On Oct. 17, 2014 nearly 100 girls visited Sierra College, were inspired by entrepreneurial women in tech fields, made hands-on projects in labs and met for round table discussions with mentors from local companies.
Posts Tagged ‘innovation’
Should Art be added to STEM?
Wednesday, June 25th, 2014A new White Paper, Exploring STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics, written by Elizabeth Dayton for the Sierra College STEM Collaborative, considers adding art to STEM.
According to Dayton, “The value of including art and innovation as part of our national effort to encourage careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is multifaceted.” The paper explores the evidence in support of adding arts and innovation to our national effort to encourage STEM education and careers.
Read this paper to learn about the evidence that indicates adding art to STEM can better prepare students to meet industry’s needs for creativity, imagination and innovation: Exploring STEAM Science Technology Engineering Arts & Math E Dayton Sierra College STEM.
Sierra College Student Clubs invited to Hacker Lab
Wednesday, January 29th, 2014
Sierra College is partnering with Sacramento Hacker Lab to encourage innovation in the greater Sacramento region. Learn more at Sierra College CACT & Hacker Lab Partnership & 3D Printer Spur Innovation.
Student clubs can arrange special discounts to join Hacker Lab.
Sierra College Center for Applied Competitive Technology (CACT) also supplied a 3D printer and soldering equipment to Hacker Lab so members are able to use this equipment to develop new products.
SparkTruck takes hands-on learning on the road
Thursday, January 31st, 2013It’s a Gas, Gas, Gas appeared in Spirit, the Southwest Airline Magazine and described the Stanford Univiersity students who take innovation to the streets. In the SparkTruck, they visit communities and give kids a chance to exeperience the fun of making things and being creative. The goal is to spark their enthusiasm for invention. You’ll be inspired by how these graduate students are creatively teaching STEM outside of the classroom.
Colfax High School Students Receive MIT Invention Grant
Thursday, October 25th, 2012
Congratualtions to Jonathan Schwartz and Colfax High School students who have won a Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam grant in the amount of $7,500 to create the Tri-Metric, a construction layout tool that can be used when building emergency housing to increase structural integrity. Colfax High School is one of 16 high schools nationwide to be selected as an InvenTeam this year.
Schwartz is active in the Sierra STEM Collaborative and the Sierra College CACT has supported improvements to the Colfax design, engineering and product development Career Technical Education program through grants.
The Colfax students will invent a Tri-Metric tool that can be used when building emergency housing. The goal is to make it easier to lay-out a house. It would allow novice builders to make sure the floor, walls and roof are all square, maximizing support to make the home sturdy. The students hope to design the mechanical device so it can be manufactured for under $20. The idea is to build in all the complex math of trigonometry into the tool so it can be used by anyone.
Schwartz, himself an inventor, says that students will experience working on a team and applying critical thinking skills. “They will design, and repeatedly prototype, test, and rebuild the Tri-Metric construction tool over nine months. They will go through the same experience that inventors go through,” said Schwartz. “In June, the students will showcase a prototype of their invention at EurekaFest at MIT in Cambridge, MA.”
Carol Pepper-Kittredge, Director, Center for Applied Competitive Technologies (CACT), Sierra College will mentor the team. “This project is an extension of the leadership Jonathan Schwartz and Colfax High School have demonstrated as participants in CACT’s Sierra STEM Collaborative,” said Pepper-Kittredge. “By applying their design, fabrication and math skills to solve a global problem, students, especially young women, will be inspired to consider technical careers.”
Entrepreneur and author Peter Sims, who wrote Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries and coauthored the best-seller True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership with Bill George will also mentor the team. A Colfax High School graduate, Sims has already met with students and inspired them with tales of how industry leaders innovate and produce new products.
Project Based Learning Conference in Napa this June
Tuesday, May 15th, 2012PBL World!, a Project Based Learning conference to be held June 18-22, 2012, will bring 400 teachers together to share ideas, listen to keynote speakers, and attend workshops and coaching sessions. Visit www.pblworld.org for more information.
Introduction to Project Based Learning
Tuesday, May 15th, 2012The Buck Institute for Education (BIE) interviewed Telannia Norfar, a math teacher using Project Based Learning extensively. The interview focused on benefits, resistance, bridging subjects, and more that a teacher considering Project Based Learning should consider. Read the brief interview here. She also hosted a half hour webinar discussing the creation of Project Based Learning projects. Click here to watch the webinar.
Mousetrap inspires innovation
Monday, November 28th, 2011Emerson wrote “Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.” That is the theme of the new Smithsonian exhibit of patent models from the Rothchild Collection. See the article in the Wall Street Journal 11/26 Trying to Build a Better Mouse Trap (Rachel Wolff).
WSJ: Innovation 101 on “design thinking”
Tuesday, October 18th, 2011Carolyn Geer in the Wall Street Journal on October 17, 2011 writes an article on Innovation 101. The article is about David Kelley of IDEO and Standford’s d.school. The article reports that Kelley suggests, “Innovators aren’t exceptional as much as they are confident.”
It also discusses Stanford’s d.school that “has been teaching K-12 teachers how to employ design-thinking….” “…early indications are that K-12 students exposed to design thinking are more engaged and motivated to learn….”