Dr. Marina Milner-Bolotin

Science is Not Enough – AAAS Panel

Marina Milner-Bolotin — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 22:25:11 +0000

I have had an amazing opportunity to attend two very exciting conference this February – the American Association of Physics Teachers’ Conference in Ontario, California and the American Association for the Advancement of Science Conference in Vancouver. I put many of my comments about the events on my www.bcapt.ca blog and I do not want to repeat the same comments twice. However, here I would like to reflect on the panel I enjoy probably the most during the event: http://www.aaas.org/meetings/2012/program/plenaries/panel.shtml The Panel was called “Science is Not Enough” and it featured three very interesting presenters: James Hunsen, Hans Rosling and Olivia Judson and a moderator Frank Sesno. The panel will be posted on AAAS web site and I strongly recommend you to watch it. I also cannot miss noticing once again how impressed and inspired I was by the presentation of Mike Lazaridis. You can watch it on AAAS web site as well. I would recommend you to look at the AAAS news to find out what you missed: http://news.aaas.org/ The fact that the Society makes these talks publicly available is amazing. Enjoy browsing!

New Year Thoughts on Science Teaching, Learning and Research

Marina Milner-Bolotin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:51:27 +0000

My blog has been dormant for a while. However, the lack of my activity has nothing to do with the lack of exciting developments in science education in Vancouver, in Canada and int he world. Vice versa, there have been so many interesting science education things in my life, that I could barely keep up. I would like to name just a few. Last week I attended a presentation of a Olivia Fermi at the Italian Cultural Centre. Olivia spoke about the nuclear legacy and what can we do about it today. I would recommend you to follow Olivia’s blog: Neutron Trail project . Then we have started active preparation for the 34th UBC Physics Olympics: http://phas.ubc.ca/physoly/ It is the first time that I participate in it not just as a volunteer, but as one of the organizers. I am looking forward to this event! Then I started participating in a very interesting graduate seminar taught by one of the colleagues here at the Faculty of Education, Prof. Andre Mazawi. The seminar focused on Research Methods in Educational Research. However, as most of the participants are from non-science fields, I was asked to preapare a talk on the research methods in science education. I decided to focus on the exploration of Thomas S. Kuhn’s work “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions”. I am rereading it now and thinking more and more about what it means to do research in science education.I will be happy to share my notes on what I prepare on this blog. It is interesting how the same book or paper might mean different thigns to you at different stages of your life. I think that is what happens to me now when I re-read this book…

I am also looking forward to the upcoming AAPT conference in Ontario, California and to the AAAS and AERA Conferences that will take place in Vancouver. In other words, the science education scene in Vancouver is busy and exciting. In addition, on February 11th we will host a special Professional Development event for BC physics teachers… So I am very busy, but it is “busy in a good and exicitng way”…

I wish everybody a great year and I will be back with my blog…

On the Neutron Trail – Positioning Change and Global Nuclear Disarmament

Marina Milner-Bolotin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:21:56 +0000

A friend of mine, Olivia Fermi, will be giving a talk about the Neutron Trail project she has been working on for a number of years now. Olivia is a great public speaker and I would strongly recommend you attend this very special event. It will take place on January 19th at Instituto Italiano di Cultura (Italian Cultural Centre). It is FREE and I strongly recommend you to attend. I am planning on being there.

January 19, 2012, 7:00 pm at Istituto Italiano di Cultura. 500-510 W. Hastings St., Vancouver, Canada. Sponsored by United Nations Association in Canada (UNA-C). Free.

NSTA Meeting: Ken Miller and Evolution

Marina Milner-Bolotin — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 05:54:04 +0000

I have had an opportunity to attend a regional NSTA conference in Seattle Washington. There have been lots of amazing speakers there and as I am not a member of an organizing committee there I had a chance to relax and enjoy the conference. I happened to attend a number of amazing events. One of them is Ken Miller’s presentation on Evolution. While listening to this presentation, I just realized that “evolution is just a theory approach” is something all of us science educators should be very concerned about.The presentation was very inspiring and clever and I hope I learned a few things from it. Ken Miller is a biology prof at Brown University and I would have loved to study biology from him. Here are a few links:

Ken Miller on the Colbert Report; Ken Miller’s web site: and his YouTube presentation below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Understanding the World’s Greatest Structures: Free Video Lecture on Great Thin-Shell Structures

Marina Milner-Bolotin — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 01:45:27 +0000

I cannot miss pointing attention to this free lecture by Professor Stephen Ressler. If you ever wondered about amazing architectural structures such as you can find in Sydney, Madrid, London or other international cities, you will enjoy this free lecture. It is only 32 minutes long and it is great! Click on the picture to enjoy it.

