Opportunity for Graduate Student Research Assistant

University of Michigan School of Education

A newly awarded National Science Foundation grant will support an incoming doctoral student in Educational Studies, who elects to specialize in Literacy, Learning Disabilities, or Science Education at the University of Michigan.  Support includes full-time tuition, stipend and health benefits for 2008-09, with the potential for continuing full support for three years.

The project, “Investigating and Questioning our World through Science and Technology” (IQWST), is developing a comprehensive, project-based science curriculum comprised of 12 coordinated units that encourage students’ deep conceptual understanding of biology, chemistry, earth science, and physics across grades 6-8.  The grant enables the application of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to two 6th grade units, enabling students with learning disabilities, in particular, to learn science in ways that accommodate their strengths and their struggles. By design, IQWST focuses on science literacy, providing students with numerous opportunities to read, write, and talk about science as they engage in inquiry projects and experience phenomena in the classroom.

The GSRA supported by this grant will participate in rendering science accessible to all learners following UDL principles developed by the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) and University of Michigan’s IQWST faculty. However, beyond “simple” accessibility, the grant will support the development and study of materials and the students who use them so that middle school students with learning disabilities, often marginalized in science education, engage in deep thinking and learning of science content and scientific practices.

Interested applicants must apply to the University of Michigan’s Ph.D. program by December 1, 2007.  Application information is available by contacting Roberta Perry in the Office of Student Services: (734) 764-3578, or by e-mail at rbperry@umich.edu.

Further information about the UDL project is available by contacting Principal Investigator, LeeAnn Sutherland, Ph.D. at lsutherl@umich.edu or 734-647-4229, or Co-PI Joseph Krajcik, Ph.D. at krajcik@umich.edu.