After 13 years, the Tennessee STEM Education Center at MTSU is introducing a major change to its annual Tennessee STEM Education Research Conference.
It is moving, by design, from MTSU and Murfreesboro and heading east to Cookeville, Tennessee, where the 14th annual event, set Thursday and Friday, Jan. 16-17, will be held at Tennessee Tech University in the Roaden University Center and Bell Hall.
The 2020 conference, which also is being held about a month earlier than usual, brings together researchers and educators to discuss STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — education studies and how they are applied to learning environments from kindergarten to graduate school. More information is available at the conference website.
“We’re really excited about expanding the opportunity for folks across Tennessee to have access to the Tennessee STEM Education Research Conference,” said Tennessee STEM Education Center Director Greg Rushton, adding that he anticipates switching future event locations on a regular basis.
Mandy Singleton, new outreach and events coordinator for the center, said officials want the event to be known as a “regionally recognized conference that will bring a more diverse audience.”
“We’re hoping the event can grow, moving around different locations to get different folks involved in the organization of the event so that it’s not considered an event only for those at MTSU,” Rushton added, praising Tennessee Tech professors Holly Anthony and Darek Potter for organizing this year’s event.
The director said the conference may return to MTSU in 2021, then move again.
Dr. Paula Lemons, a nationally recognized associate professor in the University of Georgia Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Department of Biochemistry and Biology, will be the keynote speaker at this year’s conference.
Lemons is director of the Scientists Engaged in Educational Research, or SEER, Center. It facilitates cutting-edge research in STEM education through a community of scientists from different colleges, departments and medical partnerships.
In 2019, Lemons was among the recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists of Engineers, the U.S. government’s top honor for scientists and engineers who show exceptional promise for leadership in science and technology.
“We’re really excited to hear about her work but also about making our learning environments here in undergraduate education more equitable and inclusive,” Rushton said. “As we continue to diversify our student population, there will be likely more interest in these issues.
“We’ve always had a large proportion of first-generation students with challenges with making sure they have access to a quality education, so I think her contributions will be important,” he added.
For more information, call the Tennessee STEM Education Center at 615-904-8573.
