Psychology and Human Factors News

Spring Break Science & Engineering Camps for Grade 1-3, Grade 4-6

Published March 6, 2015

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Spring Break Science & Engineering Camps for Grade 1-3, Grade 4-6 offered Mar. 31, April 1-2

Classes meet 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Great Lake’s Research Center.

Cost: $120 per student. Up to 20 students per class. Register soon!

Register Online: Spring Break Science Camp Registration or http://www.wupcenter.mtu.edu

Pay by credit card: call the cashier 7-2247 (Your space is not reserved until payment has been received.)

Questions? Call: 7-3341

Grade 1-3 Engineering in Our World!

Learning about the engineering design process, each day of camp will present a different challenge to solve: designing bridges, improving play dough and designing walls. Following the Engineering is Elementary curricula for grades 1-3, campers will explore chemical engineering, materials engineering and civil engineering with visits from real engineers to the class.

Instructors: Marcy Erickson, Michelle Miller and Lloyd Wescoat

Grade 4-6 A Taste of Tech!

Kids will explore a variety of labs and do some cool engineering activities along the way!

Watch worms at home in the soil with a visit to the Rhizotron
Take a hike on Tech Trails
Bend water and make silly putty at the chemistry lab
Try out a real driving simulator with mechanical engineers
Smash concrete and test a Maglev track with civil engineers
Have fun with trains with transportation engineers.
And enjoy a free lunch at Michigan Tech (MUB) on Thursday, compliments of the Michigan Tech Transportation Institute

Instructors: Joan Chadde, Chris Hohnholt, along with Michigan Tech faculty and students.

From Tech Today.

Teacher Summer Institute: Engineering Applications in the Earth Sciences

Published March 4, 2015

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Engineering Applications in the Earth Sciences
July 13 – 24, 2015

This course will show how engineers use principles from the earth sciences to solve problems and design systems. Key concepts will be linked to the Next Generation and Michigan Science Standards for precollege education.

Learn more about Engineering Applications in the Earth Sciences Summer Institute.

Margo Woller-Carter Places in Graduate Research Colloquium

Published March 2, 2015

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The 2015 Graduate Research Colloquium was held on Feb. 25–26 in the Memorial Union Ballroom. Winners were announced at a banquet on Thursday, Feb. 26.

Margo Woller-Carter, PhD Student, Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors, took second place for her oral presentation “Development of the Intelligent Graphs for Everyday Decisions Tutor.”

Patrick Belling is an Outstanding Teacher

Published March 2, 2015

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The Graduate School and Graduate Student Government proudly announce the 2014-2015 academic year winners.

Patrick Belling, PhD Student, Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors, is a recipient of the Outstanding Teaching Award. The award recognizes graduate students who have exhibited exceptional ability as a teacher, have received excellent evaluations from students, as well as gaining the respect of faculty in their departments.

Winter Family Hike at Maasto-Hiito

Published March 2, 2015

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Take a snowshoe hike to investigate who lives in the world beneath the snow and what they are doing on Saturday, Feb. 28 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Those attending will meet at the Maasto-Hiito Chalet. The program will be led by Denise Landsberg, an environmental educator, who will engage the group in creative outdoor play and nature exploration.

Families are encouraged to bring snowshoes, but there will be 20 pairs available for those who need them.

The program is free. Funding is provided by the Michigan Association of Environmental Professionals. The program is coordinated by the Western UP Center for Science, Math and Environmental Education.

For more information contact Joan Chadde at the Western U.P. Center for Science, Math and Environmental Education at Michigan Tech, by calling: 7-3341 or email at jchadde@mtu.edu.

From Tech Today.

Family Science Night at PLDL

Published February 24, 2015

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The Portage Lake District Library invites all K-6 students and their parents for an evening of fun and science with the Michigan Tech Family Science Night program, tomorrow from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Families will have two hands-on activities to work on. In “Ooey, Gooey Slime!” participants will mix up some common household items, conduct experiments and see what happens. “Starry, Starry Night” will give participants a chance to explore the cosmos and create their own constellation.

Family Science Nights develop children’s curiosity and their ability to solve scientific challenges. These activities also provide an opportunity for parents and their children to learn together while having fun and making scientific connections to everyday life.

This event is coordinated by the Western UP Center for Science, Mathematics, and Environmental Education and Michigan Tech.

Library programs are free and everyone is invited. For more information, call the library at 482-4570 or visit the Portage Lake District Library website and Western UP Center website.

From Tech Today.

Get WISE for National Engineers Week

Published February 24, 2015

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This week is National Engineers Week, a celebration of the positive contributions that engineers make to society. At Michigan Tech, the Tau Beta Pi chapter and Alpha Society are hosting a number of Engineers Week events, including:

Get WISE (an event for middle school girls)
9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., February 24, 2015
Wood Gym, SDC
Presented by The Center for Pre-College Outreach and the Western UP Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education
In this annual workshop and lunch, 250 seventh and eighth grade girls will tackle science and engineering challenges, meet female role models from Michigan Tech, learn physics concepts and explore their interest in science/engineering. The goal is to inspire more young women to pursue careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics).

and many other events.

Women Faculty, Staff Help Female Students Dress for Success

Published February 17, 2015

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More than two dozen women students will be attending today’s Michigan Tech Career Fair and the job interviews that follow dressed as the professionals they will soon become, thanks to a brainstorm by a couple of women faculty members at Tech.

When Amy Lark, an education instructor in the Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences, discovered that the Campus Bookstore does not sell women’s business attire, she and Susan Amato-Henderson, chair of cognitive and learning sciences, discussed alternatives. They came up with the idea to ask faculty and staff to donate women’s business clothing that female students could wear.

With just two days’ notice, approximately 15 people donated, and academic advisers were invited to let their women students know that clothing in sizes 4 to 20 was available.

“On Sunday between 1 and 3 p.m., we were able to outfit about 25 students,” Amato-Henderson said. “We had clothes left over, and a few more donations came in Monday morning, so we still have students coming in to get business clothing. The students were so grateful. It was a wonderful experience.”

From Tech Today.

Dressing all for success

For Assistant Professor of Science Education Amy Lark, as well as other members of the campus community, persistence has paid off, as work has continued to try to get women’s professional clothing sold alongside the current selection of men’s clothing at Michigan Technological University’s Campus Bookstore.

Steve Landry Quoted in Trains Magazine

Published February 16, 2015

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Steven Landry, MS student in Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors, was quoted in the article “Despite drop in collisions, intersection of roads and rails still a dangerous place.” Landry noted that each year fewer and fewer people were killed in grade crossing incidents. He gave reasons which included studies of driver behavior at railroad crossings.

PhD Students Learn to Communicate their Research

Published February 13, 2015

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With a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant, a civil and environmental engineering professor at Michigan Technological University is trying to help the next generation of PhDs learn to better communicate their research. Alex Mayer, the Charles and Patricia Nelson Presidential Professor at Michigan Tech, runs a fellowship program that teaches PhD students in a variety of fields to explain their research in K-12 classrooms and to write news releases to communicate with the public through the media. Others working with him on the grant are Nancy Auer, Biological Sciences; Brad Baltensperger, Cognitive and Learning Sciences; Kathleen Halvorsen, Social Sciences and School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science; Shawn Oppliger, Copper Country Intermediate School District; and Linda Nagel, formerly at Michigan Tech, now at the University of Minnesota.