College of Education & Human Services

Maurice G. Kellogg Science Education Center. Teaching, Professional Development, and Service

 

Welcome to the Science Center!

The Maurice G. Kellogg Science Education Center exists for the purpose of promoting science both at the pre-service and in-service level as well as to the community and region of west-central Illinois. WIU students enrolled in the School of Education who work towards a teaching degree are the main beneficiaries of what the center has to offer - opportunities for taking a number of science methods courses and experiencing a variety of different forms of professional development. Science Education faculty strive to provide innovative and inquiry-based approaches for training teachers to teach science effectively throughout the elementary and middle school grades. The Science Center is located in Horrabin Hall [click here for map].

Faculty and Staff

Since the early 1970's the Science Education Center has been an integral component of the College of Education and Human Services as well as the School of Education. In the Spring of 2005 the Science Education Center was renamed The Maurice G. Kellogg Science Education Center in recognition of Dr. Kellogg’s leadership in science both at WIU and throughout Illinois. Past members of the Science Education Center include Drs. John Beaver, Kevin Finson, Don Hamilton, Maurice Kellogg, Don Nelson, Barbara Sandall, Donald Powers, LaVerne Logan, John Shaver, and Don Troyer. Current members of the Science Center include: Dr. Sebastian Szyjka (director) and Dr. Abha Singh (faculty center associate).

Professional Development

In addition to providing instruction to undergraduate and graduate students, the Science Center provides outreach programs both locally and throughout Illinois. Two of the Science Education Center events include the Annual PreK-8 Science Update Conference as well as the Regional Competition of the Illinois Science Olympiad. Other forms of support also include numerous professional development inservices for educators in the west-central Illinois region.

Service

The Science Education Center has written and collaborated with other agencies in delivering a number of grants such as The Young Scholars Program; Teacher-to-Teacher Grant; Improving Scores in Mathematics and Science; Northwest Illinois Mathematics & Science Partnership; as well as the Western Illinois Mathematics Teacher Transformation Institute (WI-MTTI). For many years the Science Education Center has offered Project Wild, Project Wild Aquatics, Project WET, and Project Learning Tree every year to elementary education undergraduate students. A STARLAB Planetarium program has been added to the list of offerings. The recent addition (2019-2020) of the Science Center Museum has added a historical component to learning about science. It is anticipated that Family Science Nights will soon offer members of the community an opportunity to participate in various science projects and activities.

Western Rocketry Club

In the Fall of 2020, Western Rocketry was established as a student-led club open to all students for the purposes of providing opportunities to gain hands-on experiences in designing, building, and launching model rockets. Western Rocketry promotes exciting experiences for students in all areas of study and hosts regular rocket launching events that are open to the student body, the general public, as well as members of the community and region. Western Rocketry Club is a student organization sponsored by Dr. Sebastian Szyjka (School of Education). Western Rocketry is a member of the National Association of Rocketry.