NMSSI Course Catalog 2025

Number sense and operations in the context of rational numbers, geometry and algebra in grades 4-6 curriculum, and how the mathematical content in grades K-3 (e.g., Taylor-Cox, 2003) lays a foundation for abstract thinking beginning in grades 4 and beyond. Designed to develop a depth of understanding sufficient to enable the teacher to be a disciplinary resource to other K-3 teachers.

Added to the NMSSI on 03/12/2025 - Will be posted in MyRed soon.

This project-based course develops an understanding of computational thinking through engagement in problem-solving in a variety of real-world settings (some of them rather surprising) in our modern society and developing confidence and resources for implementing computational thinking activities in classrooms.

Study of mathematical topics that comprise the K-12 curriculum and the development of these topics over time. 

The statistical concepts typically taught in a high school statistics class, including linear regression, two-way tables, sampling distributions, statistical inference for means and proportions, chi-square tests, and inference for regression. Some experience with basic statistical concepts (mean, standard deviation, elementary probability) is necessary. The course is inquiry-based, and will emphasize applications and statistical thinking. 

Historical development and philosophy of school curricula. Review of research on schooling, curriculum trends, and school organizational structures. Specifically, the course focuses on the analysis and design of PK-16 mathematics curriculum materials from theoretical and practical perspectives. 

This course, directed toward in-service teachers, comprises a 16-day inquiry-based field course and science-immersion discovery experience in Wyoming, Nebraska and South Dakota. The primary aims of this course are to improve educators' ability to teach inquiry, gain knowledge and understanding of geoscience, and to demonstrate effective teaching methods that teachers can integrate into K-12 science learning environments. The major goals of GEOS 898 are:

• To enhance the 'geoscience experience' for in-service science educators and their future students;
• To demonstrate inquiry concepts and skills that K-12 educators are expected to understand and employ;
• To inspire science educators to use inquiry and geoscience as unifying themes in their teaching activities;
• To provide all participants with a 'tool-kit' of effective inquiry-based teaching practices in all science fields.

Through a collaborative teaching and learning structure, all course participants will learn about geology, geoscience education, group dynamics, and more about themselves. The course will follow a route through Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota and will expose you to scientific principles and practices through discovery- and inquiry-based learning. You will observe and study a variety of natural phenomena (with a focus on Earth processes and geological history). You will utilize science process skills to include: documentation, classification, question formulation, development of hypotheses and models, debating interpretations, and developing higher-level questions, etc. Evening discussions will be conducted around the campfire where we will explore effective teaching practices. You will work to develop tools and techniques to teach others what you have learned. You will collaborate with your peers to evaluate, compare, criticize and adjust your work. At the end of the course we will visit a site where you will engage in an authentic geologic exercise and apply the skills you have learned over the previous 10 days to construct a geologic history for the region. A video about the course provides information and testimonials from former participants, watch it here (may not work in Google Chrome).

Department consent will be required to register; e-mail dharwood1@unl.edu. All costs for food, accommodation, and transport are provided at no cost. This field course involves tent camping and moderate hiking, so participants should be in good physical condition.

Study of the nature of science (NOS) as a human endeavor, its basis in uncertainty, the power and limits of scientific theories, the development and replacement of theories over time, and design of science activities/lessons/units that illustrate these principles.