Category: Teacher Education

Family Transportation Activity Night

TransportationA Family Transportation Activity Night was held recently at Ocean Springs Upper Elementary School near Gulfport, Miss.

Two CEE graduate students traveled with Joan Chadde, education/outreach program coordinator, Center for Science and Environmental Outreach, and presented an activity called “Packaging Bananas” that they helped to develop. The students were Irfan Rasul, graduate research assistant (advisor Pasi Lautala) and Adriano Rothschild, graduate teaching assistant (advisor Jeff Lidicker).

From Tech Today.

Joan Chadde Leads a Webinar

Coordinated by the Michigan Tech Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education in conjunction with the University of Southern Mississippi’s Center for Logistics, Trade and Transportation and the National Center for Freight Infrastructure Research & Education. VIEW THE WEBINARS AND OTHER LESSON MATERIALS

Bill Kennedy is a Distinguished Teaching Award Finalist

William KennedyThe William G. Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning seeks input for its annual Distinguished Teaching Awards, which recognize outstanding contribution to the instructional mission of the University.

In the Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences, William Kennedy has been nominated within the Associate Professor/Professor category.

Comments on the nominees are due by Friday, April 4, and should be sent to the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning.

Read more at Tech Today.

CLS at Graduate Research Colloquium 2014

GRC2014 Graduate Research Colloquium
Memorial Union Building Ballroom

Wednesday, February 19th
Human Impact (A2)
Investigating Lexical Access of Crossword Solvers – Kejkaew Thanasuan, Cognitive and Learning Sciences
Optimizing Risk Communication with Graphs – Margo M. Woller-Carter, Cognitive and Learning Sciences
The Effect of Skill and Viewpoint on Recognition of Dynamic Scenes in Soccer – Patrick Belling, Cognitive and Learning Sciences
“Listen2dRoom”: Helping Visually Impaired People Navigate Unfamiliar Spaces – Seyedeh Husseini, Cognitive and Learning Sciences

More Abstracts, Presenting Authors

Hierarchical Spatial Representations in Search and Pathfinding – Brandon S. Perelman, Cognitive and Learning Sciences
Mapping Between Dancers’ Movements and Sonification Parameters in the Immersive Interactive Sonification Platform – Steven Landry, Cognitive and Learning Sciences
Multifaceted Stakeholder Communications during Software Development Process for Citizen Science Applications – Wei Zhang, Cognitive and Learning Sciences
Auditory Emoticons: Iterative Design and Acoustic Characteristics of Emotional Auditory Icons and Earcons – Jason Sterkenburg, Cognitive and Learning Sciences
Assessing Cultural Groups via the Measure of Response Time Patterns – Yin-Yin Tan, Cognitive and Learning Sciences

View the Abstract Book | View the Photo Gallery | View the Results

Kejkaew Thanasuan
Kejkaew Thanasuan
Margo M. Woller-Carter
Margo M. Woller-Carter
Patrick Belling
Patrick Belling

Engineering and Elementary Students

Engineering celebrated at Michigan Tech

Michigan Tech is celebrating engineering with a week full of activities that promote engineering studies.

Earlier this week, the university held an activities night with elementary students in the area to show them different types of engineers.

Read more at Upper Michigans Source, by Sarah Blakely.

See also CSEO at National Engineers Week 2014.

Teacher Summer Institute 2014 – Isle Royale Moose Watch for Educators

mooseIsle Royale Moose Watch for Educators
August 1 – 9, 2014
Deadline: May 30, 201

Visit the Teacher Professional Development page for Application/Brochure and Contact information.

MooseWatch for Educators is a unique field experience in support of the ecological study of wolves and moose at Isle Royale National Park. Educators will receive the technical instruction needed to participate as a member of a backcountry research team collecting moose bones and performing field necropsies on moose kill sites. The research team will be operating in an off-trail wilderness setting involving travel by canoe and foot. They will learn research methods, backcountry navigation, and wilderness living skills. The course will integrate aspects of earth science, geography, anatomy and physiology, and general ecology and mathematics. Moose pathology and anatomy will be an integral instructional component of the program. Participants will present their findings to the researchers associated with the study as well as develop lesson plans for use at their local schools.

ED 5560
3 credits

CSEO at National Engineers Week 2014

Engineers Week 2014Next week is National Engineers Week, and Michigan Tech–like educational institutions and professional engineering societies nationwide–is sponsoring a full schedule of events.

The Western Upper Peninsula Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education is coordinating events on two dates.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18
Family Engineering Night, presented by the Center for Science & Environmental Outreach
Student-led engineering activities for K-5 students and families. Contact Joan Chadde, jchadde@mtu.edu or visit www.familyengineering.org .
Location and Time: Houghton Elementary School, 6-7:30 p.m.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20
Tiny: A movie about living small, presented by the Center for Science & Environmental Outreach, Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative, Center for Water & Society
Learn about low cost, flexible “tiny houses.” “Tiny Housers” live in homes smaller than the average parking space. Tiny takes us inside six of these homes. Free, followed by refreshments.
Location and Time: Hesterberg Hall, Room G002, Forestry Bldg, 7-8:30 p.m.

Read more at Tech Today.

CLS Faculty and MiTEP

International InnovationsThe latest issue of International Innovation, a science, technology and research resource publication, featured an article about Michigan Tech’s participation in the National Science Foundation-funded Michigan Teacher Excellence Program (MiTEP, which offers training and hands-on workshops in earth science for middle-school teachers. Brad Baltensperger, chair of the Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences; Associate Professor Kedmon Hungwe (CLS); Jacqueline Huntoon, dean of the Graduate School; and graduate student Mark Klawiter were featured.

See page 61, International Innovation.

From Tech Today.

Empowering teachers to conduct science

Professor Brad Baltensperger, Drs. Kedmon Hungwe and Jacqueline Huntoon, and graduate student Mark Klawiter describe their collaboration in an innovative programme designed to further enthusiasm for STEM topics in teachers and encourage students to enter such fields.

Read more at International Innovations, page 61.

Project Learning Tree Workshop

Project Learning TreeJoan Chadde, education program coordinator, Michigan Tech Center for Science and Environmental Outreach, conducted a Project Learning Tree workshop for 15 Detroit Public School teachers on Feb. 1, in Detroit at the Belle Isle Nature Zoo, as part of the third year of a US Forest Service grant to integrate urban and community forestry into the middle/high school curriculum, including the benefits of trees, how to assess forest health, forest stewardship and careers in forestry and natural resources.

From Tech Today.

Larry Hermanson Benefits from Noyce Scholarship

Larry Hermanson
Larry Hermanson

The Washington Island (Wis.) Observer published a feature article about Larry Hermanson, a science teacher in the Washington Island Schools who graduated from Michigan Tech’s Noyes Scholarship program. The Robert Noyes Teacher Scholarships are funded by the National Science Foundation to help people working or studying in science fields to become teachers in high-needs schools.

From Tech Today.

Teacher benefits from Noyce scholarship

A few years ago Larry Hermanson, the high school science and math teacher at Washington Island School, was a mechanical engineer who was thinking about changing careers. He lived in Houghton, Mich., so he inquired at Michigan Technical [sic] University about how he might become a teacher.

The Noyce stipend paid Hermanson an amount that just about equaled the tuition he needed to pay to take the courses required to become a state-certified teacher.

After Hermanson completed his education requirements and student teaching, he had offers from four high-need schools.

Hermanson is continuing to participate in professional development activities included in the Noyce Scholarship program.

The article continues in the Washington Island Observer, January 16, 2014, by Mary Marik.