 | Marisa Honomichl is Vice President of Marketing and Development at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson. The Cosmosphere houses one of the largest collections of space artifacts in the world including the Apollo 13 space capsule. The mission of the Cosmosphere is “Honoring the Past and Inspiring the Future of Space Exploration.” This is accomplished through educational programming such as space exploration camps for students in the summer. Feel free to contact the Cosmosphere for more information on their camps and programming at (800)397-0330 or visit www.cosmo.org. |
Science
2009-04-01 14:39:00
Where are they?
Question: Why are we falling behind in the number of students entering Science, Technology, Engineering and Math fields in the U.S?
Answer: Studies show U.S. students begin to fall behind other countries in math and science when entering their middle school years. There are numerous factors involved in this from issues of poverty, to teaching methods, to social influences on children at that age. Regardless of the reason, it is a fact that in order to compete in a global economy it is critical that we foster and retain interest in our youth in these fields. In a recent interview, David Cote, President of Honeywell commented that the US does not produce enough of the skilled workforce his company needs to sustain a leadership role in their industries. The big question is how do we change this and keep American students interested in these fields?
The problem is very complicated as you begin to look into it. We have a shortage of math and science teachers, funding for schools is tight, and social influences begin to interfere with middle school students who fear being labeled a “nerd” if they express interest or excel in these areas. There are hundreds of other factors involved but there is also hope and solutions that have proven effective and need to be expanded to reach more students.
It has been proven that students at this age learn more, retain more, and show greater interest in these fields when they are taught in a more immersive environment, in other words a hands-on approach. Traditional book-work format of science instruction falls on its face for this age group. In addition these young people need to see and hear actual examples of how these fields lead to real jobs that are interesting and provide a future for them. This will help to break the stereotype that people in these fields run around in lab coats, have no social skills and have boring jobs.
It is common to find that the students, who are currently in these fields at the undergraduate level, often come from families where there are adults (fathers, mothers, aunts and uncles, etc.) that are in these fields. These students have seen in a very direct way the opportunities those fields have offered their family members and the interesting jobs those individuals have enjoyed by pursuing those fields. It is useful then, for individuals in these fields to pass along their experiences to students in that critical middle school grade level in order to educate them about those opportunities. This can be done through mentoring programs, through lecture series with opportunity for Q & A for students or through field trips to industries in these fields.
The Cosmosphere has the advantage of being able to provide a totally immersive environment to students which focuses on the “cool” aspects of science like space travel. Obviously most teachers don’t have that advantage in a typical classroom but now, via the web, teachers can access speakers from all over the globe to engage their students and often these web lectures are very low cost. Parents can also be the voice of support students need at this age to say, “It’s GREAT that you’re good in math and science because think of all the cool jobs you could get into someday and by the way here are some you may want to learn more about!”
