Contact: Jim Laird
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Teachers from around the Golden Triangle are partnering with graduate students at Mississippi State University to enhance earth and space science education in seventh through 12th grade classrooms.
The innovative INSPIRE program, an acronym for Initiating New Science Partnerships in Rural Education, focuses on technology-supported, inquiry-based learning.
According to MSU geosciences department project coordinator Sarah Radencic, INSPIRE takes an interdisciplinary approach, connecting teachers with Mississippi State graduate student research fellows from three STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) disciplines. For each year of the program, five local teachers are paired with two of the MSU fellows, and together they design and implement hands-on activities for the upcoming school year.
"It's a win-win relationship," Radencic said. "The teachers gain valuable knowledge and new instructional tools, and our research fellows have the opportunity to incorporate their research in engineering, geosciences and physics into real-world settings," she explained. "Of course, the most important return on INSPIRE's investment is raising students' interest levels in science."
Recently, participating teachers and MSU students completed a two-week workshop during which they worked to develop learning experiences using GPS units, geographic information system mapping applications, LEGO Mindstorm robotics, electron microscopes, and other technology resources.
The five-year-long program is funded by a multimillion dollar National Science Foundation Graduate K-12 grant and has five essential goals to: enhance MSU research fellows' communication, teaching and team-building skills; develop and implement technology-supported, inquiry-based instructional materials that infuse fellows' STEM research; increase K-12 science teachers' content knowledge and technological skills; build partnerships between K-12 school districts and STEM-related careers; and provide international research experiences for fellows and teachers through which they receive training across geographic borders.
Teachers participating in the INSPIRE program are:
Columbus High School: John Dufour
Columbus Middle School: Deborah Pounders
Mississippi School for Math and Science, Columbus: William Funderburk
Starkville High School: Torri Clay and Kelli Dawkins
Geosciences assistant professor Karen McNeal is principal investigator for the INSPIRE grant. Co-principal investigators are Lori Bruce, Bagley College of Engineering; Sandra Harpole, Center for Science, Mathematics and Technology; Donna Pierce, Physics and Astronomy; and Darrel Schmitz, Geosciences. Research associate John Cartwright serves as INSPIRE's technology specialist.
For additional information about INSPIRE, please visit http://www.gk12.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.