News and highlights
Education and Behavioral Sciences
Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) - Colorado Rural Partnership, based at University of Northern Colorado, was among three TPS programs invited to showcase teacher use of Library of Congress primary sources for education policy leaders March 16 in Washington, D.C.
Representing TPS - Colorado Rural Partnership were Anne Ryan Bell, program director, and program participant Carrie Veatch, a history teacher with Vilas (Colo.) Online School. The presentation was part of the education forum "American Education in the Digital Age and Beyond: A Discussion for the 21st Century" hosted by the Library of Congress and Strong American Schools, with support from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The forum included two panels and a keynote address by Mike Smith, senior advisor to the Secretary of Education.
Veatch engaged the audience in a sample investigation of the pros and cons of the League of Nations as proposed by President Woodrow Wilson. Among the digital primary sources from the Library of Congress online collection she shared were original sound recordings of speeches for and against the League of Nations and Wilson’s famous "Fourteen Points" - written in shorthand - along with a political cartoon conveying a sentiment against the League of Nations. Veatch also highlighted a science lesson using Alexander Graham Bell’s lab notebooks from the Library of Congress online resources that her husband Casey, also a teacher, had used with his students. Using Bell’s original notes, students were able to duplicate Bell’s experiments of converting sound waves into electromagnetic waves. Following the panel presentation, Veatch and the audience saw Alexander Graham Bell’s actual lab notebook, which archivists pulled for display.
Veatch’s presentation was part of the first panel, "Content and Practice for Developing Critical Thinking Skills," which featured presentations from teachers and program directors from the Library’s Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) program. Other TPS spokespersons included teachers and directors represented programs from Northern Virginia and Southern Illinois University. Through Library of Congress funding to consortium members throughout the country, TPS offers professional development for teachers supporting use the Library of Congress’ rich reservoir of digitized primary source materials to design challenging, inquiry-based instruction.
Strong American Schools, chaired by former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer, is a nonpartisan public awareness and advocacy effort aimed at elevating discussion among America’s leaders about the need for education reform.
Forum attendees including congressional staff from key education committees of the Senate and House; senior program managers from the U. S. Department of Education, National Science Foundation, National Academy of Sciences, NIH’s Office of Science Education, National Archives, America’s Promise Alliance, Cable in the Classroom, History Channel, American Association of School Administrators, Education Week, Teach for America, and Apple, Inc. The forum was recorded for webcasting and should be posted on the Library’s website http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/index.php by the end of March.
TPS Colorado Rural Partnership, the UNC-based program, offers free professional development to Colorado educators, with a priority of serving rural, outlying and small towns within the state. For more information regarding free TPS workshops, call 970-351-1555.
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