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COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) — It's widely accepted that American students trail many of their counterparts in other countries when it comes to math, science and related fields. A partnership in Columbus is trying to put at least a small dent in the problem.
Muscogee County schools and Columbus State University have partnered to deliver STEM training — science, technology, engineering and math — to more than 17,000 students this year.
The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reported (http://bit.ly/1FIz3nw ) that CSU professors in the College of Education now plan to track the students in the program to measure their long-term interest in STEM fields of study.
"We hope to turn this trend around in our local school district by immersing students in the gateway sciences of astronomy and space exploration," said Shawn Cruzen, director of Columbus State's Coca-Cola Space Science Center.
"We believe that making a difference in these early years will lead to more students pursuing science in college, a larger and better-trained technological workforce, and a community with a better understanding and appreciation of science."
The teaching partnership began 18 years ago as on-site instruction for sixth-graders visiting CSU's space center. Now, with the help of a mobile unit, the program reaches to each of the system's 32 elementary schools.
Mary Johnson, assistant director at the center, said the mobile unit will reach every campus before students complete year-end testing and assessments.
Thus far this school year, she said the mobile unit had presented 279 astronomy lessons to children in kindergarten through the third grade. The sessions are 45 minutes each.
Fourth- and fifth-graders, meanwhile, have visited the center for 197 sessions, three hours each, that include hands-on science lessons; tours of the planetarium, exhibit gallery and NASA artifacts; and a simulated mission to Mars.
Muscogee schools Superintendent David Lewis praised the program.
"The resources available at the science center are unlike any in the region," he said in a statement, "and we are confident that they will reignite a curiosity about science that students are losing at an early age."
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Information from: Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, http://ledger-enquirer.com
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