Pace University Receives Time Warner Cable Grant

An interactive workshop, led by Pace University professors and featuring the acclaimed dance group Koresh Dance Company, will illustrate computer science topics through dance for an audience of around 100 middle-school students on Friday, February 6 from 2:00 - 3:30pm. The workshop will be presented at MS 188 in the East Village at the school's performance hall in an after-school program organized by Pace's partner, the Educational Alliance. The participating students are diverse and come from some of the most underserved communities in the New York area. The event is part of the "Pace STEAM Program," a project supported by a grant from Time Warner Cable's Connect a Million Minds initiative and designed to enhance STEM education by presenting science and math through the lens of the arts. STEM education includes studies and lessons in science, technology, engineering, and math. STEAM lessons integrate arts within STEM education programs. As explained by educator-turned-STEAM-enthusiast Ruth Catchen, "the arts are a great learning tool and can serve as an on-ramp to STEM for underrepresented students. Engaging students' strengths using art activities increases motivation and the probability of STEM success." 1

"Through our Connect a Million Minds Initiative, Time Warner Cable is proud to support Pace University in exposing students to science, technology, engineering and math in various forms of arts such as dance. STEM education that is fun and engaging will help students benefit and learn and we believe this program will accomplish that and much more," said John Quigley, Regional Vice President of Operations, Time Warner Cable.

Connect a Million Minds is Time Warner Cable's five-year, $100 million cash and in-kind philanthropic initiative designed to address America's declining proficiency in STEM.

In the first part of the workshop, dancers from Koresh Dance Company will give a short performance. Pace professors will then work with the students to explore the math and science topics embedded in the performance piece. Students will learn how choreography is much like a computer code with strict instructions for movements, turns, and jumps, and will work to code their own dance routine. After the workshop, students and their families will have the opportunity to attend a full performance of Koresh Dance Company's Come Together at the Schimmel Center on Pace's lower Manhattan campus. "For many students who might not otherwise feel drawn to STEM topics, the arts can inspire engagement through the music, dance, and art forms they already love," said Lauren Birney, assistant professor at the School of Education and director of the STEM Center Collaboratory at Pace. "From the geometry a painter uses to create perspective to the physics underlying a dancer's pirouettes, science and math abound in the arts and make them the perfect vehicles for introducing and exploring STEM concepts."

While STEM education has become a major item on the national agenda, much less has been said about what role, if any, the arts might play in preparing students for success in STEM fields. For many students, especially those in underserved schools, arts programs are often the first to be cut in a difficult economy. "The American educational pipeline is not presently equipped to provide the skills necessary to meet the increase in demand for workers in STEM occupations-those requiring competence in science, technology, engineering, and math," said Jonathan Hill, associate dean of the Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems and co-director of the STEM Center Collaboratory at Pace. "Lack of school resources, deficient support in the content areas, and isolation of teachers are all contributing factors. As a consequence, the K-12 educational system is not sending enough students into the college ranks with the preparation necessary to be successful in science and math-a trend reflected in the global achievement gap," said Hill. "The result is a critical shortage of college graduates with the STEM skills required to succeed in today's workforce."

Birney and Hill have developed relationships with several underserved, diverse public schools in New York City. Altogether, the schools reach nearly 5,000 students. Pace faculty members support teachers and students at these schools through faculty/teacher mentoring relationships, curriculum development, the creation of inquiry-based projects for students, and teacher training and development.