• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Features
  • Campus News
  • CSUDH.edu
  • Contact
  • People
    • Staff Spotlight
    • Faculty Highlights
    • Alumni
  • Magazine
  • For Journalists
    • CSUDH In The News
    • Press Releases
    • Facts and Figures
    • Find Media Experts
    • Gallery
    • News Reporting on Campus

CSUDH News

The primary source of news and information about California State University, Dominguez Hills, its students, faculty, and staff.

Center for Innovation in STEM Education Receives $13 Million in Federal Funding

October 14, 2019 By Paul Browning

STEM student

It was a September to remember for the Center for Innovation in STEM Education (CISE) at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), thanks to the announcement of three U.S. Department of Education (DOE) grants totaling $13 million.

“We compete with hundreds of universities and organizations for each of our grants,” said CISE Director and Annenberg Endowed Professor Kamal Hamdan. “Considering the competition, it is very rewarding and exciting to learn that one or more of our proposals were selected for funding.”

A New STAR on Campus

On Sept. 26, Hamdan received word that the DOE had awarded CISE a five-year, $7 million grant through the Teacher Quality Partnership Grant Program.

Kamal Hamdan
CISE Director and Annenberg Endowed Professor Kamal Hamdan

The funding will be used to replace CISE’s STEM Teachers in Advanced Residency (STAR) with a more comprehensive program called Residency for Equity through Action and Learning (REAL), or Project REAL.

Project REAL is a 15-month program that enables STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) teacher candidates to earn a preliminary teaching credential and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction. It also places CSUDH graduate-level teacher candidates in a year-long residency with trained master teachers in high-need (historically understaffed) secondary partner schools within CSUDH’s service area. Those who have gone through Project REAL will be far greater skilled at enabling their students to achieve higher levels of academic preparation and college readiness.

Setting Project REAL apart from other teacher residency programs will be the addition of fabrication technology skill training, which will transform teacher candidates into highly specialized educators. The curriculum will also include new certifications related to students’ areas of focus, such as project-based learning, Next Generation Science Standards, Common Core State Standards, and computer science.

Participants in Project REAL will also receive a $24,000 stipend to help offset living costs.

“We will be using the knowledge and know-how we’ve acquired through CISE’s innovative fabrication laboratory programs to create a holistic teacher development program at Cal State Dominguez Hills,” said Hamdan. ”Now, our teacher candidates will be ready – before they graduate – to integrate fabrication technology into their lessons and units of instruction through the lens of engineering challenges and complex real-life projects.”

News of the new DOE grant award was timely for CISE. The STAR program was scheduled to end Sept. 30. To help assure the continuity of CSUDH’s teacher resident pipeline, Hamdan applied for a one-year extension for STAR while CISE launches Project REAL.

On Sept. 27, the STAR extension was approved by the DOE and funded with $3 million. Since Oct. 1, both Project REAL and STAR have been operating simultaneously. The impact of both programs are far-reaching, according to Hamdan. More than 250 teachers will be prepared, and at least 40,000 K-12 students in the Los Angeles basin will be served.

Title V Grant

Hamdan received more good news from the DOE in September. He learned that CISE’s proposal for a Developing Hispanic Serving Institutions (DHSI) -Title V grant for $3 million was also selected for funding. The money will be used to create Transfer to Success (TTS), a proactive program that supports community college students who transfer to CSUDH.

Transfer to Success is a collaboration between CISE and CSUDH’s Divisions of Academic Affairs and Student Affairs.

Improving student retention and time to degree is a major function of the TTS program. Action plans will be developed for all participants to ensure they are able to complete their bachelor’s degrees within two years. The program also supports students after they graduate during their pursuit of advanced degrees, and in their careers.

“This is really huge. It’s transformational for the campus community, and for the schools and communities that we serve,” said Hamdan. “The Title V grant is just another way CSUDH continues to make its mark in the educational landscape across the nation.”

 

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Faculty, Research, STEM, Students, Teacher Education, Technology

Primary Sidebar

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
2nd in Economic Mobility

Press Releases

Installation view of “Personal, Small, Medium, Large, Family”

CSUDH University Art Gallery Presents “Personal, Small, Medium, Large, Family” by Mario Ybarra, Jr.

September 19, 2023

Student walking near Science and Innovation building on campus.

CSUDH Recognized as a Top Performer in the 2023 Sustainable Campus Index

September 15, 2023

Map showing geography of Southern California

Getty Foundation Awards CSUDH $180,000 for Brackish Water Los Angeles

May 9, 2023

See all Press Releases ›

CSUDH in the News

Installation view of “Personal, Small, Medium, Large, Family”

Daily Breeze: Upcoming CSUDH Exhibition Takes on Mass Incarceration

September 27, 2023

Students working on computers.

Daily Breeze: CSUDH Offers New Master Program for Incarcerated People for Fall 2023

September 11, 2023

Woman doing work on a computer.

KTLA: California Department of Corrections, CSU Dominguez Hills Unveils Graduate Program for Inmates

September 5, 2023

See more In the News ›

Faculty Highlights

Headshot of Carolyn Caffrey.

Faculty Highlights: September 2023

Headshot of Jonathon Grasse

Faculty Highlights: August 2023

Rama Malladi

Faculty Highlights: July 2023

Staff Spotlight

Cesar Mejia Gomez

Staff Spotlight: Cesar Mejia Gomez

Staff Spotlight: Ludivina Snow

Staff Spotlight: Gilbert Hernandez

Footer

California State University, Dominguez Hills Logo

Related Sites

  • csudh.edu
  • magazine.csudh.edu
  • gotoros.com

EMAIL NEWSLETTER

Get CSUDH News directly in your inbox

Copyright © 2023 · California State University, Dominguez Hills