What We Do

CMASTE is an education research and development centre serving K-12 students and teachers. Education research is employed to create and test curriculum, instruction and assessment concepts.

Our vision in education is to contribute to building a life-long learning system in Canada that ranks among the best in the world and that prepares our youth to succeed in a global community and economy that requires more science literacy.

More about what we do

News

As part of a CMASTE project, Kandise Salerno (PhD Student, Educational Technology) has completed a successful video game project with 65 Norwegian grade seven students at Auli skole in Hvam, Norway. Students constructed a game in reference to their understanding of a great explorer in which they created the world the explorer traveled and the varied interactions that took place. Attached is a local Norwegian newspaper article. Kandise will next be involved in an Invention Convention at ten Norwegian schools.

Dr. Bob Ritter and Mike Somkuti (teacher at Monsignour Fee Otterson) presented their work on a video-gaming project at the ATA Science Conference, Nov. 15-17 in Banff, Alberta. For a copy of their presentation click here for a Powerpoint or PDF version. 

Dr. Pat Rowell, Professor Emerita, University of Alberta, has authored a book, titled Perspectives on Programs for Schools in Science Centres and Museums, that should be of interest to educators in science centres, museums, zoos, aquaria and botanical gardens, as well as to science teachers in primary, secondary and postsecondary institutions. The book can be ordered for a $20.00 fee by contacting CMASTE.

Outreach

Energy Camp in Hvam, Norway

As part of an ongoing partnership between educators from Norway, the University of Alberta and Edmonton schools, the Centre of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education (CMASTE) sponsored a second Energy Camp in Hvam, Norway between August 3 and August 12, 2012. The camp was designed for students between the ages of 13 and 16. Camp instructors Tracy Onuczko, Duncan Buchanan, Ben Oswald, and Stan Bissell are Edmonton area teachers and are graduate students in Secondary Education. At the same camp Dr. Bob Ritter ran a series of workshops for teachers from Norway and Sweden. The workshops connected the projects students were doing with innovative pedagogical practices.

Scanning Electron Microscope

Bookings are now available for having a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) visit your school. The microscope is brought to schools and students with samples for investigation. The SEM, provided by Hitachi High Technologies Canada, has a power magnification of 30 000x and uses samples straight from the environment. Bookings for bringing the SEM to schools are made through CMASTE. See here for more details.