Teachers Workshop:

Engineering Concepts to Enhance
Secondary School Math/Science/Tech Ed
Curricula

Including hands-on labs easily tranferrable to YOUR classroom!

Tuesday & Wednesday, June 24 & 25, 2008
8:30 am - 4 pm
University of Delaware (Newark Campus)

1.5 CEUs (equivalent to 15 professional development hours) awarded for full participation
The first 20 teachers to register will also receive a $100 stipend for full participation, provided through funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and gifts to UD's Engineering Outreach Program.

Register Online!

Workshop Description

Engineering is one of the most dynamic fields in the market today! Yet the number of students choosing to pursue the exciting engineering fields is declining in the U.S. Our country -- our world -- needs YOUR help as math, science and technology education teachers. YOU can help today's pre-college students see themselves putting to use the math and science skills you are teaching them. YOU can help your students see how those skills can be used to "turn ideas into reality" -- the very thing that engineers are known for doing!

Workshop Format

Each of four sessions will feature an engineering faculty member who will help you better understand a particular engineering field and will describe research that will grab the attention of your students, pointing out the high school level mathematics and science concepts needed to understand this research topic. Then you will put this engineering knowledge to work as you engage in hands-on experiments/modeling in our engineering labs. Finally, in consultation with your colleagues and the engineering faculty member and/or graduate students, you will create curricular enhancements that incorporate these engineering concepts and laboratory activities into your own curricula, using them to address various State Content Standards in science and mathematics while you wake up your students with these real-world examples. As part of the workshop, you will also be introduced to the interactive web tools that are being developed this summer during our NSF-funded Nature InSpired Engineering Research Experiencs for Teachers (NISE RET) so that you will be able to continue to collaborate with each other and with your counterparts throughout the world.

In addition, you will be provided with information about the realm of UD's research and engineering facilities and learn ways to help you identify future engineers among your students!

Who Should Attend

Secondary school math, science, and technology education teachers. The workshop sessions will be primarily aimed at high school, although middle school teachers can also work the basic engineering concepts into their curricula. (All participants in the NISE RET will attend the second day of this workshop, as part of their 6-week research experience.)

Benefits

This workshop will enable YOU to do the following:

* Understand how engineering uses the math and science YOU are teaching to your students.

* Challenge your students with information and activities related to leading-edge engineering
research while you address Delaware’s Content Standards in Science and Mathematics.

* Be better-equipped to discuss engineering careers with your students.

* Realize the outstanding resources available at the University of Delaware.

* Enjoy and benefit from cross-disciplinary interactions with your own colleagues and with UD faculty..

* AND MORE!

Agenda Topics

Registration, Continental Breakfasts, and Lunches (all included) provide great networking opportunities!
Welcome/workshop orientation
Engineering Concept Sessions and Laboratory Experiences

Topics will include:
Materials Science: From Big to Small - Evolution, Revolution, or Back to the Future - presented by Professor John Rabolt, Materials Science & Engineering
Molecular Sieves and Their Use in Selective Adsorption - presented by Professor Raul Lobo, Chemical Engineering & the Center for Catalytic Science & Technology
Putting Corrosion to Work: Removing contaminants from water using zero-valent iron - presented by Professor Pei Chiu, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Geotechnical Engineering: The Many Uses of Soils & Rocks - presented by Professor Christopher Meehan and graduate student Nicole Walsh

Registration and General Information

Program Fee ($20.00) partially offsets the cost of course notes, continental breakfasts and lunches, UD parking, and all breaks.

Enrollment Deadline: Friday, June 13, 2008

Cancellations and Substitutions: Although the program fee is nonrefundable, substitutions are permitted up to the first day of the workshop.

Registration Confirmation: A letter of confirmation will be mailed to your home address the week of June 16, and will include directions to campus/parking.

Register Online!