URI takes part in grant to save math, science in RI

10/01/08 - The University of Rhode Island, in partnership with various institutions, has been awarded a $12.5 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to improve science and math education at Rhode Island high schools and middle schools. The grant will fund a program called R.I. Technology Enhanced Sciences (RITES), as a cooperative effort among institutions like URI, Rhode Island College, the Johnston School Department and the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Glenisson de Oliveira, a RIC associate professor of chemistry and one of the project's seven co-principal investigators, sees this cooperation as an opportunity for improvement.

"The amount of cooperation that we are developing as a result of this project will help us to maximize the use of our resources and personnel across the state," de Oliveira said.

The goal of RITES is to improve education by helping schools and teachers to develop effective teaching strategies and research-based programs of study, according to a press release issued by R.I. Gov. Donald Carcieri's office.

The announcement of the grant comes on the heels of the release of the first statewide, standardized science test results. The test was administered in May to students in grades four, eight and 11. Results showed that only 24 percent of students tested attained proficiency.

Daniel Murray, a retired URI geosciences professor and principal investigator in charge of the RITES program, said he and the other creators of the program had anticipated the test's results in writing the grant proposal.

"When you write a proposal like this, the first thing you have to do is define a problem," Murray said. "We defined the problem around the expected results of these tests."

Murray said the results were depressing but not surprising, and that he did not know of an exact cause for the low scores.

"If I could answer that question, not only could I tell you what causes it but how to fix it," Murray said. "I would be the secretary of education for the country, if not the universe, because it is an endemic problem."

The poor scores could be seen as a reflection of national shortcomings, Murray said, with students spending less time on math and science than their peers in other countries. Or, he said, the low scores could be attributed to differences in teacher training.

"The quality of teachers might be different in terms of how the teachers are trained [in other countries]," Murray said.

He said teachers in the United States sometimes teach classes like earth science without training.

"It's unfair to expect a teacher to go into a classroom and just sparkle . if they have never even taken a course in the material," Murray said.

He said he hopes the program will help to address educational problems by promoting an increase in hands-on or experiential learning.

Teacher education will be an important facet of the program, with a series of extended workshops offering science teaching and training in the latest teaching techniques, including technology-assisted learning.

Murray said the program will work closely with teachers to determine their needs.

"We see it as we would partner with schools . so it's not Dan Murray going in and telling a teacher this is what you've got to know and this is how you've got to teach it," he said. "We see this as being coequal with the teachers."

In addition to teacher training, the program will fund the development of interactive educational software to be used in classrooms.

De Oliveira said that the new technology would allow students to experiment more with important concepts.

"Students actually have a lot of flexibility in experimenting with variables, so that gives them a much better sense of how the planet works," de Oliveira said.

Murray said that in order to teach science and mathematics in a way that would resonate with today's technology-savvy students, teachers would have to integrate technology more into the classroom.

Money from the grant will go to stipends for faculty teaching workshops, stipends for educators attending workshops, supplies to allow teachers to implement new lesson plans, software development and research to determine the program's effect.

"With education it's much harder to decide whether this new approach you have to teaching or new trick you're using makes any difference," Murray said. "That's a hard thing to do and so there's money to make sure that we're doing something."

Evaluation of the program's impact is important to the NSF, Murray said.

"What they're looking for is to fund projects that will give them ideas that can be used throughout the country," he said.

As a small state with a relatively diverse population, Murray said Rhode Island presents a reasonable model of the country.

"Rhode Island is a laboratory, it's a laboratory where we can find out what really does work and what doesn't work," he said.

De Oliveira said that the program will not be able to cure all of the state's educational woes, but he hopes it will have an impact.

"There are many factors that will be necessary for very, very significant improvement, so there's not one single silver bullet if you will," de Oliveira said. "Nevertheless, I think a program like that should contribute enough that it may be measurable.