Funding for Engagement

2008 Excellence in Engagement Grants

Total Funding for 2008: $208,000

1. Science at the Polar Frontier: BPRC, the Zoo, and Metro School ($71,000)

Carol Landis, Education and Outreach Specialist, Byrd Polar Research Center; Nancy Hampson, Director of Conservation Education, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium; Marcy Raymond, Principal, Metro High School

This project will develop interactive public displays for the Columbus Zoo’s Polar Frontier exhibit. These displays, which provide an in-depth contextual view of the effects of climate change on Arctic regions, will be shared electronically with partner institutions in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. High school students from the Zoo School and the Metro School will develop demonstrations and activities to be presented at public events. A Byrd Polar Research Center scientist will serve as the model for a virtual scientist in the displays. The objectives are to increase public awareness and understanding of present and past climate changes in the Arctic, to enhance students’ investigative and representational skills, and to develop a sustained relationship among the partners.

Read an update on this project on page 14 of Seeding a Culture of Engagement ->

2. Mansfield Young People’s Project ($68,000)

Lee McEwan, Associate Professor, Mathematics, OSU Mansfield; Heather Tanner, Associate Professor, History, OSU Mansfield; Partners: Young People’s Project, Algebra Project

The Mansfield Young People's Project (MYPP) supports the Ohio state legislature’s STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education enhancement goals through a unique partnership among the Ohio State University at Mansfield, Mansfield City Schools, and the Algebra Project (AP), a national nonprofit organization increasing math literacy of minority and economically challenged students. MYPP builds on 12 years of after-school youth tutoring expertise developed by the Young People's Project (YPP), an AP outgrowth. This project will serve as a bridge to the establishment of the Mansfield Algebra Project, a permanent math intervention program working with cohorts of eligible students for all 4 years of high school.

In Summer 2008, nine eighth-grade students received 5 half-days of training as future math literacy workers (MLWs) and half-day experiences in elective courses in theater and art. The students became the core of the Mansfield Young People’s Project, which has grown to more than 20 students. In January 2009, five college students were hired and trained as College MLWs. Together the MLWs and CMLWs began conducting outreach, engaging more than 30 elementary school students in math activities. Teachers, administrators, and site organizers have observed significant growth in students participating in the after-school program that was established in October 2008 in terms of increased leadership and responsibility. Data have not yet been collected regarding math or other proficiency.

Project Activities and Outcomes

• Presentations to local chapter of NAACP youth organization, three presentations to the Community Relations Board of Ohio State-Mansfield campus (including the Mayor of Mansfield and the Superintendent of Mansfield schools), and a half-hour appearance on a local TV schools-related news show.
• Presentations and family math nights for community members and parents of after-school students.
• Two site visits by Dr. Robert Moses, founder of the Algebra Project, that included community presentations and site development
• A 5-year DRK-12 National Science Foundation grant awarded in August 2008 with a subaward to Mansfield of $500,000, which enabled the hiring of a research associate
• The project has spurred a cross-disciplinary collaboration between the departments of mathematics and education with participation from the department of history.

Future Plans

• Five Mansfield YPP students will attend the Chicago summer 2009 workshop to meet with Chicago YPP for one week.
• Summer institute will be run August 3-7, 2009 on OSU-Mansfield campus.
• In Autumn 2009 the first Algebra Project class will begin at Senior High in Mansfield.
• A planning and implementation committee is being formed now with broad community representation. Membership will be drawn from teachers, the Board of Education, the OSU-Mansfield campus External Relations Board, the project organizers, and other community members of the community. The committee will also liaison with the principal of the high school and will act to educate the board of education and other community stakeholders about the goals of the project and the wisdom of investing new resources in bottom quartile and other students in the district.
• New teachers will be identified, recruited and trained for the program. A new cohort (20 students) will be sought and added each year, to reach a steady state of 80 students in Algebra Project classes at a given time.

