PSE&G makes grant to Stevens' Center for Improved Engineering & Science Education (CIESE)

Stevens Institute of Technology's Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) has been awarded a $10,000 grant by PSE&G to train two teams of teachers from disadvantaged public schools in Camden, N.J. The teachers will learn hands-on methods to effectively integrate new information technologies in the K-12 science curriculum. The two elementary schools selected to benefit are the U.S. Wiggins School and the H.B. Wilson School.

CIESE seeks to empower teachers to utilize computer-based technological resources, including the Internet, mathematics software, CD-ROMs, computer-based laboratory systems (CBLs), and other tools, to create dynamic, inquiry-oriented classrooms that promote national, state and local content standards in science and mathematics, and to support administrators and school systems as they create technology-rich environments for their students.

The PSE&G grant will fund the training of two teams of two teachers from each Camden school. The training is delivered within the scope the CIESE K-12 Partnership, an intensive two-year program that provides hands-on training in the meaningful integration of Internet curriculum resources into the teaching of science and math.

In addition, participating schools receive two full-day site visits to train additional staff or assist with lesson delivery or curriculum integration planning. The participating teachers are prepared to serve as staff development resources to train other teachers throughout their schools and districts.

"PSE&G has been a long-time supporter of CIESE programs, having been one of the first organizations to sponsor our work with teachers to improve science and mathematics education through the meaningful integration of technology, back in the late 1980's," said Dr. Edward A. Friedman, CIESE's founding director. "Thanks to previous support from PSE&G in the 2001-2002 school year," said Dr. Friedman, "one school in Bayonne, N.J., and one in Irvington, N.J., was able to participate in the K-12 Partnership program. Fourth and fifth grade students in those schools now collaborate with students from around the globe via Internet-based science and math curricula."

CIESE has helped more than 700 schools in New Jersey realize the benefits of class-room-based technology. Current programs involve collaborations in New Jersey and four other states to train more than 10,000 teachers. CIESE is also implementing a demonstration project sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to reach schools in Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Peru with its acclaimed teacher training programs that emphasize use of Internet-based real time data for improved science education.

There are approximately 7,000 teachers nationwide who are trained using CIESE approaches and curriculum materials. To date, CIESE materials have impacted approximately 500,000 students in grades K-12. In Spring 2001, there were 329 schools, in 15 countries, participating in CIESE online curriculum projects, totaling more than 10,000 students worldwide. For more information about CIESE, please visit ciese.org.

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.

Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,150 undergraduate and 3,500 graduate students, with about 250 full-time faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.  

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