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Department of
Engineering
Department of
Mathematics
Department of Psychology
Department of Exercise
and Sport Science |
Project Newsletter
Issue 2
February 2007
January was filled with major events aimed at
beginning to set the framework for summer. The Introduction
and Orientation Session was held late February with the
participating school systems and arrangements were also
being made to recruit students on campus to help with summer
programs. Summaries are presented for both these projects.
College Student
Recruitment
Student Recruitment Meeting with Michael
Bosse
January 23, 2007
Present: Michael Bosse, Virginia Carraway
The goal of this initial meeting was to
recruit undergraduate and graduate students to help with the
three-week ITAS Academy during the summer and also possibly
curriculum development during the preceding spring. A total
of eight interested undergraduate and graduate students all
math and science education majors, two of which may be able
to help with teaching during the ITAS Academy. To begin Dr.
Bosse explained his role with curriculum developed in the
ITEST grant as taking lesson plans and connecting them with
the math and science standards for the state of North
Carolina. In short, his job is to fill in the holes! The
undergraduate and graduate student’s primary function during
the summer ITAS Academy (July 16th – August 3rd) is to work
with the high school students. Ideally, these students would
be available to work with the high school students for each
of the three summers the ITAS Academy is available. In
addition, if the budget allows a couple of the students may
help Dr. Bosse with curriculum development during spring of
2007. The main concern expressed by the students was their
inability to participate in other activities during the
three-week ITAS Academy. Some students stated they might be
enrolled in a summer class that would require them to leave
for two hours during the day. In addition, Dr. Bosse would
like to know how many undergraduate and graduate students
the budget will be able to support for this time period.
ITEST Introduction and Orientation Session
January 26, 2007
Present: Paul Kauffman
(PI), Cathy Hall (Co-PI), Dana Espinosa (Co-PI), TJ Mohammad
(Curriculum Development), Tarek Abdel-Salam (Curriculum
Development, Rick Williams (Curriculum Development), Ed
Howard (Curriculums Development), Stephanie Sullivan
(Curriculum Development), Mark Lesperance (Director,
Building Hope Community Center), David Batts (Curriculum
Development), Virginia Carraway (Project Coordinator),
Christie Weubbles (Mathematics Teacher, Wilson County), Mike
Carter (Science Teacher, Wilson County), Ashley Skinner
(Counselor, Wilson County), Rachel McNeill (Science Teacher,
Wilson County), Dannie Gullett (Math Teacher, Wilson
County), Dr. Ralph Smith (Lead Teacher for Science, Wayne
County), Gary Hales (Principal, Wayne County), Mary Daly
(Lead Teacher for Technology, Wayne County), Matthew Cole
(Counselor, Onslow County), Barry Brown (Science Teacher,
Onslow County), Angela Brown (Counselor, Onslow County),
Jason Tant (Science Teacher, Onslow County), Lila Hackett
(Math Teacher, Onslow County), Dalton Berry (Counselor,
Onslow County), Dayna Martin (Science Teacher, Onslow
County), Eric Kliewer (Math Teacher, Onslow County), Katie
Mullin (Math Teacher, Greene County), Kristin Campbell
(Science Teacher, Greene County), Celina Low-Scott
(Counselor, Greene County), Michael Dixon (Technology
Teacher, Greene County), Susan Jones (Assistant Principal,
Greene County), Dora Jernigan (Math and Science Coordinator,
Duplin County), Elizabeth Straughn (Math Teacher, Duplin
County) and Chris Bass (Counselor, Duplin County).
Additional unaccounted for teachers and counselors from
Onslow and Jones counties were present.
The goal of the ITAT
Introduction and Orientation Session was to inform teachers,
counselors and additional faculty of participating school
systems about administrative details concerning the two-week
summer session ITAT Academy and student recruitment as well
as build a collaborative team and solicit input.
Hidden Barrier
Issues
David Batts
Teachers expressed several ideas concerning
this issue:
-
Explain to students what an engineer is and what they do
in the beginning.
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Inform students that college is possible and tell them
how to it can be accomplished (bring in current college
students with similar background).
-
Insure less structure and more interactive activities,
students may be afraid of damaging materials.
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Approach issue of leaving home for long-period of time
(Spring Symposium, February 23rd – gradually
ease student into environment).
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Develop mentorship system between high school students
and current college students to help with anxiety.
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Incorporate additional activities outside of the
classroom during the ITAS Academy.
-
Be aware of language barriers.
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Administration expressed concern about using his best
teachers for the program and inquiring about flexibility
and the opportunity for make-up sessions.
