Archive for the ‘Math Education’ Category

Manufacturing Day events in October

Thursday, August 7th, 2014

Manu Day Rocklin HS students tour RobbJack DSC02004Sierra College and SME Sacramento Valley have partnered to connect schools and businesses for National Manufacturing Day and events throughout the month of October. The goal is to make students aware of STEM education paths that lead to advanced manufacturing careers. There are many opportunities for students to become designers, engineers and fabricators with companies in Placer and Nevada counties.

Students enrolled in Career Technical Education courses in high school can further their education at Sierra College earning certificates and degrees. With technical skills, students can secure internships and part-time work with employers to gain practical skills and earn money to pay for their education.

By attending tours, students learn more about what local manufacturing firms produce and determine if they can envision themselves working in the environment. They can also gain insight into the hiring process and make connections. Students find it especially interesting to talk directly with employees about their work and see how they use advanced manufacturing techniques on the job.  The students often discover that the tools and software they are using in the classroom are directly applicable to the workplace.

Businesses can work with faculty members to customize the tour. For example, RobbJack, a high-end cutting tool manufacturer located in Lincoln CA, offered a tour to trigonometry students at Colfax High School. Throughout the tour, employees explained how trigonometry was used on the job. The company also developed sample math problems based on real life situations in designing and fabricating tools.

To learn more about the 2014 activities in October for National Manufacturing Day, check out the flyer (SME No CA Manufacturing Day Oct 2014 emailweb) developed to invite companies to participate. Teachers can contact Carol Pepper-Kittredge, CACT Director, Sierra College and manager of the Sierra College STEM Collaborative.


College Math & Welding Faculty Create Curriculumn

Friday, May 23rd, 2014

Sierra College faculty members worked together to infuse math activities and worksheets into welding classes. The project was originally funded by NSF. As a result students math scores were higher in the welding class with infused math than in the control group.

Watch the 30 minute webinar - Ignite CTE Students’ Math Skills: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kryZRdulhGE

IGNITE flyer

IGNITE Math in Welding Materials

Press Release on Ignite math in welding project


Sacramento Common Core Math Workshops

Wednesday, February 26th, 2014

Teachers at Hands-on Math Workshop Sierra College STEM DSC01627The Sierra College Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Collaborative is offering a series of three workshops on implementing the Common Core standards of mathematical practice. To prepare teachers to meet the new Common Core mathematics requirements, participants will learn how to use hands-on activities to engage students and facilitate critical thinking.

Implementing the Standards of Mathematical Practice on Fridays March 14, April 4 and May 9, 2014 in Roseville CA. Sierra STEM Hands on Math Common Core March May 2014 Workshops Flyer

 


Talking Directly to Advanced Manufacturing Employees Inspires Students

Wednesday, November 6th, 2013
Del Oro High School Students Tour Progressive Technology

Del Oro High School Students Tour Progressive Technology

Students participating in tours of Sacramento manufacturers repeatedly reported that the direct interaction with technicians, engineers and staff had the most impact of them. Many said that it solidified their education and career plans. The tours were part of the National Manufacturing Day and organized by Sierra College Center for Applied Competitive Technologies (CACT) and the Sierra Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) Collaborative.

An Oakmont High School student said, “It definitely made me more sure of my plans to pursue higher education for engineering and gave me a more clear idea what a future job might look like.”

Dan Frank, who teaches Engineering Support Technology at Rocklin High School, toured RobbJack in Lincoln, CA with his students. “As a result of the tour, my students seemed more committed to the program and can see themselves becoming technicians and engineers,” said Frank. “Students really connected to individual employees who talked to them about welding, organizing the shop using 7S or programming CNC machines to create prototypes.”

Teachers also say that the experiences are enriching their curriculum with applied academics and 21st Century Skills.

Learn more about the impact of high school STEM students touring local businesses as part of the National Manufacturers Day and how teachers are using the experience to help students refine their interest in Advanced Manufacturing careers as well as bringing real world applications into their classrooms by reading:  STEM Teachers See Impact of Manufacturing Day Tours Organized by Sierra College.


CTE Online posts Design & Engineering Curriculumn

Wednesday, September 4th, 2013

Nearly 100 new project-based units and 400 new lesson plans have been posted on CTE Online, several developed by teachers in the Sierra STEM Collaborative.

The Engineering Pathway & Project includes the STEM areas of Engineering Design I & II, Engineering Design III, Advanced CAD/CAM, and Advanced Robotics.

The Media Design Pathway & Projects spans Media Design II & III, Video Production and Editing, and Advanced Animation Design.

Our Sierra STEM Collaborative partners have contributed these new lessons:

 


Sierra College Auto Student wins Soroptimist Award

Tuesday, March 12th, 2013

Congratualtions to Sierra College students, Kathryn Potts who won the Women’s Opportunity Award from Soroptimist International Loomis Basin.

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.


Ski Resort Lifts Awareness of Applied Math for STEM Careers

Saturday, March 9th, 2013

Northstar California Resort gave college faculty a behind the scenes tour of the lift maintence operations so they could gain applied math examples to use in their classrooms. The one day externship was funded by the Sierra College Science,
Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) Collaborative.

“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.

 


Math Teachers invited to teach creativity with math

Friday, March 8th, 2013

Math teachers are invited to a professional development program offered by the Sierra STEM Collaborative: Teach creativity while reinforcing essential math skills. It will be held March 14, 2013 3:30-5 PM at Colfax High School. The instructor is Jonathan Schwartz, Math & Engineering, Colfax High School.

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/


NSF grant demonstrates how to teach applied math

Saturday, December 8th, 2012

The National Science Foundation (NSF) funded a grant that enabled Sierra College to develop a model for teaching applied math while fabricating a catapult project called Tech-Explorer (www.tech-explorer.com).  Findings showed that using hands-on projects, connected to authentic work situations, improves teaching of mathematics. Watch the Tech-Explorer movie on how Sierra College integrated math instruction with a catapult building project.  The Sierra College Center for Applied Competitive Technologies (CACT) received NSF Advanced Technological Education grant #1003259 for $150,000.

A total of 306 students built catapults using mills, lathes, drills and other industrial tools. Then the students captured speed, distance, and height of a launched ball during a competition and used the data in a parabolic equation to determine the best launch angle. In addition, 32 teachers participated in three workshops on using hands-on math projects in the classroom.

According to the project principle investigator, Sandra Scott, integrating practical application into math classes and math into technical classes is imperative. “Students really responded when they realized that the parabolic curve is used in headlights, snowboards and solar collectors,” said Scott. “We need to show students how math is applied.”

The Sierra College Tech-Explorer catapult project has been adopted at College of the Canyons, College of the Sequoias, and San Bernardino Community College. The Regional Center for Advanced Manufacturing’s Advanced Manufacturing in Tennessee used it at a camp for 8-9th graders. Nebraska’s Columbus Public Schools incorporated Tech-Explorer into SHINE, a NSF funded program.

Learn more about Sierra College NSF Tech-Explorer.

 


STEM Faculty Integrate Math Lessons into Welding

Tuesday, December 4th, 2012

Through a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant,  Sierra College Math and Welding  faculty participated in the University of West Virginia at Parkersburg (UWVP) IGNITE project to develop math lessons applied to a welding project. The results showed that students’ math skills improved significantly.

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