Robert V. Steiner

Rob Steiner: Online Science Ed. – AMNH

Presenter: Robert V. Steiner directs online teacher education programs at the American Museum of Natural History.

Day 2 Presentation

Online and Blended Science Education from the American Museum of Natural History
Nearly twenty years ago, the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) helped pioneer online science professional learning for educators, drawing upon forefront research across the life, Earth, and physical sciences. AMNH online courses weave compelling scientific narratives, are supported by rich discourse and media, and co-instructed by a master teacher and a scientist, and, through higher education partnerships, are made available as semester-equivalent graduate courses. The courses, designed exclusively for educators, go beyond strict content courses to include pedagogical elements with application to the classroom.

Course titles include Earth: Inside and Out; Genetics, Genomics, Genethics; Space, Time and Motion; Evolution; and The Brain.  Over time, the program has served over 12,000 pre-service and in-service teachers in fifty states and seven continents (with about half of enrollments from New York State).  AMNH has leveraged this program to create blended offerings, MOOCs, and other spin-offs, expanding both its kinds of partnerships and its range of audiences in the process.

In this session, we consider some of the program highlights, as well as the opportunities for increasing access to authentic science education resources, for creating innovative partnerships, and for curricular and pedagogical innovation.