USNA News Article

Naval Academy Hosts STEM Educator Training

August 2, 2012

By MC2 Alexia Riveracorrea

More than 30 teachers from U.S. and Department of Defense schools overseas came together at the U.S. Naval Academy to participate in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Educator Training during the month of July.

The training, held in two four-day sessions, consisted of workshops hosted by the academy’s STEM Office, the National Defense Education Program, the Maryland Space Grant Consortium and the Office of Naval Research.

The workshops focused on using project-based learning in design, chemistry, physics, math, simulation, biology, and various fields of engineering.

“The teachers worked in small groups to accomplish goals for each activity, built systems required, solved problems and completed experiments. Emphasis was placed on successfully replicating the curriculum in the classroom with limited expense,” said Naval Academy mechanical engineering Professor Angela Moran.

Activities including building catapults, collecting data and evaluating it for averages and errors, and applying the data to calculate things like velocity and acceleration. The teachers discussed how they could apply these projects in their own classrooms.

Another project involved simulating a bioterrorist attack and learning how to use the equipment used by labs to detect the spread of disease.

“The workshops offered teachers an opportunity to engage more fully in their educational fields by exploring and testing ideas in a creative and hands-on environment,” said Moran.

The workshops are designed to encourage teachers to bring hands-on learning to their schools, said chemistry Assistant Professor Sarah Durkin, who designed the lab on bioterrorism.

“The activities we developed for USNA STEM programs can be adapted for use in their own classrooms,” she said.

Naval Academy faculty and staff facilitated the projects, discussions and learning assessments during the workshops, while the participating teachers were encouraged to share best practices and application methods with the group.

“The academy has hosted these STEM workshops to provide relevant and meaningful informal learning experiences that offer teachers the opportunity to discover, explore, and test ideas and most importantly, learn how science and technology impact real-world research and challenges,” said Moran.

For more information on the Naval Academy's STEM program, visit www.usna.edu/STEM or the STEM Program Facebook page.