The Pursuit of Collaboration

MTSU center focuses on outreach and leadership in the wider science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education community

Article by Patsy B. Weiler

MTSU launched into the 21st-century world of STEM education with help from a $300,000 NASA grant to open a small center on campus focused on programming and support for Tennessee teachers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Two decades later, the Tennessee STEM Education Center (TSEC) remains an outreach arm of MTSU aimed at improving K–20 education in science, technology, engineering, and math, both locally and nationally.

These days, it has rocketed from a single star to become a bright constellation in the STEM education universe, building a scientific community and research culture through collaboration, outreach, and vital grant funding, and has generated numerous grants from prestigious organizations including the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Institute of Educational Sciences.

Tennessee STEM Education Center

FY17–21

• $3.93 million external funding

• 37 proposals

Athena, goddess of mathematics and wisdom

STEADY RISE

When it started around 1999, the center was called the Tennessee Math, Science and Technology Education Center because NASA would not let MTSU call itself a STEM center—at the time, engineering courses were not offered at the University.

After Tom Cheatham was appointed the director in 2012, the former College of Basic and Applied Sciences dean recommended changing the name to the Tennessee STEM Education Center, which the Tennessee Board of Regents approved.

Under his watch, the center continued to assist with professional development for Tennessee’s STEM teachers, strove to publish what staff and faculty were developing and learning as best practices, and supported University faculty in STEM education grant funding, leaving a strong foundation to build upon for future scholars.

A high-energy Greg Rushton assumed the TSEC reins in 2018, with a laser focus on STEM education, innovation, and research. Before moving to his new Southern address, he worked at New York’s Stony Brook University on Long Island as associate director of the Institute for STEM Education and an associate professor of chemistry. Over the course of his career, he has directed or co-directed more than 25 research or professional development projects, with external awards exceeding $18 million since 2005.

“The success I’ve experienced during my academic career has come in large part from the invitation of others to join such an endeavor; I’m now in a position to do the same for others,” Rushton said.

TSEC helps develop faculty research by having associate and assistant directors from various STEM departments across campus, as well as faculty fellows, serve as part of the center’s leadership team.

IT HAS ROCKETED FROM A SINGLE STAR TO BECOME A BRIGHT CONSTELLATION IN THE STEM EDUCATION UNIVERSE.

Current associate directors are Sarah Bleiler-Baxter (Mathematical Sciences) and Grant Gardner (Biology). Chaney Mosley (Agriculture) and Ying Jin (Psychology) are assistant directors.

Ruston has a solid mission in mind for TSEC: serve as a model of expertise and leadership in STEM education through the growth of internal and external research initiatives, fostering of partnerships, and expansion of educational programs, while seeking to engage with other stakeholders invested in STEM education.

“TSEC is positioned well, within MTSU, Tennessee, and the Southeast, for continued growth as a STEM leader for educators in both K–12 and higher education, as well as a provider of engaging experiences for K–12 students to explore STEM as a career path or as a lifelong learner,” said Rushton, who also is interim co-director for strategic growth in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.

Rushton and his dynamic staff equate the center to a strong tree with deep roots and many branches. The roots extend to the earliest days when the University opened in 1911 to prepare teachers; now, slightly more than a century later, advocating for STEM educators is a top TSEC priority. Hundreds of branches represent the many students, teachers, and STEM education researchers who have benefited from these efforts. Supporting the branches are strong limbs of faculty collaboration, community outreach, undergraduate and graduate student mentoring, and research—limbs that continue to grow.

RESEARCH FOR ANSWERS

Here’s a prime example of the type of collaboration Rushton seeks: MTSU was selected by the Institute of Education Sciences as a partner institution on a nearly $1 million research grant awarded to the state.

The award will support research on the effectiveness of Tennessee Pathways, an initiative that aligns K–12 and postsecondary schools with industry to provide students with the relevant education and training necessary to seamlessly enter the workforce.

Mosley, assistant professor for agricultural education, and Elizabeth Dyer, assistant director of the Tennessee STEM Education Center, are serving as MTSU’s co-principal investigators. They will work with staff from the Tennessee Department of Education, University of Tennessee, University of Massachusetts, and Education Strategy Group.

Another exemplary project is a four-year, $609,435 award from the National Science Foundation’s Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program. It’s a collaborative research effort—“Investigating Classroom Discourse in Active Learning Environments for Large Enrollment Chemistry Courses”—aiming to serve the national interest.

