STARBASE Academy officials here are collaborating with professors and students from Bridgewater State University to advance science, technology, engineering and math education for English-learning elementary students across the region.
This partnership is part of a National Science Foundation grant that enables BSU students studying elementary and early childhood education to develop their teaching skills for fifth-grade STEM classrooms and in some cases, overcome language barriers over a three-year program.
According to BSU professors participating in the program, the student teachers must first reevaluate their own understanding of a scientific concept before presenting it to elementary students.
“A high school or college-level physics class will have a lot of equations and math to back up the information, but that won’t be the case for a fifth-grade classroom,” said Dr. Nicole Glen, a BSU professor of Elementary and Early Childhood Education. “As teachers, it’s important that we have a more conceptual understanding of the topics so we can use words or pictures to convey the science that’s happening.”
According to the professor, modifying the concepts includes more than just simplifying them, especially in the case of English-language learners.
“These teachers have to be able to demonstrate the concept, set up activities, and get their students to participate without the language piece, and without pantomiming everything,” said Dr. Peter Holden, Hanscom’s STARBASE Academy director. “It’s a skill that takes a lot of time to develop.”
Glen explained that students learning English as their second language often miss out on advancing in STEM courses, as their curriculum focuses on language skills.
“Fifth grade is where students realize their love for the subjects, and then they go on to middle school and start choosing their courses and clubs based on what they like,” said Glen. “It’s our job as educators to instill that love of STEM early on, which makes what these student teachers are learning so influential.”
Hanscom STARBASE is one of 69 Department of Defense Youth Program academies across the nation, focuses on increasing confidence and STEM learning for elementary students.
To learn more about the STARBASE Academy at Hanscom AFB, visit https://www.starbasehanscom.live/.
Story was originally published on the Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., public website May 26, 2022. A link to the story may be found at https://www.hanscom.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3045190/starbase-academy-partnership-unlocks-stem-for-english-learning-students/.
| Date Taken: | 05.26.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 12.27.2022 10:13 |
| Story ID: | 435882 |
| Location: | HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, MA, US |
| Web Views: | 30 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, STARBASE Academy partnership unlocks STEM for English-learning students, by Lauren Russell, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
LEAVE A COMMENT