Center Has Big Presence at West Virginia Science Teachers Conference
Wed Oct 27 2010
A number of presentations by members of the Center for Educational Technologies highlighted the West Virginia Science Teachers Association annual conference, which was held Oct. 21-23 in Wheeling.
Dr. Meri Cummings, science resource teacher and lab manager, twice presented a hands-on session, NXT Robots in Real STEM Education. Cummings is the director of the annual FIRST LEGO League West Virginia state robotics tournament, set this year for Dec. 11 at Wheeling Jesuit University. The tournament is sponsored by the West Virginia Space Grant Consortium.
Another session—NASA Data, Students, and the Climatic Impact of Volcanoes—tied in to the revisions of the Exploring the Environment® website taking place under a NASA grant. Leading the presentation was Tamie Shiplett, curriculum writer at the center, assisted by Jane Neuenschwander, an instructor in the university's Professional Education department and formerly the longtime director of the NASA Educator Resource Center at the Center for Educational Technologies. Other contributors to the presentation were Dr. Laurie Ruberg, associate director; Dr. Chuck Wood, director; and Hope Coffield, program manager.
Dr. Debbie Denise Reese was joined by Neuenschwander and Dr. John Yelenic, director of the Accelerated Teaching Certificate Program (ACT) at Wheeling Jesuit, in presenting "To the Moon Through Virtual Worlds and Game-based Learning." That presentation focused on the Selene videogame created at the center along with MoonWorld, an island created in the virtual world Second Life in which students complete lunar geology missions from a base on the Moon. Reese presented activities for understanding the sun, Earth, Moon system and lunar observing.
The Challenger Learning Center at the Center for Educational Technologies also had a display at the conference. There were also several sessions featuring Center for Educational Technologies alumni.
