| Lead UCB Unit/Department: | UCB MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement) |
| Campus Address | 3112 McLaughlin Hall, UC Berkeley |
| Mail Code | 1702 |
| Principal Project Contact | Blas Guerrero, Acting Director of MESA-UCB |
| Faculty Key Personnel | Alice M. Agogino, Associate Dean, College of Engineering. Additional faculty will be recruited from all departments in the College of Engineering. |
| Other Key Personnel | Michele DeCoteau, Co-Assistant Director of MESA-UCB |
| Name of Collaborating UCB Unit/Department(s) | Key Personnel (Name(s)) |
| Synthesis Coalition (comprised of 4 departments: Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, Mechanical Engineering, and Industrial Engineering and Operations Research | Alice M. Agogino, Director of Synthesis; Brandon Muramatsu, NEEDS Project Manager, 3112 Etcheverry Hall, UCB |
| School of Education, SESAME Program | Sherry Hsi, PhD graduate from SESAME |
| PLANNERS, UCOP MESA and Lawrence Hall of Science | Roger Milovina, PLANNERS, Consultant to UCOP MESA on MESA Competition |
| California Alliance for Mathematics and Science | Victor Carey, Director, California Alliance for Mathematics and Science |
| Name of Collaborating K-12 District(s) | Key Personnel (Name(s)) |
| Oakland Unified School District (McClymonds High, Foster Middle, Lowell Middle and Hoover Elementary -- all Berkeley Pledge schools) | Ylonda Peaks, Assistant Superintendent, OUSD |
| Berkeley Unified School District (Berkeley High, Longfellow Middle , Willard Middle, King Middle, Malcom X Elementary and Franklin Elementary -- all Berkeley Pledge schools) | Jack Mclaughlin, Superintendent, BUSD |
Every year UC Berkeley MESA hosts a series of K-12 student competitions
in Math, Science and Engineering. The preliminary competitions
for schools we service are held on the UC Berkeley campus and
the northern California MESA Centers (UC Berkeley; Chico, San
Jose, San Francisco, Sacramento, Mid-Peninsula, and Sonoma/Mendocino
State schools; and the University of the Pacific) rotate responsibility
for hosting the final competitions every year. UC Berkeley MESA
and the Lawrence Hall of Science will host the Northern California
MESA Competition in Spring 1997. In the past these competitions
have relied almost entirely on campus staff and paid undergraduate
students and advisors to work with students in MESA schools.
The Interactive MESA project will be an experiment designed to engage more of the UC Berkeley community in this important K-12 outreach activity. We are developing a World Wide Web site for the MESA competitions, containing the MESA competition rules, related curricular material and examples of past designs along with a threaded discourse tool, called SpeakEasy, developed in collaboration with the School of Education. Additional curricular material from the NEEDS (National Engineering Delivery System) database developed by the Synthesis Coalition will also be linked to the WWW site and annotated for K-12 student use in understanding the mathematical, scientific and engineering principles behind the competitions. The WWW material and SpeakEasy will be designed to allow Berkeley faculty and students to mentor and advise MESA students from their offices, labs or homes. Thumbnail digital images of MESA students (obtained during weekly MESA sections at participating middle and high schools), participating faculty and UCB students will be integrated into the SpeakEasy discourse to make the cyberspace conversations more personal. Throughout the period of this proposal we will work with Victor Cary, Director of the California Alliance for Mathematics and Science (CAMS) to integrate the curriculum associated with the MESA competitions with CAMS alliance partners and bring in a parent interaction and training element to the project. In future years, we hope to include the Interactive MESA competition as a part of Cal Days and other public relations and recruiting activities.
The objective of MESA is to provide program opportunities to assist
students in becoming eligible for post secondary education and
prepared to complete baccalaureate degrees in mathematics-based
fields (such as engineering and computer science) at any four-year
institution. MESA accomplishes this by working closely with a
variety of constituencies to meet their respective needs. These
constituencies include: students and parents; K-12 teachers and
administrators; public and independent colleges and universities;
community colleges; foundations and federal agencies; state and
local legislators; and private industry. Berkeley MESA runs a
portfolio of outreach activities, including summer and Saturday
workshops, in-service and after school enrichment programs, parents
programs, teacher training, student visits to UC Berkeley and
student competitions. The MESA program targets its activities
at schools with low eligibility rates for higher education.
