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Stem Conference 2019, Stem Conference

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

Conference Program with all presentations

An Introduction To Using Geographic Information Systems (Gis) In The Classroom, Lisa K. Millsaps

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

This interactive session will focus on examples of using GIS in multiple K-12 classroom setting, including but not limited to teaching climate change, history, natural hazards, and literature. Geographic information systems, or GIS, is an online mapping tool, used globally in a variety of professions (e.g., emergency management, city planning, engineering, scientific labs) – that is accessible and beneficial to use in the K-12 classroom! GIS helps us visualize, question, analyze, and interpret real data to understand relationships, patterns, and trends. Participants will not only walk through a demonstration of GIS’ use and potential, they will partake in and practice …

Augmented Reality Chemistry: Transforming 2d Molecular Representations Into Interactive 3d Structures, Derek Behmke, David Kerven, Robert Lutz, Julia Paredes, Richard Pennigton, Evelyn Brannock, Michael Deiters, John Rose, Kevin Stevens

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

Spatial reasoning is defined as the ability to generate, retain, and manipulate abstract visual images. In chemistry, spatial reasoning skills are typically taught using 2-D paper-based models, 3-D handheld models, and computerized models. Research has shown that increased spatial reasoning abilities translate directly to improved content knowledge. The recent explosion in the popularity of smartphones and the development of augmented reality apps for them provide, a yet to be explored, way of teaching spatial reasoning skills to chemistry students. Augmented reality apps utilize the camera on a smartphone to turn 2D paper-based molecular models into 3D models the user can …

Content And Instructional Practice: A Msp Project, Donna Mullenax, Janel Smith Dr.

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

Since October 2016, Armstrong Faculty have been working with SCCPSS teachers through an MSP-funded project. The CIP project focuses on math and science in 5th, 6th, and 8th grades. Design and implementation of the project will be discussed. Mid-project results will be presented, along with plans for Year 2.

Using Active Learning Strategies In Calculus To Improve Student Learning And Influence Mathematics Department Cultural Change, Melissa A. Dagley, Xin Li, Brian Moore, Erin Saitta, Jacquelyn Chini, Michele Gill

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

An interdisciplinary team of Physics, Education, Math and Chemistry faculty developed MATH-GAINS (Growing as Adaptive INstructors) creating an ecosystem where Mathematics faculty persistently and sustainably apply active learning strategies in their teaching of Calculus courses. As a result of implementation, MATH-GAI NS proposed to positively affect the wide-spread adaptation of active learning strategies by department faculty as well as student learning, retention and graduation of over 900 students annually. The objective of the session is to provide attendees details on: how the project was conceived and implemented, instruments, research methodologies and active learning strategies used, examples …

Visualizing Geometrical Counterexamples Using Digital Tools, Tuyin An, Ha Nguyen

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

In my study about pre-service secondary mathematics teachers’ (PSMTs) understanding about the nature of theorems in geometry, I noticed that it was challenging for the PSMTs to visualize and draw counterexamples to disprove the given mathematical statements. The use of the dragging feature of some digital tools, such as The Geometer’s Sketchpad (GSP), in teaching and learning proof and reasoning has been widely discussed and become an ongoing research trend. In this conference session presentation, I will introduce the background of the use of dragging feature in dynamic geometry environment and present two examples showing how this feature could be …

Integrating Lego Robotics Into A 5th Grade Cross Curricular Unit To Promote The Development Of Narrative Writing Skills, Shelli L. Casler-Failing, Mete Akcaoglu, Valerie Woodrum, Valerie Morris, Jay Mcneely

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

This unit was designed to promote the development of narrative writing skills among 5^th grade students through the use of LEGO robotics. The students learned how to construct and program robots, write and present a proposal to complete a mission, and connected the learning to their personal experiences with Hurricane Irma. After learning the basics of building and programming robots, they were presented with a scenario similar to the impact of the bomb drop in Hiroshima – a city in ruins with survivors in need of supplies. Students took the role of engineers to work in pairs to create …

Using Creative Writing To Facilitate Science Learning, Alma D. Stevenson, Ph.D, Lacey D. Huffling, Ph.D

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

This session will be led by a literacy educator and a science educator, who worked collaboratively to create, implement, and refine science lessons during a week-long summer program for middle grade (6^th – 8^th) migrant students. The presenters created culturally responsive NGSS lessons that were infused with multiple literacy strategies culminating in a creative writing, where students incorporated the vocabulary and concepts learned, using storyboarding and Google Slides.

