Northeastern Partners With Area Schools for Math & Science Workshops
Northeastern Partners With Area Schools for Math & Science Workshops
Special coverage by NSU Intern Dustin Woods
Northeastern State University recently hosted new workshops for many Oklahoma math and science teachers. The two-week summer institute was made possible by a new funding opportunity announced by the Oklahoma Department of Education earlier this year, said Beth Colvin, Director of the Locust Grove Oklahoma Mathematics and Science Partnership Program.
Our Superintendent, Mr. David Cash and the Locust Grove Board of Education felt it was a very worthwhile project for the Locust Grove Mathematics and Science classroom teachers as well as for teachers of the surrounding schools, explained Colvin.
Dr. April Adams, Dr. Martha Parrot, Dr. Pamela Christol and Karl Kruczek of Northeastern State, Sharon Ballew and the administrations of the participating schools were all instrumental in developing the project.
We developed and submitted the application and were fortunate enough to be awarded a grant, Colvin noted.
K-12 teachers from Locust Grove, Choteau-Mazie, Salina, Pryor and Peggs all gathered at NSU to explore new classroom content and hands-on activities provided in the two-week workshops.
In secondary science, teachers were investigating how well various sun screens provide protection from UV rays; how the shape of a rocket affects how high the rocket travels, how to measure the position and velocity of a bouncing basketball; and the feeding behaviors of planaria, shared Dr. April Adams, associate professor of General Physical Science.
More than 70 teachers from the Locust Grove area participated in the workshops, including 37 elementary school teachers and 23 secondary math teachers.
Each of the participants completed a Survey of Enacted Curriculum before the start of the institute, Colvin said. The participants will also participate in four full-day Saturday follow-up sessions during the 2009-2010 school year.
The workshops are designed to help teachers prepare their students in science and mathematics, and the partnership allows for the teachers to learn from one another as well.
The teachers acquire more content knowledge and are better prepared in their area of expertise in the classroom. Each participant will also be able to network with other participants concerning their classrooms and the mathematics and science curriculum, added Colvin.
These workshops are only a small part of the extra training that teachers undertake outside of their contracts.
The participants are very dedicated classroom teachers and are always striving to improve their content knowledge and better their teaching skills in order to better serve their students, Colvin noted.
Adams hopes the workshops will attract more Oklahoma students to mathematics and sciences.
Oklahoma needs more K-12 students who are interested in science and mathematics , and all students need to become scientifically and mathematically literate in order to be a part of our increasingly technologically based, global society, Adams said.
7/15/2009
Published: 2009-07-15 00:00:00