The PTI Seminars 2002

Group A
 (Preference given to teachers of specific grades or courses)

LEARNING SCIENCE BY DOING SCIENCE
Seminar led by Richard Holman, Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University

This seminar will provide a discussion of some of the topics in the physical sciences that appear in the event based modules that the middle schools will use in science.  We will focus on the basic physics that enters into the First Flight and Thrill Ride modules.  We will also discuss various issues of physics pedagogy that enter into the teaching of the relevant concepts.

Teachers of middle school science will have priority.

PENNSYLVANIA MATHEMATICS ACADEMIC STANDARDS:  PROBABILITY, STATISTICS, AND SAFETY
Seminar led by Larry Viehland, Chair of Science Division, Chatham College and Yuejan Peng, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Chatham College

The new PA Mathematics Academic Standards place new demands on teachers as well as students.  The standards include areas of mathematics that have not been part of the traditional curricula (e.g., statistics, and probability) and place more emphasis on using mathematics to model real-world situations and solve real problems.
     This seminar will address standards that are less familiar to teachers to provide guidance in the development of advanced topics in mathematics as well as in the development of courses to address the needs of students who appear to be in danger of scoring below the proficient level on the state high school mathematics test.
     The anthrax scare of late 2001 is just the most recent episode in which the public's concern for safety has combined with general ignorance of probability and statistics to create worry and in some cases panic.  Similar situations confront many individuals when they receive medical news, standardized test scores, and other pieces of important information.  This seminar will explore techniques for teaching the basics of probability and statistics in a meaningful way, with particular stress being placed on the role of false positives and false negatives in any real-world measurements.

 Preference to teachers of high school mathematics 

A RESTLESS PEOPLE:  AMERICANS ON THE MOVE, 1760-1900
Seminar led by Joan Gundersen, Vice President, Academic Affairs, Chatham College, and Elisabeth Roark, Department of Fine and Performing Arts, Chatham College

Moving on is an old American tradition.  Families from the eastern seaboard moved to the frontier, people from the countryside flocked to cities and towns looking for work.  African-Americans moved away from slavery, American Indians moved to avoid settled areas.  This seminar will take an interdisciplinary look at the experience of the mobile Americans of the "long" 19th century-how they told their stories in art, music, literature, and how these movements both shaped and were shaped by political and economic forces.  Participants will read essays by historians, personal accounts, work with art and photographs, and visit sites in the Pittsburgh area that tell part of this story.

This seminar is funded under a Department of Education Grant for the improvement of teaching history.  Teachers of eighth grade history will have priority.

Group B Seminars
(Open to all Teachers)

COMEDY:  FROM ARISTOPHANES TO THE PRESENT 
Seminar led by Alan Kennedy, Department of English, Carnegie Mellon University

It turns out that far form being the junior genre, compared to tragedy, comedy is th more mature art form.  Students can be introduced to a wide range of ideas in a relatively painless form by having them learn about the nature of comedy.  Comedy is the social genre, insisting that our lives are best lived in an ordered and rational social group. Comedies tend to punish those who are anti-social, and inflexible (Jack Nicholson in As Good as it Gets exemplifies the rigidity of behavior that comedy would try to change). Comedy also offers an understanding of what it means to be oneself, and still be part of a group; so students interested in finding out about how to live in the world can find a wealth of advice in the comic world. An understanding of how jokes work similarly helps us understand our interactions with others.  A sampling of some of the best comedies (often plays) from times past and present, and a sampling of the very few theoretical essays about comedy, will make up the basis of this seminar 

EVERYDAY SCIENCE
Seminar led by Janet Stocks, Department of History, Carnegie Mellon University

Children and their parents sometimes have the impression that science is an activity that is done only by a small group of highly trained scholars in laboratories equipped with expensive and fragile machines.  In fact, we are all scientists and we all understand scientific principles, even if we don't have the language that is used in more formal scientific settings.  In this seminar we will look for ways to create opportunities in everyday settings, such as playgrounds, sports fields, the riverfront, and our homes to help children and their parents gain a broader appreciation for science and for themselves as scientists. 
     A collaborative project between Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh and Family Communications (Mr. Rogers) has been funded by local foundations to create signs in everyday settings (specifically Kennywood and Pittsburgh Parks).  In this seminar we will talk with the designers who are making these signs, learn about gender-sensitive signs and talk with evaluators who study the effectiveness of science signage in everyday settings.  We will create curriculum units that can use everyday settings to explore scientific principles, which may include activities in which students create their own signage.  We will also discuss the kinds of support materials that might be sent home to parents to help them understand everyday settings with their children.

GENETICS AND GENOMES
Seminar led by Lisa Lambert, Department of Science, Chatham College

New developments in genetics are changing our lives in many important ways.  The Human Genome Project, an international quest to uncover the genetic information of humans and other organisms, will lead to unprecedented advances in science and medicine.  At the same time, practical applications of genetics have changed the food we eat, the medicines we take and the environment around us.  In this seminar we will discuss these topics and collect supporting background information in basic science.  Extensive use will be made of Internet resources, and we will visit and evaluate many sites for accuracy and appropriateness.  Specific topics for discussion include:  Sequencing the Human Genome; Identification of Individuals; Genetic Engineering of Plants and Animals; Advances in Health Care.

LATIN AMERICA AND U.S. POPULAR CULTURE
Seminar led by Karen Goldman, Department of Modern Language, Chatham College

This seminar will offer a comparative analysis of specific cultural forms such as comics, television melodrama, popular music and movies in the United States and Latin America.  In studying the politics and economics in a cross-cultural perspective, the seminar will examine issues such as:  gender, ethnic an racial representations in popular culture, the influence of Hollywood; nationalism and cultural imperialism, hybrid forms of cultural innovation, alternative and resistant types of popular culture, youth subcultures and the proliferation of digital technology.  We will look at, for example, the similarities and differences in the reception of Disney products in the U.S. and Latin America, television genres, and cultural icons such as the Barbie doll and the Brazilian superstar, Xura.