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 mailto:SOENews at umich.edu. Deadline for submissions is noon on Wednesday. The next Sigma will be Friday, April 18, 2003.

Sigma Vol. XXXII, No. 13, April 11, 2003

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1. CHAMBERS SPEAKS AT ACPA MEETING

2. FISHMAN KEYNOTE SPEAKER AT CONFERENCE

3. KING PART OF NATIONAL TELECONFERENCE SERIES

4. LARSEN-FREEMAN'S BOOK SHOWCASED

5. ROWLEY REWARDED FOR OUTSTANING MENTORSHIP

6. CHSPE STUDENT WINS AWARD

7. CSHPE STUDENT RECEIVES FELLOWSHIP

8. NEW AWARD

9. UPCOMING ORAL DEFENSES

10. DISSERTATION COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIPS

11. SOE GUEST LECTURER

12. MATH CONFERENCE

13. STAFF ADVISORY COUNCIL COFFEE HOUR

14. NEED TO ADVERTISE A SUBLET OR ITEMS FOR SALE?

15. IRIS STUDY DAY AND EXAM WEEK HOURS

16. JAMES NEUBACHER AWARD NOMINATIONS

17. ENRICHING SCHOLARSHIP CONFERENCE

18. NEWS FROM ITCS

19. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MINUTES

20. CAMPUS EVENTS OF INTEREST

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1. CHAMBERS SPEAKS AT ACPA MEETING

Tony Chambers, Associate Director of the Kellogg Forum on Higher Education for the Public Good and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education, was one of the major convention speakers at the annual meeting of the American College Personnel Association recently held in Minneapolis. The speech has been described by many as "very moving."

2. FISHMAN KEYNOTE SPEAKER AT CONFERENCE

Asst. Prof. Barry Fishman is the Keynote speaker at the 2nd annual "Spring Research Conference" hosted by the Instructional Systems Technology Program at the Indiana University-Bloomington School of Education. Prof. Fishman's talk is entitled "Research Amidst Systemic Reform: Studying Teacher Learning from Professional Development."

3. KING PART OF NATIONAL TELECONFERENCE SERIES

This past month, Prof. Patricia King was a panelist for a National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience & Students in Transition teleconference series. Prof. King was one of three panelists who participated in the teleconference titled "Engaging Students in Learning."

4. LARSEN-FREEMAN'S BOOK SHOWCASED

Prof. Diane Larsen-Freeman's new book, "Teaching Language: From Grammar to Grammaring," was showcased at the American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL) earlier this month. At the same meeting, Prof. Larsen-Freeman began her term as a member of the Executive Committee of AAAL and presented a paper at a colloquium titled: "The Linguistic System and its Access." She was also a discussant at a colloquium on "fossilization," or the premature stabilization of language learners' interlanguage. The following week, at the International TESOL Convention in Baltimore, Diane presented an invited paper on Hallidayan Functional Linguistics and gave two other presentations.

5. ROWLEY REWARDED FOR OUTSTANING MENTORSHIP

Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education and Center for Afroamerican and African Studies Postdoctoral Research Fellow Larry Rowley was recently awarded a "Faculty Award for Outstanding Research Mentorship" for his work with the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP).

6. CHSPE STUDENT WINS AWARD

Rong Chen, a doctoral student in the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education has won a Graduate Student Research Award (2002-2003) from the Institute for Research on Women and Gender.

7. CSHPE STUDENT RECEIVES FELLOWSHIP

Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education graduate student Heidi Grunwald was awarded a dissertation fellowship from the Association for Institutional Research. The award begins in June and will support her research on factors affecting faculty use of instructional technology in traditional classroom settings.

8. NEW AWARD

Annemarie Palincsar and Shirley Magnusson have received a new award from Center for Applied Technology (CAST)/USDOE in the amount of $197,730 for their project titled, "Learning and Instruction Regarding Comprehending Text Across the Content Areas."

9. UPCOMING ORAL DEFENSES

Candidate: Douglas T Shapiro

Date: Tuesday, April 15

Time: 9:00 a.m.

Location: Dean's Conference Room

Chair(S): Donald E. Heller and Janet H. Lawrence

Dissertation Title: "Doctoral Production, Supply and Demand: A Dynamic Simulation of the

Academic Labor Market for Humanities Ph.D.s."

Candidate: Hee-Sun Lee

Date: Tuesday, April 15

Time: 3:00 p.m.

Location: Dean's Conference Room

Chair: Nancy Butler Songer

Dissertation Title: "Scaffolding Elementary Students' Authentic Inquiry Through a Written

Science Curriculum"

Candidate: Susanna Elizabeth Hapgood

Date: Tuesday, April 15

Time: 3:30 p.m.

Location: Brownlee Room

Chair(S): Annemarie Sullivan Palincsar

Dissertation Title: "Motion in Action: A Study of Second Graders' Trajectories of Experience

During Guided Inquiry Science Instruction"

Candidate: Jason Margolis

Date: Friday, April 18

Time: 10:00 a.m.

