On May 22 at 4 PM, PST you can learn how to “Ignite Your CTE Students’ Math Skills.” Sierra College instructors, Bill Wenzel, Welding and Katie Lucero, Mathematics will present a free webinar on infusing welding assignments with essential math skills.
Register for this free “Ignite Your CTE Students’ Math Skills”webinar.
Read more about the May 22 Math in Welding event.
Flyer on May 22 Ignite Your CTE Students’ Math Skills
Link to IGNITE Math in Welding Report and 8 Lessons
After the event, the Sierra College Ignite Welding infused with Math webinar will be posted on YouTube: http://goo.gl/41MrUO
Sierra College instructors will present eight turnkey activities and worksheets that they developed and used successfully in multiple welding classes to raise students’ math scores. The materials were created for the 2011-12 National Science Foundation (NSF) IGNITE (Infusing GeNed Into Technical Education) project, funded through a sub-grant from the University of West Virginia at Parkersburg.
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The Miller Roadshow Truck will be at Sierra College this Saturday offering advanced MIG & TIG welding classes.
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.
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Discover your passion for welding, see the latest welding equipment, talk with experts, try welding, enroll in TIG or MIG advanced seminars, check out virtual welding, meet faculty and students, see pipe welding demonstrations and so much more at Weld Expo at Sierra College on Saturday, April 27, 2013 from 9 am to 4 pm. Free admission and free parking.
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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.
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Watch the movie about this NSF project integrating math into a welding technical education class at Placer Herald Sierra College addresses skills gap by fusing math with welding (11-29-2012).
Sierra College Welding Department chair, Bill Wenzel and Katie Lucero, chair of the Sierra College Math Department, developed the new applied academic curriculum. Carol Pepper-Kittredge, director, Sierra College Center for Applied Competitive Technologies (CACT), facilitated the collaboration of faculty with the University of West Virginia on this NSF grant project.
See the photo gallery of Sierra College welding students learning applied math as part of the NSF grant at the Placer Herald Sierra College fuses math and welding
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Sierra College (www.sierracollege.edu) welding students are better prepared for employment because the critical math skills sought by industry are being overtly integrated into class projects. Sierra College Welding Department chair, Bill Wenzel worked with Katie Lucero, chair of the Sierra College Math Department to develop new infused math in welding curriculum and test it in two classes. While welding classes have always included some math, incorporating math lessons tied directly to a student project significantly improved students’ math skills.
The Sierra College IGNITE (Infusing GeN-ed Into Technical Education) project was developed in partnership with the West Virginia University at Parkersburg (WVUP) and funded by the National Science Foundation, according to Carol Pepper-Kittredge, director, Sierra College Center for Applied Competitive Technologies (CACT). (Read the Final Report: Sierra College IGNITE Final Report, Conducted Under the University of West Virginia at Parkersburg National Science Foundation ATE grant award #1003709)
Using the math competencies WVUP identified for infusion into welding, Sierra College faculty developed hands-on, applied math curriculum that related directly to welding projects. Students in Welding Technology 10 classes learned welding and technical skills as they fabricated a Hibachi Barbeque, according to Wenzel. “Classes were provided with drawings that showed measurements as fractions and decimals, step-by-step assembly directions and instruction on the use of shop equipment and hand tools,” said Wenzel. “For the experimental class, we designed weekly math lessons that covered critical math skills that applied directly to the construction of the barbeque.”
For example, students multiplied and divided fractions to determine how many lengths of a specified measurement could be cut from a rod. They calculated how much material would be used for the Hibachi handle and the grill. In another exercise, students designed two different grill patterns and calculated the amount of material needed and the cost to construct each design.
“The class that completed the hands-on math exercises performed significantly better than the control group on basic and pre-algebra skills based on pre- and post-tests,” said Wenzel. The infused math in welding curriculum was also tested in another class, Welding Technology 15, and again the students’ mathematics performance improved.
On a student survey, 52% of the students in the infused math WT-10 class had not enrolled in a math class at Sierra College but 82% said they would feel more comfortable taking a math class in the future as a result of the WT-10 class; and 48% would be more likely to take the math assessment for placement in a math class at Sierra College. So, math confidence improved too.
The Sierra College CACT provides customized training in shop math for Placer and Nevada County businesses. “Employers report that skilled employees can’t apply fractions, decimals and basic math to their work,” said Pepper-Kittredge. “Infusing math into welding shows great potential to address the skills gap before students go into the workforce.”