OSGC Educational Resources Blog

The Oregon State University Robotics Club will host an open demonstration of their “University Rover Challenge” entry on Saturday, May 10 – part of a national competition among university students to design and build the next generation of Mars rovers. The event will be at the Arts and Crafts Building at the Benton County Fairground in Corvallis, OR.   From 11 a.m. to about 2 p.m. the rover will work to perform tasks in geology, soil analysis, emergency navigation and construction.  The team, funded through a NASA ESMD Design Project award, has also received equipment donations from a corporate sponsor, Parallax Inc.  The demonstration is free and open to the public.

For more information about the University Rover Challenge and the tests planned for Saturday, please visit the Mars Society’s University Rover Challenege website at http://www.marssociety.org/portal/c/urc

Read more about the OSU Robotics Team at their journal, hosted through the Parallax company, at http://www.parallax.com/tabid/638/Default.aspx

Call for Applications: AEA/DU Graduate Education Diversity Internship Program
Deadline: August 1, 2008

The AEA/DU Graduate Education Diversity Internship Program is a partnership between The American Evaluation Association and Duquesne University School of Education in Pittsburgh, PA. We invite graduate students from groups traditionally under-represented in the field who are interested in evaluation to submit applications for the fourth cohort, beginning in September, 2008, and continuing through June, 2009.

The Internship program is a non-residential opportunity for pre-doctoral students to learn about evaluation through working with professional colleagues in their own region while coming together in person three to four times over the course of the year with a small cohort of students in the program to learn from each other and leaders in the field. The program builds upon a student’s existing graduate study program and provides a stipend of $8,000 plus travel support.

The purposes of the Internship Program are:

• to expand the pipeline of graduate evaluation students from under-represented groups
• to extend to evaluation student’s existing basic research capacities and substantive knowledge about their area of concentration
• to stimulate evaluation thinking concerning communities and persons of color and persons from other under-represented groups by providing professional development training opportunities for social and natural science graduate students
• to deepen the evaluation profession’s capacity to work in racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse settings

We seek graduate students of color, or from other under-represented groups in the field of evaluation, who are not already enrolled in an evaluation program, and who:

• Will be enrolled this fall in either year 2 of a Master’s or year 2 or 3 of a doctoral or a combined masters/doctoral program
• Have already been exposed to research methods and substantive issues in their field of expertise
• Can demonstrate the relevance of evaluation training in their current work through a short essay
• Have support from his/her academic advisor

Refer to the program’s website:
http://www.education.duq.edu/mastersCertification/diversity_inter_program.htm  for more information about activities, information, and application materials.

Applications are due August 1, 2008.

LIGO Hanford Observatory in Richland, WA will offer another in a series of technical seminars at 4:00 PM on Thursday, May 8 in the LIGO auditorium. Vanessa Lauberg of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Maryland will speak on “Induced Mergers of Stellar-Mass Black Hole Binaries in Galactic Nuclei.” Stellar-mass black hole binaries represent a promising source of gravitational waves for the LIGO detectors. This talk will focus on the physics of black hole systems in galactic centers. LIGO Seminars are open to all scientists, engineers, educators and students who may wish to attend.

Abstract: http://www.ligo-wa.caltech.edu/seminars.html
Driving directions to LIGO: http://www.ligo-wa.caltech.edu/traveler.html
May 10 Astronomy Day event: http://www.ligo-wa.caltech.edu/astro_day_08.html

The makers of TYLENOL are proud to offer the TYLENOL Scholarship program—now in its 16th year. This year, up to $350,000 in scholarships will be awarded to future doctors, nurses and other health professionals. No purchase necessary. Use TYLN as the Access Key.

How the scholarship works.
$250,000 has already been put aside and donated to the fund. Then for every TYLENOL Scholarship coupon redeemed, an additional $0.25 will be donated to the fund—up to $100,000, for a grand total of $350,000.   Visit the Tylenol website listed below to obtain a coupon.