Location: Dean's Conference room

Chair(S): Virginia Richardson

Dissertation Title: "Teachers Living and Learning Change: A Case Study of One Urban Charter

School"

10. DISSERTATION COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIPS

Thomas F. Nelson-Laird

Associate Professor Sylvia Hurtado (Chair)

Professor Emeritus Patricia Gurin (Cognate: Psychology)

Associate Professor Eric Dey

Professor Patricia King

"Exploring 'Diversity' Courses and Their Effects on Students' Thinking"

Debra A. Petish

Assistant Professor Elizabeth Davis (Chair)

Professor Jean Krisch (Cognate: Physics)

Associate Professor Helen Harrington

Professor Joseph Krajcik

"Using Educative Curriculum Materials to Support New Elementary Science Teachers' Learning and Practice"

Ruth Alfaro Piker

Assistant Professor Lesley Rex (Chair)

Professor Susan Gelman (Cognate: Psychology)

Professor Eugene Garcia (Education; Arizona State University)

Professor Diane Larsen-Freemen

Clinical Assistant Professor Cathy Reischl

"Second Language Acquisition in one Head Start Classroom"

Jacob Geoffrey Foster

Professor Joseph Krajcik (Co-Chair)

Assistant Professor Lesley Rex (Co-Chair)

Professor John Swales (Cognate: Linguistics)

Assistant Professor Elizabeth Davis

"Exploring Reforms while Learning to Teach Science: Facilitating Exploration of Theory-Practice Relationships in a Teacher Education Study Group"

Nancy Melamed Brown

Professor Annemarie Palincsar (Chair)

Professor Marion Perlmutter (Cognate: Psychology)

Associate Professor Helen Harrington

Senior Research Associate Shirley Magnusson

"Tangled Paths: Three Experienced Teachers' Growth in Understanding during an Extended Science Community of Practice Professional Development Effort"

11. SOE GUEST LECTURER

"Learning from a Teacher Group about Organizational Change"

by Jean Bartunek, Professor, Organization Studies Department, Boston College

Date: Monday, April 28

Time: 1:00 - 2:30 p.m.

Location: Whitney Auditorium

Prof. Bartunek's primary substantive research interests concern intersections of social cognition, conflict, and organizational change. She has published more than 700 journal articles and book chapters and has authored or edited four books including "Organizational and Educational Change: The Life and Role of a Change Agent Group." She is currently a fellow of the Academy of Management.

12. MATH CONFERENCE

"Learning from Mathematics Teaching Around the World: Lessons from the Latest TIMSS Video Study"

Date: Friday, May 30

Time: 8:15 a.m. - 3:15 p.m.

Location: School of Education

The Center for Proficiency in Teaching Mathematics, SOE and the Michigan Council of Teachers of Mathematics are co-sponsoring this year's math conference. Topics include the latest TIMSS Video study with discussant principal author James Hiebert, mathematics teaching in other countries presented on video, and implications of what you see and hear for mathematics teaching in the U.S.

13. STAFF ADVISORY COUNCIL COFFEE HOUR

Date: Tuesday, April 22

Time: 9:00-10:00 a.m.

Location: Tribute Room

There will be food and beverages available for soothing those frazzled nerve ends and lots of people to chat up for commiserating over those problematic p-cards. So mark you calendars!

14. 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.

15. IRIS STUDY DAY AND EXAM WEEK HOURS

Thursday, April 17, 8:00 a.m .- 10:00 p.m.

Friday, April 18, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Saturday & Sunday, April 19 - 20, CLOSED

Monday - Thursday, April 21 - 24, 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Friday, April 25, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Saturday & Sunday, April 26 - 27, CLOSED

Monday, April 28, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Spring Term hours TBA

16. JAMES NEUBACHER AWARD NOMINATIONS

Each October, during Investing in Ability Week, the James Neubacher Award is presented to a faculty or staff member, student, or alumna/alumnus for significant achievements in:

* promoting acceptance and awareness of people with disabilities,

* advocating for the civil rights of people with disabilities, or

* removing barriers to full participation in programs and services by people with disabilities.

The Award includes a stipend provided by the Office of the President. The deadline for nomination submission is May 31, 2003. More information and nomination forms are available at http://www.umich.edu/~hraa/neubacher or by calling Carole Dubritsky, 975-1138.

17. ENRICHING SCHOLARSHIP CONFERENCE

The U-M Teaching and Technology Collaborative (TTC) cordially invites you to the sixth annual Enriching Scholarship Conference, April 28 - May 9. These two weeks of free faculty roundtables, seminars, workshops and demonstrations draw on the expertise of faculty and instructional technology specialists across the University to support you in the vibrant and effective use of technology in higher education. All conference sessions are free. Registration is required and certain sessions fill up very quickly. Please browse the offerings and register today at the Enriching Scholarship web site http://www.umich.edu/~teachtec/ES2003.

18. NEWS FROM ITCS

*Request Tracker Lets a Group Manage and Track Shared Email

If you have a group of people who need to manage a lot of email for a project, activity, or service, Request Tracker (RT) might be useful. RT lets you manage email that goes to a particular address separately from your regular email. Group members log into a web-based "queue," where they can not only respond to incoming mail, but track and monitor it. http://www.itd.umich.edu/news/2003winter/04042003a.html

*U-M Automated Operator Service Available Round the Clock

Persons seeking U-M faculty, staff, and student telephone numbers now have a new option -- the U-M automated operator service. In addition to checking the paper or online directory or calling the U-M telephone operators, it is now possible to access the U-M automated operator service anytime by phoning 615-2244. http://www.itd.umich.edu/news/2003winter/03242003a.html

Presenters Needed for July LabMan Conference at U-M

The Campus Computing Sites will host the fourth annual Great Lakes Academic Lab Management Conference July 25-26 at the Michigan Union. Presentation submissions are due June 15. http://www.itd.umich.edu/news/2003winter/03242003b.html

19. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MINUTES

Full minutes are available from Becki Spangler in the Dean's Office.

==March 18, 2003 Meeting

The Committee met in Executive Session to discuss personnel and budget matters.

20. 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).

Merit Network Presentation

"Videoconferencing in the Classroom."

By Milton Chen, Ph.D. Candidate, Human Computer Interaction Lab, Stanford University

Date: Tuesday, April 15

Time: 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.

Location: ITCS Conference Center

Refreshment will be served.

Peace Corps Information Session

Date: Wednesday, April 16

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Location: Room 9, International Center

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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 mailto:SOENews at umich.edu. SUBSCRIBE should be the subject.