Teachers Dive into Engineering Software
Tue Aug 19 2008
A number of West Virginia educators learned how to build engineering software into their math and science curricula during a free workshop held Aug. 6-8 at the Center for Educational Technologies.
Twelve teachers from grades 5-12 in the Mountain State took part in the Teaching for the Future: Pro/ENGINEER® Workshop held at the center. The session was part of a series of workshops across West Virginia subsidized through a grant from the West Virginia Department of Education.
Participants were certified to teach the Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC) Pro/ENGINEER software. They also received curriculum materials and copies of the software with permission to install up to 300 seats.
The workshop gave participants hands-on practice building engineering software into math and science curricula to address STEM standards and 21st century skills. The workshop introduced participants to the use of engineering software and showed them relevant ways it can be used. They then developed their own curriculum materials with the software to address their specific classroom needs. And they vetted their new curriculum with colleagues and students to determine its effectiveness.
Thanks to an educational coach learning management system portal, participants also had access to product-based training. This curriculum maps directly to the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) and NETS (National Education Technology Standards).
Participants received a $50 per day stipend and could choose to apply their stipend plus $500 to receive three hours of graduate credit from Wheeling Jesuit University based on their completing the workshop plus additional requirements outlined in the course syllabus. The graduate credits associated with this workshop are partially subsidized by a grant from the West Virginia Department of Education.
A discussion of the workshop is posted on EdTech Collaborative, a NASA-funded website created by the NASA-sponsored Classroom of the Future at the Center for Educational Technologies to share best practices in educational technology.
