STEM at Cal State East Bay: A conversation with Dean Michael Leung of the College of Science

  • June 1, 2010

When I look at what’s required for Cal State East Bay to deliver on our regional stewardship commitments — to build the workforce, contribute to economic vibrancy and promote healthy communities — it’s clear that teaching science, technology, engineering and mathematics across our curriculum is essential. STEM education is the cement that connects and holds these commitments together.

Meeting our commitments and delivering on our mission therefore depends on our ability to redefine the way we teach and practice STEM, which is at the core of the university’s largest education initiative. And the success of that initiative relies on the support of the University community.

The future is interdisciplinary

Dean Michael Leung of the College of Science has been instrumental in helping develop our evolving plan for STEM education. His enthusiasm for this initiative is clear, as is his dedication to changing the way we think about science in academia and in society.

In our recent discussion about STEM education, Dean Leung emphasized that this is a crucial opportunity for the whole university — not just the College of Science — to play a pivotal role in the evolution of American higher education. “It’s a survival issue,” he said. “There are no single disciplines anymore. If we can’t work in an interdisciplinary way, we won’t survive because we won’t be able to come to a solution. 91麻豆天美apping Darwin’s principles of evolution, if you don’t go interdisciplinary, you will cease to exist.”

We agreed that our STEM initiative represents a pedagogical shift that may challenge academic tradition. But, as Dean Leung noted, Cal State East Bay faculty have long made it a point to work across those boundaries, in service of our students. Both he and I are very proud of this culture and what the University has accomplished so far.

Dean Leung was quick to praise the cooperation between departments within the College of Science as well as the collaboration of faculty in science and teacher education, which Dean Carolyn Nelson of CEAS also commented about in our conversation in March. Dean Leung and I also discussed ways for the College of Science to work more closely with CLASS and CBE as part of our STEM initiative — illustrating how science and its faculty are truly looking ahead to increased interdisciplinary collaboration.

The positive response of CSUEB faculty to our initial STEM education planning and discussions — starting almost four years ago — has already yielded important new program ideas and pilots. These are at the vanguard of our work to reinvent education from preschool through college. I am proud to say that the Chancellor’s Office and other CSU campuses are starting to look to Cal State East Bay as a model for developing and exploring STEM programs of their own.

Teaching science and mathematics the right way

Science can be complex, and in its complexity, easy to make boring or difficult for students. At Cal State East Bay, we are fortunate to have faculty who are committed to making it interesting and relevant. They focus on engaging and involving students in hands-on primary research projects. This not only enhances the learning experience, but also improves student skills while providing valuable workforce training.

And at the same time, our faculty continually explore new cross curricular opportunities to expand this applied approach. They have, as Dean Leung put it, “reengineered themselves, as working both for science and science education. That makes them a central force in our STEM initiative.”

Modern American education places considerable emphasis on abstractions, like equations and formulas, but not enough on the meaning and practical applications. Connecting to the real world requires more than simply adding STEM concepts to business, arts and language classes. “It’s a two-way street,” Dean Leung said. “Science needs to know more about the outside disciplines, too, and be more open to bringing in those outside influences.”

Understanding STEM subjects requires appreciating their impact in the world, not just looking at them in isolation in a laboratory. This means we need to demystify science and technology. “Both sides must reach out,” Dean Leung said, “and make a strong effort to teach each other not to be mistrustful.” Changing the way STEM-related subjects are taught and experienced helps us all understand the critically interdependent relationships that exist between all bodies of knowledge. 

Returning to the roots of liberal education

As one of my early advisors in developing our plan for STEM education, Dean Leung has heard many concerns and perspectives. “At the heart of concerns about this STEM initiative is a concern that it somehow will fundamentally change our entire curriculum,” he said.

While it’s true that our STEM initiative calls for changes, they will not be immediate but rather evolutionary. Over the next decade we will reshape teaching at CSUEB to serve as a model for educational change regionally, statewide and even nationally. Perhaps more importantly, those changes will address long-standing deficiencies in the way STEM subjects have been taught. This deficiency is seen across the American educational system, which has defined disciplines so narrowly in the past that we have left behind the foundation of a true “liberal arts” education.

