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School teams with COE faculty to redefine how kids learn ‘STEAM’ subjects

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Education researchers say the elementary school curriculum is moving away from traditional blocks of math, science, social studies and language arts, and evolving into project- and problem-based teaching and learning. Children are now learning through direct hands-on experiences that focus on real-life problems and solutions and integrate concepts and skills across all subject areas.

Linda Jones

Linda Jones

This approach to teaching and learning at the elementary level is being pioneered at St. Thomas Episcopal Parish School, a small private school in Coral Gables in collaboration with the University of Florida College of Education. UF teacher education faculty researchers Tim Jacobbe, associate professor of mathematics and statistics education, and Linda Cronin Jones, associate professor of science and environmental education, are meeting with St. Thomas faculty and administrators to set goals, create an integrated curriculum map across the grade levels, and provide teachers with professional development, training and resources focused on the “STEAM” disciplines of science, technology, engineering, the arts and math.

One sample project-based learning activity being implemented at the school this year focuses on the school’s garden area, which will serve as a context for teaching and learning about the STEAM disciplines while also reinforcing the essential 21st century skills of critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration, creativity, innovation and communication.

In science, in a garden setting, students will learn about plant life cycles and the impact of environmental changes on plants. Technology will be used to document, research and present students’ findings and discoveries. Engineering design activities will focus on the layout of garden structures and the creation and building of trellises, a compost bin and a rainwater collection system.

Students will also create interpretive garden signage out of recycled materials and actively learn about the life cycle of plants though movement and dance. In math, students will measure and collect information documenting plant growth and then analyze their data and interpret results.

JACOBBE, Tim (a)

Tim Jacobbe

In the future, St. Thomas teachers and students will work together to identify other real-world, science-based problems of interest to them and design projects to directly address these issues while also learning about key concepts and skills across all STEAM disciplines.

As part of a recent two-day series of STEAM-related professional development workshops led by the UF professors, St. Thomas teachers from virtually every subject area began sharing ideas about how to apply STEAM education in their own classrooms.

“We are engaging in an excellent approach to education,” said Lizzie Schaul, a fifth-grade language arts teacher. “The integration of the subjects results in a more meaningful and, therefore, more memorable experience for the kids. I am so excited to bring this to my students.”

After the STEAM program is launched, St. Thomas plans to sponsor a STEAM Education Institute to train other interested elementary school educators across Florida.

CONTACTS
    St. Thomas Source: Denie Harris, Director of Marketing & Communications; dharris@stepsmia.org; 305-799-2990
    UF Source: Linda Cronin Jones, Ph.D., UF College of Education; lcjones@coe.ufl.edu; 352-273-4223
   UF Source: Tim Jacobbe, Ph.D., UF College of Education; lcjones@coe.ufl.edu; 352-273-4223

 

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UF pioneering ‘STEAM’ elementary ed. at Coral Gables school

While St. Thomas Episcopal Parish School in Coral Gables, Fla., was designing its STEM laboratory three years ago, the University of Florida’s College of Education was expanding its K-12 STEM teacher preparation programs in several Florida school districts. The two institutions now are teaming up to take STEM education at the elementary school level to new heights.

Linda Jones

Linda Jones

At St. Thomas, STEM has evolved into STEAM–with the addition of art to the four original STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering and math). The concept of teaching STEM subjects through integrated, hands-on, community-based, service-learning projects rather than as stand-alone disciplines has been at the educational forefront for many middle and high school programs in recent years. Developing a comprehensive STEM/STEAM program for the elementary grades, however, is a pioneering adventure that St. Thomas and UF are ambitiously pursuing–full STEAM ahead.

UF faculty consultants from the College of Education’s mathematics and science education programs are now evaluating St. Thomas’s current STEM/STEAM program as a first step of a two-year plan. After completing a thorough inventory of what St. Thomas already has in place in terms of facilities, faculty training, resources and equipment, the UF team will determine the essential ingredients for implementing a school-wide STEM/STEAM education program.  

The UF researchers will collaborate with St. Thomas faculty and administrators to set goals, create an integrated curriculum map and provide teachers with STEAM-focused professional development, training and resources. After the STEAM program is launched, St. Thomas will sponsor a STEAM Education Institute to train other interested elementary school educators across Florida.

