Workshop encourages innovation in engineering

Connie Klements, left, of Laramie, receives an up-close-and-personal perspective on germs, with some help from engineering student Alicia Demino.

   Introducing K-12 teachers to innovative activity modules that explore engineering concepts is the focus of a new summer workshop offered by the University of Wyoming Science and Mathematics Teaching Center (SMTC).

   "An Engineering Based Approach to Science and Math Instruction" is a collaboration between the SMTC, the UW Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. The two-week workshop introduces teachers from school districts in Wyoming and Idaho to campus to try out innovative lesson plans and in-class activities that can be adapted to different grade levels.

 The workshop is a joint project of the SMTC and the UW Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. It is funded by a Title II grant from the Wyoming Department of Education. Participating teachers will receive on-site and telephone support from engineering faculty and graduate students during the 2008-09 academic year, to ensure successful implementation in the classroom.

   Many learner-friendly lesson plans and other resources exist, but teachers often have trouble locating them.

   "They are at the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, the Department of Energy, professional societies, even some large corporations," Sadrul Ula, professor of electrical and computer engineering and workshop coordinator, says. "They have a lot of science and mathematics lesson plans, it's just that teachers don't have the time to go and find those."

   Engineering graduate and undergraduate students located and tested lesson plans and activity modules on a variety of topics ranging from solar and hydrogen energy to electromagnetics to bioengineering. The team then led workshop participants through hands-on trials of several selected experiments while they were on campus. The teachers will provide input on which units offer the greatest potential for use in the classroom and help determine which activities will be developed for further development for broader use across Wyoming.

   Interweaving the hands-on assignments were a series of lectures featuring faculty experts from the Colleges of Engineering and Education, as well as field trips to a wind farm near Arlington, Wyo.; the Missouri Basin Power Project near Wheatland, Wyo.; and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo. Tours highlighted the types of resources available in or near teachers' home communities.

   Participating in the Laramie-based workshop is the first step for the teachers. Grant funding also provides follow-up support for applying what they learned in an instructional setting.

   "The first time they do it in the classroom in the fall, we will be there," Ula says. "Our engineering students and I will be there, so that they don't have to fear things not working."

    Faculty, graduate and undergraduate students will be available to respond via phone to questions and challenges that arise throughout the school year. They also will receive support locating and scheduling local resources for either in-class talks or site-based field trips.

   Teachers reflected on a range of reasons for participating in the program.

   Connie Klements, a teacher at Laramie Junior High School, sees the potential for engaging her special education students in richer ways.

   "It's a lot of hands-on work," Klements says. "Special ed kids need hands-on activities so that they can understand better what is going on."

   Lisa Vail of Blackfoot, Idaho, who coordinates a district-wide program for gifted students in grades 3-6, saw the workshop as an opportunity to build her own knowledge to help students.

   "I was very interested in coming, to get a wider base for engineering possibilities," Vail explained, "to guide them toward whatever they would like to do, and get them to the right sources."

   Jim Moore, teaches science at Starrett Junior High School in Riverton, saw the experience as a resource for helping students create broader visions of their future.

   "These are enrichment activities that will, hopefully, get them interested in something that will at least get them thinking about college what they want to do, where they wan to go," Moore says. "If they are interested in engineering or science, we'd be glad for them to do that."

   Participating teachers were:

   BLACKFOOD, IDAHO Eric Vale and Lisa Vale.

   CHEYENNE Deborah Chaplin.

   ENCAMPMENT Nathan Davis and David Goff.

   GILLETTE Heather Burrow, Lora Greer, Amber Larsen, Ryan Larsen, Patricia Kuberra, Michael Mahoney, and Greg Schliske.

   LANDER Jim Moore.

   LARAMIE Connie Klements, Becky Steele, and Ron Whitman.

   RIVERTON Bruce Peil, Kerri Peil, and Jan Shimogaki.

   ROCK SPRINGS Doris Lehman.

   WAMSUTTER Charles, Cook, Cheryl Rideout, and Sonya Wheeler.

   WRIGHT Kristina Butler.

   Graduate and undergraduate assistants who staffed the workshop were:

   BEIJING, CHINA Yi Zhang.

   ELDORET, KENYA Mark Korir.

   LARAMIE Russell Martin, Jeff Rickerl, and Robert Wilhelm.

   PARKER, COLO. Alicia Demino.
 

Posted on Wednesday, July 23, 2008