Dept. of Education grants $1.5 million to Stevens Pathways Project

HOBOKEN, N.J. - Stevens Institute of Technology is the lead agency in a $1.5 million grant from the US Department of Education, in a national consortium initiative to improve teacher preparation through the use of the Internet and other innovative technologies.

Stevens' Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) will work with a broad spectrum of partners in the project. These include the Bank Street Graduate School of Education, New York City; Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland, Ohio; Maricopa Community College, Phoenix, Ariz.; and Miami-Dade College, Fla.

The funding is provided through the Federal PT3 Grant Program (Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology), which encourages the discovery and implementation of "alternative teacher development paths" and improved teaching through use of technology.

Since 1988 CIESE has worked with more than 20,000 educators in K-12 schools and with institutions of higher learning around the country to bring about curriculum reform and improved science and mathematics learning through technology-based approaches.

"While E-Rate funding and other programs have provided K-12 schools with a substantial technology infrastructure," said CIESE Deputy Director Beth McGrath, "only 66 percent of teachers in a recent study used computers or the Internet for instruction to a moderate or large extent, and only 33 percent felt well or very well prepared to do so. This project will address that gap by providing support for faculty who teach preservice teachers to model effective uses of technology-those that promote science inquiry, quantitative analysis, and problem-solving."

Teachers in elementary schools and in schools with large percentages of students eligible for federal lunch programs were also less likely to feel well or very well prepared, the study showed. However, professional development in uses of computers and the Internet appears to be a major factor in classroom use of that technology and in building teacher confidence.

CIESE's alliance with several community colleges in the Pathways Project is an acknowledgement of the important role that these institutions will play in preparing the teachers of tomorrow. Currently, about 600,000, or 20 percent, of today's teachers started their education at community colleges.

"As researchers have pointed out," said McGrath, "since many elementary teachers take their only science courses at a community college, how they are taught there has a strong influence on they way they understand and think about content and the way they teach it."

The Pathways Project will build on a highly successful $9.3 million Technology Innovation Challenge Grant project in which CIESE and community college staff have trained more than 8,000 K-12 teachers in the use of unique and compelling Internet-based curricular materials in their classes. The project proposes to provide similar, college-level training to community college faculty who play a significant role in the undergraduate education of tomorrow's teachers. For more information about CIESE, please visit k12science.org

Overall, through outreach and dissemination efforts with partners including Education Commission of the States and the League for Innovation in the Community College, 200 faculty from 33 community colleges will participate in Pathways training programs. These initiatives are expected to impact nearly 7,000 preservice teachers over the three-years of the grant.

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870 and celebrating 140 Years of Innovation, Stevens Institute of Technology, The Innovation University, 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 2,234 undergraduate and 3,700 graduate students with more than 400 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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