Math and Science Center Established for
Students of all Levels

Construction will begin soon on a $3 million facility adjacent to the University’s Early Childhood Development Center that will address the nation-wide shortage of certified math and science teachers by helping current teachers improve their skills and by encouraging high school and college students to enter those fields of teaching.

When completed in 2005, the College of Education’s Math/Science Education Center will house classrooms, science and math labs, a wet lab, a children’s discovery lab, and exhibit areas. Outside laboratory “nodes” will provide K-16 students with hands-on experiences dealing with air, soil, and water. Students will literally get their feet wet on short field trips to Corpus Christi Bay and nearby wetlands to study the region’s water, flora and fauna. In addition, teachers will be able to enhance their skills through the College of Education’s professional development workshops that will be offered at the Math/Science Education Center. To combat the critical shortage of qualified math and science teachers, a strong emphasis will be placed on preparing education majors for certification in those fields.
		The Math and Science Center will enable students and teachers to conduct science field trips to Corpus Christi Bay.

According to the latest statistics released by the State Board of Education Certification, in 2002 approximately 2,900 math teachers and 2,505 science teachers retired or left teaching in Texas alone. In addition, 55 percent of middle school teachers and 35 percent of high school teachers teaching math were not certified in math. In science 54 percent of middle school and 51 percent of high school teachers were teaching science without science certification.

A permanent director for the Math/Science Education Center will be named prior to its opening and there are plans to have a teacher-in-residence to share proven instructional techniques. Dr. Margaret Bolick, associate professor of teacher education and coordinator for the Center for the Professional Development of Teachers, also envisions integrated projects that combine math, science, reading, and technology skills.

“The mathematics lab will have moveable tables and manipulatives for younger children who have not yet acquired the skills for abstract thinking,” said Dr. Bolick. “We’ll also have graduate students in teacher education and some master teachers working with the children.”

Dr. Denise Hill, assistant professor of education, stresses that the math professional development will help teachers show students how to use math in real-life everyday situations. Teachers, she said, will be involved in workshops that help to enrich and deepen the use of problem solving and critical thinking in their math and science lessons.

Workshops for practicing teachers will be held on in-service days, Saturdays and during the summer. Plans also include one-week and semester-long workshops for classroom teachers who want to work more extensively with the University’s science and mathematics faculty. University students will use the Center throughout various courses of their education degree.