With the help of a $100,000 National Science Foundation grant, a group of 50 area students will spend a part of next summer at Mississippi State improving their science and mathematics skills.
The NSF award will enable a university teacher to hold two concurrent, four-week camps for African-American students in grades 7 and 8. The program will stress both basic and causal learning skills, said project director William J. Sumrall of the College of Education's Curriculum and Instruction Department.
"Basic process skills including observing, inferring and measuring techniques, while causal process skills involve hypothesizing, predicting and experimenting," the associate professor said. "We will emphasize that process skills are not unique to any science discipline."
Priority in the selection of camp participants will be given to Oktibbeha County students, Sumrall said. However, depending on the number initially recruited, the area from which participants are selected could be expanded, he added.
Sumrall said campers also will be introduced to future career opportunities through programs presented by university scientists and engineers, as well as tours of campus research facilities and off-campus industries.
To monitor the students' development, achievement tests will be given at the beginning and end of each session.
This World Wide Web version of MSU Memo was modified and updated by Chris Brown.
For information about Mississippi State University, contact msuinfo@ur.msstate.edu
Last modified: Friday, 14-Jun-2002 15:59:05 CDT.
URL: http://msuinfo.ur.msstate.edu/msu_memo/1995/7-10-95/nsfgrant.htm
Mississippi State University is an equal opportunity institution.