MSU hosts SEC faculty speaker Ayça Fackler for discussion on language use in science education
Contact: Sarah Nicholas
STARKVILLE, Miss.––Mississippi State University welcomes Ayça Fackler, an assistant professor of science education at the University of Missouri, as an invited speaker through the SEC Faculty Travel Program for a discussion on the importance of supporting multilingual science learners.
On May 5, 4 p.m., in Old Main Academic Center Room 2220, Fackler will share her expertise on aiding multilingual learners––with a specific focus on science education––in her talk, “An Expansive View of Doing Science and Language.”
Faculty and students are encouraged to attend the presentation, which will explore pedagogical approaches to providing multilingual learners with robust linguistic support to ensure meaningful science instruction.
The SEC Faculty Travel Program, established in 2012, supports academic collaboration among faculty across the SEC’s 16 member institutions. The program fosters research partnerships, joint teaching efforts and academic exchanges outside of athletics.
Fackler’s visit is part of a collaboration with Lourdes Cardozo-Gaibisso, an English faculty member at MSU who met Fackler in 2023 during her own SEC Faculty Travel Program visit to the University of Georgia.
“Due to our shared interests in science literacy and our backgrounds as multilingual and multicultural scholars in the U.S., we began collaborating on several projects,” said Cardozo-Gaibisso. “I hope this talk highlights that every student—regardless of linguistic background or prior engagement with science—deserves access to quality science education. As educators and community members, we play a fundamental role in making that possible.”
Fackler is a former K-12 science teacher with extensive experience working with multilingual students. Her work centers on empowering educators to create meaningful science learning environments for multilingual students.
For more details about MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences or the Department of English, visit www.cas.msstate.edu or www.english.msstate.edu.
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