International Institute for Engineering Education Assessment

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National Educators Workshop 2014

By on Nov 11, 2014 in Blog | 0 comments

November 2-4, 2014

This weekend, the IGERT MNM project represented well at the 2014 National Educator’s Workshop (NEW), which was held in Seattle, WA at North Seattle Community College. TJ Wallin, a 3rd year IGERT Trainee, Monique Farrell, a first-year IGERT Trainee, and I presented the science activities and materials that we developed as part of the IGERT-MNM Pedagogy Module in Spring 2014. Here is a picture from my presentation.

cat-sessionMaterials Science and Materials Engineering educators from all over the nation met in order to present best practices and new concepts to teach students about materials science. The audience was so diverse! Middle school, high school, community/junior college, and university educators all joined to attend the workshops and small expositions, as well as to network among each other. It was really encouraging to see engineering trickling down to younger grade levels—exposure is a very important part of recruiting students into engineering! It’s not just robotics and grease—and materials science engineering introduced at younger levels helps students apply their math and science skills in an integrated format.

All the educators were so excited about the fact that doctoral students in materials science and engineering came to share our activities. Our sessions were well attended, and participants asked many great questions. Some of the educators were interested in the IGERT program generally, and the other skills that we as Trainees gain from the program. They were so impressed with how articulate we were, and the poise with which we led other educators (most of whom were many years our seniors) in discussion and activities.

More to come on the great things IGERT Trainees are up to!
Best!
–Catherine

 

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