Author Profile

ATOMS Center - Advancing the Teaching Of Mathematics & Science

The Advancing the Teaching Of Mathematics and Science (ATOMS) Center focuses on meeting the strategic needs of Georgia's Birth-12 schools in STEM education.

Kennesaw State University
Established: 2010

https://calendar.kennesaw.edu/atoms_center

Profile submitted by Adrian Epps

Vision and Goals

The overarching goal of the ATOMS Center encompasses improving the broad categories of teacher development and effectiveness, teacher induction and retention, and teacher recruitment within the Birth-12 environment. The ATOMS Center also supports higher education faculty excellence by promoting scholarship and research efforts of STEM education faculty members related to Birth-12 science and mathematics education. Our strategic goals are to 1) empower STEM education faculty to effectively conduct professional teacher research and outreach programs at the Birth-12 level; 2) better leverage (and synergize) our teacher education faculty resources in science and mathematics efforts, and 3) enhance the college and university physical resources such as office space, training rooms and conference rooms to more effectively implement our outreach programs.

Specific objectives of this center are to:

  1. Enhance the effectiveness of in-service Birth-12 science and mathematics teachers in our region and across the state.
  2. Implement innovative strategies and programs that enhance the retention of new science and mathematics teachers particularly in their initial five years in the profession.
  3. Influence Birth-12 student interest in science and mathematics education with emphasis in selecting degree programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) areas for their college education.
  4. Increase the production of better-prepared secondary teachers of science and mathematics by recruiting potential candidates at the high school level into the teaching profession.
  5. Publish research that contributes to the literature on in-service professional development, retention of teachers and attracting more students into the teaching professions in science and mathematics, especially at the secondary school level.

Center/Program Structure

The center is presently supported by the Bagewell College of Education and College of Science and Mathematics. The ATOMS Center structure consist of a Center Director, eight faculty fellows, and one administrative assistant. The faculty fellows are faculty members from the units within the college of education and the college of science and mathematics. They receive one course release each semester to focus on center priorities.

Description of Programming

Some of the programs offered by the ATOMS Center Faculty Fellows and other STEM education faculty include: Math and Science Partnership Workshops; NSF Noyce Program Seminars, Interviews, or Grant Meetings; STEM Book Club Meetings; a Mathematics Education Graduate Class; a GYSTC Saturday Science Academy; STEM Academy Workshop; and Middle School Math Bowl Competitions. A specific example of center-wide program within the ATOMS Center would be the CollegeBoard Advanced Placement (AP) Summer STEM Institute. The ATOMS Center serves an officially approved site to offer AP training for middle and high school teachers.

Successes and Impacts

The ATOMS Centers biggest accomplishment focuses on the creation of the Faculty Fellows Program, which serves as the core of the center. Their level of scholarship and service activity correlate directly to the goals and objectives of the center. An ATOMS Center Faculty Fellow is a KSU tenured or tenure-track faculty member who ensures that his or her scholarly and service activities to be aligned to the mission of the ATOMS Center. The Faculty Fellows term of commitment is a minimum of two years.
The incentives and benefits of being an ATOMS Center Faculty Fellow, which are negotiated between department chair, faculty fellow and center director, may consist of the following:

  1. Reassigned workload to focus on center activities that is equitable. Fellows are encouraged to limit their service activities at the department, college or university level.
  2. Reduced teaching load negotiated with department chair
  3. Summer Research support equivalent to a minimum of one course.
Since its inception the scholarly activity and grantsmanship has increased significantly, resulting in several million in external funds.

Elements Contributing to Success

Located on the main campus on Campus Loop Road (in building 59 on the campus map), the ATOMS Center is housed in what was previously a residential house. The renovation of the center over a two and half year period yielded 19 office spaces, a 22 seat classroom, a 14 seat conference room, a 31 seat technology classroom, and a 24 seat open-air deck. The funds to completely renovate the center were shared equally by both deans from the BCOE and the CSM. The ATOMS Center provides opportunities or host a variety of activities broadly related to improving STEM education. The different types of ATOMS Center Activities listed in the table below denote the various uses of the space of the center. The center encourages the use of the facilities from any STEM education faculty members or administrators from the BCOE, CSM or GYSTC.

Table 1: Different Types of ATOMS Center Facility Activities

Advisory Board Meetings Employment Interviews Research Colloquiums
Celebrations & Receptions Graduate Courses Research Group Meetings
College & Departmental Retreats Grant Development Meetings Scholarship Interviews
Conference Planning Meetings Grant Meetings Search Committee Meetings
Curricular Development Professional Development Workshops Strategic Planning Meetings
Doctoral Defenses Reading & Writing Groups Student Competitions