STEM Matters - April 2013

Inside

the

Issue:

m a t t e r s Vol. 1 • Iss. 1 • April 2013 • uafs.edu/stem

REAC T IO N

STE M E d u c at i o n UAFS works to meet the urgent, rising need for STEM teacher s

At Festival of Science

youn g m i n d s + n ea t s c i en c e → rea l i mp a c t

Teaching It Forward Jesse Watson wants to pass on the spark lit by a high school math teacher

UAFS a n d H a r d i n g Team Up on Mars Rover

Engineering students collaborate on components for the next generation of exploration vehicles

N at u r a l I n t e r p r e t e r 5 Questions with Dr. Charles Preston ’72

Preschooler Kathy Avila couldn’t quite believe her eyes one morning

She wasn’t the only one. In fact, there were 45 kids at UAFS that

last October when a little chunk of dry ice reacted with a clear

day for the Festival of Science, making polymer slime, “elephant

solution to produce carbonic acid, lowering the solution’s pH and

toothpaste,” and a non-Newtonian fluid nicknamed “oobleck”—all

turning it a clear, pretty pink as a dense cloud of CO2 and water

with the help of UAFS faculty and students.

vapor spilled over the rim of the beaker.

The hope is that such early, positive experiences with STEM will

In fact, she had no idea what was even happening, or why. But that

lead more students to STEM majors and, ultimately, help fill the

didn’t matter a bit. What mattered was that she was fascinated.

millions of new STEM jobs forecast for the coming decade—or better yet, serve as badly needed STEM educators themselves.

ST E M EN ROL L MEN T R I S ES UA F S O ut p a ces Natio nal Tre nd Total enrollment in the College of Science, Technology, Engineering

to an estimated 3 million open positions. Although a STEM degree

& Mathematics increased more than 27 percent from fall 2008 to

doesn’t guarantee a job, the STEM unemployment rate hovers

fall 2012, making STEM one of the fastest growing of UAFS’s seven

around half the national rate, and employers report having a hard

academic colleges. That’s a very encouraging statistic at a time when

time finding people with the right training to fill their STEM positions.

nationwide the number of STEM degrees conferred as a percentage

At the same time, the number of STEM jobs is forecast to grow nearly

of total degrees is falling—as it has been for more than 25 years. In

twice as fast as that of non-STEM jobs, making the shortage still

2011, about 16 percent of all U.S. degrees were conferred in STEM

worse. The result, simply put, is that regions with larger numbers of

fields, compared to 47 percent in China. And it’s not just China; the

STEM-trained workers will attract the businesses that employ them.

U.S. isn’t even in the top 25 globally.

STEM occupations also pay more—about $35,000 more a year

Why does that matter? Because even though scientists and

on average—and offer substantially better job security than others.

engineers make up only about 5 percent of the U.S. workforce, their

Every single one of the 10 best-paying four-year majors are in

technological innovations drive a large portion of our economy. The

STEM, and STEM graduates, even if they don’t work in a STEM field,

U.S. needs more of those innovators in order to stay competitive with

make about 11 percent more than others with the same level of

countries like China and India, which are training them much more

education in a non-STEM major. That’s a good thing not only for the

quickly than we are.

graduates themselves but also for the region’s median income and

On a smaller scale, STEM graduates are needed urgently to fill up

unemployment rate. *Sources: National Science Foundation and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

STEM GRADUATES

16%

47%

United States China Only about 16% of all U.S. degrees are conferred in STEM fields, compared to 47% in China.

PROJECTED JOB GROWTH

10%

17%

Non-STEM STEM Jobs Jobs The number of STEM jobs in the U.S. was projected to grow 17% between 2008 and 2018, versus 10% for all jobs combined.

MEAN ANNUAL WAGE 5210 Grand Avenue Fort Smith, AR 72903 uafs.edu/stem $43,460

$77,800

All Occupations

STEM Occupations

In 2009, the mean annual salary for STEM jobs in the United States was $77,800, versus $43,460 for all jobs.

From

the

C R I T I C A L SH O RTAG E

Dean

UAFS works to meet urgent, rising need for STEM teachers

M O MEN TUM A N D POT EN T I AL Hello, and thank you for reading this issue of STEM Matters. As these stories show, both UAFS and the College of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics have both good momentum and immense potential as the result of many things, the most important being outstanding teaching.