Currently very few faculty and graduate students participate in MESA activities as the overhead costs are too high. MESA students have rigid time schedules that are planned well in advance and coordinated with MESA school class schedules. Most faculty and graduate students can not carve out large time slots in their schedule well in advance of the beginning of each semester. In addition, most of the MESA schools are located away from campus, sometimes in neighborhoods that our faculty would not normally visit. The proposed Interactive MESA project is design to reduce the overhead costs associated with Berkeley faculty and student participation. As the communication is asynchronous, Berkeley faculty and students can respond whenever they have the time and need not drive the distances required for in-person meetings. The internet connections could also be used to expose budding scientists and engineers to a wide range of potential application areas in science and engineering, motivating them to enroll, persevere and achieve in college preparatory classes.
Spring '97. Work with State-wide MESA to put the MESA Design competition rules on- line. Collect video, photographs and other media of the Spring '97 and previous competitions.
Summer '97. Perform review of "best practices" of on-line mentoring systems for K-12. Create Interactive MESA web page and develop seed questions and comments for the SpeakEasy threaded discourse system. Digitize media elements collected in Summer/Fall '97. Pilot test with MESA summer students.
July '97.Quarterly Report
Fall '97. Revise and begin preliminary use on Fall '97 MESA classes. Digitize thumbnail images of students at target schools. Follow-up with participating schools for mentoring and college applications. Hold at least one parents training sessions at one of the Fall '97 Saturday Academy workshops.
January '98.Quarterly Report
Spring '98. Deploy and assess full system.
April '98.Quarterly Report
Summer '98. Evaluate results and refine. Work with MESA
State-wide to develop plans to continue project.
The proposed Interactive University pilot project will be an experiment
designed to engage more of the UC Berkeley community in this important
K-12 outreach activity. We propose to develop a World Wide Web
site for the MESA competition this year, containing the MESA competition
rules, related curricular material and examples of past designs
along with a threaded discourse tool, called SpeakEasy, developed
in collaboration with the School of Education and the College
of Engineering. Additional curricular material from the NEEDS (National Engineering Delivery System) database
developed by the Synthesis Coalition will
also be linked to the WWW site and annotated for K-12 student
use in understanding the mathematical, scientific and engineering
principles behind the competitions. The WWW material and SpeakEasy
will be designed to allow Berkeley faculty and students to mentor
and advise MESA students from their offices, labs or homes. Thumbnail
digital images of MESA students (obtained during weekly MESA sections
at participating middle and high schools), participating faculty
and UCB students will be integrated into the SpeakEasy discourse
to make the cyberspace conversations more personal.
Science and engineering competitions have been a hallmark of successful
K-12 outreach programs and have provided a strong motivating force
for our MESA students. The following competitions will be the
focus of this Interactive University proposal.
MESA Math Contest. This contest provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate their ability to solve mathematical reasoning problems. Students will complete the greatest number of math problems with our without a calculator as accurately as possible. Students with the most correct answers wins.
Balsa Wood Bridge/Craft Stick Bridge. The project gives students hand-on experience in project planning and completion. Students will use engineering concepts to design and construct a model bridge that will carry a maximum load using only the materials specified. Students will be judged in categories of strength and craftsmanship. Senior High students will use balsa wood for their construction and Middle School students will use craft sticks.
Straw Towers. Like architects and engineers who build skyscrapers and bridges, our students will build a tower out of straws. In the process they will learn about the effects of buckling, bending, force, area, and other scientific and engineering principles.
Egg Drop. This project gives students hands-on experience with the principles of physics in project design and construction. Students must design and build a container of restrictive size which will keep as many eggs as possible from breaking after a fall from a height to be determined by the Host Center. Students will be judged based on the total number of surviving eggs.
