Grambling State University would like to congratulate the Grambling Students (Keyara Bowser, Roynisha James, Chello Middleton, Aubreion Bobb) and their faculty sponsor (Dr. Mary Ghongkedze) who were selected to participate in the MUREP Educator Institute (MEI) held in June at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

The Opportunity…Improving K-12 STEM Education

The pipeline of Black and Hispanic students with interest in STEM education continues to be underrepresented. As a result, the NASA Minority University Research and Educator program (MUREP) and Educator Institutes focuses on pre-service teachers and faculty sponsors from Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) with the goal of improving K-12 STEM education.

MUREP provides funding to support a weeklong Educator Institute at 10 NASA centers across the nation. The MUREP Educator Institute (MEI) was held this summer from June 11- 15, 2018 at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Grambling State University was among the colleges participating in this program in addition to Mississippi Valley State University and Southern University and A&M College.

STEM Education Program with Focus on Experiential Learning

The five-day MUREP Educator Institute consisted of engaging classroom activities that utilized NASA assets and resources to help educators develop instructional practices that will enhance their teaching skills for students in STEM. Participants were also given an overview of NASA’s broad scope of work and the educational resources it provides for STEM teachers. They were then challenged with “hands on” STEM Instructional approach exercises to reinforce the key learnings. Participants also had the opportunity to visit different parts of the Stennis space center to experience the engineering design process “first hand”.  Other thrilling highlights included seeing the weather Buoys center, the aeronautics center, and an eyewitness view testing one of the rocket engines.  Inspirational talks were given by a few of NASA’s educational specialists at the Educator Professional Development Collaborative (EDPC).

GSU Students Work to Prepare for the Program

Prior to the visit, students and faculty sponsors were required to complete 9 hours of online pre-institute professional development training classes and an additional 7 hours of professional development training post-institute. Overall, it was a fast-paced and educational week. The informative resources and hands-on lesson plans were essential to developing critical thinking and other skills to be successful in the working world.

We would also like to sincerely thank the NASA – MUREP Educator Institute at the Stennis Space Center for the fabulous opportunity and the College of Education at Grambling State University for exposing these pre-service teachers to the latest technology and scientific innovations in a “real world” setting.

For more information on the MUREP Educator Institute at the Stennis Space Center, please contact Dr. Loretta Walton Jaggers, the Professor of Curriculum and Instruction (jaggerslw@gram.edu).