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Science Education at the Crossroads is an annual national conference scheduled for September 28-30, 2006 in Ogden, UT. This will be the second Crossroads conference. The first, held at the University of Connecticut, October 9-11, 2005, was a joy and a success, and it helped us to further develop the philosophy of this movement. Its proceedings can be found on the 2005 conference site.
| Intersecting at the Crossroads |
Papers are now being accepted and online registration is up and running! All Crossroads attendees are also active participants, so in anticipation of the conference you should:
- Prepare your paper according to the call, and submit it no later than August 11, 2006 (but sooner is welcome and encouraged).
- Receive feedback on your paper so that you can revise it for the proceedings before September 1, 2006.
- Register for the conference by September 8, 2006. Also be sure to book your travel and accomodations. Feel free to contact us with any questions as well.
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| Keynote Events |
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Thursday evening:
Lynne Goodwin & Treehouse Museum Staff
Welcome and Madhatters Reception |
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Friday evening:
Jimmy Santiago Baca
Award Winning Poet & Author |
Crossroads Philosophy
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A crossroads is the place where those on different paths can meet, not only accommodating travelers from many origins, but then redirecting them toward appropriate destinations. In terms of science education, the crossroads signifies the convergence of people moving along varied tracks: educational research, curriculum design, policymaking, classroom practices, teacher development, and so on. We believe it is unfortunate that dialogue among individuals is an incidental by-product of most professional conferences. The standard presentation format does little to encourage authentic and meaningful conversations. Rather than a crossroads where individuals gather and then move forward, the typical professional meeting is more of a parking lot. The irony of the term “conference” is not lost on us; the root “confer” is a verb defined as: to collect, compare, connect, consult, contribute, gather, or join together. Our ambition is to do nothing less than put the “confer” back into “conference” for those who might benefit from such an assembly.
The spirit of conferring necessitates that we build and maintain a community of participants who are both willing to engage in our experimental format and set aside egos in favor of supporting others. As a consequence, we only accept proposals from individuals formally invited by former Crossroads conferenciers. We deliberately target individuals representing a range of constituencies and backgrounds because that is in the best interest of creating an interactive crossroads. |
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| Crossroads' Origins |
John Settlage and Adam Johnston coordinate Crossroads. The two of us have long discussed our desire to attend an event where genuine and sustained exchanges of ideas could occur. However, over the years of not feeling this need being met, we came to realize we couldn’t expect others to create something to serve our selfish purposes. That has led us to the Crossroads Conference.
As the coordinators, our ambition has been to create an environment for generating the discussions we are longing for. Not only does this require bringing together individuals from a range of backgrounds and expertise, but it also necessitates establishing a climate that honors differing perspectives. The coordinators can establish the time and space for all of this to happen, but the two of us can only accomplish so much. We are dependent upon and grateful for your participation and patronage. Your aspirations, insights, creativity, and charity are essential. We welcome your involvement and invite you to help us give shape to this effort.
co-or-di-nate v. — to situate objects or events relative to each other and to the larger system of which they become essential components |
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