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By Sherry F. Pruitt

JONESBORO -- A pair of $100,000 mathematics and science grants is to allow science teachers to incorporate more hands-on activities in the classrooms, said Dr. Jane Jamison, director of federal programs, testing and technology.

Twenty percent of science class is supposed to be hands-on, she said.

The Jonesboro School District and the Arkansas State University College of Engineering partnered for the second year in a row to receive the DOING and Dialogue $100,000 grant.

The Jonesboro district and the College of Engineering is in its third year of partnering for the $99,400 Math PAC grant.

"The year three grant is approaching $300,000 for math," Jamison said.

The Jonesboro district was the only public school to receive a middle school math grant, with the remaining grants being awarded to universities or service cooperatives, she added.

The emphasis for the science grant is on students in grades 9-12, but educators at the Jonesboro district and ASU will invite 9-12 grade level math teachers from area schools that express interest.

Dr. Brad Edgar, director of mechanical engineering and assistant professor of mechanical engineering, said a problem intensive focus for math and science will be taken in the teacher sessions.

Session participants will look at current science problems that face Americans. They will examine alternative fuels, water resources and hydrogen fuel cells, Edgar said.

"We're going to look at this from an engineering perspective with the understanding that it draws on all the science fields ... and certainly mathematics," he said. "We will have lots of hands-on activities."

Arkansas State is allowing the use of its labs, as well as other resources, Jamison added.

Edgar said the best and brightest are being brought together for the betterment of the students.

"We're really excited about putting ASU faculty and Jonesboro teachers together," he said.

As science teachers conduct research, they are modeling what children will do for science projects, Edgar noted.

"There's lots of information about inquiry based science," added Jeanne Glover, K-12 math specialist at the Jonesboro district.

As a student, she said she was instructed to follow the lab manual, but nowadays research projects are extended beyond the printed word.

Topics -- open-ended projects -- can be carried on for four months at a time, Edgar added.

Dr. Karen Yanowitz, associate professor of psychology and counseling, said her part is to follow up on procedures and to help design assessments for teacher attitudes toward the sessions and student attitudes toward science.

"Lots of kids learn from doing, from hands-on," she said. "We can reach a population that doesn't learn well academically."

The grants were awarded under Title II, part B, from the U.S. Department of Education in conjunction with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 through the state Department of Education.

sherry@jonesborosun.com