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, March 28, 2003.
Sigma Vol. XXXII, No. 11, March 21, 2003
________________________________________________________________
CALENDAR: March 22 - 28
"Educated Guesses: One Historian's Encounter with the Culture Wars"
by Jonathan Zimmerman, New York University
Date: Wednesday, March 19
Time: 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
Location: Whitney Auditorium
Refreshments will be served after the presentation
________________________________________________________________
1. HERBST RECEIVES RESEARCH AWARD
2. KRAJCIK AND SILVER INVITED PARTICIPANTS
3. LEMKE GIVES KEYNOTE ADDRESS
4. SOE USE OF EMAIL AS PRIMARY FORM OF COMMUNICATION
5. DOCTORAL CANDIDACY DEADLINE
6. SCHOOL OF EDUCATION INFORMAL DISCUSSION
7. CPTM COLLOQUIUM
8. CSHPE SPONSORS A DINNER & A MOVIE
9. PEO VIDEO SERIES
10. NEED TO ADVERTISE A SUBLET OR ITEMS FOR SALE?
11. NEWS FROM ITCS
12. HRAA NEWS: MARCH 17
13. VIRUSBUSTERS WEB SITE
14. CAMPUS EVENTS OF INTEREST
________________________________________________________________
1. HERBST RECEIVES RESEARCH AWARD
Asst. Prof. Patricio Herbst will receive the second annual AERA SIG/Research in Mathematics Education Early Career Publication Award for his work titled "Establishing a Custom of Proving in American School Geometry: Evolution of the Two-column Proof in the Early Twentieth Century." According to the reviewers, his paper provides a rich historical account of the evolution of the two-column proof as a custom of American high school geometry.
2. KRAJCIK AND SILVER INVITED PARTICIPANTS
Profs. Joe Krajcik and Ed Silver recently were invited participants at the First International Workshop on Research and Development in Mathematics and Science Education at the Leibniz Institute for Science Education at the University of Kiel in Germany. Scholars of mathematics and science teaching and learning drawn from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and the United States attended the meeting. At the meeting, Prof. Silver presented a plenary paper entitled "Conceptions of Mathematical Competence," and Prof. Krajcik was the discussion leader for a plenary session on mathematics and science learning.
3. LEMKE GIVES KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Prof. Jay Lemke recently gave the keynote address for the annual Ethnography in Education Research Forum held at the University of Pennsylvania. "Modeling Change: The Dynamics of Place, Time, and Identity" was the title of the address which may be found online at http://www.gse.upenn.edu/cue/keynote.html. Follow-up notes, presentation slides, etc., are online at http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jaylemke/penn_forum.htm. This was the 24th year of the conference, which is a major event for people in the field.
4. SOE USE OF EMAIL AS PRIMARY FORM OF COMMUNICATION
Please be aware that the School of Education uses email as the primary method for communicating relevant policies, procedures, decisions, etc. to students. Email is the primary form of communication by faculty, course instructors, program leaders, and various staff including advisors.
5. DOCTORAL CANDIDACY DEADLINE
If you are planning to become a candidate for Spring Term 2003 or Spring-Summer Term 2003, please submit a request to the Office of Student Services no later than: Friday, March 28 for Spring or Spring-Summer advancement. Additional information is available online at http://www.soe.umich.edu/deadlines/index.html. The information describes the process to achieve candidacy as well as the candidacy deadline dates.
6. SCHOOL OF EDUCATION INFORMAL DISCUSSION
"A Model for Arresting Alienation from Schooling and Improving Intellectual Engagement in Science"
by Mary Hanrahan, Postdoctoral Fellow, Centre for Innovation in Education at the Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, Queensland, Australia
Date: Friday, March 28
Time: Noon - 1:30 p.m.
Location: Brownlee Room
Dr. Hanrahan's research interests include "language and literacy" issues in science education, the psychology of teaching and learning, the role of emotions in learning, non-cognitive aspects of research methodology, and critical discourse analysis. The goal of Dr. Hanrahan's multi-study research program has been to learn how to engage students in learning science with a goal of "science literacy for all."
7. CPTM COLLOQUIUM
by Dr. Suzanne M. Wilson, Professor of Teacher Education and Director of the Center for the Scholarship of Teaching at MSU
based on her new book "California Dreaming: Reforming Mathematics Education"
Date: Friday, March 28
Time: Noon - 1:30 p.m.
Place: Room 2816, School of Social Work
Beverages and light snacks provided.
You are welcome to bring a lunch.
This is the complex story of a serious multi-disciplinary effort to change and improve mathematics instruction, designed with attention to the multiple levers of reform, and with resources for substantial professional learning, and not just by classroom teachers. In part, this discussion is also about much more than the struggles of educational policy and practice, in mathematics, in California, since 1985. For more information contact Teresa McMahon at teresam at umich.edu or 709-2795.
