Summer institute attracts bumper crop of advanced placement teachers

Summer institute attracts bumper crop of advanced placement teachers

By KRISTAL SCHEFFLER
Special to the Rice News

The 12th annual Advanced Placement Summer Institute (APSI) at Rice University continues to be the largest institute of its kind in the country. With more than 2,000 participants, the 2006 APSI held in June and July exceeded enrollment expectations with a 10 percent increase in registrations over 2005.

Administered by the Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies at Rice and endorsed by the Southwest Region of the College Board, the APSI began in 1995 as a one-week program offering 12 subject-area courses for new and experienced Advanced Placement (AP) teachers. Since then, it has expanded into a two-, three- and now a four-week program offering 81 courses for new and experienced AP and pre-AP teachers.

While the majority of the attendees came from Texas, many other states and countries were represented, including California, Florida, Puerto Rico, Switzerland and Japan.

This year, the APSI hosted the first AP Chinese and Japanese language and culture courses to be held in the Southwest Region. It also increased the number of technology-focused mathematics and science courses and the number of academies offered since last year. The academies are courses that provide teachers with the opportunity to delve deeply into specific course content and to connect to their discipline’s current work.

According to the College Board, the APSI remains the only one of its kind in the country to offer academies. Several Rice faculty members in mathematics, natural sciences and social sciences taught these courses, offering the attendees top-level Rice instruction.

“Teachers leave Rice with a stunning amount of information learned from master teachers on how to increase their teaching repertoire and higher-order thinking in their students,” said Siva Kumari, associate dean of the Glasscock School of Continuing Studies’ school-based programs. “Best of all they leave with a very favorable impression of Rice as a great place for learning.”

The APSI had access to many campus facilities and support from Rice faculty and staff, including the Division of Information Technology, Rice Catering, the Transportation Department and the custodial staff.
For more information, visit <www.teachers.rice.edu>.

—Kristal Scheffler is a marketing specialist at the Glasscock School of Continuing Studies.