The Teaching Company

Marina Milner-Bolotin — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 01:37:06 +0000

As I am thinking of the benefits of technology for education, I cannot skip mentioning The Great Courses company, also known as The Teaching Company. This company videotapes the very best lectures and distributes them as DVDs or audio files. The first time I encountered them was listening to the lectures on the History of the English Language by Prof. Seth Lerer. I fell in love with these lectures. When people like them lecture, you realize how engaging their “teacher-centered” classrooms can be. Now, I was invited by a colleague to listen to a free lecture about the World’s greatest structures. I invite you to explore this company and the lectures. It is a real eye opening experience.

Just for your information, listen to an interview with one of the profs you will find in The Teaching Company – a Standford Professor, Seth Lerer. You will love listening to his lectures – it is a real jewel.

Click here to view the embedded video.

3T: Toastmasters, Technology and Teaching

Marina Milner-Bolotin — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 08:03:02 +0000

As the term is coming to an end, I have some time to reflect on different things that I have been thinking about recently. One of them is the use of electronic response systems (clickers) in elementary classrooms. I have been teaching a science methods course this term and I used clickers and I kept thinking about the key teaching ideas related to this technology. The major idea I think is being able to ask powerful questions. Clickers are just tools and without having powerful questions they will remain – just tools – nothing more. As I have been thinking about it, I had to prepare a speech for my Toastmasters Club. I decided to use the topic of technology and the use of clickers in elementary and secondary classroom. The speech I prepared for the Toastmasters is a version of a seminar that I am planning to give to teachers. I do not think the speech is perfect – we videotaped it, so I can learn from it and improve it. However, I think there are some good points in the speech and it might be useful to others. I also think attending Toastmasters International meetings was a very powerful experience for me. I was able to learn a lot from my colleagues, improve my public speaking skills and met amazing people. I would strongly recommend Toastmasters for anybody, especially for teachers.

This is Part 1 of the video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Part 2:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Part 3:

Click here to view the embedded video.

UBC Faculty of Education Mathematics and Science Fair 2011

Marina Milner-Bolotin — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 04:17:20 +0000

I haven’t been contributing consistently to my blog this term, as I have been very busy. However, today I have to report that I think I have a good excuse for being silent. On Saturday November 5, 2011 we (our Education Student-Teachers, graduate students, faculty and staff) at the Faculty of Education held our second annual Mathematics and Science Fair. We had more than 200 (I think around 230) guests who came to our labs. This year we changed the format by having more than 30 different mathematics and science stations that the guests could visit during the span of almost 3 hours. The labs (we had 4 labs open for the guests) were busy all along the way. However, the most exciting thing about this event was the participation of the student-teachers. This was just phenomenal. We had more than 40 volunteers and the stations were buzzing. At the end of the Fair I received requests from student-teachers to have an event just for them, so they can learn how all of these demonstrations work. Now we are thinking of a brown-bug demo-exchange lunches. We had so many new ideas coming from the students, faculty, staff. It was really fun. Below you can find the photos, so you can see for yourself:

Album 1; Album 2 ; Album 3

Report at the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy: http://edcp.educ.ubc.ca/community/feature/2011-ubc-faculty-education-mathematics-and-science-fair

Teaching Is… by Marjan Glavac

Marina Milner-Bolotin — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 01:43:48 +0000

A few days ago I happened to lay my hands on a very special book by a Canadian educator, an elementary teacher with years of experience, Mr. Marjan Glavac “Teaching Is…: Moments that inspire and motivate teachers to make a difference”. This is a very inspirational book about the moments in and outside of the classroom that make all the difference in the world for teachers and for their students. Moments like that provide us with the energy and strength to help each and every one of our students to do the best they can. I brought the book to class of my pre-service teachers and immediately a student asked me to borrow it… The book contains quotes about what teaching means to Marjan… If you are a teacher here in North America, Australia, New Zealand, Europe or anywhere on the planet, this book will resonate with you and put a smile on your face. I would also recommend you to take a look at Marjan’s web site: http://thebusyeducator.com/

Math and Science Fair at UBC Faculty of Education

Marina Milner-Bolotin — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 18:07:14 +0000

I am very excited to announce that this year once again we will be holding a very special mathematics and science event at the Faculty of Education during the Celebrate Learning Week. And the event is: Mathematics and Science Fair 2011. It will take place on November 5th and is open to evertybody, but you have to pre-register. Please check the web site of the event for more information: http://blogs.ubc.ca/mmilner/math-science-fair-2011/ We know that we (volunteers and organizers) will have a lot of fun and I am sure you and your families will enjoy it! And if you know of anybody in Lower Mainland or not too far from us, who loves math and science, please pass this information to them!