About
The Drawn to Science website is part of Project Nexus, a National Science Foundation supported project in the Teacher Professional Continuum Program (ESI, 0455752). The full title of the project is The Maryland Upper Elementary/Middle School Science Teacher Professional Continuum Model.
For a detailed discussion of Project Nexus please view our project poster (PDF).
Project Nexus promotes quality science education by developing and testing an exemplary model that will prepare, support and sustain upper elementary and middle level specialist science teachers. Project NEXUS teachers participate in a baccalaureate program that features transformative, undergraduate science content courses, transformative science method courses, supported internship experiments with adolescent students in informal education contexts, field placements in urban professional development schools and ongoing innovative educational experiences.
Collaborators in the project include institutions from Historically Black Colleges/Universities (HBCU), Historically White Colleges/Universities (PWCU), and an Informal Science Education Program (ISEP).
The purpose of Project Nexus is to develop and test a science teacher professional development model that prepares, supports and sustains upper elementary and middle level specialist science teachers. Priority is placed on the recruitment and professional development of a diverse teaching force.
Project Nexus Team
| Dr. J. Randy McGinnis |
Principal Investigator, Project Nexus Professor, Science Education, University of Maryland, College Park President, National Association for Research in Science Teaching Immediate Past Editor, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, |
| Dr. Spencer Benson |
Co-Principal Investigator, Project Nexus Director Center for Teaching Excellence Associate Professor, Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, UMD, College Park |
| Dr. Scott Dantley |
Co-Principal Investigator, Project Nexus Associate Vice President of Planning and Assessment, Coppin State University |
| Dr. Gili Marbach-Ad |
Senior Personnel, Project Nexus Director, University of Maryland Teaching and Learning Center |
| Dr. Phyllis Katz |
Project Nexus Research Associate Originator, Executive Director (1980-2002), and Director of Research and Special Projects (2002-2005) for Hands On Science Outreach (HOSO) |
| Dr. Kelly Riedinger |
Project Nexus Research Associate Assistant Professor, Watson School of Education, University of North Carolina Wilmington |
| Dr. Wayne Breslyn |
Project Nexus Post Doctoral Scholar Science Teacher, Montgomery County Public Schools, MD |
| Dr. Mark Guy |
Project Nexus Internal Evaluator Associate Professor, University of North Dakota |
| Dr. Michael Fain |
Research Consultant, Coppin State University |
| Advisory Board |
Dr. Elsa Bailey,
Ms. Susan Denvir,
Dr. Pamela Fraser-Abder, Dr. Deborah Roberts-Harris, Dr. Phillip Sokolove |
| Former Project Nexus Graduate Assistants | Amy Dai,
Emily Hestness,
Lori Jusiewicz, Rebecca Pease, Kelly Schalk |
Participating Organizations
| University of Maryland | Coppin State University | National Science Foundation | Hands on Science Outreach |