Volume 124 Issue 89
kansan.com
Thursday, February 16, 2012
the student voice since 1904
EDUCATION
Steven Case, co-director of UKanTeach, a program for education majors who want to teach secondary math and science, agreed with the recommendations and said the University has already been working to improve math and science education and is getting good results.
It's a problem the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) addressed last week when it issued recommendations on how universities can get and keep more students studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The recommendations included making introductory courses more interactive, helping new students improve STEM skills and recruiting more non-traditional students.
The University's Center for Science Education works with K-12 students to improve their math and science skills because one of the major problems facing universities is teaching incoming students who don't come to college with basic math and science skills, Case said.
Students need new methods in classrooms
KELSEY CIPOLLA
kcipolla@kansan.com
Colleges across the country are struggling to produce graduates from science and math based programs and the University of Kansas is no exception.
One of those students was Abigail Anderson, a senior from Nashville, Tenn., who struggled with her two required math classes as a freshman. She said being a freshman and new to campus was already confusing without having to take a lecture-based class on a subject she already felt behind in.
I didn't get any one-on-one help," Anderson said. "It seemed like teachers were just kind of weeding people out."
This issue becomes particularly difficult for students who hope to major in a STEM subject but don't have a strong math or
science background because the curriculum can't be simplified to make challenging programs easier, said Alice Bean, professor of physics.
"Science and math are not things that you can do for two hours a week," Bean said. "It's not like we can limit the number of credit hours because we want to get more scientists out so we want to make it easier. I personally don't want to drive over a bridge designed by somebody who doesn't have the training."
One of the solutions suggested by PCAST has already been adopted by some professors; making classes more interactive and less dependent lectures.
"Doing science is a better way of learning science," Case said. "That's a huge shift for us in undergraduate education."
But Bean said that making classes more hands-on is not an automatic way to interest students. In physics classes for engineering majors students are now asked to complete problems in class so a professor can help, but many don't like being forced to work in what they expect to be a lecture.
"What we're finding is that it's hard to retrain students from being passive learners to being active learners," Bean said.
Attracting and retaining more students in STEM fields also might require something the PCAST recommendations didn't mention: a change in the way people think about math and science's worth.
"If we want to increase the number of science and math students, we have to start as a society appreciating the fact that the development of medical devices, the internet and all of the devices that we take for granted were made by engineers and scientists," Bean said.
Edited by Max Rothman
Ryan Benedick
MAKING IT EASY
FREE TAX FILING
MARSHALL SCHMIDT mschmidt@kansan.com
Rakeisha Cushinberry (right), a junior from Hutchinson, gets help from Michael Keenan (left), a second year law student from Chicago, and Matthew Namee (center), a second year law student from Lawrence, in filing her taxes at Green Hall. Students can come to help receive tax advice from the law students on different days during the next three weeks. The system benefits the law students in being able to gain experience with helping people with their taxes while undergraduates receive free advice.
Students have a way to save money this tax season: by properly filing their taxes with the help of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.
TYLFR ROSTF/KANSAN
VITA is a national program aimed at providing income tax assistance to lower income individuals, people whose annual income is less than $49,000 can attend sessions to file their taxes with the help of volunteers from law and business students. Most students' annual income is lower than $49,000, which makes them eligible for tax refund.
"A lot of people have too much money withheld during the year, so filing their income tax return helps them get the excess that they paid as a refund," said Michael Keenan, a second year law student from Chicago and co-coordinator of the sessions.
From Feb. 13 to April 16, people can attend sessions Monday through Saturday for a few hours each.
"It's fast and it's free," she said. "It helps a lot."
Rakeisha Cushinberry, a junior from Hutchinson, found the services helpful during the session held Wednesday.
Cushinberry met other tax consultants that took several hours to file, Cushinberry found the half an hour she spent with her volunteer student filer, Matthew Namee, a second law student from Lawrence, convenient. On a student budget, Cushinberry also appreciates that the service is free.
Students wanting to file should make sure they bring their W2s, records of extra income they may have earned during 2011, their social security number, and a
Edited by Tanvi Nimkar
SPRING 2012 VITA TAX SCHEDULE
"I depend on my financial aid," Cushinberry said. "Without it, I would not be able to further my education. The sooner I get this done, the sooner I can file my financial aid and enroll."
The more information students provide, the more likely it is they will also increase their tax refund, he said. Filing also means that students have one less step in applying for financial aid through FAFSA, which is due March 1.
"It's in the best interest to provide the most accurate information because it's the law", Namee said.
MONDAY: 6-8:45 p.m. Green Hall, Computer Lab 306D, Third Floor Library, 1535 W. 15th St.
TUESDAY: 1-3:30 p.m., Penn House, 1035 Pennsylvania St.
WEDNESDAY: 3-5:30 p.m., Green Hall, Computer Lab 306D, Third
Floor Library, 1535 W. 15th St.
THURSDAY: 3-4:45 p.m., Ballard Center, 708 Elm St.; and 5-6:30 p.m., Lawrence Housing Authority, 1600 Haskell Ave. #187
SATURDAY: 10-11:45 a.m., Green Hall, Computer Lab 306D, Third Floor Library, 1535 W. 15th St.
bank account number according to Namee.
Sessions will not be held Feb. 25 or March 17-24.
Source: news.ku.edu
YOU'RE THE ONLY TEN-I-SEE
Alex Roschitz, a junior from Kansas City, Kan., and Julie Miller, a senior from Hutchinson, act out a scene from Tennessee Williams' one-act play "Auto-de-fe," directed by Jacci Lufkin. The Undergraduate Projects, which will also include the semester premiere of Musical Theatre for Kansas, will run tonight and Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. at William Inge Memorial Theatre in Murphy Hall.
TARA BRYANT/KANSAN
**Index**
CLASSIFIEDS 7
CROSSWORD 4
CRYPTOQUIPS 4
OPINION 5
SUDOKU 8
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2012 The University Daily Kansan
Don't forget
Practice your interviewing skills at the mock interviews with business employers at Summerfield Hall today.
Today's Weather
Forecasts by University students. For a more detailed forecast, see page 2A.
A little dreary, but still nice.