Contact: Robbie Ward
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A group of teachers from Mississippi, California, Kansas, South Carolina, and Tennessee will be ready for students' questions when school starts in the fall.
"Why do we need to learn this?" their classroom charges may ask. "Will we ever need this in the real world?"
After completing Mississippi State's four-week summer Industry, Education and Partnerships program later this month, 43 elementary, junior high and high school educators will have visited industrial sites to experience firsthand how the science, mathematics and technology they teach are used in work environments.
The teachers came together earlier this week on campus for several days of orientation before splitting into groups to explore. From Northrop Grumman's shipbuilding in Pascagoula to a nuclear power plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., they will absorb numerous practical applications of concepts they teach.
"This is important when students see the connection between the classroom and the workplace," said Sandra Harpole, director of the university's Center for Science, Mathematics and Technology. "Teachers can show students how what they learn is relevant in real-world experience."
This year marks the third summer Harpole's center has coordinated the National Science Foundation-funded program. In July, it will conduct a similar program for school administrators, allowing them to touch and observe careers their students can enjoy in the future.
Harpole, also associate vice president for research and economic development, said the program connecting teachers and administrators with businesses and industries allows school leaders to see for themselves what employers desire from their potential future employees.
The IEP curriculum requires the teachers to team with a local industry in their community, showing their students how employment opportunities will require science and technology skills. The process also has the effect of building stronger connections between schools and industries in the community.
"It's important for teachers and students to see job opportunities in their community," Harpole said. "Through this program, they can better appreciate how they can help build a strong workforce to benefit the community, state and country."
As an additional part of the program, the university is providing instruction on the examination of various materials with an electron microscope, something they will use as part of a "CSI"-like scenario in the program training.
In addition to Pascagoula and Chattanooga, the 2007 IEP teams will visit the Red Hills Mine in Ackerman and Columbus Air Force Base. All near Canton, three other visitation sites will include Nissan's automotive production plant, MSU's Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems and Tier I automotive suppliers.
For more information, contact Georgia Hackney at 662-312-3466 or ghackney@csmt.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.