State Department's grant brings nine Afghan women teachers to Stevens for intensive training in video and other educational media

Stevens Institute of Technology has received a grant from the US State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs' Citizens Exchange Office to undertake an intensive summer training program for nine women science and mathematics instructors from universities in Afghanistan.

The program will provide professional development in mathematics and science education as well as in the use of technologies which can support classroom learning in Afghanistan’s high schools. Emphasis will also be placed on strategies that engage women in the successful study of science. In addition, mentoring and leadership skills will be introduced that will enable the women to serve as models and mentors for their young, women students.

During the years of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, women teachers were barred from their profession and girls were denied the opportunity to learn.

Women and girls have now returned to classrooms throughout Afghanistan eager to make up for lost time. The Stevens program is intended to jump-start that process with particular focus on preparing teacher-trainers of science and mathematics at the high school level. The women instructors who will participate in the Stevens program have been identified by the Ministry of Higher Education in Kabul as being lead-teachers, whose professional development will have impact on large numbers of practicing teachers and future teachers.

The program is a joint project of two education research and development centers at Stevens. These are the Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) and the Lore-El Center for Women in Engineering and Science. The program is designed to permit each Afghan woman to move ahead at her own pace in a highly supportive atmosphere. In addition to academic activities, CIESE and the Lore-El Center are designing a stimulating series of weeknight discussions, cultural events, and opportunities for the women to interact with their American counterparts at Stevens and in the larger community.

Two not-for-profit organizations that are already active in Afghanistan are providing significant support for this program. They are Schools Online based in Redwood Shores, Calif., and Relief International located in Los Angeles. Schools Online is donating laptop computers and software for use by the participants in Afghanistan, while Relief International is collaborating on coordination and implementation of program activities in Afghanistan.

Professional development and teaching resources that can be used by teachers and students in Afghanistan are being contributed to the program by Annenberg/CPB, a partnership between The Annenberg Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. These Annenberg/CPB video-based materials are being adapted and translated at Stevens for use in Afghanistan.

This project is intended to be the first stage in an ongoing effort by Stevens Institute of Technology to support education in Afghanistan. Stevens, which is one of America's oldest science and technology universities, has a long record of working to promote education in Afghanistan. The summer program for the Afghan women instructors builds on the special expertise at Stevens in the areas of teacher professional development utilizing technology developed at the Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) under the leadership of Dr. Edward A. Friedman. Dr. Friedman shares direction of the Afghanistan women teachers project with Susan Staffin Metz of the Lore-El Center. Metz has received national recognition, including a White House award, for her work in advancing the participation of females in the fields of engineering and science.

For more information about the Afghan women attending Stevens, please visit ciese.org/afghanprogram

For more information about CIESE, please visit ciese.org.

For more information about the Lore-El Center, please visit www.stevens.edu/lore-el

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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