Newswise — As part of an innovative program designed to help middle school teachers foster engineering education and build the United States' technical workforce, New Jersey teachers will become students for a week in June. That's when the Colleges of Engineering and Education at Rowan University, Glassboro, will host the first phase of their "Engineering Clinics for Teachers" (ECT) program.
Supported through a three-year, $326,000 grant from The Edison Venture Fund to the Rowan University Foundation, ECT is designed to increase knowledge of engineering among middle school teachers and enable them to better integrate engineering content into their existing curricula.
Through hands-on engineering activities, curriculum assessment and site visits, ECT will make engineering more relevant to middle school educators, provide exposure to engineering careers and support teachers and students in exploring and understanding engineering content in K-12 education.
During the June 25 to 29 residential workshop, the middle school teachers will participate in some of the engineering clinic projects offered to Rowan freshmen, including constructing a speaker system for an iPod® in an Altoids™ mints box, building a robot out of Legos®, testing water quality and building various types of bridges.
ECT is based on Rowan's innovative engineering clinic model, which offers multidisciplinary groups opportunities to solve real-world problems by employing innovative, creative measures in hands-on, team-based approaches.
The residential workshop will feature more than engineering clinics, however, including alternative professional development methods that focus on teachers' awareness of the importance of connecting physical health and inner well-being to content. Through activities including art, music, exercise and meditation, teachers will experience learning through the integration of mind, body and inner spirit.
The ECT director is Dr. Kauser Jahan, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering. The co-director is Dr. Kathleen Sernak, associate professor of educational leadership. Rowan's Education Institute also is supporting the program.
"Various studies indicate the United States is lagging behind other developed countries in technology," Jahan said. "Our goal is for Engineering Clinics for Teachers to serve as a model for educating teachers who will support students considering the engineering field."
That support may have various facets. Sernak said as important as it is to learn the basics of engineering, math and science, it's also important to learn how to stimulate curiosity and creativity. "Participants in our workshop will be able to return to their classrooms equipped with more tools to creatively teach and promote technical fields such as engineering," Sernak said.
Headquartered in Lawrenceville, Edison Venture Fund forges partnerships with entrepreneurs, service providers and other financing sources to support building successful companies. The organization invests in expansion-stage ($5 to 20 million revenue) information technology companies located in New Jersey and surrounding states. Since 1986, Edison's portfolio companies have created market capitalization surpassing $5 billion. Edison has made more investments in the Mid-Atlantic region than any other private equity firm. Edison sponsors many entrepreneurial, venture and technology programs throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
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