FAIRMONT — Sixth grade science teacher Dorothea Tustin underestimated how much enthusiasm her students would have for projectile motion.
The West Virginia STEAM Technical Assistance Center delivered an immersive science lesson to students at Monongah Middle School on Thursday. Tustin’s students have been looking forward to the event.
“I told them about it a month ago, to build excitement,” Tustin said. “Maybe that was a mistake, because they’ve been hyper for that.”
The challenge was to build a kicking contraption out of rubber bands, dowels and plastic plates. The lesson connected abstract ideas about the laws of physical motion to something tangible that a child could touch and play with.
The sixth graders picked up the lesson faster than the STEAM TAC instructor could put down. Tustin said the class had already gone through a presentation covering the abstract portions of the exercise the day before. Good peer reviews spread at lunch or recess from other kids from different classrooms helped build anticipation.
Donna Peduto, director of the West Virginia Public Education Collaborative, said she hopes the exercise gets students to fall in love with Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics. The Collaborative — along with the West Virginia Department of Education and West Virginia University — sponsors STEAM TAC. She said these immersive lessons provide the foundation for skills that can be utilized in future careers.
The state’s population is decreasing amid a push to diversify the state’s economy and introduce a technology industry to the state’s primary industries.
“Lots of times, here in West Virginia, we find it’s hard for employers to fill these kinds of jobs,” Peduto said. “I think lots of times, it’s because there’s a fear that they’re hard or you need these high-level classes. Really, when you talk about it, employers are looking for people that have these soft skills, that can work in teams and collaborate as well as their technical skills.”
Peduto said she’s seen the program have a huge impact on students’ math skills, as well as attitude and student engagement. Even quiet students who usually don’t participate often shine when working in teams.
Marion County School Superintendent Donna Heston said the school district has seen STEAM TAC have a positive impact on math scores in Marion County. She credits the program for helping the county move its math scores in a different direction from what is seen across the rest of the state. Heston said making real world connections to lesson material is hugely responsible for that. Peduto said STEAM TAC visits Marion County every other month.
Making initiatives like STEAM TAC available also helps close the disparity gap between male and female students when it comes to science and technology. Female students typically outperform male students in math and science up until the fifth grade, when math and science concepts become more abstract. Then, they drop off in participation. Heston said connecting abstract concepts to practical, hands on knowledge helps reverse that trend and keep more female students excited about and participating in STEM.
The program has been coming to Marion County for two years. Heston said it was done at the behest of the county’s teachers and principals, who reached out and tapped into resources such as STEAM TAC.
“In Marion County Schools, where our teachers get together, our math teachers talk about best practices that they’re using in the classroom and share strategies,” Heston said. “Then it becomes saturation throughout the county and really levels the playing field for our students.”
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