RSVP for workshops on your Meeting Registration form

If you RSVP for a 2-hour workshop on Friday, we recommend ordering a box lunch.

Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon
The Cancer Disparity in Kentucky: How Can I Help?
Making the 'M' in STEM Explicit
Demystifying the Publishing Process
Science Policy & Advocacy
Innovating Strategies in the Classroom
Natural History Collections across Kentucky + NKU Herbarium
The Future of EPSCoR
Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning:  A student-centered approach for STEM classrooms
Engaging Hands-On Activities for the 8 April 2024 Total Solar Eclipse

Participants may request a Certificate of Completion from the Kentucky Academy of Science, for any workshop. Certificates may be used for professional development documentation.

• Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon

  Open to everyone. Wikipedia is a free, online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, including you! This workshop will share tools and resources for beginning editors, and you might find that editing Wikipedia is easier and more enjoyable than you thought it would be.  
  Wikipedia is consistently ranked as one of the top ten most visited websites. Improving a Wikipedia page on a topic that you are passionate about is a way to share your knowledge with anyone who wants to learn. Because there are no paywalls, many see Wikipedia as a strategy for information equity and an important tool to share accurate information about important topics. It is a tool for science education as well as for science advocacy.  
  During this workshop, we will learn the basics of editing a Wikipedia page, then spend time improving pages on scientific topics and biographies of scientists from diverse underrepresented groups. You will leave with a new skill set as well as a bank of resources to use in the future. The last half hour of the workshop can be spent editing a Wikipedia page, or teachers who are interested in Wikipedia-based class assignments can choose to participate in a breakaway discussion about editing Wikipedia in the classroom.
  2 hours. Friday 12:15-2:15 pm
  Presenter: Dr. Jessica Lott, Northern Kentucky University

• The Cancer Disparity in Kentucky: How Can I Help?

  Open to Junior Academy participants and K12 Teachers. 

  Cancer is the 2nd leading cause of death in the United States, affecting nearly 600,000 patients each year. Kentucky has the highest cancer incidence and mortality rates in the U. S, and residents of Appalachian are disproportionally affected. Social determinants of health that contribute to this disparity include lack of access to healthcare services and economic dependence on tobacco. Cancer literacy, which is defined as a person’s ability to make appropriate healthcare decisions, is essential to reducing Kentucky’s cancer burden.
  The goal of this workshop is to increase Kentucky middle/high school students’ cancer literacy, as well as improve K-12 teachers’ confidence with classroom cancer education. To achieve this, we will teach a cancer education curriculum. Traditionally, this curriculum contains 3 lessons, each of which features a PowerPoint presentation equipped with interactive activities. The first lesson covers cancer biology and incidence/mortality rates in Kentucky. The second lesson covers cancer risk factors, and the third lesson describes cancer treatments. These lessons are shown to improve Appalachian Kentucky middle and high school students’ cancer literacy. In this workshop, we will complete the first lesson and touch on highlights of the second and third lessons. Afterwards, we will discuss future goals and implementation techniques for the curriculum.
  Increased cancer education can cause behavioral modifications that can decrease long-term cancer risk. One effective way students and teachers can help reduce Kentucky’s cancer disparity is by educating themselves and sharing this information with others. By disseminating the curriculum to Kentucky students and teachers at the KAS meeting, we hope to educate and empower them to teach others about cancer in Kentucky.

  2 hours.  Friday 12:15-2:15 pm
  Presenters: Lauren Rose and Dr. Nathan Vanderford, University of Kentucky

• Making the 'M' in STEM Explicit

  Open to everyone. The STEM acronym was initially coined to highlight the importance of the respective disciplines but is more often interpreted as 'science for all.' We want to integrate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in ways that highlight important concepts and connections. It's often hard to name these connections because we aren't always well-versed in each other's work.
  In this workshop session, we will dig into naming the mathematics in some STEM activities and prepare ourselves to share all the disciplines of STEM with students from kindergarten through graduate school.
  2 hours. Friday 12:15-2:15 pm
  Presenter: Dee Crescitelli,  Kentucky Center for Mathematics

•  Demystifying the Publishing Process
  Open to everyone. The Journal of the Kentucky Academy of Science (JKAS) is an important means of publishing research for the Academy's members. Publishing benefits both individual members and the Academy, and hence, we would like to increase the number of articles submitted and published in the Journal. Many who might well have something to publish in the Journal at times seem to be 'mystified' by the publishing process. The JKAS editors would like to provide this workshop to help 'demystify' the process for members of the Academy and increase the number and quality of articles published by the Journal.
  1  hour.  Friday 12:15-1:15pm
  Presented by Dr. Frank Ettensohn, Editor In Chief, and Dr. Wally Borowski and Dr. Shauna Reilly, Editors of the Journal of the Kentucky Academy of Science
  
  
• Science Policy & Advocacy
  Open to Everyone. KAS Communications and Policy Director Rob Weber will share tips and tools that you can use to help give the science community a strong voice at the State Capitol and everywhere else policy decisions are made. Rob will also review top issues under consideration in Frankfort and offer a brief preview of the Kentucky General Assembly's 2024 legislative session.
  A former newspaper journalist, Rob served as the Public Information Manager for the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission before coming aboard KAS. He is a graduate of Leadership Frankfort and served as an officer for organizations including the Kentucky Association of Government Communicators, Toastmasters International, and the national Legislative Information and Communications Staff Association.
  90 minutes. Friday, 12:45-2:15pm
  Presenter: Rob Weber, KAS Communications & Policy Director

