Florida Tech Researcher: Focus on the how, not the why, of STEM

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Jul 18, 2014, 03:21 ET

MELBOURNE, Fla., July 18, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In the past decade, few acronyms have received more attention in the world of education than STEM, a term that has come to represent more than its four letters might suggest.

Standing for "Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics," STEM also carries with it the subtle but unnerving implication that in the great global race for innovation prominence, the U.S. may be dropping impossibly behind.

But from college campuses to Congress and the White House, there is work to prevent that from happening. Just this month, the U.S. House of Representatives offered up the STEM Education Act, a bipartisan measure that would, among other impacts, broaden the definition of STEM subjects to ensure education reflects the ongoing needs of the STEM workplace. And earlier this summer, the White House unveiled a multi-faceted STEM effort anchored by a $35 million grant program from the U.S. Department of Education to help prepare 100,000 top-level STEM teachers over the next decade.

As Florida's STEM University^TM, Florida Institute of Technology has long understood the importance of the STEM disciplines. The university's vice president for academic affairs, Semen Koksal, Ph.D., a mathematics professor by training, is an active researcher in the field of undergraduate STEM education, particularly mathematics curriculum development and project design.

We talked to her about the present and future of this critical area.

QUESTION: It's probably safe to say that while many of us have heard of STEM, few of us fully grasp its significance. Tell us, what's the real issue here?

SEMEN KOKSAL: Let me give it some context. Every three years since 2000, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has facilitated a worldwide standardized test for 15-year-old students called the Programme for International Student Assessment, or PISA. The first year it was done, PISA showed that in terms of science and math, the U.S. was not doing as well as everyone expected, and the controversy started. Since then, the U.S. has continued to slide in the rankings. But to me, this assessment does not paint a clear picture. It doesn't give us the whole story.

Q: If you were given the opportunity to refocus the STEM discussion, in what direction would you take it?

KOKSAL: Toward technology. We need to spend more time talking about technology, which stands out because it really isn't a separate discipline, but something that applies to all of science and mathematics. The general population makes the biggest mistake. They think that when you have technology, you have the solution – that if you have the most sophisticated graphing calculator, you don't need to know any theory. People need to understand that technology is not in and of itself the solution to any problem. In order to be useful, technology must be integrated in a meaningful way.

Q: Where does a university like Florida Tech fit into the greater STEM conversation?

KOKSAL: Higher education usually enters the STEM discussion when the topic changes from K-12 learning outcomes to the problem of meeting future economic needs with a STEM-educated workforce. And that's where Florida Tech comes into play. We take the position that students who enroll in a STEM field should be enabled and encouraged to graduate with a degree in a STEM field. We also believe that our STEM graduates should be prepared to make valuable contributions to employers.

Q: Which brings us to Florida Tech's approach. What is Florida Tech, as Florida's STEM University^TM, doing to maximize student success in STEM fields?

KOKSAL: We are graduating a high percentage of STEM students and successfully placing STEM students with high-tech employers because we train them to master exciting technologies, engage them in stimulating labs and fieldwork, and mentor them in high-caliber, interdisciplinary research. This creates an environment of inquiry in which students are talking to students and professors from other departments, exchanging ideas, looking at problems from a new angle and finding creative ways to solve them. I think we do a good job because we are hands-on. And when I say 'hands-on,' what I really mean is 'immersive.' Immersive is how we do STEM.

For more information, visit www.fit.edu.

PHOTOS: Images of Semen Koksal available upon request.

About Florida Institute of Technology
Founded at the dawn of the Space Race in 1958, Florida Tech is the only independent, technological university in the Southeast. PayScale.com ranks graduates' mid-career median salaries in first place among Florida's universities, and lists Florida Tech among the top 20 universities in the South—both public and private. Featured among the top 200 universities in the world according to Times Higher Education World University Rankings, the university has been named a Barron's Guide "Best Buy" in College Education, designated a Tier One Best National University in U.S. News & World Report, and is one of just nine schools in Florida lauded by the Fiske Guide to Colleges. The university offers undergraduate, master's and doctoral programs. Fields of study include science, engineering, aeronautics, business, humanities, mathematics, psychology, communication and education. Additional information is available online at www.fit.edu.