The new Sierra College Mobile Welding lab will be unveiled and attendees can take short workshops in the new lab.

PG&E and over 20 welding industry partners will provide demonstrations at the Rocklin campus. Attendees can try live as well as virtual welding.

When: Saturday, April 27, 2013 from 9am – 4:00 pm.

Who: The American Welding Society Sierra College Student Chapter is hosting this event for families, students, welders and community members.

Why: Attendees can experience metal working from blacksmithing to state-of-the-art welding technology being used in construction and fabrication to rebuild America.

Small groups, hands-on on projects, female role models, encouraging professors and a warm welcome to Sierra College were all part of the strategy to inspire girls at the NEW event according to Carol Pepper-Kittredge, Director, Center for Applied Competitive Technology Center (CACT), Sierra College. Held at the Rocklin campus, girls from Roseville, Nevada City, Truckee and communities in between were introduced to Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) education and careers paths.

“We wanted these girls to know that they can succeed in nontraditional careers and make a difference for their families, community and the world,” said Pepper-Kittredge. “The event was designed to engage girls, and help them see themselves attending Sierra College and taking computer, design, welding, Mechatronics and other Career Technical Education (CTE) classes.”

Learn more: http://sierraschoolworks.com/section/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/96-Sparks-will-fly-at-Sierra-College-Weld-Expo-’13.jpg

NEW Flyer Sierra College STEM Event to allow girls to experience nontraditional education paths

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This intimate NEW event will give girls a welcoming introduction to a technical education path at Sierra College. They will see labs, use tools, build projects, meet female college students and learn about careers. The event is designed to connect with girls and inspire their career plans.

At the Sierra College Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW) Event expect:

• Girls doing hands-on projects using power and hand-tools in college labs.
• Students using diagnostic equipment to troubleshoot basic mechanical issues on a car.
• Women designing with 3D software and seeing 3D printing or additive manufacturing.
• Females learning basic fabrication skills to make their own metal flower vase.
• Girls interacting with faculty and college students at six different labs on campus.

Businesses seek more employees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Women are underrepresented in these fields. Attracting female students to technical careers will help supply workers needed to maintain a global competitiveness and provide living wage employment to women.

Potts plans to become an automotive technician or an automotive service writer. “I have always liked fixing thing and seeing how they work,” said Potts. “By working in this traditionally male field, I will be able to make a great life for my kids.”

Several Loomis Basin School District teachers also won grants at the ceremony in Loomis on February 27 to enhance thier mathematics programs:

Susan McQueen, 6th grade math and science teacher at Loomis Grammar School, received a grant to buy a supplemental math program that uses visual and kinesthetic approaches to provide students with a foundation for success with algebra.

Top LtoR: Patricia Sleizer; Susan McQueen; Tracey Curry; Dana Swain; Bobbi Nelson; Bottom LtoR Jennifer Ameigeiras; Amanda Tibbitts; Angela Smith

Tracey Curry, 1st grade teacher at Ophir Elementary School, was given an award to purchase tactile manipulative kits that can be used by students to reinforce and practice key first grade math concepts.

Dana Swain, 4th grade teacher at Placer School, received a grant for a banking project to enhance both math and history curricula. This program will reinforce the concept of decimals while working with money, and teach students about banking services, financial institutions and how money impacts us every day as a cornerstone of our economy.

Learn more at the Loomis News Soroptimist awards make a difference — Teachers, community members receive grants and awards.

Local employers echo what national business organzations are saying – students need to be better prepared for the workplace. at a meeting on February 13, an employer skills panel made up of Andy Reimanis, Director of Engineering Telefunken Semiconductors America; Carol Rogers, Vice President, Progressive Technology; and Leandra Wilson, Director of Strategic Operations & Human Resources, Harris & Bruno shared specific examples of how employees use critical thinking. They all described the problem solving steps engineers and technicians went through to figure out how to solve production problems.

Read more about ACTivATE and what instructors and employers are saying about this new Sierra College STEm project at the Auburn Journal – Critical thinking to become a focus at local schools –Teachers listen, respond to input from local employers.

The ACTivATE project builds on National Science Foduantion projects. Sierra College will partner with Tennessee Technological University that produced a widely used Critical Thinking Assessment Test (Expanding the Use of CAT: Assessing and Improving Critical Thinking – NSF DUE 1022789 ) and the Northwestern University Searle Center for Teaching Excellence that developed Enhancing Critical Thinking in STEM Disciplines: A Faculty Development Model (NSF DUE 0942404), both National Science Foundation (NSF) projects. The ACTivATE project also builds on Sierra College’s previous NSF Tech-Explorer grant (ATE 1003259) that highlighted the fact that during a hands-on catapult building project, students did not exhibit the critical thinking skills required of technicians.

“Teachers can use simple geometry to demonstrate calculating the angle of the chair suspended from the cable carrying it up the hill,” said Katie Lucero, Math Department Chair, Sierra College. “We saw how data was collected and logged daily; basic math computations were used to confirm that the system is running within safety parameters. A much more complicated series of equations would be used by engineers in the design process to determine the weight per chair for the lift system, with and without people, when it is stopped and when it is moving at maximum speed.”

Learn more at Rocklin and Roseville Today Faculty tour Northstar to Apply Math to Jobs.

Who: Math Teachers in grades 4-12 looking for innovative ways to reinforce Math & Critical Thinking skills.

Why come: Gain a new tool to use in your classroom, experience using it in this hands-on workshop and benefit from hearing what your peers are doing to enhance math education. You will get one set of Core-Cards to use.

What are Core-Cards? They are an incredibly flexible set of cards can be used to teach needed fraction, decimal and percentage skills. The cards are designed to visually prompt students so teachers can use the cards to help learners of all levels. Cards are 1/8, 2/8, 3/8, 4/8, 5/8, 6/8, 7/8 and 8/8 and the equivalent reduced fraction, decimal and percentage. A diagram also appears on the cards. To play Go Fish, students collect cards that sum up to one in the same suit. Slap Jack is an anticipatory game; they slap when the last two cards add up to one. In 21, students add cards to get close to two.

How does it teach creativity? Students use their creativity to invent their own games. Through the experience, they use critical thinking skills and experience deeper levels of understanding. Students take a test to determine what skills they need to improve. Then they develop their own games to practice the needed skills. Students can write papers and/or give presentations about their hypothesis, the game developed, how the pilot of the game went, the results of the post-game test and how well the game improved their skills. This engages students and empowers them to take a more active role in their own education. They also benefit from going through an invention design process to create their game. Once developed, the games can be played by other students in your classroom. At this workshop, learn how to coach your students effectively through this process.

Learn More: http://core-cards.com/