CAREERS IN SCIENCE MATHEMATICS ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY SMET and the English and Mathematics it Ta

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CAREERS IN SCIENCE MATHEMATICS ENGINEERING AND
TECHNOLOGY (SMET) and the English and Mathematics
it Takes
A Presentation at Baton Rouge Magnet High School
(BRMHS)

• By
• Diola Bagayoko, Ph.D.
• SU System Distinguished Professor of Physics
• Director, The Timbuktu Academy PIPELINES
• Southern University and AM College
• Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• March 8, 2001

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

• The research that led to some of the findings
  presented here was funded in part by
• (a) the Department of the Navy, Office of Naval
  Research (ONR), through the Timbuktu Academy
  (http//www.phys.subr.edu/timbuktu.htm )
• (b) the National Science Foundation (NSF) and
  the Louisiana Board of Regents, through the Louis
  Stokes Louisiana Alliance for Minority
  Participation (http//www.LS-LAMP.org) and
• (c) the National Aeronautics and Space
  Administration (NASA) (http//www.phys.subr.edu/pi
  pelines).

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PRESENTATION OUTLINE

• CAREERS IN SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS, ENGINEERING,
  AND TECHNOLOGY (SMET)
• A VERY COMPLICATED FLEXIBLE DEFINITION

• THE ENGLISH AND MATHEMATICS NECESSARY
• FOR SUCCESSFUL CAREERS IN SMET ACCESS IS KEY

• DISCUSSIONS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

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CAREERS IN SCIENCE, MATH, ENGINEERING,
TECHNOLOGY
The possibilities are limitless SMET training
affords maximum flexibility in a changing world
Classic Careers teaching (pre-college and
College) industry, government, philanthropic
foundation, and enterprise careers research,
service sectors (avoid misconceptions on
salaries, conditions, etc.)
Non-Classic Careers out of field expertise!
Physicists as finance professors and brokers top
managers in business, industry, and government
(know enough to make decisions)
New Careers Interdisciplinary areasforensics,
environment, materials, etc.
Emerging and Future Careers The web just emerged
in 1991! Genomicists Proteomicists, Just
get prepared
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CAREERS IN SMET
FOR EXTENSIVE INFORMATION ON CAREERS IN SMET,
CONSULT http//www.phys.subr.edu/timbuktu/careers
.htm and Keep in Touch with Professional
Societies, Governmental Agencies,
Business/Industry Organizations over the
Years REMEMBER CONTINUAL CHANGES Just get
prepared!
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HOW TO PREPARE FOR CAREERS IN SMET (and others)
Luck is what happens when preparation meets or
makes, recognizes, and acts on opportunity.
(1) Develop, through sustained efforts, a mastery
of English and Communication (reading, writing,
listening, speaking) from K through high school
and beyond.
(2) Do similarly in Mathematics, up to calculus
include Statistics before completing the
Bachelors degree.
(3) Acquire research skills (in school and
college) and earn MS, Ph.D., Ph.D./MD, etc. for
maximum flexibility, and upward mobility for
career security .(It is a changing world, my
friend.)
(3) requires (1) and (2). And (2) requires (1).
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Power Law of Performance

• The Power Law of Performance (PLP) states that
  our ability, expertise, proficiency, or
  related results, in performing a task, increase
  with the number of times we practice that task.
• T A B(NE)-p OR T A B/(NE)p
• T Time to perform the task in question
• N Number of practices (rehearsals, exercises,
  assignments, etc.)
• A, B, and E are constants that vary with tasks
  and individuals.
• P is another constant (generally around 0.50),
  the learning rate.

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POWER LAW OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE (PLHP)
TA B (N E)-P
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Power Law of Performance

• This tautology of the realm of sport and of the
  arts, it turns out, also holds for intellectual
  or cognitive endeavors!

• Reference Please see Education, Vol. 115, No.1
  pages 31-39, 1994, for details.
• Parents, students, and teachers, please see
  Virtual Mentoring Institute at our web site
• http//www.phys.subr.edu/timbuktu.htm

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THE LAW OF PERFORMANCE AND THE ACT
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PLHP AND THE ACT
Course Taking (time on task) and ACT Scores
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TEST CONTENT AND FORMAT
English
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TEST CONTENT AND FORMAT
Mathematics
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TEST CONTENT AND FORMAT
Reading
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TEST CONTENT AND FORMAT
Science Reasoning
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MORE ON CAREERS

• SEE THE GIVEN TIMBUKTU ACADEMY WEB SITE ON
  PREPARING FOR COLLEGE, INCLUDING A COLLEGE
  PORTFOLIO

• SIMILARLY, BEFORE COMPLETING THE FINAL DEGREE,
  ONE HAS TO PREPARE FOR CAREER SELECTION AND
  RELATED OPPORTUNITIES

• PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE POINTS ON THE NEXT
  VIEWGRAPH

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SPECIAL POINTS

• DISCOVERING AND DOING WHAT YOU LIKE IS
  IMPORTANT. (Money is not everything and money
  generally follows success in what one does.)

• CAREERS EVOLVE Avoid misconceptions about
  careers do not move forward to the past! Every
  co-worker is a potential supervisee or
  supervisor. A broad knowledge and skills base,
  excellent communication skills, are a passport
  to promotion. (Over and narrow specialization
  limits.)

• NEVER FORGET THAT A CAREER IS ABOUT MAKING
  POSITIVE CONTRIBUTIONS (to a community, a
  society, and to humanity).

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CONCLUSION
Practice enhances ability!

• Practice partly begets and certainly enhances
  proficiency!

• YOUR reading, writing, observation, measuring,
  graphing, data analysis, reasoning, reporting,
  presentation, etc. skills that are practiced
  are the very ones that are enhanced (LP).

• The LP is implacable. It applies, whether one
  likes it or not, for positive and negative
  situations!

• THE OPPORTUNITIES ARE LIMITLESS THE LAW OF
  PERFORMANCE SAYS WE CAN ALL EXCEL, PROVIDED WE
  PRACTICE ADEQUATELY
• THANK YOU.