Contact: Phil Hearn
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Nearly 50 educators from at least seven states are scheduled to gather at Mississippi State June 8 for a three-week workshop that will expose them to real-world work experiences at several major industrial sites.
The science, mathematics and technology teachers, guidance counselors and administrators from Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, and Tennessee will participate in the "Industry-Education Partnerships: A Model for the Teacher Professional Curriculum."
The educators will receive on-the-job training and participate in a variety of hands-on activities as they rotate through visits to the industrial worksites of the Mississippi-based Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Nissan and Red Hills Mine, as well as the Tennessee Valley Authority's headquarters in Knoxville.
"We're developing a national model that actually will show the importance of industry-education partnerships, and serve as a guide for sustaining them," said project director Sandra Harpole, MSU's associate vice president for research.
"We want to help students--through their teachers and counselors--connect what they learn in the classroom with how it is used in the real world," added the physics professor who also directs the campus-based Center for Science, Mathematics and Technology.
Participants will spend the first two days [the 8th and 9th] undergoing orientation sessions in the auditorium of Mitchell Memorial Library. They then will be divided into two 24-member teams for travel.
While one team visits Northrop Grumman in Pascagoula [11th-16th], the other group will tour TVA operations in Knoxville, then return to the Magnolia State for stops at Nissan's manufacturing facility in Canton and the Red Hills operation near Ackerman. The teams then swap travel itineraries for the following week.
"Both teams will reconvene on the MSU campus June 26-28 to develop lesson action plans in math, science and technology for implementation at their respective schools," said workshop coordinator Georgia Hackney, a CSMT research associate.
Launched by the MSU center in the spring of 2004 with a grant of nearly $3.2 million from the National Science Foundation, the five-year IEP project is targeted for completion in spring 2009.
To develop an expanded industry-education model spanning the learning continuum, teams consisting of pre-service teachers, science-technology-mathematics teachers, administrators, guidance counselors, and college faculty members will partner with business-industry leaders to create local "learning communities."
Original plans called for four teams of educators per year to participate in the industry-based summer workshops, with follow-up sessions to be held later. The two teams that participated in last year's workshop will gather for a follow-up session July 10-14 at Stennis Space Center in Hancock County.
"This follow-up workshop will introduce remote sensing, robotics, oceanography, and biology to these seasoned teachers," explained Hackney. "NASA's education staff--along with a guest oceanographer from the Naval Oceanographic Office--will help lead this one-week, hands-on workshop."
She said participants will be encouraged to take their established learning communities to the next level, and will be urged to participate in mentoring hours and lead professional development sessions at their home schools.
Under Harpole's guidance, the CSMT "has carved out a national leadership role in this very important research area of building partnerships between education and industry," said Colin Scanes, MSU's vice president for research and graduate studies.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For more information or a detailed program agenda, contact Ms. Hackney at (662) 325-9679 or gsh11@csmt.msstate.edu.