Contact: Jim Laird
More than 20 high school and community college teachers from around the state gather at Mississippi State next week to learn how computational science fits into Mississippi education standards and enhances their students' learning of basic science principles.
Being held Monday-Friday [June 21-25], the workshop is part of an initiative by the Mississippi Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research to identify, develop and deploy academic science and technology to increase the state's research and development competitiveness and foster economic growth. (Note: The program usually is referred to by the acronym EPSCoR.)
In addition to the instructional laboratories and presentations, participants will visit university research areas where computational science is being used. These include the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems and the High Performance Computing Collaboratory, both located in the Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park adjacent to campus.
"The workshop will provide teachers a hands-on learning experience and give them the knowledge they need to incorporate computational biology, computational chemistry and computational biological simulation into their classrooms," said Katie Echols, EPSCoR's education and outreach coordinator. "We anticipate an exciting week of discovery and exploration that will lead to breakthroughs in how instructors teach and students learn science."
EPSCoR programs are funded by a five-year, $20 million National Science Foundation grant that utilizes the resources of MSU, as well as the universities of Mississippi and Southern Mississippi and Jackson State University. For more, visit www.msepscor.msstate.edu.
For more on the workshop, contact Echols at 662-325-8904 or kechols@research.msstate.edu. She also can arrange interviews or photo opportunities with presenters or participants.