Cognitive and Learning Sciences News

After School Science and Engineering Classes for Grades 1-8

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After School Science

There will be six sessions of after school science and engineering classes for grades 1-8 from Jan. 23 to March 3. The sessions will be held from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in Room 104 of the Great Lakes Research Center. To register, click the link above or wupcenter.  These sessions offer hands-on explorations taught by Michigan Tech science and engineering students. Cost is $75 per student. Register by Friday, Jan. 20. Pay by credit card by calling the Michigan Tech Cashier at 7-2247. Your space is not reserved until payment has been received.

Questions? Call 7-3341 or email Joan Chadde.

Note: Houghton school bus will drop off students at Michigan Tech by 3:50 p.m.

Class Offerings:

Gr. 1-2 Transportation and Engineering:Mondays

Students will design candy cars, a bridge to hold the most weight, a boat that floats, a brain helmet that survives a crash, planes, trains and more.

Gr. 3-5 Geology Playgrounds: Wednesdays

Beaches, waterfalls, lakes, sledding hills — discover how some of these favorite places to play were formed. Each week, we will explore different geologic activities which have created cool features and shaped our home — the Keweenaw Peninsula.

Gr. 6-8 Fascinating Plants:Thursday

Explore the amazing world of plants — visit a research greenhouse, conduct experiments on effects of road salt and acid rain, design a water treatment system using plants, try to make sugar like a plant, meet a botanist and find out how forest plant materials can replace plastics and provide medicine and food.

Coordinated by Michigan Tech Center for Science and Environmental Outreach.

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Important Changes to Teacher Professional Development Programs

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Professional Development Summer Institute for Teachers 06162016019The Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences (CLS) made important changes that will impact departments and faculty who have offered Teacher Professional Development courses or State Continuing Education Clock Hours (SCECHs) for teachers attending workshops or events.

It is hoped these changes will make things easier for you and your attendees and also provide teachers with graduate credit or SCECHs for their continuing education.

CLS is now accepting online proposals for Teacher Professional Development courses for institutes to be held next summer. These courses provide graduate credit to participants and allow you to pass the handling of course logistics off to CLS’s Teacher Professional Development Coordinator, Rachelle Gariepy. We deal with collecting teacher applications for your course, assuring students are registered as degree seeking or non-degree seeking students, verifying teaching certificates, working with teachers to gain admittance into the Graduate School, arranging housing and meal coordination and assisting with advertising.

Complete the link below to request your educational offering for teachers takes advantage of these services. In addition, if you would like to have your course advertised at the Michigan Science Teachers Association or the National Science Teachers Association annual conferences, course proposals must be submitted prior to Jan. 27. In order to offer a Teacher Professional Development course, you must fill out this proposal.

The CLS department will now be working with the state to offer approved SCECH programs in which teachers are the primary focus. Historically, faculty have worked with the Copper Country Intermediate School District (CCISD) to provide this service. SCECHs are used by teachers to apply toward renewing their teaching certificate or advancing from a provisional to a professional level teaching certificate. If you are interested in applying for a State-approved SCECHs program, contact Gariepy. Be advised that all SCECH proposals submitted to the CCISD in the future will be returned to the CLS department for processing.

If you have any questions about how our Teacher Professional Development programs can assist you in your work with K12 teachers, feel free to contact Gariepy or CLS Department Chair Susie Amato-Henderson.

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Chadde presented at North American Association for Environmental Education Conference

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Joan ChaddeJoan Chadde, director of the Michigan Tech Center for Science and Environmental Outreach, presented “Promoting High School Students’ Interest in Natural Resource and Environmental Career Paths” at the North American Association for Environmental Education Conference in Madison last week.

The session described the program that provides 20 Detroit high school youth with a free opportunity to experience Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and the campus of a natural resource university. Students complete pre/post surveys to measure changes in their interest in natural resource career paths.

Many at Michigan Tech supported the program, including Housing and Residential Life, School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, College of Engineering, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering and many others.

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Dr. Jeon and Graduate Students Attend AutomotiveUI Conference

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Philart and StudentsThis past week, Dr. Myoung “Philart” Jeon and seven of his students from CLS and CS attended the International Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Jeon and his team received a tremendously positive response to the tutorial they hosted titled “In-Vehicle Auditory Interactions: Design and Application of Auditory Displays, Speech, Sonification, & Music”.

 

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Brimley Students Visit Michigan Tech and Keweenaw

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image56417-persJoan ChaddeTed Bornhorst, executive director, A. E. Seaman Minera Museum land Joan Chadde, director of the Center for Science and Environmental Outreach, hosted a group of 30 middle-school students, two science teachers and two chaperones from Brimley Area Schools Sept. 28-30.

The Brimley Area Schools student population is 54 percent Native American and 51 percent low income. The special field trip was organized by Bornhorst with Brimley teacher Mary-Beth Andrews who was accompanied by teacher Chris Wheatly.

Andrews attended the Keweenaw Mineral Days mineral collecting event held by the museum during the summer which initiated the idea of bringing a group of her students to the Keweenaw Peninsula. She gained permission from the superintendent and school board, and raised all necessary funds, to provide her students with a unique and motivating Earth science and STEM-focused field trip.

“We were pleased to provide this unique opportunity for the Brimley students that may spark their interest to pursue a STEM degree at Michigan Tech,” explained Bornhorst.

“This was a great group of students,” observed Chadde. “We plan to work with them to make this an annual visit.”

by A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum

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Teacher Professional Development Course Introduces Kids to Engineering

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Eng-5100-3Over the summer, Michigan Tech presented the increasingly popular teacher professional development course, The Engineering Process. The course was developed by Professor Emerita Sheryl Sorby, and has been taught since 2001. The Engineering Process has grown more successful with the rise of the new Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which aims to transform how K-12 teachers introduce basic engineering concepts to their students. The teachers participated in the rigorous two-week course, which assisted in the development of curriculum to bring back to their classrooms this year. Aside from the fundamentals of engineering, the course also covered issues such as energy, infrastructure, and transportation.

The Engineering Process was generously funded through the Michigan Science Teaching and Assessment Reform (Mi-STAR) project, which is developing and testing a new integrated science curriculum that are aligned with the NGSS. “Mi-STAR is a perfect fit with what we’re doing,” said Professor John Irwin, “We’ve known all along the importance of getting kids interested in engineering before they get to college.” The summer institute was coordinated through the Department of Cognitive and Learning Science’s Teacher Professional Development program.

From the Mi-STAR blog, by Marcia Goodrich- Read full article here

 

 

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