Eliminating the ‘Chalk and Talk' Approach to Teaching
NASA program exposes pre-service teachers to innovative teaching methods, aims to demystify science, mathBy Hilary Hurd 

Alexandria, Va.
"I'm math illiterate," along with "I'm science phobic" are familiar statements to NASA's Dr. Sandra Proctor — in fact, they are among the statements she hears most often from students.
Proctor, special assistant for education at the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., developed a program proposal years ago along with Roger Hathaway, also of NASA Langley, that would take the fear out of teaching and learning math and science. The program was targeted specifically to minority college students interested in teaching on the elementary and secondary level, preparing them to teach in the areas of science, math and technology.
 "We can't let them be science phobic and take that into the classroom," Proctor says of the prospective teachers. "We have to break it down here."
The "here" this year was Alexandria, Va., just outside Washington. Last month 500 college students from approximately 30 historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions and tribal colleges attended the Seventh Annual NASA/Norfolk State University Pre-Service Teacher Conference.
 The students, also referred to as pre-service teachers, chose from 36 hands-on workshops led by area public school teachers, NASA scientists, college faculty and representatives from the technology industry.
There's no "chalk and talk" approach to teaching during the two-day conference, says Proctor, on loan to NASA from Norfolk State, whose School of Science and Technology is the grantee. The faculty expects the students to be engaged from the start and not just to sit and listen.
In one workshop, a faculty facilitator was commanding the students to "blow, blow, blow, fuel, fuel, fuel!"
Using basic materials — balloons, Styrofoam cups, string and a stick — the 30 prospective teachers made rockets, cheering when it was evident their project was successful.
"This is what makes science fun," Proctor says.