Archive for the ‘Professional Development’ Category

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


Free Math in Welding Webinar – May 22, 2014

Friday, May 16th, 2014

Bill & Katie prepare for math in welding 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.

 


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.


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/


SMUD offers teacher workshops in February

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013

STEM Teachers can learn about new class projects by attending these SMUD workshops in February in Sacramento.

How to Build a Solar Car - High School and Middle School Teacher Workshop, Thursday, February 7, 2013, 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

Physics teacher, Eric Wright will show you how to bring engineering and solar technology into your curriculum by having your students design and build solar cars. Teachers will get one solar car kits.

(High School students will be encouraged to design and build race cars to compete in the SMUD sponsored Solar Car Race to be held later at American River College on May 3, 2013. ) This is optional. If you plan on racing this year, please  contact Suzette Bienvenue at 916-732-5175 | [email protected] so that she can order kits for you.

Education and the Environment – Grades K-12 Teacher Workshop, Tuesday, February 12, 2013, 4:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

The California Education and Environment Initiative curriculum is an on-line resource for teachers and is designed to work in coordination with existing textbooks that teachers are already familiar with. The standards-based curriculum teaches History/Social Science standards to mastery, while supporting English Language Arts. This workshop will review all of the classroom support resources and materials available and the unique connection to relevant California topics.