NSF Grant Trains Middle School Teachers

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Six Stillwater Middle School teachers are working with Oklahoma State University faculty members this summer to learn how to incorporate effective techniques for simple and affordable experiments in math and science that will engage students in the middle grades.  

The program--which helps teachers understand how engineers design, fabricate and test materials and structures--uses ideas from engineering to show how math and science are integrated into today's technology.

“Transitioning Engineering Research to Middle Schools” is a three-year $430,000 grant awarded earlier this year to Dr. Karen High, associate professor of chemical engineering, and Dr. Alan Cheville, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, both in the OSU College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology.

Math, science and technology teachers accepted for the program come from rural and Native American districts in the state, and the 21 teachers will represent the Stillwater and Osage Interlocal Districts and Sequoyah High School. OSU faculty will work with the teachers throughout the grant by conducting two pre-visits and three post-visit activities.

“The educational focus on how complex technological systems emerge from simple concepts addresses a need to do research on how best to introduce ideas of a complex system behavior at the K-12 level, critical to building a scientific workforce,” said High.

Middle school, High said, is a particularly good level to focus this program because adolescents at this age are curious about future career choices and are interested in the relevance of their math and science learning.  

Taking part this summer are Stillwater Middle School sixth grade teachers Beth Watt, science; Lynn Franzmann, science; Rebekah Reece, math; and Robert Kisling, math and social studies; and seventh grade teachers Becky Hammack, science; and Carmen Gulczynski, math and social studies.  

The teachers are exploring research projects in the labs of engineering faculty members. The participating faculty are Dr. Sundar Madihally, chemical engineering associate professor, who will work with multicellular structures; Dr. Jim Smay, Maddox Professor of chemical engineering, who will work on fabricating materials; and Dr. Chuck Bunting, electrical and computer engineering associate professor, who will work with high frequency microwave devices.

Two faculty from the College of Education, Dr. Juliana Utley, math education, and Dr. Julie Angle, science education, both assistant professors in the School of Curriculum and Leadership, are helping the teachers take their research experiences and develop classroom activities appropriate for middle school students.  
Also working on research are OSU students Jodie Millemon, Ponca City chemical engineering junior; Marcus Duffy, Seiling chemical engineering junior; and Andrew Payne, Edmond electrical engineering senior.  

"Our hope is that getting undergraduate students who are midway between middle school and Ph.D.s, to teach the teachers engineering, the summer experience for both groups will be richer," said Cheville.