The University of Massachusetts will plan and convene a small invitational conference to stimulate science and mathematics department faculty at major research universities to become actively involved in the scientific preparation of teachers by redesigning introductory science and mathematics courses. The conference will seek to produce collaboration among scientists, mathematicians, educators, and cognitive scientists in modernizing course content, incorporating recent educational research results, and in the case of science courses, providing opportunities for hands-on experiences. If the conference is successful, the result should be the development of introductory science courses in which elementary education majors and liberal arts majors will gain a better understanding of science concepts and the nature of scientific inquiry. Cost sharing for the conference by the University of Massachusetts is 20%.