3. Ohio House of Science and Engineering (OHSE) ($35,000)

Susan Olesik, Professor, Department of Chemistry, College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences; David Tomasko, Professor, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, College of Engineering; Amanda Simcox, Professor, Department of Molecular Genetics, College of Biological Sciences; Linda Weavers, John C. Geupel Chair in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science and Associate Professor, College of Engineering

Ohio State University has numerous well-established science/engineering outreach and public science literacy programs that seek to improve grades K-20 science education (Wonders of Our World, W.O.W., GK-12 Program, Future Engineers Summer Camp, and the DNA Fingerprinting Workshop). Operating as a consortium of these highly effective programs, the Ohio House of Science and Engineering will foster and promote STEM outreach and education activities from kindergarten through the PhD. It intends to serve all of the following roles in the university community: a primary point of contact for external constituencies to find STEM outreach programs at the university; a stable administrative structure for programs and physical base for operations; a laboratory or think tank for testing and developing new outreach ideas; and a curriculum development resource for STEM elements in higher education. The proposed Excellence and Engagement project will expand the efforts of a number of current outreach efforts to include inquiry-based teaching in K-12 classrooms. This will be the pilot for demonstrating the OHSE operation. At full strength, the OHSE expects to serve approximately 10,000 K-12 students per year with 1,000-1,500 contributing scientists and engineers.

4. Engineering to the High Schools ($15,000)

Betty Lise Anderson, Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering; Partners: Marcy Raymond, Principal, Metro High School; David B. L. Gould, Director, Upper School, Columbus School for Girls; Susie Carr, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, Whitehall City Schools; Chris Brandon, Project Director, Battelle Engineering Experience; Glenda LaRue, Director, Women in Engineering Program, College of Engineering

The United States is facing a shortage of engineers. To address this shortage, the key is to educate school teachers, and through them their students, about what engineering is. The teachers are eager to learn, and the schools are creating STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) clubs and engineering clubs to reach the students, but the teachers and clubs need content. Ohio State's Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) students, as part of the ECE senior capstone design course, have developed a series of hands-on engineering activities to increase awareness of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) among high school students and their teachers. ECE seniors and faculty visited 15 Columbus area high schools, engaging students and their teachers in building speakers, audio equalizers, LED displays, touch-screen sensors, electric motors, a Jeopardy! style quiz game with buzzers and timers, and more. The ultimate goal of the ECE STEM initiative is to teach engineering concepts to high school teachers directly, to encourage and support independent teaching of these concepts in the high schools. Thorough documentation including parts lists and detailed directions has been developed. These lists will be posted on websites at STEM Columbus, Ohio House of Science and Engineering, and the College of Engineering. Battelle will help purchase and make available parts kits for these projects to share across school districts in the state. With the projects in place, ECE, with Battelle’s support, is organizing “build parties” at which teachers can come and build the projects themselves before taking them back to their schools.

“From College to High School: Professor, Students Take Engineering to Area Youth,” News in Engineering article >

5. Stable Cradle ($17,000)

Wanda Dillard, Director of Community Development, Ohio State University Medical Center; Mary Margaret Gottesman, Associate Professor, College of Nursing; Partners: Maryhaven Women’s Program; Material Assistance Providers; Andrew Russ, Attorney, Wolfe & Russ LLC

This project is expanding and strengthening the existing Stable Cradle Program, a partnership of the OSU Medical Center and Maryhaven Substance Abuse Services. Stable Cradle is designed to increase the number of pregnant substance-abusing women who receive early and continuous prenatal care and to improve the outcomes of their newborns. In the first year of this grant, the hours of two part-time health mentors on staff have been increased from 10 to 20 per week.  The program has increased the number of women being served, and project staff are collecting information on drugs of choice, such as alcohol, heroin, ecstasy, benzodiazepines, marijuana, opiates, methamphetamines, cocaine, and poly. They are also gathering data on tobacco use, whether the women have diabetes or hypertension, and when they began their prenatal care. The program is also tracking referrals, Franklin County Children Services involvement, and medical concerns of the infants. The College of Nursing is evaluating and processing the information about the women and working closely with the OSU Medical Center’s Substance Treatment, Education, and Prevention in Pregnancy (STEPP) clinic. Dr. Mary Margaret Gottesman is in the process of obtaining a nurse practitioner to provide support to the program. The program serves on average about 29 women a month and approximately 4 new clients a month. Material Assistance Providers will offer a furniture bank and Wolfe & Russ LLC will provide legal support for program participants.

Grant Recipients

2009 Excellence in Engagement Grants
2007 Excellence in Engagement Grants
2006 Excellence in Engagement Grants
2005 Excellence in Engagement Grants
2004 Excellence in Engagement Grants
2005 Outreach & Engagement Seed Grants
2002 Outreach & Engagement Seed Grants
2001 Outreach & Engagement Seed Grants
2000 Outreach & Engagement Seed Grants
1999 Outreach & Engagement Seed Grants
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