E-learn Weblog of Willem van Valkenburg

Vanochtend kreeg ik het bericht dat University of California een groot aantal courses online heeft gezet om docenten op middelbare scholen bij te scholen op het gebied van Math and Science:

The University of California, Irvine Extension, supported by generous grants from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and The Boeing Company, is developing online courses to prepare science and mathematics teachers for the California Subject Examinations for Teachers (CSET).

The courses address the urgent need to help teachers prepare for and pass the CSET exams necessary to teach science and mathematics in California Schools.

In het persbericht beschrijven zij het probleem dat de staat California een groot tekort heeft aan gekwalificeerde wiskunde docenten en de komende jaren wordt dat alleen maar erger. De courses zijn specifiek gericht op het behalen van het CSET examen:

UC Irvine’s free courses should be used as a resource to help teachers identify specific gaps in their subject-matter understanding. Each lesson corresponds to a California Subject Matter Requirement and each topic corresponds to an individual or group of California K-12 Content Standards for Mathematics. The CSET exam is itself is tied to these standards.

De site en het materiaal ziet er mooi vormgegeven uit met een elke course in dezelfde opbouw:

Diagnostic Questions - Diagnostic questions allow teachers to rapidly ascertain their level of comfort with the subject matter. As questions are answered correctly, teachers are allowed to move on to the next topic. In this manner, teachers will spend time only on areas where they need to strengthen their understanding. -more- UC Irvine Offers Free Online CSET Test Preparation Courses

Guided Examples - The guided examples are a second level of help. If the diagnostic questions are answered correctly, but teachers still have doubts as to the depth of their understanding, these step-by-step examples can help. Following this example, teachers are able to answer a new diagnostic question.

Content "Refresher" - The "refresher" is designed to provide just-in-time instruction to reinforce understanding, particularly if teachers have struggled with the diagnostic questions. These screens provide further examples and opportunities for practice along with an explanation of the topic. Another diagnostic question follows the refresher. These refreshers are intended for teachers who have some familiarity with the subject matter and are not intended to be a complete course in the subject matter for those without formal education in the subject. However, it may be enough for someone who previously learned the material through coursework and needs to brush up before taking the CSET exam.

Al met al een mooie aanvulling van de vele (>8000) OpenCourseWare courses die inmiddels online zijn.