Hundreds of academics gathered at UMUC yesterday to find solutions to a shortage of math and science majors and teachers as both the state and federal governments prepare to make substantial investments in technical fields.
The Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics – or STEM- Symposium attracted presidents and faculty from each of the University System of Maryland’s 13 institutions, as well as business and government officials. While the symposium generated a flurry of ideas, some attendees wished for more firm solutions.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan made a brief appearance to tout President Barack Obama’s stimulus package, which will provide about $100 billion to education. The money will be used to “upset the apple cart” instead of an investment in the status quo, he said.
“We’re going to educate our way to a better economy,” he said. “We’ve been talking about math and science teacher shortages for three decades. I think it’s time we solved the problem.”
As University System Chancellor Brit Kirwan took the stage after Duncan’s speech, he committed to Obama’s goal of producing the most university graduates in the world by 2020. Conference-goers agreed that higher education is the key to the shortage, as well as to turning around a spiraling economy.
“The U.S. is not where we want to be,” he said. “My fervent hope is this symposium will produce the strategies to close the gap.”
The state of Maryland needs more than 500 teachers each year in the science, technology, engineering and math – or STEM – fields, but all the state’s colleges and universities combined produce only 175 graduates who go into the field, said Kirwan, who was appointed to a STEM task force last year by Gov. Martin O’Malley (D). Kirwan said the ideas generated yesterday will undoubtedly find their way into the commission’s report.
O’Malley was scheduled to attend the symposium, but instead opted to attend an Earth Day event with Vice President Joe Biden.
Conference-goers attended break-out discussion sessions with such titles as “Recruiting STEM majors into teaching” and “STEM course reform initiatives,” where they proposed everything from five-year programs for students who decide to teach their junior or senior years to encouraging passion in science for elementary school children by holding classes outside. They reconvened in a massive ballroom at the University of Maryland University College conference center every few hours for speeches and question-and-answer sessions.
Keynote speaker P. Uri Treisman from the University of Texas at Austin said students today are motivated by environmental sustainability and energy reform. These, and many other pressing issues, can’t be solved without knowledge of the STEM fields.
“How are we going to do that without science and engineering?” he said. “We’ve done nothing to generate passion for math and science.”
University President Dan Mote said he would have liked to see more concrete proposals and programs.
“These are pieces that have to come together, that are ultimately part of the learning process,” he said. “The timing is important. We have opportunities to get support for STEM initiatives on both the state and national level. We can’t afford to miss the train.”
sticedbk@gmail.com
