Governor's School
East Tennessee State University
Governor’s School: Scientific Models and Data Analysis
Thirty students from across Tennessee will arrive at East Tennessee State University on Sunday, May 30, 2010 to attend one of 12 Governor’s Schools offered throughout the state. ETSU hosts the Governor’s School for Scientific Models and Data Analysis.
These residential educational experiences allow gifted and talented high school juniors and seniors to earn college credit in five weeks of study, giving them an edge as they enter the higher education institutions of their choice.
“The Governor’s School for Scientific Models and Data Analysis provides a program of advanced scholarly engagement for some of the most academically able students in the state who demonstrate an interest, talent and passion in the pursuit of mathematics and science,” says Dr. Jack Rhoton, executive director of ETSU’s Center of Excellence in Mathematics and Science Education, which coordinates the university’s newest Governor’s School, now in its third year. “The curriculum provides a unique, interdisciplinary learning environment that strengthens the students’ ability to solve problems, stimulates the joy of learning math and science, and fosters the excitement of discovery through scientific research.”
The Governor’s School is instrumental in attracting students into math and science careers. “This will ultimately contribute to the future vitality and prosperity of the state and regional economies,” he said. “Our economic security and social well-being are clearly linked to sustained innovation and productivity … which rely on high-quality education, particularly in math and science.
“Math and science are cornerstones, essential for the development of skills necessary for students to compete in the 21st century economy,” he continued. “And we believe the Governor’s School students will learn many of these skills as they actively engage in research emphasizing connections among the biological sciences, mathematics and technology. They will gain a healthy respect for many disciplines and thus have a variety of career choices to consider as they get ready to enter college.”
The Governor’s School in Scientific Models and Data Analysis will cover a wide range of contemporary biological and mathematical topics in such interdisciplinary fields as bioinformatics, computational chemistry and systems ecology. Model building and data analysis will be interwoven in a statistical and biological context, and students will learn scientific methods through hands-on research experiences.
A series of courses, labs, projects, field trips, seminars, lectures and other activities centered on mathematics, statistics and biology will be offered, using resources from ETSU’s undergraduate science and mathematics program and research laboratories, along with those of local schools, industry, governmental agencies and academic science establishments.
The curriculum will consist of courses BIOL-1110 (Lab 1) and BIOL- 1111 (Lecture 1) 4 credits, biological science for majors and MATH 1530 (3 credits, probability and statistics), which will be taught in the integrated fashion developed through a $1.7 million grant from Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Field experiences will include trips to the ETSU Medical School Labs in Johnson City, TN; Eastman Chemical Company in Kingsport, TN; Oak Ridge National Laboratories in Oak Ridge, TN; Roan Mountain State Park in Roan Mountain, TN; the ETSU and General Shale Brick Natural History Museum at the Gray Fossil Site in Gray, TN; Bays Mountain Park and Warrior’s Path State Park in Kingsport, TN; , Jonesborough Live Music on the Square in Jonesborough, TN; and "The Carter Fold" in Hilton's VA.
