The Messenger 04.02.08

The University of Tennessee at Martin recently was notified that two projects have been funded under an agreement with the Tennessee Higher Education Commission for a total amount of $169,897.
Dr. Cahit Erkal, associate professor of physics, will serve as project director for “Activity-Based Physics and Astronomy Summer Institute for Middle and Junior High School Teachers: Year 6.”
Dr. Suzanne Maniss, assistant professor of education, will serve as project director for “Technology Enhanced Curriculum for Hispanic (TECH) Students: Year 3.”
The “Activity-Based Physics and Astronomy Summer Institute for Middle and Junior High School Teachers: Year 6” will offer a series of residential workshops over a five-day period this summer and will center on selected topics from the middle/junior high curriculum in the areas of physics, astronomy and earth science.
The activities of the institute are correlated to the Tennessee Science Curriculum frameworks for grades 6-9 and include technology in the classroom and laboratory.
“The workshops will provide support for science education in the form of hands-on and technology-based teacher training by modeling a research-based teaching practice that integrates mathematical skills with science,” Erkal said.
This will allow teachers to investigate ways to differentiate a healthy heart from an unhealthy heart based on electrocardiogram (EKG) signals. The outcome of the project will be the establishment of an informal forum to exchange ideas and share experiences among West Tennessee middle and junior high science teachers.
The “Technology Enhanced Curriculum for Hispanic (TECH) Students: Year 3” project is designed to provide teachers with a rich background in basic Spanish for teachers, English as a second language pedagogy and Hispanic culture, all of which will serve to equip them to serve students from this cultural group more effectively.
The project will provide intensive, professional development opportunities for selected K-8 teachers in West Tennessee that incorporate training in the integration of technology with pedagogy to improve the learning and academic achievement of the limited-English-proficient Hispanic student.
TECH is a collaborative effort of the Department of Educational Studies, the Department of Modern Foreign Languages, the English as a Second Language program, as well as four partnering school districts.
“Dr. Maniss is continuing the tradition of providing this service started by Judy Cleek in International Studies,” said Dr. Mary Lee Hall, College of Education and Behavioral Sciences dean.
“We are certainly proud to begin the third year of Project TECH with the opportunity to provide professional development for area classroom teachers who have an increasing number of Hispanic students in their classes.”