• Innovating Strategies in the Classroom
  This workshop is for all educators, including K12 teachers from different disciplines, and students.   We will discuss some domains in which educators can impact students' lives.  Collateral Learning derives from Self-Responsibility, Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Life-Long Learning, Self-Motivation, Emotional Intelligence, Interdependence, and Self-Efficacy.  The goal is to collaborate and use our experiences to understand deeply the concept of the seven domains mentioned above and be able to help students and empower them with longtime motivation, deep learning, and a desire to be successful.   Different activities are planned for attendees that are related to the seven domains. They take part when they are divided into small groups.  In each group, members will share their thoughts and experiences following instructions. Then, each group will share their top two or three ideas with all attendees.  After each activity, some valuable information will be shared including the results of some research or statements of some known experts.  Some concise videos will be used during the workshop that are fun, attractive, and effective and deliver important points without lecturing.
  2 hours. Friday, 12:15-2:15 pm
  Presenter: Dr. Fariba Nowrouzi-Kashan, Kentucky State University

• A Collaborative Approach to Sharing Natural History Collections across Kentucky + a visit to the NKU Herbarium
  
  Open to Everyone. Natural history collections are a vital component of the scientific process as they provide an extensive history of observations that scientists can compare to modern specimens. Kentucky contains a diverse range of natural history collections, however there is no central database containing collections in the state. This gives researchers an unnecessary challenge when trying to find relevant data for study. An active collaboration between Eastern Kentucky University and the Kentucky Academy of Science seeks to open a dialog with collection curators across the state and develop a system that will improve visibility for collections and facilitate specimen access for scientists. The workshop will meet at the NKU Herbarium and begin with a tour to emphasize the importance of these institutional collections. The purpose of our workshop is to initiate conversations with the greater scientific community of Kentucky and strengthen collaboration among institutions.
  2 hours. Friday, 12:15-2:15 pm
  Presenters: Dr. Stephen Richter and Ethan Hovermale, Eastern Kentucky University, and Dr. Maggie Whitson, Northern Kentucky University
  
  

• The Future of EPSCoR
  This workshop is targeted for faculty and student researchers in Kentucky. EPSCoR (Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) is a program that allocates extra research funding from federal research agencies to underfunded states like Kentucky.  NSF has recently overhauled its programs, which has the potential to distribute funds in a more inclusive and equitable way.  You’ll also find out about Kentucky’s updated Science & Technology Plan that can guide funding proposals.

  There are other programs where Kentucky researchers can seek funding-  the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE)'s have EPSCoR programs, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has a parallel program in Kentucky funding researchers, the Kentucky Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network (KBRIN).

  
  

• Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning:  A student-centered approach for STEM classroom

• This workshop is designed for current and future instructors and administrators-  faculty, undergraduates and graduate students who are going into teaching positions.  Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) is a pedagogical approach in which students work in teams to uncover and construct information that leads to their learning of class content.  In the process of learning topical content, students also gain skills such as teamwork, problem solving, information processing, and the ability to reflect on their own learning.  In a POGIL classroom, the teacher facilitates student learning by listening to the teams' conversations, guiding teams when necessary, and bringing the class together to discuss what they have learned.  A POGIL classroom buzzes with conversation, questions, and the excitement of figuring out difficult material with peers.  Research shows that students learn more and retain more information with the POGIL approach than they do with lecture alone. ,
  This workshop will provide participants with a student-eye-view of a POGIL classroom, followed by guidance on how to facilitate a POGIL classroom, as well as data on the effectiveness of the approach.  Postsecondary and K-12 instructors will acquire tools and materials to use in their classrooms, whether or not they choose to adopt the POGIL approach. 
  3 hours. Saturday, 1:30-4:30 pm
  Presenter: Dr. Megan Morgan Hoffman, Berea College
  Certificates of completion are available for professional development documentation.  The $25 fee covers workshop materials.

• Engaging Hands-On Activities for the 8 April 2024 Total Solar EclipseThis workshop is organized by the Kentucky Association of Physics Teachers, and is targeted to Physics educators in HS and higher education.
  Don't be left in the dark when the solar eclipse happens on Monday 8 April 2024. Through Hands-on activities, participants will be provided with dozens of resources to maximize your students' experiences of the upcoming total solar eclipse. Topics will include several methods to safely enjoy viewing the Sun and partial phases of the eclipse; accurately scaled models of the Sun, Earth, and Moon; and detailed examples of a learner-centered experiment related to a solar eclipse.
  On Monday 8 April 2024, the path of totality will be visible in a path starting in Mexico, crossing through Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, & Maine, and across the eastern provinces of Canada. Everywhere else in North America will have a partial solar eclipse. It will be teachers who are the natural ambassadors for science engagement and trusted advice. The hands-on activities presented in this workshop are meant to prepare teachers.
  3 hours. Saturday, 1:30-4:30 pm
  Presenter: Dr. Richard Gelderman, Western Kentucky University

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