An Oak Ridge business and education partnership launched with the help of Roane State Community College has boosted middle school student interest in science and math.
The students, from seven area school systems, participated in a “Lab-in-a-Box” pilot program by the Rural Communities STEM Initiative, or RCSI, during the past academic year, a press release said.
An evaluation by Roane State found that:
- 70.9 percent of students responded that the labs increased their interest in science or math.
- 91.5 percent of students reported that they liked doing the labs.
- 85 percent of students achieved a high level (80 percent or greater) of competence in the state standards addressed with each Lab-in-a-Box.
- 67.6 percent of students wrote that the labs motivated them to achieve in science or math.