Mouse Trap Car. Build a car powered by a mouse trap to win a race.
Sail Cars. As seen in Mad Max movies, where fuel is scarce, and desert racing these cars are powered by the wind. This project shows the students how the wind can be used to not only power a car, but also other uses such as electricity.
Essay Writing. This contest familiarizes students with college application questions and essay-writing format. Students must write a 250-word essay answering a sample college application question. Students will be judged on the essay that best answers the questions and best reflects the quality of a college application.
Faculty and their graduate students will participate in the WWW
threaded discussions on the competitions associated with their
areas of expertise. Paul Gray, Dean in the College of Engineering,
is in strong support of this project (see attached letter of support)
and has pledged to encourage Engineering faculty in all departments
to participate. Dave Bogy, Chair of the Department of Mechanical
Engineering has also pledged his support.
If this proposal is awarded, it will provide the first opportunity
for K-12 MESA students to dialogue with UCB faculty and students
during the learning and development period of the MESA competition.
Faculty and UCB Student Engagement in K-12. How effective
will this project be in engaging UCB faculty and students in the
MESA competition and associated curricula? The current level of
involvement has no faculty participation and UCB student involvement
is limited to that of paid outreach tutors and coordinators. Very
few graduate students are involved.
K-12 Motivation and Persistence in Math-based Disciplines. The goal of MESA is to increase the number of students from schools with low eligibility who go on to get college degrees in math-based disciplines. One key issue associated with this project is the impact that faculty and graduates can have with the MESA students though the use of internet technologies.
Degree of Collaboration Enabled by the Internet Technology. Local MESA advisors/instructors in K-12 are also isolated from each other during the semester. Another issue to be explored is the extent that SpeakEasy and internet technologies can increase the degree of collaboration and communication between MESA advisors/instructors.
Family Training in Computers and Internet Technologies. UCB MESA has taken the lead in including parents as a vital part of our MESA program. We have parent conferences during the year and parent workshops at our Saturday Academy workshops. As K-12 MESA students are exposed and engaged in use of computers and internet technologies with the Interactive University project we will need to add new material associated with this project to MESA parent sessions. In particular, at least one parent training session on computers and internet will be required. We know that many of our parents have very little access or exposure to computers. What minimal level of exposure is needed so that parents can communicate with their children on this project? What level of access and training would be preferable?
The proposed Interactive University project is one element of a larger MESA K-12 program. Thus we must be careful about separating out the effects of the IU, from the benefits of the MESA competitions without the IU component. We have listed indicators below that we will use to measure our success, following the outline of issues in Section 2.8.
Indicators of Success:
Assistance during semester and summer training sessions with K-12 instructors, advisors and parents. The participating schools will need as much assistance as possible in the technology -- hardware, infrastructure and training.
Some of the assistance for activities on the UCB campus will be provided by the Synthesis Coalition and the Center for Underrepresented Engineers in the College of Engineering.
If successful, this project will become a part of the mainstream MESA program at UC Berkeley and will be proposed to UCOP as a model for other campuses as well.
| 50% time RA for coordination, technical support, WWW/html programming | $10,000 | |
| Stipends for MESA school instructors | $3,000 | |
| S&E (workshop notes, software copying, phones, papers, travel to present results) | $2,000 | |
| MESA competition support and curriculum specialists | $140,000 | |
Most of MESA funding comes from non-federal sources. We estimate that approximately $140,000 ($70,000 per year) is devoted to the MESA competitions throughout the UCB target schools and at UC Berkeley. Clearly faculty and graduate student advising and mentoring will lead to substantial additional work-in-kind contributions. Thus at the end of the pilot study we would expect to be able to show a much higher match to the Department of Commerce dollars.
We also request that the Oakland Unified School District provide our MESA advisor at each school site with at least one computer with internet connections with their Interactive University funds. We also ask that the OUSD recommend that the Interactive MESA advisors/instructors have access to the computer classrooms at participating schools in the OUSD as well. Although not originally part of the Interactive University proposal, we request the same from the Berkeley Unified School District.
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