The TSO-UP Team is excited to announce the dates for our 2023 professional development to support Detroit and Lansing elementary teachers in teaching science outdoors in their schoolyards and communities. Participants are paid to attend both Spring and Summer sessions. Spring is a series of four virtual afterschool sessions while Summer is a week spent in urban parks and teachers’ schoolyards.

2023 Dates

Detroit               

Spring                   Thursdays,4:00 – 5:30                   5/4, 5/11, 5/25, 6/1

Summer               9:00 – 4:00                                        6/26-30

Lansing

Spring                 Tuesdays 4:00 – 5:30                     5/2, 5/9, 5/23, 5/30

Summer               9:00 – 4:00                                        6/12-16 

If you are interested or have questions, please contact us here.

The TSO-Up research team will be presenting their work at the 2022 NARST Annual Conference. The conference brings together science education researchers from around the world to share cutting edge research. This year, the TSO-UP team will be sharing four research papers that examine the experiences of the first TSO-UP cohort and the professional development program they attended. Research associate Roberta H Hunter says “There has been a lot of interest in the science education community about the work we are doing, so it is exciting to be able to share it with a broader audience.” The topics of the presentations include informal science educators’ identity, using Cultural Historic Activity Theory to understand informal-formal partnerships, the role of virtual professional development in preparing teachers for a field experience, and how teachers’ questioning develops over the course of the summer professional development program. Brief summaries of each paper can be viewed here.

Roberta H Hunter, TSO-UP Research Associate, and Gail Richmond, Principal Investigator, recently published the paper “Theoretical diversity and inclusivity in science and environmental education research: A way forward” in the Journal of Research in Science Teaching. The paper here discusses the importance of including diverse theoretical perspectives form not only a justice perspective but to increase research quality. It uses a Communities of Practice lens to look at the relationship between environmental education and science education research, discuss that environmental education research has to offer science education research in increasing research diversity, and makes recommendations to move both field forward.

On September 10, 2021, TSO-UP Principal Investigator Gail Richmond and Research Associate Roberta Howard Hunter participated in a national webinar panel "Partnering Culturally Responsive Teaching and Place-based Science Education." The panel, hosted by the STEM Multiplex for All and the STEM Teacher Leadership Network, brought together teachers, informal educators, and researchers. Moderated by Hunter, the panel had a lively discussion of how culturally responsive teaching and place-based education can be used to improve teaching and learning. The page for the webinar, as well as the associated blog post and discussion board, can be found here. 

As the TSO-UP team prepare for the spring and summer 2021 programs, we made a short video introducing ourselves. Check it out!