Science Education Specialist Program: Degree Candidates
The ITS Center Program for degree candidates is ideal for graduate students who are interested in exploring how information technology impacts science and mathematics education and how current university research can be transferred to K-16 classrooms across the state and nation.
Financial Support: Assistance Available for All Participants
Through National Science Foundation funding, all ITS Center participants are eligible for summer stipends, as well as tuition and fee waivers. Degree Candidates are able to apply for supplementary tuition support in addition to assistantships at Texas A&M University.
Core Curriculum:
The ITS Center has assembled curriculum for two, three-week sessions spread over successive summers designed to increase your technology skills and pedagogical content knowledge in science and mathematics. The resulting graduate credits may be applied toward a master's degree* or doctorate* through a variety of departments and colleges across the Texas A&M campus.
Interdisciplinary Project Teams: Collaborating toward common goals
In the ITS Center's interdisciplinary team environment, our degree candidates benefit from direct connections to top science researchers, leading science and mathematics education researchers and master teachers in the field. ITS Center students have unequalled opportunity to establish one-on-one relationships with experts and work in collaboration to perform research and disseminate the results.
Investigative Research: Exploring the IT impact
Degree candidates in the ITS Center Program conduct research related to the center's goals of investigating how teaching and learning science and mathematics is impacted by the use of information technology for modeling, visualization and interaction with complex data sets. While conducting your research, you will work cooperatively with ITS Center management and your research committee to complete a thesis and/or dissertation.
Professional Growth Experiences: Beyond the classroom
The ITS Center supports and encourages its students to travel to state and national academic conferences in order to present their research. In addition, degree candidates also help to evaluate the impact of the ITS Center by collecting data from classroom implementation.
Requirements
- Approval of Your Degree Program:
Please note that your degree program, which is an agreement between you and your graduate committee, depends upon the college and department you choose. If you are interested in incorporating the ITS Center's 12-hour core into your educational plans, first check with an advisor who is knowledgeable about the ITS Center to ensure that your department's requirements can incorporate the ITS Center's goals and that your committee will be able to support collaboration of research activities. - Residency Policy:
A residency requirement of 9 hours per semester for two consecutive semesters is required for all Ph.D. candidates. (Consecutive semesters may be considered as spring and summer, summer and fall, or fall and spring semesters.) Some courses may be taken on campus or at a distance to fulfill this requirement.The residency requirement for the Ed.D. degree of 30 hours over 5 years is more flexible than the residency requirement for the Ph.D. and is explained fully in the TAMU graduate catalog in the section that explains the Degree of Doctor of Education.
For ITS Center participants who want to continue as graduate students but who are unable to attend campus-based courses, other opportunities for graduate coursework may be available through web-based and interactive video learning environments. Tuition and fees must be paid to the university for courses taken other than the ITS Center's 12-hour core.
Graduate Students Said!: Saluting ITS
"There has always been a part of me
that wanted to go back to graduate school and pursue my Ph.D., but
circumstances were never such that I felt it was practical or that
I could afford to take that step. However, last spring when Dr.
Loving called to tell me about ITS, it didn't take me long to figure
out that, not only was this something that I really wanted to do
at this time in my life, but that I could also afford to take the
step. Thanks to ITS, I have the opportunity to return to graduate
school and to, in the long run, return something of value to the
profession I love by sharing the knowledge I have gained with new
teachers. The challenges are refreshing and provide growth opportunities,
and I am thoroughly enjoying being a part of academia again."
- Carolyn Schroeder, Science Education Ph.D. student
"Initially, my advisor and two of my committee
members, who are all involved in the ITS Center, suggested I look
into the center. I originally planned to be just a summer participant,
but the combination of an innovative program and generous funding
encouraged me to participate. The ITS Center is new and still setting
its course, but I think that's one of the exciting aspects. We're
looking for ways to integrate science, technology and education
in a way that I don't think has been done before. The integration
of these three areas is reflected in the collaboration of professors,
graduate students and classroom teachers from a variety of fields."
- Gillian Acheson, Geography Ph.D. student
"When I first learned about the ITS Center, I
was immediately excited about this opportunity. My background is
teaching and bench research, so this was a excellent way to combine
my two emphasis. I think that this program has done a great job
in "marrying" educators with scientists. Having been in both roles,
I have seen that there is a huge disconnect between science education
and the science profession. I think that the ITS Center is beginning
to bridge that gap."
- Britta Thompson, Science Education Ph.D. student
"My involvement with the ITS Center has made
me more aware of the growing number of IT resources that can and
should be used in science instruction. The ITS summer program is
an excellent opportunity for teachers and graduate students to gain
valuable knowledge and experience while earning graduate credit."
- Joel Bryan, Science Education Ph.D. student
Team Case Study:
Participants in the Geoscience Team used information technologies such as geographic information systems (GIS), global position systems (GPS), remotely sensed images, visualizations and on-line mapping to investigate a wide variety of geoscience topics including watershed systems, climate change and the impact of extreme rain events on people, places and environments. Participants continued in the second year to connect the use of this information technology to Grade 7-12 science curricula.