Whether it’s traditional teaching in the lecture hall, laboratory, and field, or the more personal instruction involved in a research project or internship, our students get an education rivaling the best colleges in the country. Yet, we can and will improve.

These are exciting times on campus. The University is engaged in a master planning process, into which the College of STEM will figure prominently as we seek to fulfill our mission by providing unrivaled practical experiences for our majors and for students in area schools. Just as you can’t learn to compose music by listening to a symphony, true mastery of scientific concepts comes from personally and physically engaging in its proven processes, so it is imperative that we create and maintain environments for discovery and scientific investigation.

Recently, leaders of the Department of Information Technology have been collaborating with national security interests and graduate programs. As a result, the department has revised its curriculum to increase emphases on computer science and cyber security while improving its offerings in information technology.

To reflect this expansion, we are excited to announce a new name for the department: the Department of Computer and Information Sciences.

I want to remind you how much we value staying in touch with our graduates and friends. I ask you to let us know about your milestones and successes.

Current and former teachers, colleagues, and mentors all enjoy hearing what you’re up to now.

Your accomplishments show the campus and local communities the returns of their investments in your education. Most importantly, your stories can help us recruit more STEM majors, which our region, state, and country so badly need. Send your latest news to me at mark.arant@uafs.edu.

Dustin Clark, a recent graduate of the middle childhood education with an emphasis in math and science program, teaches seventh grade science at Fort Smith’s Chaffin Junior High.

The problem is easy enough to see. The fewer good math and science teachers in our middle and high schools, the fewer kids graduate with proficiency and interest in those subjects. And thus the fewer students study them in college. And thus the fewer good math and science teachers in our schools.

It’s a classic downward spiral, and it’s happening now. The Arkansas Department of Education says we have a “critical need” for math and science teachers. Locally, says Dr. Brenda Sellers at the Fort Smith School District, there’s “a large degree of need,” and the shortage is getting worse, not better.

In response, UAFS is working hard to recruit more students into STEM education programs—majors that combine math and/or science with teacher licensure. Some students, like Jesse Watson (facing page) and Dustin Clark (above), gravitate naturally to STEM education—often thanks to an inspiring science or math teacher along the way. But frankly, that no longer happens often enough.

One approach to recruiting is simply talking to students about STEM education, something Marshal Hurst of the University’s Western Arkansas Education Renewal Zone does regularly, visiting introductorylevel STEM courses to make sure students are aware of how much opportunity there is for STEM teachers.

Another way is enticing them by offering attractive scholarships. Or more accurately, offering attractive scholarships specifically for STEM education majors. That’s where private donors like Mona Fuller Alonzo, a 1960 graduate of Fort Smith Junior College, and her husband, Dick, come in.

Recognizing the urgent local need for STEM teachers, the Alonzos recently made a generous gift to help alleviate the situation with a pair of scholarships. But much more is needed. Although UAFS produces a steady stream of STEM teachers, enrollment numbers in those programs have remained relatively flat, even as enrollment in non-teaching STEM majors has climbed.

The good news? Upward spirals work just like downward spirals. Every talented, enthusiastic STEM teacher UAFS produces—like Clark and Watson—has the opportunity to inspire literally thousands of young students to follow in his or her footsteps.

Sincerely,

“You can see the students that already enjoy it,” says Clark of his seventh grade science classes, “that want to do more. You stay with them, show them everything you can do, keep that interest up, make that drive in them. It starts here.”

Dr. Mark Arant, Dean

2 013 STEM ADVA N C EM EN T CO U NCI L The Advancement Council of the College of Science, Technology,

campus to talk with students about ethical thought and conduct in

Engineering & Mathematics is a group of respected community

their daily lives.

members with a vested interest in promoting STEM education in

Additionally, council members are generous in opening their

Greater Fort Smith.

doors to student internships and shadowing opportunities, creating

They advise the College on its direction and help educate its

opportunities for valuable, real-world experience in a variety of

students in their post-graduation careers. They also organize events

disciplines and professions.

like the annual Ethics Symposium, which brings professionals to

Scott Archer (Chair)