Tim Jacobbe

Tim Jacobbe

“Our collaboration with St. Thomas will provide participating students with opportunities to put their STEAM-related knowledge and skills to practical use by addressing real-world science-related problems and issues in their local community,” said Linda Jones, UF associate professor of science and environmental education, who is coordinating UF’s activities in the project. “Collaborative efforts like this benefit everyone involved including students, teachers, parents and the local community. ”

UF’s Tim Jacobbe, UF associate professor of mathematics and statistics education, is working with Jones on the project.

CONTACT:
   Linda L. Cronin Jones, Ph.D., UF College of Education: lcjones@coe.ufl.edu; 352-273-4223

 

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Everyone’s a mathematician at heart

Tim Jacobbe believes you’re a mathematician at heart—you just might not know it yet.

Forget the rote memorization of tedious formulas you may recall from your high school math classes. For Jacobbe, associate professor of mathematics and statistics education at the UF College of Education, math is far more than formulas: It’s a way of looking at the world

Jacobbe helps P.K. Yonge School fifth-graders on a math lesson.

Jacobbe helps P.K. Yonge School fifth-graders on a math lesson.

“I don’t think that people understand what math is,” Jacobbe says. “It’s about creating people that can solve problems in everyday life.”

And in a society increasingly driven by data, math is more important than ever, Jacobbe says. A solid understanding of statistics, which use a methodical process to analyze data, draw conclusions and interpret results, is particularly key to scrutinizing and solving real-world problems. Whether you’re deciding to change jobs, buy a house, or just making a pros and cons list, you’re using statistics—yet this discipline has long been overlooked in K-12 education.

Jacobbe is working to change that by training the next generation of teachers in statistics education. He once worked as a primary test developer for the advanced placement statistics program, but thought he could make a bigger impact in teacher education. At UF, he earned the college’s Undergraduate Teacher of the Year award in 2011, and he also leads a four-year, $2 million study funded by the National Science Foundation to develop better tests for assessing students’ statistical understanding.

His efforts to advance statistics education haven’t gone unnoticed by his peers. Jonathan Bostic, who earned a Ph.D. from UF in 2011 with Jacobbe as his co-adviser, says his former mentor is one of just a handful of experts widely recognized in the field. “There are very, very few folks like him in the United States,” says Bostic, now an assistant professor of mathematics education at Ohio’s Bowling Green State University.

Since 2009, Jacobbe has also devoted himself to helping teachers and students at UF’s P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School transition to the new, more stringent Florida Standards. This work at P.K. Yonge has a personal component for Jacobbe: His wife of 15 years, Elizabeth, teaches at the school, and his 10-year-old daughter, Hannah, and 7-year-old son, Nathan, are both students there.

“We need to teach math in different ways,” Jacobbe says. “Math is used as a gatekeeper to keep kids out of certain careers. Everyone is capable of doing mathematics, they just need the opportunity.”

Jacobbe’s desire to create opportunities for kids extends beyond math: It’s also a key element of the charity he founded in honor of his nephew, Caleb Jacobbe, who passed away from cancer in 2006 at the age of 8. Caleb’s Pitch aims to brighten the lives of seriously ill children and their families, bringing collegiate athletes into hospitals to visit with sick kids and organizing “syringe art” sessions, where children turn the medical implements into painting tools.

“Our mission is to help kids have fun while they’re going through that stuff,” Jacobbe says.

Whether honoring his nephew’s memory or giving teachers the tools necessary to help students excel, Jacobbe’s driving principle boils down to one simple formula: “I have a passion for helping people.”

Writer: Sarah L. Stewart (special to the College of Education)

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Gainesville Sun — Jacobbe opinion column: “Teaching for the test”

Gainesville Sun
3-23-14
Evaluating education
COE math and statistics education professor Tim Jacobbe submitted an opinion column on the topic of “teaching for the test” vs. “teaching for understanding” that ran in the Gainesville Sun. Jacobbe’s column calls for readers to challenge Florida Education Commissioner Pam Stewart’s decision for the American Institutes for Research to develop teacher evaluations for the state at a cost of $220 million.