How the scholarship is awarded

• 170 students will be granted scholarships in the amounts of $1000 and $5000
• Applicants will be judged on leadership qualities and academic performance
• Applications must be received by May 15th, 2008.
• Winners selected by the end of July 2008. Funds delivered by the end of August 2008.

Visit the Tylenol website at the following address to learn more and access the application.
http://Tylenol.com/shcolarship

The NASA University Research Centers Technical Assistance Workshop will be held on May 12, 2008, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. as a pre-conference event at the Minority Serving Institutions Research Partnerships Conference in New Orleans, La.

This workshop will include a special matchmaking session to provide an opportunity to identify potential partnerships in NASA-related areas of interest with NASA’s current prime contractors. The workshop will provide overviews of NASA Education’s current priorities and requirements, the NASA mission directorates, and the URC proposal solicitation, proposal development and submission process. Representatives from NASA centers and headquarters will be on hand to interact with participants and answer questions.

Also during the conference, on May 14, 2008, several NASA Higher Education programs will be featured during the opening and concurrent sessions. These programs include the NASA Science and Technology Institute at the NASA/ Ames Research Park, Harriett Jenkins Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, and current and past NASA University Research Centers will showcase their capabilities and accomplishments.

For more information about the conference and NASA workshops, visit http://www.msirp2008.com

USGIF, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the geospatial intelligence tradecraft and developing a stronger community of interest, is reminding students that applications for the 2008 Scholarship Program must be postmarked by May 17 if being mailed. The deadline for all other submissions is Friday, May 30.

The Foundation annually awards scholarships totaling of more than $50,000, to undergraduate and graduate students, including doctoral candidates, studying fields relating to the geospatial tradecraft are encouraged to apply. USGIF also awards scholarships to exceptional high school seniors planning to enter a geospatial- or GIS-related program at the college or university level.

http://www.usgif.org/Education_Scholarships.aspx

In 1609, Galileo first turned his telescope to the heavens and revolutionized humanity’s understanding of its place in the universe. In honor of the 400th anniversary of the astronomical telescope, the IYA will feature hands-on workshops and a three-day symposium to help educators, scientists, and anyone working in astronomy and space science outreach to prepare for the 2009 International Year of Astronomy.

The symposium will be held in St. Louis from May 31-June 4, 2008.

To learn more about this event and to sign up to receive e-mail updates, visit http://www.astrosociety.org/2008meeting

DEADLINE UPDATE: Aeronautics Competitions for College Students

The Fundamental Aeronautics Program of the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters announces a new aeronautics competition for college students for the 2007-2008 academic year.

College students are invited to design the next generation, 21st-century, “DC-3”-type aircraft. Some of the design considerations include reduced environmental impact, reduced noise, daily operations on short runways, cost analysis for production and operation, passenger and cargo limits, structure and materials, and engines. Students should also briefly describe three valid scenarios for potential use of this vehicle in the year 2058. Final entries are due April 30, 2008.

For complete details, visit http://aero.larc.nasa.gov/competitions.htm

In an article posted in January of 2008 Jessica Hupp, a writer for the Online Education Database, offered links to 200 free online courses from some excellent universities. The article, titled 200 Free Online Classes to Learn Anything, lists a wide range of subject material in the sciences, arts, and humanities. Students and educators alike are free to study at their leisure using the same quality course materials provided to university students.

Enhance your current skills or learn about a new subject today. Visit the OEDb website to view the entire article and explore the links of interest to you. http://oedb.org/library/beginning-online-learning/200-free-online-classes-to-learn-anything

Back in January of 2008, Online Education Database writer Heather Johnson posted an excellent article listing 100 sources for free online education podcasts.  The article, titled Skip the Tuition: 100 Free Podcasts from the Best Colleges in the World, includes audio and video course content from such schools as Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Yale, and UCLA. 

Whether you just want to brush up on an old subject or expand your knowlege base, these podcasts provide a free and flexible alternative to traditional courses.  All you need is an MP3 player and an internet connection for downloading the content.

Check out Heather’s post at the following URL:
http://oedb.org/library/beginning-online-learning/skip-the-tuition:-100-free-podcasts-from-the-best-colleges-in-the-world