Summer Institute

Hosted each summer at the University of Nebraska's Lincoln campus, the MATC Summer Institute brings educators and professionals together to help develop materials and applications for their students to increase their knowledge and interest within transportation fields.

Science and math teachers have a pressing need for training in the use of instructional materials that engage students and facilitate learning for complex concepts and principles in the core academic content areas of math and science. Students seldom recognize real life applications of math and science concepts taught in the classroom.

Advances in technology allow previously static math and science facts and formulas to come alive through computer simulation. Multimedia demonstrations of race car crashes, for example, have already been developed and could serve as instructional support in the classroom for math and science concepts such as speed, acceleration, momentum, and impact

Students in K-12 could benefit greatly from instruction supported by such computer demonstrations of real life examples. Currently, teachers do not have routine access to multimedia tools used to support math and science concepts

Our long-term goal is to increase student performance in core academic content areas of math and science as measured by the state standards in math and science (Nebraska State Department of Education, 2000) through the use of multimedia tools applied in core curriculum content areas, particularly math, science, and social studies.

The immediate goal is to enhance teacher competencies in delivering science and math instruction to middle school students in two “high need” local educational agencies and to improve teachers’ knowledge and application of technology through the “Professional Development Science and Math Summer Technology Institute.”

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