Ohio State faculty heeds call for students in technology fields
A recent report by the country's top business leaders calls for dramatically more efforts to be directed towards encouraging students to enter into the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Since 2000, Ohio State faculty at the College of Engineering and the College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences have been directing energy and resources towards students at all grade levels to encourage them to appreciate the connections between math, science and engineering, as well as to consider careers in technical fields.
The report, "Tapping America's Potential: The Education for Innovative Initiative," was compiled by 15 leading business groups, including the Business Roundtable, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers. The report calls for the number of college graduates in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields to double by 2015. The report can be viewed at http://www.businessroundtable.org/pdf/20050727002TAPStatement.pdf
The document urges governments, private industry, and people in higher education to:
*Build public support to make those fields a national priority
*Offer incentives for students to major in the fields
*Improve elementary- and secondary-school curricula in science and math
*Reform visa and immigration policies to allow more foreigners to study and work in the U.S.
*Increase funds for basic research in the physical sciences and engineering
In the College of Engineering, efforts have been focused on increasing awareness of engineering and the sciences as a career option for underrepresented groups; recruiting and retaining students who study engineering; introducing engineering to students in elementary, middle and high schools; instituting focused math and science courses in middle and high schools to insure better prepared students; and creating actual college-level courses for high ability students in selected Ohio high schools.
Of note is the College of Engineering's establishment of its Introduction to Engineering courses at Walnut Hills High School and Ursuline Academy in Cincinnati and St. John's High School in Toledo. High ability students at these schools can take actual first-year level engineering courses and receive college credit for their efforts.
In addition, the College of Engineering is partnering with General Electric to create challenging math and engineering exploration courses at Aiken High School and Chase Elementary School in Cincinnati. The GE Foundation provides funding for Ohio State to establish and coordinate the courses in these inner city schools.
In the College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, faculty have partnered with local teachers and administrators to delivers the excitement of hands-on science to more than 3,000 elementary school students in Ohio. The Wonders of Our World (WOW) program offers professional development workshops throughout the school year during which teachers learn how to incorporate curriculum-based science experiments into their lessons. Volunteers, including Ohio State students and professional scientists, then assist the teachers as they facilitate the experiments in the classroom. WOW presently serves more than 3,000 students and 150 teachers in seven inner city and suburban schools in Columbus, Dublin and Wooster. Participation in WOW has helped schools significantly increase their passing rates on the science portion of the Ohio Proficiency Test. The program serves as a model for scientists everywhere who want to improve science education. Requests to join the program have come from many Ohio universities and from schools as far away as Puerto Rico. Muskingum College will start a WOW program in autumn 2005, working with South Elementary School in Cambridge.
Ohio State faculty and administrators are available to speak to Ohio State's efforts to increase graduates in the STEM fields. Experts are:
*Audeen Fentiman, associate professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science, (614) 292-7930
*Mary Juhas, Senior Assistant Engineering Dean for Diversity, Outreach and Communications, (614) 688-8239
*Susan Olesik, professor of Chemistry, director of WOW, (614) 292-0733
*David Tomasko, associate professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, (614) 292-4249
