A List
2/16/04

SLU, CLARKSON AWARDED GRANT FOR K-12 PROGRAM

CANTON – Continuing funding of a program titled "K-12 Project-Based 
Learning Partnership Program," the National Science Foundation (NSF) 
has awarded nearly $2 million to Clarkson and St. Lawrence universities
over the next four years. The grant funding will expand and continue
the programs presently funded by NSF and the GE Foundation, the
philanthropic foundation of the General Electric Company. The grant
expands Clarkson's Project-Based Learning Partnership Program,
created by Clarkson University Professor Susan E. Powers, and St.
Lawrence University's Teaching Scholar Partnership Program, led by
St. Lawrence principal investigator Assistant Professor of Education
Esther Oey.

	The NSF grant will allow the universities to fund graduate and
advanced undergraduate teaching fellowships. In collaboration with
classroom teachers and university faculty, the team of teaching
fellows will develop course curricula and hone their teaching skills
over the summer. The student/teachers will then be putting their
knowledge to work in area classrooms over the following school year.
Courses will emphasize the development and application of learning
and skills in math, science, engineering and technology concepts.  

	"It's a community effort that benefits all participants," said Oey.
"The school districts and teachers gain support for teaching math,
science and technology; the secondary students learn math, science
and technology in authentic ways; and the undergraduate and graduate
students experience the joy of helping young people increase their
enthusiasm about their subject areas, develop valuable communication
skills and refine their own content knowledge and skills in the real-
life application of teaching."  

	Powers and Oey are joined in the new program by Clarkson Mathematics
and Computer Science Professor Peter Turner. "My main contribution in
the expanded program," says Turner, "will be to incorporate a much
stronger mathematical and computational component to the projects.
This will enhance the whole math, science and technology experience
for both the teaching fellows and the students."  

	The NSF grant supports efforts to increase the academic achievement
of female and underrepresented middle- and high-school students in an
attempt to get them interested in math and the sciences early on.
University students involved with the program over recent years have
developed curricula in "Engineering for the Environment" and "Energy
and the Environment."   

	Preliminary plans for the 2004 -2005 program focus on Renewable
Energy, Solid Waste, and Water Quality. The two universities are
recruiting graduate and undergraduate students interested in
developing teaching experience and expertise in transferring science
and technology in the classroom. Students will work next year in
partnership with teachers from several local school districts,
including Canton, Colton-Pierrepont, Edwards-Knox, Heuvelton, Lisbon,
Norwood-Norfolk, Parishville-Hopkinton, Potsdam, and Salmon River.


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