8. CSHPE SPONSORS A DINNER & A MOVIE
Movie: "Through My Lens"
Discussion led by Women of Color in the Academy Project Coordinator, Akanke Omorayo
Date: Tuesday, March 25
Time: 5:00 p.m.
Location: Dean's Conference Room, SEB 1211
This is a documentary about women faculty members of color at U-M.
9. PEO VIDEO SERIES
The popular PEO brown bag video series returns with the theme "Equity and Justice."
Date: Wednesday, March 26
Time: Noon - 1:15 p.m.
Location: Whitney Auditorium
"Teen Connection: Bipolar Disorder"
This is a tape of a television broadcast with teens who deal every day with bipolar disorder discussing the challenges they face, produced by some of the teens themselves. Includes some time with live audience call-ins and responses by the teen panelists.
10. NEED TO ADVERTISE A SUBLET OR ITEMS FOR SALE?
DON'T USE EMAIL.
As the end of winter term approaches, you may need to advertise summer sublet opportunities and/or items for sale. Please remember that off-topic spam sent to University-maintained official email lists is considered to be abuse of network resources. A better choice for these kinds of advertisements is http://marketplace.umich.edu (U-M's official site) or http://www.orangesorbet.com (a commercial site that gets lots of U-M traffic) to post your ads and sublet announcements. You'll reach far more people as well as avoid the wrath of the campus IT folks by placing your ads in one of these locations.
11. NEWS FROM ITCS
**Major Upgrade Improves U-M Online Directory
A number of improvements have been made to the U-M Online Directory, including a new button that allows you to view lists of group members by name rather than only by uniqname, security enhancements, and improved and updated online help.
**Single Web Login Service Implemented
ITCS is now offering a secure, single-login method that provides web-based Kerberos authentication to multiple web applications and sites.
12. HRAA NEWS: MARCH 17
**Spring/Summer Benefits Continuation for Graduate Students
Benefits for graduate students who meet the criteria below will be continued with University contributions during the Spring/Summer term (Term III). [This process does not apply to Fellowship students. Fellowship students are administered by M-CARE. Any changes to Fellowship eligibility should be reported to M-CARE Customer Service at 734-913-2211.] For those students who will return for fall term, the University contribution and appropriate GSI, GSSA or GSRA deduction will be taken in one lump sum in April to pay for continued coverage. The criteria are:
--The student is a Graduate Student Instructor (GSI), Graduate Student Staff Assistant (GSSA) or Graduate Student Research Assistant (GSRA); and
--The student is participating in the medical, dental, or life insurance plan during the winter term (Term II); and
--The student will be re-employed for the following fall term (Term I) with a one-quarter or greater employment fraction.
**Prescription Drug Plan Updates
The following information is now available online:
--The Drug Formulary which lists all covered drugs specific to the University's drug plan and identifies the tier co-payment level. It is searchable and will be updated periodically. http://www.umich.edu/~benefits/plans/drugs/index.htm or http://umich.advancerx.com
--The list of prescription drugs that require prior authorization for coverage as well as an updated list of drugs with quantity limits. Your physician should call AdvancePCS prior to your filling Prior Authorized prescriptions at the pharmacy in order to expedite the process. http://www.umich.edu/~benefits/plans/drugs/priorauth.htm or http://umich.advancerx.com.
--In the event that your physician prescribes a drug that was not dispensed or was not "Prior Authorized," you may contact AdvancePCS about an appeal. The appeals process is described online at http://www.umich.edu/~benefits/plans/drugs/claimsappeal.htm Note: The plan will not consider appeals for lower co-pay levels on covered drugs.
--Mediation Services for Faculty and Staff offers support for holding difficult conversations and resolving difficult situations. Mediation is a voluntary process to head off or resolve a workplace dispute collaboratively. It allows two or more parties to communicate openly and honestly, in a safe and structured setting, about a disagreement. If you need to talk to someone about a workplace concern, contact Mediation Services at 936-8660 or online at http://www.umich.edu/~mediate/index.html.
13. VIRUSBUSTERS WEB SITE
If you receive a suspicious email message, especially one with an attachment, before opening it, do a quick check at http://www.itd.umich.edu/virusbusters. This is also information is also available on the SOE web site at http://www.soe.umich.edu/students/index.html.
14. 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).
International Institute Public Symposium and Student Essay Contest
"For a University of the World"
Date: Thursday, March 27
Time: 2:30-4:00 p.m.
Location: Power Center for the Performing Arts
"Crimes Against Children and the Concept of Development Victimology"
by David Finkelhor, Director of the Crimes against Children Research Center, Co-Director of the Family Research Laboratory, and Professor of Sociology at the University of New Hampshire
Date: Tuesday, April 8
Time: 1:00-2:00 p.m.
Location: 1840 School of Social Work Building,
________________________________________________________________
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.