Our Mission

• Motivate high school students toward a greater interest in STEM and ICT careers through improved performance in high school mathematics
• Create an engaging, problem-solving, technology enriched learning experience
• Build on innovations in cyberinfrastructure in combination with sustained, relevant, professional development to support teachers' use of advanced software tools in algebra and geometry
• Design a scalable framework for statewide, regional, or national adoption.

Picture: Karen Hollebrands using a smartboard to display Geometer's Sketchpad during the Summer 2010 Institute

NC State has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to work toward increasing the numbers choosing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professions through improving math learning at the 9th and 10th grade levels in rural North Carolina. The NSF is concerned with STEM and IT workforce shortfalls among under-represented populations. Research has shown that if students do not successfully complete geometry and algebra in 9th and 10th grades, they will be shut out of higher math curricula. Because of the lack of foundational mathematics courses in high school, by the time these students reach college, they find the doors to education in STEM and IT fields closed. This project will be bringing multimedia mathematics software to 9th & 10th grade students and professional development for teachers in rural NC schools in Chatham, Mooresville, Edgecombe, and Greene Counties.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0929543. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

This site is provided by Sarah Stein and Henry Schaffer, who may be contacted by looking up their email addresses at NC State University.