Purdue News
Purdue News
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September 13, 2000 Purdue receives grant to encourage interest in math and scienceWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A grant from the Lucent Technologies Foundation K-16 Grants Program will help the Purdue School of Education give educators the right tools to teach math and science to middle-school students. The $438,000 grant will fund "Case Studies for Kids," enabling the university to develop a downloadable digital library of problem-solving activities for middle-school students. These activities are very similar to the real-life situations used in future-oriented graduate programs at Purdue — fields ranging from aeronautical engineering and business management to agricultural sciences. The grant was one of 11 awarded by Lucent from 66 proposals this year. The gifts total more than $3.6 million. Partners in the Purdue project include two Indiana school districts — the Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township in Indianapolis and the School City of East Chicago. The "Case Studies for Kids" approach at Purdue has been recognized nationally as a successful method to teach complex mathematical and scientific ideas through simulations of real-life, problem-solving situations. In one case study, students are given information about a group of individuals working as vendors in a park. The job of the students is to evaluate the productivity of each worker, so that decisions can made about which workers should get priority for future part-time and full-time positions. "This real-life case study is multi-disciplinary, and it teaches students several problem-solving methods. Since it is something they can relate to, it will also be something that the students will more likely retain," said Richard A. Lesh, the Robert B. Kane distinguished professor of education at Purdue. The case study development team at Purdue, which is composed of faculty and graduate students, will review 20 case studies and develop 40 additional case studies for the participating schools. Teachers in the school districts will select one case study each month to implement in the classroom throughout the school year. Lesh will coordinate implementation of the program with Dennis Watts, principal in Lawrence Township, and Linda Nolan, director of instructional services in East Chicago. The initiative is part of the Center for Twenty-First Century Conceptual Tools, or TCCT, at Purdue, which strives to prepare teachers to use technology in the classroom. The project is a joint effort between Purdue and its partner-in-education school districts: Crawfordsville Community School Corp., Crawfordsville, Ind.; Lafayette School Corp., Lafayette; as well as the East Chicago and Indianapolis Lawrence Township school districts. Source: Richard A. Lesh, (765) 494-2341, rlesh@purdue.edu Writer: Cynthia Sequin Contact: Jesica Webb, (765) 494-2079; jwebb@purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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