HOUGHTON – After a decade of groundwork, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education programs in the state received a $5 million grant that will be used to unlock doors for the next generation to develop STEM careers.
The grant, from The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation, funds the Michigan Science Teaching and Assessment Reform (Mi-STAR) program. Its goal is to develop a model for reforming middle-school STEM education that will include a new curriculum that will leverage updated teacher education and teacher professional development strategies.
The program will better integrate the science foundation with a problem-based approach. It aims to cut across traditional disciplines of biology, physics, chemistry and earth science. By doing so, the program will show how this learning will help address society’s needs.
?Most of the members of this team have been working together for many years, and our plans are informed by our experiences in many other STEM education projects,? Huntoon said. Jacqueline Huntoon will serve as Director of Mi-STAR and is a example of a woman in action to make a difference in STEM fields. She is a geology professor, associate provost and dean of the Graduate School at Michigan Technological University.
?In Michigan and most of the nation?s schools, STEM instruction consists of a series of seemingly unrelated courses that require students to memorize large numbers of facts but fail to engage them in the practice of using science as a tool to address real-world problems,? Huntoon said.
Mi-STAR is a direct outgrowth of MiTEP (Michigan Teacher Excellence Program), a National Science Foundation-funded partnership among Michigan Tech and Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Jackson Public Schools. It builds on research conducted by the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering. A selected scientist from the American Geosciences Institute will also be involved in helping the program achieve its goals. There will also be more team members at the participating Michigan public schools.
?We are excited to partner with Michigan Tech and the Mi-STAR team to improve STEM education in the Midland Public Schools and across the state of Michigan,? said Brian Brutyn, associate superintendent of curriculum, instruction and assessment for the Midland Public Schools. ?As STEM education continues to grow in importance, we continuously seek innovative ways to achieve related institutional and student learning objectives. This initiative promises to have a sweeping impact, as it addresses the essential components of effective instruction: engaging curriculum, aligned assessments and comprehensive teacher training.?
“The Mi-STAR team is seizing the opportunity to partner with the foundation to develop a new model for STEM education in the middle grades,” said Huntoon. ?The Herbert H. Dow and Grace A. Dow Foundation has a long history of supporting science, and we are very pleased to be collaborating with them once again.?
The project will test its reforms among the partnering public schools. If successful, Mi-STAR will become a model for improving STEM education across Michigan and throughout the United States.
Associate Editor Nicole Johnson leads MITechNews.Com?s efforts to foster STEM education, as well as provides coverage for her fellow women in computing. If you have a story idea for Nicole, email [email protected] Follow Nicole on Twitter: @tech_nicole
