LCCC Receives 3-Year National Science Foundation Grant

Lehigh Carbon Community College (LCCC) recently received a three-year grant totaling $457,409 from the National Science Foundation through the Advanced Technological Education Program. The grant project, titled CAST: Contextualizing Algebra for STEM Technicians, will address the mathematics barrier that impedes students’ persistence and success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs.

To answer the question students continually ask: “Why do I need math?” faculty will redesign the LCCC Intermediate Algebra and College Algebra courses to focus on real-world applications using algebraic concepts that mimic those encountered in industry. Through multi-disciplinary, collaborative, discovery-based learning activities, students will be more engaged in course material and predicted to develop a higher level of interest and confidence in math.

The project objectives are to increase students’ awareness of the relevance of algebra to their STEM disciplines, increase the percentage of STEM students successfully passing the algebra courses, and increase fall-to-fall retention in targeted STEM programs.

Principal investigators Erik Csikos, assistant professor of mathematics; Eric Werley, instructor of mathematics; and Sherrie Fenner, assistant professor of mathematics, will be working on curriculum development with an advisory committee of faculty and industry professionals from various engineering, technology, computing, and science fields. The grant work will begin July 1.

LCCC’s full-time, part-time, and adjunct faculty will be trained in the real-world, student-centered presentation of the course material. In the third year of the grant, workshops will be offered for faculty at other colleges and for secondary instructors teaching algebra.