Project Goals

The TechMath Project has five overarching goals, listed below:

Recruitment: Recruit a diverse group of 9th-12th grade mathematics and science teachers and their underrepresented students to participate in a professional development program that builds critical and analytical thinking, information technology (IT) and mathematics skills, and proficiency in solving real-world business problems.

• Short: Recruit teachers and students into the TechMath program to increase awareness of IT in education and to enhance mathematics learning.
• Long: Develop a teacher enhancement and student enrichment program that can be scaled nationally, enabling other schools to recruit teachers into similar local programs.

Connection to Business and Real-World Problems : Identify real-world business problems that can be modeled and solved in the classroom.

• Short: Assist teachers in selecting business partners and problems appropriate to their mathematics or science curricula and ensure problems are relevant to business partners.
• Long: Build on the NC Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) goal of "facilitating partnerships between schools and local businesses, postsecondary institutions, and public officials to set up pathways that lead seamlessly from high school, through postsecondary education, and on to the world of work" (Building Career Pathways, 2004).
• ITEST: Develop pedagogical strategies that promote student inquiry in solving real-world business problems in a way that builds interest, skill, and competence in STEM careers.

Teaching, Learning, and Development : Increase IT and mathematics proficiency through school-year and summer workshop experiences involving teachers and students.

• Short: Assist teachers in developing and implementing (through Tele/Web support) instructional modules that adhere to the NCDPI standard course of study and engage students in real-world problem solving relevant to business partners.
• Long: Develop the TechMath model so that teachers and students nationwide can benefit from IT and mathematics proficiency linked to real-world business problems.
• ITEST: Provide students with opportunities to solve real-world problems in STEM disciplines, while building skills and abilities prerequisite to technology-oriented careers.

Research and Evaluation : Document the effectiveness of TechMath in bridging the technical and pedagogical gaps associated with underrepresented groups in IT intensive workplaces.

• Short: Test the efficacy of the instructional modules that incorporate the use of IT and mathematics to solve real-world problems designed by TechMath teams.
• Long: Evaluate the effectiveness of the business and education connections in the TechMath program and programmatic impact on student career choices.
• ITEST: (a) Evaluate teacher professional development in: IT concepts, skills, and applications through classroom, site-visit, and workshop experiences; and (b) Assess student beliefs related to STEM careers via questionnaires, interviews, and observations.

Sustainability, Self-Sufficiency, and Dissemination : Empower teachers with knowledge of STEM careers and to share successes, resources, and knowledge with the community.

• Short: Assist teachers in collaborating and sharing instructional modules involving real-world business problems. Empower teachers to use tools, competencies, networking, resources, etc. to engage more effectively in business partnerships during the project.
• Long: Incorporate effective TechMath strategies into the ECU Department of Mathematics and Science Education pre-service and in-service teacher development programs. Build an online clearinghouse to disseminate instructional modules, teacher and student experiences with business partners, journal articles, and links to business partners.
• ITEST: Build strong and lasting relationships that enable the development of technology-oriented partnerships among teachers and students from different institutions through NSF resource centers: Shodor, Tapped-In, and the NSF ITEST Learning Centers.