Engineering Research and Learning

Last week, I was fortunate to be accepted to an engineering research and learning conference/academy at Purdue University. The academy was for 3rd-4th grade teachers and a few science facilitators. We learned how engineering can help children become better problem solvers and functional team members. Understanding the learning, experiencing and processes of children help teachers and researchers cultivate and motivate the children's interest in engineering. We collaborated with Purdue faculty and graduate students on developing fundamental knowledge in engineering education. I had an incredible week long experience. I learned plenty of engineering thinking and how to incorporate these activities in our curriculum. Even though, I'm not quite ready to go back to school, I do look forward to use what I learned in the academy and apply it to our curriculum.