The traditional elements of artes liberales, reaching back centuries, were grammar, rhetoric and logic, joined by arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy. Science and mathematics have always been part of the liberal arts — not in opposition. And so the changes we propose, in fact, represent a return to the roots of a true liberal education.

Our model calls for an academic continuum rather than compartmentalized approach to subjects. It’s entirely consistent with what the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) defines as essential learning outcomes for a new century, which considers “knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world” foundational.

“This is a complex issue that requires a multilevel approach,” said Dean Leung, “because it involves students as well as those who teach them.” I agreed with Dean Leung that whether we’re dealing with existing programs or plans for future ones, we must consider these parallel tracks at each step of the pipeline. In other words, if one of our objectives is to engage student interest in STEM, we must also ensure that teachers have the training and tools to cultivate that interest.

STEM and citizenship

The AACU defines a liberal education as “an approach to learning that empowers individuals and prepares them to deal with complexity, diversity, and change.” Today, the general public’s knowledge of STEM subjects is clearly insufficient, and scientific literacy has never been more essential for informed citizenship. Dean Leung and I therefore see STEM education as core to our mission to graduate students who are “socially responsible contributors to their communities, locally and globally.”

He cited several current events such as the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, volcanic activity in Iceland and the Haitian earthquake —as well as ongoing news about global warming and energy — as examples of STEM-related issues that require input from science, public policy, technology and business to find solutions.

“Democracy depends on citizens having an understanding of issues in science and technology,” Dean Leung said. “If we fail to prepare them, we fail democracy.” All communities and all citizens — whether at the local or the national level — must confront and manage a wide range of complex issues, including energy, water, communications, transportation, disaster preparation, public safety and security. To participate in the conversation and find the resolutions, the public must be technologically fluent.

Dean Leung and I concurred that, in many ways, science unfortunately has become politicized in the U.S., impeding informed discussion and resolution. Strengthening STEM education can help diminish false choices between politics and science and therefore enable citizens to better understand the STEM-related issues in everyday life, leading to more responsible decisions from lifestyles to ballot boxes.

I’ve said that STEM education is too important to be left only to scientists; Dean Leung agrees. “No part of the STEM initiative belongs to any one college,” he said. “Not everyone is a scientist. But everyone is a citizen.”

Access and the pipeline

Our conversation would not have been complete without addressing another facet of our mission — broad access to quality higher education. For Dean Leung, the P-20 pipeline model (preschool through post-college education) is at the heart of improving access for all students. This approach looks at the potential dead-ends, pipeline “leaks” and diversions in the educational system that can block students’ interest in STEM and seeks ways to overcome or avoid these barriers.

Improving STEM education keeps that pipeline open, expanding it to create more opportunities for students to succeed in the new economy. It also can encourage students to become teachers, said Dean Leung, returning to the notion of parallel tracks. “It’s critical to engage students, and engage them early,” he explained, adding that parents must be involved too, so students get strong messages about the importance and relevance of STEM rather than uncertainty or doubt.

We also want students and their teachers to be thinking about and deeply engaged in STEM and STEM education, long after they graduate from Cal State East Bay, in whatever field they choose. The concept of “cradle to career” becomes “cradle through careers” in our P-20 pipeline model — lifetime learning to help professionals avoid obsolescence as they progress through the constantly changing knowledge economy.

I thank Dean Leung for sharing this discussion with me and for being such a tireless advocate for an inclusive, interdisciplinary, modern STEM education initiative. This series will resume in the fall with a conversation with leaders from the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences. During the coming summer months, I look forward to sharing other campus news and developments with you in anticipation of Fall Convocation and the start of a new academic year.

President Qayoumi invites and welcomes your comments. Submissions are not published on the news site but are sent directly to, and read by, the president.