Colorado State University Welcomes South Korean Middle and High School Teachers for Science Training

Nearly two dozen middle and high school physics teachers from Seoul, South Korea are visiting Colorado State University this month to learn about the latest innovative methods in science education.

The teachers arrived on July 14 and will be in Fort Collins through August 8. Their visit is made possible by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and Colorado State’s Center for Science, Mathematics and Technology Education or CSMATE, in the College of Natural Sciences.

The program, with this year’s theme "Energy and the Environment," focuses on the integration of theory and practice across science disciplines, and the latest scientific developments, educational reforms and innovative teaching methods.

"This program provides a wonderful opportunity to find out how science is

taught and learned in South Korea, and for these visiting teachers to see

and experience the best examples of teaching and learning at Colorado State,

in Poudre School District and in our American culture," said CSMATE Director Stephen Thompson, professor of chemistry at Colorado State. "During the four years of this program, we have learned so much from each other; we have swapped ideas and have

developed life-long relationships."

Colorado State has hosted 161 South Korean physics, chemistry and earth sciences teachers since the program began in the summer of 2002. While some of the teachers attending this year speak English, two South Korean graduate students studying microbiology and electrical engineering at Colorado State are serving as translators.

During their trip, the Korean teachers will visit with their peers at Poudre School District’s Rocky Mountain, Poudre and Fossil Ridge high schools and CLP and Kinard junior highs. To nurture a deeper understanding of the cultural and environmental diversity in Colorado and the American West, they will also participate in numerous cultural activities and travel to Rocky Mountain, Arches and Grand Canyon national parks before returning to South Korea.

CSMATE serves as the focal point for program development and research aimed at fostering improvements, innovations and reforms in science, mathematics, and technology instruction and curriculum at all levels, K-16.

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