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P.K. Yonge, COE professor team up to align math curriculum with Common Core standards

JacobbePKY

UF mathematics education associate professor Tim Jacobbe (second from left) joins P.K. Yonge teachers to discuss the new math curriculum implementation process.

As Florida schools prepare for the official implementation of the Common Core standards next school year, UF mathematics education associate professor Tim Jacobbe and P.K. Yonge, UF’s K-12 developmental research school, have been teaming up since 2009 to ensure the school is ready to meet the more rigid math standards. With Jacobbe’s help, P.K. Yonge implemented a new math curriculum for the elementary grades for the 2013-2014 school year. 

Jacobbe has facilitated faculty discussions and needs assessments to determine how to align teaching practices at P.K. Yonge with the rigor demanded by the Common Core standards for math. He also led a weeklong professional learning workshop for K-8 math teachers, focusing on deepening their content knowledge and grasp of the math practice standards. 

“Tim had such background in what P. K. Yonge was doing. He led discussions about curriculum adoption and supported P. K. Yonge’s next steps. All of this laid incredible groundwork for moving through the adoption process” said Marisa Stukey, P.K. Yonge’s program development and outreach specialist. 

The new adopted math curriculum at P.K. Yonge strengthens students’ perseverance, strategies and reasoning skills specifically related to problem solving. These teaching practice standards had not been explicitly addressed before in P.K. Yonge’s curriculum or in the teaching of math, Stukey said. 

“Math is about thinking,” Jacobbe said. “Math is about problem solving, not just knowing math facts. Just knowing facts won’t help students succeed in life.” 

In the past, P.K. Yonge’s overall math achievement has been high on standardized tests like the FCAT. These tests, however, assess understanding of basic math concepts, rather than measuring conceptual understanding of more complex math, which is demanded by the Common Core. 

Jacobbe will continue making weekly visits to P.K. Yonge to study student work before and during the new curriculum in order to understand how to further help teachers and students gain a deeper conceptual understanding of math. He is working with school math teachers faculty to develop a new middle school math curriculum for the 2014-2015 school year. 

“It’s important to make sure we have a cohesive plan between our elementary and middle schools,” Jacobbe said. “The P.K. Yonge teachers are tremendous professionals. The foundation of our work has been laid by good early curriculum decisions and is only possible because the teachers are willing to take on the challenge of helping the learners of today be successful in math in a new way.”

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Two statistics education journals choose UF math ed professor for editor posts

JACOBBE, Tim 014Tim Jacobbe, a UF assistant professor in mathematics education, has been appointed as the founding editor of the Journal of Statistics Education’s new department on research in K-12 statistics education, as well as an associate editor for the Statistics Education Research Journal.

Jacobbe will serve as an associate editor for the latter publication until 2016. His editorship at the JSE is for an indefinite period.

At the College of Education, Jacobbe is the principal investigator for a $2 million National Science Foundation-funded project focused on creating high-quality testing instruments in statistics.

Jacobbe has been an education faculty member since 2008. He previously was an assessment specialist at Educational Testing Service where he became one of the primary test developers for the AP Statistics program. He was also an author for the books “Bridging the Gap Between Common Core State Standards and Teaching Statistics” and “Developing Essential Understanding of Statistics for Teaching Mathematics in Grades 6–8.”

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Math ed professor nominated for Spirit of Gainesville Award

Tim Jacobbe

Tim Jacobbe, a math education professor at UF’s College of Education, and his wife, Elizabeth, were nominees for The Gainesville Sun’s 2012 Spirit of Gainesville Awards.

The awards were announced on Nov. 28.

Now in its second year, the Spirit of Gainesville Awards honor members of the community in five categories: arts, community service, entrepreneurship, medicine and sportsmanship. The Jacobbes have been nominated in the community service category for their involvement in the nonprofit organization Caleb’s Pitch.

Tim Jacobbe founded Caleb’s Pitch in 2009 in memory of his nephew, Caleb Jacobbe, who passed away from cancer at the age of 8. Caleb’s Pitch is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating memorable experiences and enhancing the quality of life for children and families confronting serious childhood illnesses. Caleb’s Pitch aims to share the story of Caleb Jacobbe as an inspiration to others through the Caleb Jacobbe Award which is given out by several Division 1 basketball programs across the country.

To learn more about Caleb’s Pitch, please visit http://calebspitch.org.

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