Making Science And Engineering Interesting

June 16, 1999

GAINESVILLE — At the end of her first year teaching high school physics and astronomy, Amy Johnson has learned firsthand how tough it can be to it to pique youths’ interest in scientific and technical subjects.

So Johnson, who teaches at a private school in Norcross, Ga., is looking forward to attending a unique University of Florida summer program aimed at showing teachers how to enliven the teaching of science and engineering through real-world examples.

“Students always ask, How am I ever going to use what you’re trying to teach me?’” Johnson said. “If you can bring in applications to show why it’s important and how it will affect them, I think they’ll tend to pay more attention and care more.”

Materials Science & Engineering for Teachers, or MSE Teach, coordinated by the UF College of Engineering’s department of materials science and engineering, seeks in part to help reverse a downward trend in the number of students entering engineering fields, administrators said. Despite a strong job market and high salaries for starting engineers, the number of young people earning bachelor’s degrees in engineering declined from 78,178 graduates in 1986 to 63,262 graduates last year, according to the Engineering Workforce Commission of the American Association of Engineering Societies.

The UF program also has broader goals, said Elliot Douglas, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering and program coordinator.

“If students are going to be accountants or English teachers or any other profession, it would benefit them to have some interest and understanding of the main issues in science and engineering,” Douglas said.

The weeklong program will draw teachers from as close as Keystone Heights and as far as Washington state when it begins Monday (6/21). The 20 community college and high school teachers, who will receive a travel stipend and free lodging on campus, were selected from more than 50 applicants, Douglas said.

Teachers in the program spend the week discussing different aspects of materials science with a focus on hands-on activities. Each of the first four days is devoted to a different material: polymers, ceramics, metals and electronics. On the last day, teachers divide into teams and present lesson plans that revolve around what they have learned.

Lectures dominate the morning sessions, with guest speakers often explaining how each material is used in industry or other applications, Douglas said. For example, an engineer at Lucent Technologies will explain how semiconductors and chips are made.

Afternoons are devoted to laboratories. During the polymers day, for example, teachers freeze rubber balls in liquid nitrogen, then discuss their behavior, Douglas said. “In most cases, the teachers can replicate the laboratories in their classrooms,” he said.

As the week progresses, teams of teachers develop lesson plans that are presented to materials science and engineering faculty members Friday afternoon. The idea is to hone the presentations for later use in the classroom, Douglas said.

“It’s really a curriculum development workshop,” he said.

MSE Teach, in its fourth year, is not the only teacher education program at UF. Others include the Teacher Research Update Experience, an intensive seven-week program focussed on helping teachers bring scientific and technology research activities into the classroom. The summer program is coordinated by UF’s Center for Precollegiate Education and Training.

MSE Teach is funded with a $130,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. The materials science and engineering department also contributes, Douglas said.