Engineering Task Force

I am having fun making my resource files pretty for some engineering/math projects I have used in preparation for the KSTF Engineering Task Force fall meeting. It is great to go over old lessons, reflect on what worked and what didn't and be able to share them with the world. Enjoy, Jim Engineering/Math projects More information about the Engineering Task Force.

Furlough Over/Arduino in the Classroom

With the furlough finally over we can get back to work. I am excited to continue my work on creating a Project Based Engineering MOOC geared towards high school students who don't have engineering options at their high school. Besides being free to sign up, I am looking to make it free to participate also. This means that all of the projects will have to be made at no cost to the student. This presents a fun challenge, though not altogether new. As a classroom teacher, I always struggled to provide my students with meaningful tasks that fit within my school's budget. So many (if not all) of the MOOCs I have seen are simply lecture put on the internet. I think this is wasted time for those who want to make the information accessible to a broader range of students (ie ones traditionally underrepresented in higher education and engineering) because we know that lecture only works for a subset of students (citation needed). I just found out that now you can read about one way I integrate technology and programming into the classroom: http://makezine.com/2013/08/26/arduino-in-math-class/ Enjoy, Jim