Principal Mechanical Engineer, HSA Engineering

Steve Arnold

Advancement Council Chair Scott Archer

Assistant Principal, Fort Smith Southside High School

Dr. Peter Fleck

Cardiologist, Cooper Clinic

Chester Koprovic

Owner, Butler and Cook

Steve Lovick

IT Director, Rheem

Bruce Peterson

Owner, Peterson Chemicals

Dr. Claire Price

Ophthalmologist, Eye Group

Wayne Thurman

Mark Shackelford

Executive Vice President of Engineering, Baldor-ABB

Greg Shipley

Director of School Partnerships, UAFS College of Education

Vice President of Information Services, Baldor-ABB President, Morrison-Shipley

Laura Witherington

T E AC HIN G IT FORWA R D

Jesse Watson wants to pass on the spark lit by a high school math teacher

P a r t i c u l at e M at t e r DR. LINDA TICHENOR, associate professor of biological sciences,

“Ask any kid on the street, ‘What’s your favorite subject?’” says

was one of 16 biologists selected

senior math education major Jesse Watson, “and they’re not telling

to participate in the 2012 Research

you math.” Watson should know; she was one of those kids herself

Residency of the American Society of Microbiology/National Science

until she was a high school junior.

Foundation Biology Scholars

That was when her math teacher at Greenwood High School saw

Program, a national leadership

something in Watson and suggested she move from Pre-calculus to

initiative that seeks to improve

AP Calculus. It was tough at first, but Watson caught up quickly and

undergraduate biology education

was soon enjoying tutoring other students. “I had to go back and

based on evidence of student

thank her later because I liked it so much,” she says.

learning. Tichenor is also the

By the time she graduated, she had decided she wanted to be a

secretary-treasurer for the Executive Board of Directors for the Society for

high school math teacher, not a meteorologist as she had until then.

College Science Teachers.

The question, though, was where to go to college.

Wheelchair access figured into the decision, and UAFS, according

DR. SANDHYA N. BAVISKAR,

to Watson, offers the best around. But that wasn’t all. She was also

assistant professor of biology, was

attracted to the education program’s strong reputation as well as the

appointed to the Arkansas Broad

financial support she was offered.

Based Committee for reviewing

In fact, between merit-based scholarships like the Academic

the Next Generation Science Standards in Washington, D.C., in

Distinction Scholarship, special scholarships like the Governor’s

June 2012. She was also invited to participate in a round table discussion on “Exemplary Science

“ If I’m excited about math in the class room, students are going to be excited about it too.”

Teaching” at the annual conference of the National Science Teachers Association, to take place in April 2013 in San Antonio.

DR. RAGUPATHY KANNAN, professor of biology, was appointed to a fiveyear term on the Arkansas Audubon Society Trust. So far, he has helped disburse more than $10,000 in

Commission on People with Disabilities Scholarship, and private

grant money to biologists pursuing

support like the Larry Weigand Memorial Scholarship, Watson’s

graduate and undergraduate projects, mostly based in

tuition and housing have been entirely covered.

Arkansas. Additionally, Kannan’s

Of course, Watson has offered a great deal to UAFS in return, too.

Every last one counts, though, of which Watson is living proof. Had

She’s in her fifth year with Cub Camp (as a counselor, chair, and

her own high school math teacher not encouraged her to challenge

director), serves as president of Gamma Eta sorority, holds a state-

herself more, she almost certainly would have taken a different

level office in Phi Beta Lambda, works on the Baptist Collegiate

path—and wouldn’t be just a year away from entering the classroom

Eurasian Collared Dove Streptopelia

Ministry leadership team, sings with the campus women’s

herself, where she in turn hopes to kindle an interest in mathematics

decaocto in Arkansas,” accepted

ensemble, and was elected Homecoming Queen in 2012.

in a few of her own students.

for publication in the Journal of the

So what comes after graduation? That depends. Watson would like

“We need more teachers that are excited about math,” Watson

to go to graduate school, but financial aid is somewhat tougher to

says. “If I’m excited about math in the classroom, students are going

come by at that level, so she may teach for a few years first.

to be excited about it too.” And maybe a few of those students will,

Either way, she’s in the enviable position of being virtually assured of

like Watson, get excited enough they’ll want to teach, perpetuating

a job when she’s ready for it. The Arkansas Department of Education

the sort of ripple effect that can make for real change in a

poster at the 245th American

lists secondary math teachers as a “critical shortage area,” yet Watson

community, a region, or even a country.