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Level of supervision for students: ten Resident Advisors
available to students during the night as well as a
building coordinator (10:1 ratio) – teachers may be
given the option to stay in the dorms with the students.
Leadership Component
Cathy Hall
The ITEST website is up
and running. Website development will be an ongoing process
and updates will be added through the course of the
project. The site address is:
www.ecu.edu/ITESTbiomechanics. The website includes
basic project information, including information on the
primary ITEST grant team. The goal of the leadership
component is to inform students of the many different types
of careers available in the areas of science, technology,
engineering, and math.
Solid Modeling and
Robotics
Rick Williams, Ed Howard and TJ Mohammad
Why solid modeling? Solid modeling is
related to robotics and aides with visualization skills,
plus it is just FUN! Solid modeling is easy for students
and teachers to learn. Many schools are already using the
program, but not in the areas of math and science. Students
will begin to understand that engineering is hands-on, but
the profession also involves a large amount of math and
science principles. In addition, using robotics can help
appeal to various groups of students. The Bobot is a good
tool for challenging the more advanced students without
leaving behind the slower students. It has a brain just
like you and me and can be programmed to perform tasks as
determined by the student, such as walking or jumping. The
development of the software is simple and user friendly and
can be used across many subjects. As the curriculum is
developed teachers are encouraged to provide input.
Parent-Teacher
Symposium and Student Selection
Mark Lesperance and Paul Kauffman
The purpose of the Parent-Teacher Symposium
in the spring is to address issues and concerns students
and/or parents may have concerning their involvement in the ITAS Academy. An additional symposium will be held in the
fall for further discussion and follow up. More information
will follow as planning progresses.
Each of the ten high
schools is responsible for recruiting six students resulting
in a total of 60 students for the 2007 ITAS Academy. The
ideal situation would be to select students who would
benefit the most from participation, and have already shown
leadership potential. The selection process should begin
immediately and should be completed by the end of March.
As teachers choose
qualified student they may want to consider requiring an
interview as part of the selection process. The guidance
counselor, faculty member or both may conduct the
interviews. Admittance into the ITAS Academy is a great
opportunity for students to learn and grow and will also
look great on scholarship and college applications in the
future!
Teachers expressed
several concerns with the selection process.
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Teachers were concerned they would not be able to train
another teacher or remember themselves how to use solid
modeling and/or robotics in classroom.
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Teachers will have the website available
to them and will have a total of 5 in-services over the
year to help refresh what they learned over the summer.
In addition, by choosing new teachers to participate
every year they can increase the number of teachers who
know how to use the programs.
-
One teacher stated she was unsure how she would
encourage immigrant students to participate in the
program when their future employment status was not
clear.
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It was
determined that the issue was one of policy and even
though we would find more information about what state
policy says concerning the topic, the issue should not
be a barrier for participation. Additionally, the
teachers were encouraged to send students that would be
successful in the program. Plans to have a
Spanish-speaking student available during the ITAS
Academy are in the works.
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Student accountability during the ITAS Academy was
questioned.
At this point,
the idea is to possibly have some sort of competition
involving robotics and/or solid modeling.
Assessment
Cathy Hall and Dana Espinosa
A packet containing a base assessment
questionnaire and other additional materials was
distributed. Short-term assessment of students will be
completed through various avenues including tracking the
number of students who pursue advanced courses in math and
science, and gathering academic information on student
performance. Long-term assessment goals are being
considered such as tracking college enrollment and types of
careers pursued.
Session
Conclusion
Attendees were reminded
that currently the main goal at hand is student
recruitment. Curriculum ideas among teachers are encouraged
as it is further developed. The ITAT Academy schedule is
complete and the ITAS Academy schedule will soon follow.
The schedules will overlap in the final week the teachers
are here and the first week the students arrive.
The floor was opened for
additional questions, concerns and/or ideas:
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In terms of gathering literature for parents, a video,
especially of the Bobot and/or campus, describing the
academy and what it plans to accomplish may alleviate
student and parent concerns.
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Teachers would like to promote the use of program/lesson
plans among various setting in many different classes.
How can this be accomplished in classrooms with teachers
who have not undergone training?
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Consideration of incoming ninth and tenth graders was
encouraged for recruitment due to the increased ability
to follow the student’s academic performance.
-
Dr. Espinosa informed teachers that she is currently
applying for teacher’s approval to get CDUs for each
teacher. Currently we do not know how many credits will
be given, however each teacher will be putting in about
60 hours of work during the ITAT Academy. The teachers
will be notified when additional information is known.
Other topics of
discussion during the ITAT Introduction and Orientation
Seminar included: biomechanics curriculum content, excel and
programming content and lesson plan coordination.
Meeting
Photos
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