Partner Spotlight: Engineering Education
Engineering Education prepares both students and teachers of STEM to learn about engineering principles before students enter college. A recent article highlights the longstanding partnership that GEAR UP has had with the College of Engineering at Utah State University.
Group activities at summer workshops involved science education and lessons.
Participating teachers explored SEEd Standards and lessons through the lens of water.
Collaboration with the College of Engineering’s Engineering Education program at Utah State University is an essential part of STARS! GEAR UP grants. Last summer, Utah State University’s College of Engineering hosted a professional development experience for GEAR UP teachers. While high school students built and propelled rockets over the engineering quad on campus, teachers were learning lessons of their own.
A story published by Utah State University featured Marissa Tsugawa, a research professor in USU's Department of Engineering Education and her contribution to the GEAR UP program. In the story “Engineering Education Professor Receives Funding From GEAR UP Initiative," writer Sydney Dahle talks about Tsugawa’s collaborations happening over the next three semesters.
The article talks about Tsugawa’s plans to “collaborate with and train high school STEM teachers to develop their own engineering activities for science, technology, engineering and mathematics courses that involve design and problem solving for students.”
Tsugawa is collaborating with STEM teachers at Logan High School and two American Preparatory Academy high schools in the Salt Lake City area to integrate engineering activities in their classrooms. APA is a charter school dedicated to providing better opportunities for their students. A summer workshop is also in development to teach high school educators how to develop their own activities in the classroom.
Long-time supporters of the GEAR UP collaboration include Kurt Becker, Professor in the Engineering Education Department, and Max Longhurst, Professional Practice Associate Professor in the School of Teacher Education and Leadership. They have led the GEAR UP Professional Learning Experience for teachers since the start of the first GEAR UP grant in 2012. These workshops led by Becker and Longhurst have had a lasting effect, not just on students but on future generations that attend our partner schools.
Press: Utah State Today