Project Science, Technology, Engineering, Education
and Math (STEEM)
Project Summary
It is known that math and science test scores of students across the US have remained low and essentially unchanged for the past 10 years; similar scores in countries such as Estonia, Hungry, Slovakian Republic, Estonia, and Hungry have risen within the same period. Ineffective teaching methods and low student interest, especially within the Science, Technology, Engineering, Education, and Math (STEEM) disciplines, contribute to the low scores of US students. In this project, teachers’ and students’ interests and attitudes towards STEEM disciplines will be transformed, and the effects of these changes will be determined in a variety of ways. By exposing math and science instructors to different teaching methods and having them implement these methods, and at the same time spark the interest of students through various activities, the low scores and students’ attitude can be transformed.
Math and science teachers and students from 6th through 12th grades will be selected from ten rural and financially disadvantaged school districts. The teachers will be exposed to various project-based learning approaches under the supervision of TAMU-Commerce professors. The students will be involved in various activities (some of high intensity) that are designed to spark interests in the STEEM disciplines; they include: in-class lectures, dry and wet lab experiments, and science-based team building activities. The effects of these activities on the achievement of students at different levels will be determined. In addition, a group of twenty-six high achieving high school students from east Texas rural and financially disadvantaged schools will participate in an intense summer science program and their interest in science monitored over a 3-year period. Activities include instruction in STEEM areas, with an emphasis on biomathematics, by university professors and graduate teaching assistants. The students will be involved in various laboratory exercises, science-based team building activities, and field trips to industrial labs, including Texas Instruments (Dallas), and Tyco Industries, and university research labs, including, The University of Texas at Dallas, and The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. It is believed that early and extended exposure of students to these types of activities can also change their interests and attitudes towards STEEM disciplines.
Project STEEM’s impact on teachers, students, and higher education faculty over its three-year period will be evaluated. Evidence of the impact from the various transforming activities will be collected via appropriate surveys, interviews, and observation data. The attitudes and interest of teachers and students toward the STEEM disciplines will be measured by administering pre and post surveys. A control group of teachers and students will be selected and surveyed. All student participants will be tracked over the three-year period to monitor and measure college matriculation rates, future academic performance, and elected major field of study and career choices. Test scores, including the ACT and SAT, and all grade point averages, especially in the science and math related courses, will be tracked as well to determine the effectiveness of Project STEEM’s strategies. The results from this research will be used to develop and implement programs for teacher and students, so that the desired results of increased interest and productivity of students in the STEEM disciplines will be improved and exported to similar environments. Our research will be disseminated through publications in science education journals and presented at conferences. Regular reports will describe the evaluation efforts and results to date while a summative report will be issued to describe the overall impact of the project on participants.