MTSU’s researchers are joined by investigators from the universities of Iowa and Arizona and Ruston’s former home, Stony Brook University.

In house, TSEC also launched in 2021 the Center of Methodology, Evaluation, and Applied Statistics for University Research and Education (C-MEASURE), designed to promote and facilitate research activities for MTSU faculty, staff, and graduate students.

Started by Jin, coordinator for the Quantitative Psychology master’s program, C-MEASURE had 11 grant or research projects underway, six funded by the NSF.

STUDENT INVOLVEMENT

Special attention is being paid to the participation of student populations—specifically diverse student populations—such as first-generation college students and English-language learners (ELLs) in all of TSEC’s activities. For instance, Chemistry Professor Amy Phelps is also a part of the NSF “Classroom Discourse" grant, assisted by Shaghayegh Fateh of Iran, a Ph.D. student in the Mathematics and Science Education program; a second graduate student, Nigeria native Theresa Oluwatobiloba Ayangbola; and an undergraduate researcher, Sylvia Zakher, who grew up in Jordan.

“TSEC is a place that brings together teams of people to tackle problems. The best work is done in cooperation—we believe that strongly in the classrooms where we are working, and it is also true in research,” said Phelps, who shared how “the MTSU demographics have changed dramatically since I have been here [about 20 years], and the diversity of our student body has greatly increased. We have an opportunity to truly understand the experiences of ELL students in the context of a chemistry course—and to identify issues that might be stumbling blocks for them.”

Student involvement is a central theme at TSEC. Joshua Reid, a Cullman, Alabama, native who earned his doctorate in Mathematics and Science Education at MTSU, joined TSEC as a post-doctoral researcher in 2020. At the center, he helps multitask a variety of details involved with the grants—which can be more numerous than the elements listed on the Periodic Table—while building a résumé to eventually become a professor.

“The diversity of individuals and research projects at TSEC have helped shape and prepare me for my future career,” Reid said. “. . . Our research has a national impact and scope.”

Gregory Rushton, TSEC director

COMMUNITY AND EDUCATION OUTREACH

Outreach designed to elevate, empower, and engage a strong network of STEM educators and students is also vital to the center’s mission.

The Southeastern STEM Education Research Conference, hosted by TSEC, is an opportunity for regional researchers to connect, collaborate, and share about their ongoing work. The recent 16th annual conference showed increases in submissions (30%), institutions (more than 50), and states (24) and other countries represented.

Posters at the Capitol, an event at Tennessee’s Capitol, showcases undergraduate research to state legislators and policymakers. Not only does MTSU take an average of seven undergraduate students featuring their research each year, but TSEC staff members coordinate organizational details for all participating universities.

The annual STEM Expo is a gathering of 600–800 fifth- through 12th-grade students from the region who bring their STEM projects to the MTSU campus to be evaluated.

TSEC also supports STEAM-a-Palooza at the Discovery Center at Murfree Spring in Murfreesboro. In 2021, children got to build their own catapults, a hands-on activity that taught about tension, torque, and gravity.

Also in 2021, TSEC inspired and participated in a three-person virtual panel on how STEM centers nationwide were dealing with COVID-19.

Center staff members help host grant-writing workshops and collaboration opportunities to support research at MTSU.

And TSEC is actively involved with the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network, a statewide organization working with the Tennessee Department of Education to make STEM learning better and more accessible. The state administers Battelle Foundation grants, creating learning hubs across Tennessee. MTSU receives one of these for its Middle Tennessee STEM Innovation Hub, where center staff work with K–12 STEM educators.

HOME SWEET HOME

All these important activities are now being steered from a recently renovated new home for TSEC. The space includes a lending library (containing an Aladdin’s cave of resources for STEM education) and a new master classroom.

Rushton said TSEC embraces its roles in research and service because they help us “understand and contribute to our needs as a society.”

“We are encountering our future quicker than at any time in history,” he added. “Consider Alexa and Siri, Amazon and Apple’s digital voice assistants, both applications of artificial intelligence, or AI. Most of us increasingly use this technology in our daily lives that barely more than a decade ago was largely unknown.

“Expanding STEM education and developing a strong research enterprise—through basic, applied, and experimental approaches—prepares MTSU to be a catalyst of innovation and recognized as a thought leader not only in Tennessee, but across the country and our world in a rapidly growing arena. TSEC is excited to take a key role in leading this growth and development.”