TRC: Science Collaboratives

Rice University Regional Collaborative / Houston

Mission

The Mission of the Rice University Regional Collaborative is to improve science education for teachers and students by:

Supporting teachers through long-term professional development in inquiry-based science in programs.
Developing and implementing innovative curriculum and conducting research on effective teaching.
Inspiring and nurturing students’ natural curiosity and interest in science through active learning with real-world connections.
Engaging our community to help provide exemplary science instruction to all students, regardless of socioeconomic status, race, or gender.

Accomplishments

The Rice Collaborative now serves over 26 school districts, hundreds of teachers and thousands of students in the greater Houston area and beyond. The program has grown to include science and technology teacher professional development for grades K-12, and technology support and web-based applications for teachers. This large-scale systemic program for improving science instruction in the Houston includes Teaching Physics Via Inquiry and Teaching Chemistry Concepts via Inquiry and the ConocoPhillips Rice Elementary Model Science Lab. The ConocoPhillips Rice Elementary Model Lab is an innovative, one-of-a-kind program trains over 150 teacher participants during the school day and after school throughout each academic year in science content knowledge, best practices for science teaching, and teacher mentoring and leadership skills. With financial support from ConocoPhillips, the Rice Elementary Model Science Lab program is located in Spring Branch ISD at Treasure Forest Elementary and Atascosita Springs Elementary School in Humble ISD.

Contact

Project Director
Dr. Carolyn Nichol
cnichol@rice.edu
713-348-2672

Partners

Rice University's Wiess School of Natural Science and Independent School Districts (ISDs) in the greater Houston area.

Participating School Districts

Aldine ISD
Alief ISD
Alvin ISD
Brazosport ISD
Cleveland ISD
Crosby ISD
Cypress-Fair ISD
Fort Bend ISD
Galveston ISD
Galena Park ISD
Hempstead ISD
Houston ISD
Humble ISD
Katy ISD
Klein ISD
Lamar ISD
La Porte ISD
Magnolia ISD
New Caney ISD
North Forest ISD
Pasadena ISD
Pearland ISD
Sheldon ISD
Spring ISD
Spring Branch ISD
Waller ISD

Events and Activities

The Rice Regional Collaborative has developed numerous innovative inquiry-based learning experiences and is presenting them at state-wide and national conferences. For example, the Rice Collaborative has 10 presentations at the 2011 Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching (CAST) in Dallas, TX that range from topics such as "Socratic Science Circles" to "How do we know everything is made up of Atoms?"