DARTMOUTH – The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth has received a grant from the National Science Foundation to develop new ways of teaching advanced mathematics to elementary school students.
The $2.2 million in federal funding will be used by the university’s Kaput Center for Research and Innovation in STEM Education in Fairhaven. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.
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“It is imperative that we understand the opportunities that moving from a local to a global education offers us,” Stephen Hegedus, the center’s director, said in a statement. “Our mission is focused on long-term research and innovation programs to transform the way our children learn mathematics and science with the most effective technologies.”
Researchers at the Kaput Center have received $6.5 million in grants from the federal government over the last five years, according to the school.
A week after UMass announced the NSF grant, Gov. Deval L. Patrick signed an executive order formally creating a new Governor’s Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Advisory Council, following up on a promise he made in June.
“The STEM disciplines are essential building blocks of a cutting-edge, highly skilled work force,” Patrick said. “This effort to bring together the very best resources and ideas the commonwealth has to offer around these areas of study means that today’s students will be ready for tomorrow’s jobs.”
The council, which will be chaired by Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray and include public officials and private-sector leaders, will serve as “a central advisory body, bringing together public- and private-sector stakeholders involved with STEM planning and programming, with the goal of increasing student interest in, and preparation for, careers in STEM,” according to the governor’s office.
Only 23 percent of Massachusetts students who took the S.A.T. exam in 2008 said they wanted to major in science, technology, engineering or math in college, according to the College Board.
The news follows the Patrick administration’s announcement earlier this month that it plans to spend $26.5 million building a new science and technology center at Bristol Community College’s main campus in Fall River.
Additional information is available at kaputcenter.umassd.edu.
