Irwin L. Slesnick STEM Education Symposium to Take Place April 24 at Western

The Irwin L. Slesnick STEM Education Symposium will take place from noon to 7 p.m. Friday, April 24 in SMATE 220 on the Western Washington University Campus.

The event will be open to all students and faculty and is hosted by the Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education (SMATE) Program; the symposium consists of workshops, informal time with presenters, a student panel, and three lectures.

The first speaker, Hannah Jordt, is a doctoral student in the Biology Department at the University of Washington, and has earned several teaching awards along with her master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Mississippi. Jordt will speak from 3-3:45 p.m. in SMATE 220, and her lecture is titled “Eliminating the Achievement Gap.”

Mary Pat Wenderoth, the second speaker at the symposium, is a principal lecturer in the Department of Biology at the University of Washington and teaches upper division Animal Physiology courses. She is a member of the University of Washington Biology Education Group, and the University of Washington Teaching Academy. Wenderoth’s lecture, titled “The End of the Lecture?” will be held from 4-4:45 p.m. in SMATE 220.

The third presenter, Rachel Beattie, is the director of Productive Persistence at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Before coming to the Carnegie Foundation, Beattie was a postdoctoral researcher at Ohio State University. Beattie will be hosting both a workshop and lecture at the symposium; while the lecture is open to the public, space is limited for the workshop and an RSVP is necessary to attend. If interested, contact Lori Torres at lori.torres@wwu.edu. The workshop is titled “Growing Your Students’ Mindsets” and will take place from noon to 1:30 p.m. in SMATE 220. Her lectures are titled “Why Do Some Students Excel in STEM While Other Students Struggle?” and “How Your Mindset Can Affect Your Success” and will take place from 5-6 p.m. in SMATE 110.

            For more information on the symposium, contact Lori Torres, Western Washington University SMATE program support supervisor at lori.torres@wwu.eduor (360)-650-7605.