Chemical Society National Meeting

undergraduate research team had a major paper, “Status, Dispersal, and Breeding Biology of the Exotic

Arkansas Academy of Science.

DR. DAVE MCGINNIS, assistant professor of chemistry, has been accepted to present a research

in New Orleans. His abstract

is one of fewer than 50 math education majors at UAFS.

is entitled “First planar-chiral isocyanide ligands: synthesis and

UAFS AND HARDING TEAM UP ON MARS ROVER Last summer the Mars rover Curiosity made headlines with its

coordination chemistry of (pS)1-isocyano-2-methylferrocene and (pS)-1-isocyano-2methylcymantrene.” Got that?

DR. JILL GUERRA, professor of mathematics, is currently serving a three-year term as governor of

high-resolution images of the planet’s surface, but a bit closer to

the Mathematical Association of

home, UAFS Professor of Electrical Engineering Dr. Kevin Lewelling

America’s Oklahoma-Arkansas

and seniors Theva Chanthaseny and Andrew Binder were working

section. She also serves as

on a rover of their own—this one carrying a complement of optical instruments to sense and measure atmospheric compositions, including biomarker gases suggesting the presence of life now or in the past.

MAA Section NExT coordinator, a professional development program for new mathematics faculty in Oklahoma and Arkansas, and on the MAA Committee on

For the project, funded in part by a grant from the NASA

Articulation and Placement. In

Collaborative Research Program, Lewelling and Chanthaseny are

January she began her term as

designing and constructing the rover’s on-board power supply system

chair of the MAA Committee on the

based on a 1 rge area.

Once the rover is complete, it will be field-tested in a mock Martian environment before work begins on an already planned secondgeneration rover. The collaborative efforts of UAFS and Harding University will be reviewed and considered by NASA engineers for inclusion in a new generation of rovers being deployed to Mars.

Participation of Women.

P a r t i c u l at e M at t e r Senior mathematics education major CASSIE PEER recently

N ATUR A L I N T ER PR E TE R

5 Q uest i on s w i th Dr. Ch arl es Pr eston ’7 2

proved the non-negativity of the Taylor series coefficients about the origin of the SchwarzChristoffel mapping under certain assumptions from the unit disk onto an m-sided regular polygon.

Her research provides the foundation for future students investigating topics resulting from research currently being done by her advisor, DR. JEANINE MYERS, pertaining to conformal mappings onto more general types of polygons.

DR. RICK L. MASSENGALE, head of the Department of Computer and Information Sciences (formerly Information Technology), is serving

3

as the site chair and DR. JANET

Last October, Dr. Charles Preston, a 1972 Westark graduate,

You study interaction between human society and the natural world.

RENWICK, professor of CIS, is

returned to campus to speak about natural resources interpretation—

Can they comfortably share the same land?

serving as chair for the five-

the art and science of making the natural world interesting enough

“ What I call the human-wildlife interface certainly presents

state regional 2013 Mid-South

that the public will actually want to learn something about it.

Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges. The conference will take place April 5-6 on the UAFS campus and will be attended by faculty and students from across the region.

It’s a subject about which Preston, a biologist by training, is not only deeply knowledgeable but also deeply passionate. After an early

challenges. We see that in the Yellowstone area, where grizzly bears and people meet, wolves kill livestock, and elk eat hay. But I think these problems are manageable and worth managing. I envision

career as a professor, he led design and development of the Draper

a zoned approach. We might grade from a preserve zone where

Museum of Natural History in Cody, Wyo., which, since opening in

negative human impacts are not tolerated, to a buffer zone where

2002, has become a model for a new genre of highly immersive and

we work to balance human and wildlife needs, to a “human” zone

DR. DAVID PAULUS, associate

relevant natural science museums.

managed strictly to accommodate our activities. This is simplified,

professor of mechanical

We had a chance recently to ask Preston—still lead curator at the

but it provides a platform of expectations that can direct our

Draper, as well as a working ecologist and conservation biologist—a

socioeconomic choices of the future”

engineering, is leading students for the fifth year in the Society of Automotive Engineers Baja competition. The competition consists of college-level engineering students from around the world designing, building, and racing offroad vehicles.

