Federal Grant Helps MTSU Boost Math, Science In Local Schools
February 9, 2007, MURFREESBORO – A $789,040 National Science Foundation award will help Middle Tennessee State University’s efforts to increase fifth through eighth grade students’ interest in math and science, Congressman Bart Gordon announced.
“In order to keep high-tech, high-paying jobs in Tennessee communities, we have to make technical fields more attractive to students. To do that, we need programs that will make a substantial improvement in K-12 science and math education and keep the U.S. in position to compete with the rest of the world,” Gordon, chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee, said.
MTSU’s Energy, Earth, and Civilization Project will work with fifth through eighth grade students and teachers from Woodbury Grammar School, Central Middle School, Mitchell-Neilson Elementary School, and the Smyrna Boys & Girls Club. The project aims to increase student interest in science and math and to help students apply their knowledge of those subjects to the real world.
“The goals of MTSU’s project echo a major part of my agenda in the 110th Congress: improving science and math education,” Gordon said. “Science and research can create jobs. As chairman of the Science and Technology Committee, I will make sure to seek out any and every opportunity to ensure that we are poised to compete for bright students, cutting-edge research and good jobs.”
MTSU’s project will offer after-school hands-on learning experiences to students during the school year and during a two-week summer camp. The project also will offer professional development sessions for teachers, as well as evening parent-child meetings to engage families in science activities that are fun and educational, according to Dr. Linda Gilbert, project director and associate professor of MTSU’s Educational Leadership.
“This is a real opportunity to look at the results of joining informal science education with the formal content that is taught during the school day. We would like to see participants coming out of the EEC Project considering science or mathematics as career possibilities,” Gilbert said.
“The most exciting part of the grant is that students in Rutherford County and Cannon County will be having fun learning new concepts and will see how those concepts are used in the real world,” she said.
Out of 148 applications, the MTSU proposal was selected as one of 16 recipients across the country for the Academy for Young Scientists initiative.
"There is sufficient research to support that when middle school students profess to want to be a scientist when they grow up, they do become scientists in spite of all life's hurdles,” said Dr. Kim Sadler, assistant director for MTSU’s Center for Environmental Education. “It's so exciting to think that through the Academy for Young Scientists, we have an opportunity to provide meaningful out-of-school-time experiences that may nurture the development of a future scientist.”
As a proponent of math and science education initiatives, Gordon has introduced legislation in Congress to improve math and science education in the nation’s schools. His bill would increase the number of math and science teachers by providing scholarships to science, math and engineering students who commit to becoming science or math teachers at elementary and secondary schools upon completion of their degrees.
“If we want to stay competitive with the rest of the world, we must focus on math and science education,” said Gordon.
