Growing up in the family that valued education and having a mother who was a mathematics and science teacher, September 1st has always been a special day for me. In the Soviet Union where I grew up, it marked the beginning of a new academic year – a new adventure. And while I had my […]

As I am preparing to my 8th academic year as a Teacher at the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia, I keep thinking of my role as a science educator who has a lucky opportunity to help prepare new STEM teachers. I am deliberately using the word Teacher and not Professor, as I think […]

During the last year a group of my students and I have been working on creating short videos of STEM experiments that our teacher-candidates can do with their students. This project became possible thanks to the generous support of the UBC Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund. We are very grateful for their support. Many of […]

On May 4, 2017 Gerald Tembrevilla and I had and opportunity to share our work on the collection of videos for future STEM educators. This work has been supported by UBC Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund, UBC Work and Learn Program and the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy. Our presentation: 2017_UBC_TLEF_poster_MilnerBolotin_Tembrevilla_Final

I am  very excited to attend winter 2017 meeting of the American Association of Physics Teaching. It is taking place in Atlanta, Georgia. Almost 800 physics educators participate in this conference this year. AAPT is a very special organization that has been a part of my life for decades now. AAPT has made a difference in […]

What if we engaged new mathematics and science teachers into designing new science and math hands on activities? What if we used technology to document these activities and share them with other teachers, students and parents? This is an idea behind a UBC-funded project that focuses on creating hands-on science and math resources for all. […]

Today the results of the 2015 PISA (Program International of Student Assessment) were published. We have been waiting for the results for a long time. As I work with future physics and science teachers, it is not surprising it is very important to me how Canada is doing internationally. While my own children are not […]

I am honoured I was asked to host a delegation of 24 Chinese physics teachers from Hangzhou. These teachers are travelling to Canada to learn more about physics teaching and the use of technology in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education. This is something I am very passionate about and I was happy I […]

A few days ago my husband Valery Milner and I had an amazing hike in the Joffre Lakes Provincial Park in BC. As the summer was winding down, we took some time to enjoy nature and reflect on our lives. While we were hiking up the trail, meeting people speaking many different languages, I couldn’t but think […]

Every year I feel excited to explore educational technology tutorials created by the students in my ETEC 533 online course that focuses on creative use of technology in mathematics and science education. I hope these tutorials be used not only by my students (who are mostly secondary mathematics and science educators), but by other educators as well. […]