DR. MICHAEL REYNOLDS, associate professor and head of engineering, is currently serving

few questions about his work.

1

You’ve dedicated yourself to making science accessible and

fascinating to you about birds of prey?

interesting to non-scientists. What do you hope to achieve, in a larger

“ I guess they embody the essence of wildness to me—beautiful,

sense, by doing that? “ I worry about a society that is disconnected from nature and that does not meet its challenges through a process of critical thinking.

Helping people understand and embrace science addresses both of these concerns. It also gives me great pleasure to see other people

as editor-in-chief of the Journal of

get excited about the world around them and the possibilities it

Online Engineering Education. This

presents.”

international journal is the leading source of information about online engineering educational efforts.

Reynolds is also collaborating with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in a multi-year, NASA-funded grant to investigate how acoustic metamaterials can be used to make aircraft wings more durable.

DR. KEVIN LEWELLING, professor of electrical engineering, is currently the director of the Electric Vehicle Project at UAFS. The project, which receives funding from NASA and the National Science Foundation, is working to design and build its second

4

Your field research has focused largely on raptors. What’s so

2

How did you make the leap from biology professor to museum designer and curator? “ Before and during graduate school, I worked as a museum educator and assistant curator. Even when I was a professor, I was a museum trustee. I loved mentoring students, but I missed informal public

powerful, profoundly capable, and unpredictable. They also provide great models for understanding how nature works—how species respond to habitat change, how similar species share the same habitat and resources, and how predator and prey populations affect one another.”

5

How do you describe the Yellowstone region to someone who only knows the more developed areas of the country? “ Many of the more rugged parts of this region still retain the natural character they have had since the end of the Pleistocene. I can hunt, fish, and explore without hearing or seeing another human being and find places at night completely without artificial light. On a given day from my summer cabin I might see grizzly bear, wolf,

education, and I was always imagining ways museums could better

moose, bighorn sheep, elk, mule deer, cougar, golden and bald

connect with audiences. The Draper gave me the opportunity to

eagle, and much more. When I take a walk in this place, I feel a little

create what I had always imagined.”

more alert and alive than any other place I have been.”

E N G I N E E R IN G ST U DE N T S D ES IGN REVOLVING STAG E FOR T HE AT R E PROGRAM When it became clear to production designer Pablo Guerra that the

the housing on a total of 18 casters. Two heavy springs push the

collaborating with Harding University

UAFS theatre program couldn’t afford to buy the revolving stage it

shelf toward the stage, holding the tire against its edge while also

on a multi-year project to build a

needed for its original play Dromnium, he picked up the phone and

absorbing “bumps.”

Mars rover for biogas detection. He

called the engineering department, where Dr. Kevin Lewelling asked

It’s not only an ingenious design, but also an economical one—

is also representing UAFS on the

for volunteers from his classes to design and build one.

especially in light of the fact that the University’s welding department

The electrical engineering majors who raised their hands,

did the metal fabrication, while Baldor Electric Company donated the

freshman Daniel Schwartz and junior Clayton Lincoln were faced with

motor and drive components, worth more than $3,000.

the challenge of devising a way to drive a wooden turntable 24 feet in

In the end it was one of those rare endeavors where everybody

diameter at three to four RPM.

wins—Schwartz, Lincoln, and the welding students, who got priceless

Their basic approach was to use an electric motor and gearbox to

real-world experience; Baldor, which found a unique opportunity to

turn a pneumatic trailer tire that would contact the edge of the stage

support the university from which it draws much of its workforce; and

with its tread. The problem was that the stage wouldn’t be perfectly

of course the theatre program, which got not only a revolving stage at

round, so the tire would need to move in and out to accommodate

a tiny fraction of the cost it would have paid elsewhere, but also an

irregularities in the edge of the stage.

award for production design at the Arkansas Festival of the Kennedy

Schwartz and Lincoln responded by mounting the motor and

Center American College Theater Festival.

electric vehicle. Lewelling is also

Arkansas Space Grant Consortium.

gearbox on the underside of a metal “shelf” that floats inside