A Summer Experiment: Making Learning Fun at ORU Math and Science Academy
by Deborah Laker
The whispers of twenty students fill a classroom in the Graduate Center as they excitedly
open packages containing ready-to-build model rockets. Following a brief explanation
of Newton’s Laws of Motion, Dr. John Matsson, a Professor of Engineering the Chair
of the Engineering Department at Oral Roberts University, walks along the rows, stopping
to help one of the learners assemble her purple rocket. Other students crane their
necks to see the demonstration and compare it with their own.
At first glance, this interactive lecture may appear to be an effort to make learning more enjoyable for a group of sleep-deprived ORU students. However, the students piecing plastics together are seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-graders attending ORU's annual Math and Science Summer Academy.
For three days in June, forty students from schools around Oklahoma converged at ORU to increase their passion for math and science by studying astronomy and rocketry, as well as visiting the Oxley Nature Center and the Tulsa Air and Space Museum.
Dr. Matsson, who has served as the summer camp's principal for over 10 years believes it is a "STEM effort" to give each student "an appetite and interest” in the wonders of science.
Throughout the day, the students had various hands-on lessons. But in the evening, the students joined Professor of Engineering Dr. Dominic Halsmer in the Aerobics Center where they competed in numerous sports such as volleyball, basketball, and ultimate Frisbee.
According to Dr. Halsmer, the Math and Science Summer Academy’s popularity stems from the fun that is integrated into all the activities.
“I hope [students] see that math, science, and engineering are fun,” emphasized Dr. Halsmer. “It’s satisfying to be able to solve a problem, get the right answer, and then actually build something that uses that information.”
The rocket-building project accomplished this, for while the students each built a six-inch rocket, they calculated how much it should weigh as well as its appropriate launch angle. On the final day of the Math and Science Summer Academy, they tested their creations by aiming them at a target 200 feet away.
Ultimately, Dr. Halsmer hopes the campers will be inspired to attend university.
“We want them to succeed in life and believe this summer camp can contribute to their decision to go full-out in the STEM fields,” said Dr. Matsson.
Kristiana, one of the campers from Metro Christian Academy, mentioned that the camp made learning more enjoyable and therefore, more memorable.
“…God created this world with so many different things in mind,” said the teenage science-fanatic. “It just amazes me that, with all intricacies He just said it and it was. It increases my love for God.”
In a few years, Kristiana hopes to become a student at ORU.
