VTS in Science Workshop – Online (October 2025)

You want to talk about how cute the porcupine is—and also consider what this herbivore eats. Or train medical students to observe anyone walking into the ER—and also recognize an abnormal pattern in a hemotoxin stain. How do science educators balance open, student-centered discussion with all the content scientists need to learn?

Whether reading hurricane maps or interpreting brain scans, lives can depend on the ability to observe and interpret visual information. Yet we rarely teach these skills directly. In a world overflowing with information, we need to learn how to slow down, look closely, and think critically about what we see. How do we help students see their way to the right answers?

This interactive workshop introduces how Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) can shift science learning from lecture to discovery—through inquiry, close observation, group discussion, and curiosity.

VTS’s effectiveness across the sciences is supported by extensive research, including a multi-year National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services with four science-based institutions; studies funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Science Foundation on scientists using VTS; and a National Institutes of Health review showing improved medical competency. More than 50 peer-reviewed articles—published in journals such as the Journal of Museum Education, Arts Education Policy Review, Frontiers in Psychology, and the Journal of Medical Humanities—further demonstrate VTS’s impact on critical thinking, observation, and collaboration across disciplines.

This training equips educators to use VTS to foster authentic, student-centered learning in science contexts. 

Join long-time VTS trainers Kerri Ziemann, Program Director at The Wild Center—Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks—and Tara Geer, VTS Director, artist, and art educator, to explore how this arts-based method works with science. Participants will:

• Learn the research foundations of the VTS method
• Learn the research showing the effectiveness of VTS in science contexts
• Learn VTS facilitation skills
• Practice facilitating with both art and science content
• Use VTS as an assessment –of where students are, what they need, and what will stick
• Build a toolkit for applying VTS in science settings -including how choose content, handling wrong answers, layering practices, and transitioning between ways of teaching

Participants must be able to attend all meetings to complete this course. In addition to class meetings, participants should plan to complete assigned readings and reflections between each class. This course is scheduled in Pacific time zone. Please check your personal time zone alignment before registering.

Class time: 3:00pm – 5:00pm Pacific Time

• Monday, October 6
• Tuesday, October 7
• Thursday, October 9
• Tuesday, October 14
• Thursday, October 16 
• Monday, October 20
• Tuesday, October 21
• Thursday, October 23

All VTS programs are offered at the price it costs us to offer them. We want to share learning. We additionally offer a sliding scale, inspired by Embracing an Equity Sliding Scale because we want to support learning in a diverse community. Please choose what you can afford.

Tier 1: $800

Tier 2: $850

Tier 3: $900 (The cost to run this program)

Questions? Please contact us at info@vtshome.org