Tuesday, May 13, 2014
For Immediate Release

Time is Running Out—the Museum Institute for Teaching Science’s Summer Professional Development Institutes Are Almost FULL!

With just five short weeks until the first day of summer, the Museum Institute for Teaching Science is gearing up for the start of its 2014 Professional Development Summer Institutes. This summer 8 institutes are being offered in 7 regions of Massachusetts. 2014 marks the 28th year that MITS has been running our popular summer institutes. The popularity of the MITS institute lies in its ability to provide teachers with both indoor and outdoor learning experience with a variety of partner organizations, scientists, and industry professionals. With a growing demand for collaborative professional development opportunities the MITS 2014 institutes are almost full. Space is limited in each institute to just 20 teachers. These small class sizes insure that each institute can provide unique and individualized experiences.

In order to provide opportunities for educators from kindergarten to high school MITS offers institutes that are targeted to Elementary, Middle, and High School teachers. In addition to offering institutes for a variety of grade levels MITS also offers three unique course models that teachers can take advantage of.

• One-week institutes for elementary and middle school educators during which participants visit MITS’ partner organizations
  and participate in inquiry-based investigations and science content sessions.
• One-week institutes for middle and high school teachers with researchers, guest-lecturers and field trips to field, research and engineering facilities.
• Hybrid institute consisting of online learning modules and a full week of on-site sessions at various MITS partners’ institutions during which participants engage in inquiry-based investigations.

Graduate credit is available for all of the institutes and housing is available with the Cape and North Central region. Credit granting institutions include Cambridge College, Fitchburg State University, Framingham State University and the Massachusetts College for the Liberal Arts.

All institute explorations, activities, and science content are aligned to the Massachusetts Science/Technology and Engineering Frameworks and the NGSS Science and Engineering Practices that are essential elements of science instruction.

To reserve your place in an institute or for more information about this year’s partners, regions, and models please visit the Museum Institute for Teaching Science’s website www.mits.org or call 617-328-1515 for more information.

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