While teaching science and math may not literally be rocket science, it’s close enough to scare off some educators.
“Their eyes do glaze over,” said Mary Liscombe, director of the McAuliffe Challenger Center at Framingham State University. “It’s a tough nut to crack a lot of the times.”
At risk are the futures of students who will need to know the basics of the STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and math — to get the top jobs of the future. An unqualified teaching force also threatens the future of the local economy, which will need those positions to be filled to keep the workforce humming.
It’s no surprise, then, why state and local officials were so excited this past Monday to celebrate Framingham State’s designation as an official NASA Educator Resource Center, the first one in Massachusetts. The university joins a nationwide network of around 60 centers that have access to the aerospace agency’s vast library of online materials, a trove that includes everything from detailed satellite images to live, interactive video courses that can be beamed into classrooms.
The thrust of the new center will be to help local teachers get a better grasp of STEM, as well as make the subjects more palatable to education majors who might otherwise avoid them due to their difficulty. It coincides perfectly with the state’s ongoing efforts to ramp up STEM education throughout the public education system, said Jake Foster, director of science and technology/engineering at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Foster envisioned the center becoming a learning hub for educators, a resource “every district can access and know what’s going on.”
The benefits of collaboration with NASA should be well-known to any educator who’s worked with the agency, Liscombe said.
“When I knew NASA was going to be involved, I knew I was going to walk out with a big bag of stuff,” she said.
Even more valuable are the professional development opportunities offered by the agency. Through her work at the Challenger Center, which is part of a national network of space science education programs, Liscombe said she’s seen students’ outlook on STEM change after interning with NASA.
“They come away feeling like they’re more confident … and able to help their students really engage in their learning,” she said. “That’s the most important thing.”
Kevin Thurston, executive director of the Greater Boston Readiness Center and MetroWest STEM Education Network, said the sagging interest levels in math and science at his schools could use a boost.
“This center will help build interest,” he said. “It’s more than the materials - it’s the teacher development.”
While professional development is “the foundation that keeps us going everyday” at the Challenger Center, Liscombe said it’s an area that hasn’t always received the attention it deserves in Massachusetts. One of the first big challenges facing Framingham State will be figuring out how to make NASA’s training and materials available to more teachers around the state. Though mostly digital in format, the agency’s library at first will be accessible primarily through a website maintained at the university’s Whittemore Library. Eventually, though, officials hope to allow teachers to link to the content from their classrooms.
Regardless of how the medium changes, Framingham State president Timothy Flanagan said the importance of STEM education will be constant.
“Certain things today won’t be happening five to 10 years from now,” he said. “But there will always be science, and there will always be math.”
News By:
wickedlocal.com
“Their eyes do glaze over,” said Mary Liscombe, director of the McAuliffe Challenger Center at Framingham State University. “It’s a tough nut to crack a lot of the times.”
At risk are the futures of students who will need to know the basics of the STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and math — to get the top jobs of the future. An unqualified teaching force also threatens the future of the local economy, which will need those positions to be filled to keep the workforce humming.
It’s no surprise, then, why state and local officials were so excited this past Monday to celebrate Framingham State’s designation as an official NASA Educator Resource Center, the first one in Massachusetts. The university joins a nationwide network of around 60 centers that have access to the aerospace agency’s vast library of online materials, a trove that includes everything from detailed satellite images to live, interactive video courses that can be beamed into classrooms.
The thrust of the new center will be to help local teachers get a better grasp of STEM, as well as make the subjects more palatable to education majors who might otherwise avoid them due to their difficulty. It coincides perfectly with the state’s ongoing efforts to ramp up STEM education throughout the public education system, said Jake Foster, director of science and technology/engineering at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Foster envisioned the center becoming a learning hub for educators, a resource “every district can access and know what’s going on.”
The benefits of collaboration with NASA should be well-known to any educator who’s worked with the agency, Liscombe said.
“When I knew NASA was going to be involved, I knew I was going to walk out with a big bag of stuff,” she said.
Even more valuable are the professional development opportunities offered by the agency. Through her work at the Challenger Center, which is part of a national network of space science education programs, Liscombe said she’s seen students’ outlook on STEM change after interning with NASA.
“They come away feeling like they’re more confident … and able to help their students really engage in their learning,” she said. “That’s the most important thing.”
Kevin Thurston, executive director of the Greater Boston Readiness Center and MetroWest STEM Education Network, said the sagging interest levels in math and science at his schools could use a boost.
“This center will help build interest,” he said. “It’s more than the materials - it’s the teacher development.”
While professional development is “the foundation that keeps us going everyday” at the Challenger Center, Liscombe said it’s an area that hasn’t always received the attention it deserves in Massachusetts. One of the first big challenges facing Framingham State will be figuring out how to make NASA’s training and materials available to more teachers around the state. Though mostly digital in format, the agency’s library at first will be accessible primarily through a website maintained at the university’s Whittemore Library. Eventually, though, officials hope to allow teachers to link to the content from their classrooms.
Regardless of how the medium changes, Framingham State president Timothy Flanagan said the importance of STEM education will be constant.
“Certain things today won’t be happening five to 10 years from now,” he said. “But there will always be science, and there will always be math.”
News By:
wickedlocal.com
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