$1.5 Million NSF Grant Pairs UMass Boston Graduate Students with Middle Schoolers to Study Neponset River Watershed

(Boston, MA) -- Thanks to a $1.5 million National Science Foundation grant, middle schoolers in Boston, Dedham, and Milton will be learning from University of Massachusetts Boston math and science graduate students as they study the Neponset River Watershed. All three communities are located in this watershed area.

"This project brings together our math and science graduate students, including people from our Environmental, Coastal, and Ocean Sciences Department and with guidance from our Graduate College of Education, sends them into the community to help middle schoolers better understand their own environment," said UMass Boston Chancellor Jo Ann Gora. "The middle-schoolers and their teachers benefit; our graduate students benefit; and the end result will be better understanding and appreciation of the Neponset River Watershed. That's exciting. " The principal investigator is Professor Robert F. Chen, of the ECOS Department worked with co-investigators professors Marilyn Decker, Jonathan Chu, and Michael Shiaris; and Associate Provost William E. Robinson.

Each year for three years, ten UMass Boston graduate students will spend 15 hours per week in the middle school classrooms, plus an additional 5 hours per week of preparation time. These graduate students, as well as the middle school teachers that each graduate student is paired with, will participate in summer workshops, a special introductory seminar class, assessment activities, and an end-of-the year workshop where the next year's group of graduate students will be in attendance.

"The $ 1.5 million award will fund ten science and math graduate students per year for three years. Some funding is also targeted for a few undergraduate students. Middle school teachers will receive a stipend for working in the program," explained Associate Provost William Robinson. "Since graduate students must receive training in middle school pedagogy, the grant could only have been possible as a joint partnership between the Graduate College of Education and the Science faculty." The purpose of the NSF G K-12 program is to put graduate students into K-12 classrooms to assist the science and math teachers in presenting their curriculum. These graduate students may assist in the classroom, put together demonstrations, and research particular topics.

UMass Boston has made public education a priority. It has maintained a longstanding partnership with nearby Dorchester High School, funded in part by a $3 million grant from an alumna. It includes a variety of student and teacher enrichment programs. The Graduate College of Education sponsors four professional development schools. They are, in Boston: Condon Elementary School, the Harbor Middle School, and Dorchester High School; and, in Somerville: Somerville High School. The university also generates $3.4 million in external funding for eight pre-collegiate enrichment programs yearly. These programs benefit local schoolchildren.

UMass Boston prides itself on providing challenging teaching, distinguished research, and extensive public service that particularly respond to the academic and economic needs of the diverse populations of its home state. UMass Boston enrolls more than 13,000 students taught by a full-time and part-time faculty of more than 800; its current annual budget is $163 million. Through its five colleges--the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Management, the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, the College of Public and Community Service, and the Graduate College of Education--UMass Boston offers undergraduate and graduate study in more than 150 fields, and awards the PhD, the EdD, the CAGS, the MA, MBA, MEd, MS, BA, and BS degrees, and several graduate certificates. The university also sponsors a wide range of corporate and professional training programs.

9.20.02
# # #

Go to menu