BlackboardChallenger Learning Center Featured at Astronauts Memorial Meeting
The College of Engineering's Challenger Learning Center was the focus of attention at a meeting of the Astronauts Memorial Foundation at Kennedy Space Center, cosponsored by the Florida Spaceport Authority, on December 1.
"Space is pretty exciting to students, and this programs gets them to use their math and science skills in a way that draws them into those subjects" according to FSU Pres. Sandy D'Alemberte. "This program demonstrates how effective interactive education can be. We are finding better ways to teach than in the past and this is a good model program for educators to get involved in."
Dr. Norman Thagard, a former astronaut and now Director of College Relations and of the Challenger Center noted that "Space is one of those things, like dinosaurs, that really get kids' attention."
Dean Chen cited the country's need for more qualified engineers. "For 18 years, enrollment in U.S. engineering schools has continued to drop" and the Center's purpose to attract students to careers in science and engineering is hoped to reverse this trend.
Winston Scott, another former astronaut now associate vice-president at FSU, said that learning about space exploration also teaches young people about the importance of community.
The meeting was also addressed by June Scobee Rodgers, whose husband Dick Scobee was one of the crew who perished in the January 1986 Challenger accident, reviewed the mission of the Challenger centers which she helped establish, and remarked that "this center will be a bridge in many ways, a bridge to the future and a link to what you have at Kennedy Space Center and the U.S. Space Camp."
