit, led by Secretary of Education Rodney Paige, launched the new Federal initiative to improve mathematics education. Prof. Ball's presentation "What Mathematical Knowledge is Needed for Teaching Mathematics?" as well as other slides and papers from the Summit are available at http://www.ed.gov/inits/mathscience.
2. ES LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES FACULTY CANDIDATE PRESENTATIONS
Kurt Squire, Cambridge, MA
"Replaying History: Learning History with Computer Games in Urban Classrooms"
Date: Monday, February 17
Time: 2:00 - 3:15 p.m.
Location: Whitney Auditorium, 1309 SEB
and
"Designing and Developing Next-Generation Educational Gaming Media"
Date: Tuesday, February 18
Time: 2:00 - 3:30 p.m.
Location: Whitney Auditorium, 1309 SEB
3. CPTM PRESENTATION
The Center for Proficiency in Teaching Mathematics presents:
"Misguided Metaphors: Miscommunication, Misunderstanding and Missed Opportunities"
By Richard Colvin, Deputy Director of the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media, Teachers College, and award -winning "LA Times" education writer
Date: Wednesday, February 19
Time: Noon - 1:30 p.m.
Location: Brownlee Room
Beverages and light snacks provided. You are welcome to bring a lunch.
Educators rely heavily on metaphors for communicating their methods and philosophies to one another as well as to the public. But many metaphors are overused and serve to obscure rather than illuminate. The popular press has picked up on those metaphors as a shorthand, pitting "reform" math teaching against "traditional" math teaching and "whole language" against phonics. For additional information contact Teresa McMahon at teresam at umich.edu.
4. UPCOMING ORAL DEFENSE
Candidate: Douglas E. Geverdt
Date: Friday, February 21
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Location: Brownlee Room, 2327 SEB
Chair: Frederick L. Goodman
Dissertation Title: "Location, Location, Location: The Spatial Quality of Urban School Locale Classifications in the National Center for Education Statistics' Common Core of Data"
5. '03 SPRING COMMENCEMENT STUDENT SPEAKER SUBMISSIONS SOUGHT
The Office of University and Development Events is seeking submissions for the 2003 Spring Commencement student speaker from students who will receive a bachelor's degree during winter or summer term 2003. Drafts and audiocassettes of speeches will be accepted through Wednesday, March 5 and must include the following:
Typed draft of speech (less than 5 minutes long)
Audiocassette tape or CD of author reading speech
Curriculum vitae or resume highlighting U-M scholarship and campus leadership
Packets should be delivered to the Office of the Vice President for Communications, 2040 Fleming, ATTN: Student Speaker Entries. For more information call Julie Ashley at 647.6974.
6. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY IN THE CLASSROOM
The Center for Research on Learning and Teaching and the University Library have created a web site with a selected list of resources to help increase understanding of what academic integrity is in practice and in the breach. In addition, the site offers ideas for preventing and detecting plagiarism as well as guidance for using digital resources responsibly in the research process. The site is located at http://www.lib.umich.edu/acadintegrity.
7. U-M ONLINE DIRECTORY
Reminder: It is necessary for each of us to update information in the U-M online directory. To maintain the correct information, mark "Prevent Batch Updates From Changing My Settings" as TRUE. Please take a minute and make sure your directory entry is correct at http://directory.umich.edu.
8. MSTC CONFERENCE INFORMATION
The Michigan School Testing Conference (MSTC) will be held March 4 -5 at the Crown Plaza Hotel. The event, co-sponsored for the 43rd year by SOE and the Michigan Association for Measurement and Evaluation in Guidance, will focus upon "Assessment for Change: Changes in Assessment." Additional information is available online at http://www.cms.housing.umich.edu/mstc/index.html.
9. INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL WARNING
The U-M International Travel Oversight Committee has issued a memo regarding a US State Department Warning for persons traveling to Saudi Arabia. Complete information about the travel advisory is available on the web at http://www.umich.edu/~icenter/overseas/travel. Please remember that if you will be traveling internationally on University-related academic work or other business, it is important to register your travel with the U-M International Travel Registry at http://www.umich.edu/~itoc.
10. CAMPUS EVENTS OF INTEREST
The following events will be taking place around campus. You may get more information on each event via the listed web site, email or telephone (when available).
**Outlooks on Affirmative Action
Presented by the MSA and LSA Student Government
Date: Thursday, February 13
Time: 4:30 p.m.
Location: 100 Hutchins Hall in the Law School
The Case For: Pat Gurin, Former U of M Professor &
Johnathon Alger, U-M Assistant General Counsel
The Case Against: Carl Cohen, RC Sociology Professor &
Terrence Pell, President, Center for Individual Rights
**Peace Corps Information Session
Date: Tuesday, February 18
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Room 9, International Center
**Faculty Exploratory Workshops
Complete descriptions of the workhops offered at the Faculty Exploratory can be found at http://www.lib.umich.edu/exploratory. To register, please email libworkshops at umich.edu. These workshops are free of charge, and for faculty only, with the exception of EndNote and ProCite workshops, which are open to all.
Mon., Feb. 17, 2:00 - 4:00pm Getting Started with Excel
Tue., Feb. 18, 1:00 - 3:00pm NVivo Intermediate
Tue., Feb. 18, 3:00 - 5:00pm EndNote 6 Meets MIRLYNWeb
**ICOS Seminar Series
"Topology and Technology Transfer: Managing Ambiguity in a University Licensing Office"
by Professor Jason Owen-Smith, Sociology Department
Date: Friday, February 21
Time: 1:30 - 3:30 p.m.
Location: Room 4212 SEB
**Urban, Technological and Environmental Planning Symposium (4 Sessions)
"Crossing Disciplinary Boundaries in the Urban and Regional Context"
URBAN PLANNING SESSION
Friday, March 7, 1pm-5pm
Invited speaker: Anne Vernez-Moudon (University of Washington)
TECHNOLOGICAL PLANNING SESSION
Friday, March 21, 1pm-5pm
Invited speaker: Helen Couclelis (University of California, Santa Barbara)
ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING SESSION
Friday, March 28, 1pm-5pm
Invited speaker: Marina Alberti (University of Washington)
FINAL SESSION:
Friday, April 4, 1pm-5pm
Interdisciplinary panel
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Sigma is a weekly publication of the University of Michigan School of Education (bi-weekly during the summer). To subscribe to Sigma, please send an email to . SUBSCRIBE should be the subject.