Egyptian Education Delegates Visit Campus to Learn About STEM Initiatives
Group shot of the delegates, Arcadia faculty and President Ajay Nair.
Arcadia University’s School of Education hosted Egyptian delegates from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and four universities on April 30, in order to showcase student and faculty research in scientific fields across campus.
Carlie Banchi ’19, Hope Halza ’19, Stephanie Maggio ’19, and Collin Wittmann ’19 each presented capstone research to delegates and discussed the process of how they gathered data. Faculty Capstone advisers Dr. Manny Curotto, professor and chair of Chemistry and Physics, and Dr. Ned Wolff, professor of Computer Science and Mathematics, spoke to the delegates on how they guide students and help identify and organize research topics.
“We’re committed to making STEM a priority,” said Dr. Kim Dean, assistant professor and chair of Education. “We want our students to bring the skills they learn in the liberal arts into one culminating experience, no matter their major, and Capstone provides that opportunity.”
As part of the visit, the Egyptian delegates were also introduced to the digital learning opportunities, including the new online graduate STEM Education program for working teachers, which features global learning experiences with hands-on projects that can be incorporated into their classrooms.
Delegates included Drs. Maged Massoud, dean of Education, Saied Ghobashy, former dean of Education, and Tamer ElNady, vice dean of Engineering, from Ain Shams University, Drs. Asmaa Mahmoud, dean of Education, Mohamed AbdelAzim, vice dean of Engineering, and Hosni Ghazala, vice dean of Science, from Mansoura University, Drs. Abdelmonem Nafei, dean of Education, Mohamed ElEraki, dean of Science, and Alaa Ata, dean of Engineering, from Zagazig University, and Drs. Adel Ali, dean of Education, Nouby AbdelRehim, dean of Engineering, and AbdelHamid Abousehly, dean of Science, from Assiut University, as well as Drs. Reda Abouserie, Chief of Party and former first deputy to the Minister of Education, Zeinab El Nagger, Amany Abd El Aziz, and Ahmed Rizkallah, representing the STEM Teacher Education and School Strengthening Activity (STESSA) and USAID. This visit was the second stop on a tour of four Philadelphia area universities as part of the $24.2 million USAID award sub-contracted to the American universities.
“I’m really impressed today with the Capstone [projects], because it’s exactly the same philosophy that we are implementing in the schools in Egypt,” said Dr. Abouserie. “We have to partner with universities that have a strong STEM teacher preparation program, and that’s why we have included Arcadia.”
This press release is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID.) The contents of this press release are the sole responsibility of Arcadia University and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
