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Atlanta, GA | Posted: April 8, 2020
Summary Sentence:
Q&A Article with Timothy Cone discussing Georgia Tech's CEISMC programs and the future of STEM education.
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Tim Cone ImageArticle from Beacon Magazine – Written by: Heather Ohlman
Careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are among the fastest growing careers in the United States. Every day, teachers prepare their students for a future job in STEM that may not even exist yet.
Helping bridge the gap between the classroom and STEM’s ever-changing business and industry is CEISMC (The Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing) through the Georgia Institute of Technology. CEISMC’s annual programming serves more than 1,000 students and 80 teachers in Bryan, Chatham, Effingham and Liberty counties, as well as satellite camps for rural communities.
The success of CEISMC’s camps, weekend workshops and classroom projects with robotics, coding, virtual reality, logistics, entrepreneurship and more, shows students are “willing to do much more than play with Snapchat on their phones,” says Timothy Cone, program director for CEISMC.
CEISMC also offers professional development for teachers. “There’s a direct connection we [CEISMC] can make with students, but that’s very limited. In Chatham County alone, there are more than 30,000 children. The question is how can we have a greater impact on the individual classrooms and what they’re actually learning on a day-to-day basis?”
Serving as program director since 2018, Cone shares how STEM education strengthens our future workforce and why local businesses should get involved.
How would you describe students’ awareness of and interest in STEM programming?
In the last two years we’re seeing a big shift. When I first came into this job, STEM was out there, but it didn’t have much of an identity. Now, STEM is really celebrated. We see initiatives coming from the presidential level, STEM competitions, nerd culture saying it’s OK to be smart. STEM has become an integrated piece within a lot of schools.
Savannah is known for its arts community. Do you think its STEM community is just as prominent?
From an overall STEM perspective, there are really interesting things happening in Chatham and surrounding counties that are uniquely Coastal Empire. The side that’s exciting to see grow is integrating the arts with STEM in a meaningful way [called STEAM]. It’s another element to be creative with. If you have a student traditionally interested in dance, being able to integrate technology with their piece gives them a new way to express themselves.
Research shows a gender gap in STEM fields. Is that true among your participating students?
I don’t see it as much in elementary and middle school. When you get to high school, there is a gap, and it’s present at the university level and workforce. What’s encouraging is there is a generation of young females growing up with STEM always being there. The next 10-15 years we’re going to see a shift — or we’re going to see the needle move faster than it has historically.
What are the challenges in trying to prepare students for a future in STEM?
The challenge is we don’t know what these students are going to be doing 5, 10 or 15 years down the road. Those careers, jobs and companies don’t exist. We have to be very strategic that we don’t get caught up in the technology that’s new and relevant, but that we have a strong emphasis on the process of learning and teaching students how to quickly adapt, learn new things and to teach them problem solving.
What cross-marketable skills do STEM activities teach that will strengthen our future workforce and give students a competitive advantage?
Integrated with everything is how to be creative, how to problem solve, and how to be adaptable to what’s next.
Are our students being well prepared for the workforce?
I would hope every group working with K-12 students would say they could be doing more. Because of how quickly things change, you have to always think how you’re going to make it better so students can continue to be successful. As soon as we become stagnant — that’s when we get behind.
Can you share about how you engage local business owners and industry partners to participate in the programming you do?
We try to show local businesses and industries that they don’t have to wait until a kid is out of high school to invest in the next generation of potential employees. Early exposure is incredibly important. Industry folks serve as judges and volunteers for competitions we host on campus. The other aspect is working with businesses to create programming so [that] students are better prepared for what opportunities exist. For example, the “Make It! Move It!” summer program was an entirely community-driven program.
Are there any misconceptions about the STEM industry you find yourself correcting?
Sometimes you see certain approaches, not necessarily here, that say, “these are our STEM students.” I would argue that STEM and STEAM is a more holistic approach to how we teach a modern student and prepare them for a modern workforce. It’s for everybody.
How can we grow our STEMrelated business and industry like big tech in Savannah?
It starts with K-12 students to show we have a potential workforce that could support it. Senate Bill 108 will require all public high schools by the 2024-2025 school year to offer computer science courses in Georgia. I’m hoping Savannah and the surrounding communities with CEISMC can lead the way in that area