Participants will engage in the mini-lesson and have a brief discussion on the components of the lessons based on NGSS, culturally responsive teaching, and literacy integration. Examples of student …

Selecting, Sequencing, And Connecting: Using Technology To Support Area Measurement Through Tasks, Strategies, And Discussion, Eryn M. Stehr, Ha Nguyen, Jia He

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

This session supports grades 3-5 mathematics teachers and coaches in considering how technology in the classroom can be used to support "low threshold, high ceiling" tasks and productive discussion. In this session, participants will interact with and share resulting strategies from an online task designed to: be open to multiple levels of strategies, reveal misconceptions, and support students in developing more sophisticated conceptual understandings of area measurement. We will present a sampling of strategies created by teachers (who were pretending to be elementary students) in past activities. Participants will select and sequence these strategies to align with chosen learning outcomes. …

Strategies For Improving Stem Education; Pathways To Institutional Transformation, Myles Boylan

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

Presenter will provide

Assessment Of Practice-Focused Middle School Science Modules, Sunni H. Newton, Jessica Gale, Meltem Alemdar, Stefanie Wind

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

AMP-IT-UP is an NSF-funded K-12 program intended to promote math, science, and engineering learning through STEM integration-focused curricula. As part of this program, one-week modules were designed to teach specific science practices within the context of the appropriate grade-level content. Nine science modules were created, one focused on each practice (practices are data visualization, experimental design, and data-driven decision making) at grade levels 6, 7, and 8. In this presentation, we will focus on our assessment of the implementation of these modules across four middle schools during the 2016-2017 academic year. We will present our methodology for assessing this complex …

Fostering Pre-Service Teachers' Understanding Of Basic Arithmetic Principles, Veena Paliwal

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

Arithmetic properties (commutative, associative, distributive, identity, and inverse) provide one of the most critical avenues to higher-level thinking and conceptual understanding. The present study was designed to promote understanding and use of arithmetic properties among sixty-five pre-service teachers enrolled in two Foundations of Numbers and Operations classes. The intervention employed involved using various models to promote conceptual understanding of the arithmetic properties and use them as a problem-solving tool while identifying any possible misconceptions. A pretest-posttest design was employed. The results revealed that the intervention was effective in promoting understanding of the commutative, associative, identity, and inverse properties, and was …

Using Google Forms To Inform Teaching Practices, Ha Nguyen Dr., Heidi Eisenreich Dr., Eryn Stehr Dr.

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

Do you need a quick way to assess your student learning and identify misconceptions? Are you tired of collecting and/or grading papers? Google Forms can help, especially with some newly added features such as checkbox grids, intelligent response validation, and automatic grading. Through interactive activities during this talk, participants will hear about several uses of Google Forms to gather data, engage student learning, and create and score assessments. Additionally, participants will learn how to shorten an URL link with a desired name and generate a QR code for instant access to the link. This session can be beneficial to all …

The Effects Of Integrating Lego Robotics Into A Mathematics Curriculum To Promote The Development Of Proportional Reasoning, Shelli L. Casler-Failing

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

This mixed methods, action research case study sought to investigate the effects of incorporating LEGO robotics into a seventh-grade mathematics curriculum focused on the development of proportional reasoning through the lens of Social Constructivist Theory. Quantitative data was collected via a pre- and post-test from the mathematics class of six students. Qualitative data was collected from each of the students as they worked in groups of two to complete purposefully designed investigations and activities, from whole class discussions, and student artifacts. The quantitative analysis showed development of proportional reasoning skills with the greatest increase being from low-performing students. The qualitative …

An Exploration Of Climate Change In The K-12 Classroom, Lisa K. Millsaps

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

Have you ever wondered how climate change is being taught and portrayed in the school age classroom? How current science is being translated and used to teach the next generation? This work explores the studies of climate change education occurring in North America. It is seeking to understand the educational methods and content foci being suggested as reliable practices in climate change education through the use of a qualitative analysis of academic literature on teaching climate change. Findings summarize how climate change is being taught, what recommendations are being made, and identifies opportunities for growth, and other possible concerns.

Putting Lab Into Lecture, Samantha Lee Russell

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

Engineering classes at any level are separated into two separate components, lecture and lab. Often these two classes have little to no direct relationship, being taught by two different instructors with different objectives. Students struggle to see the relationship between the theory from lecture and the applications in lab. To bridge the gap, lab must be brought into the lecture. Students must experience the theory by building, measuring, and exploring the concepts. Instructors can bring these experiences into the classroom by breaking labs up into smaller activities that are closely related to the theory. This is not to say that …

Make Learning Meaningful With Interdisciplinary Lessons, Michele Dodge, Phil Dodge

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

The workshop activities are centered around the Middle Child, grades 4-8. Participants will experience and plan for interdisciplinary lessons. These lessons include Science and Technology along with other disciplines. Examples include but not limited to integration of Literacy and Science, and Social Studies and Science and Technology. Participants will participate as a learner with hands on activities, then will follow up with generating lesson plans of their own. Participants will leave with clear understanding of what it takes to bring an interdisciplinary lesson to the next level, and then implement it in their own classroom in a meaningful way that …

Stem Conference 2018, Institute For Interdisciplinary Stem Education, Georgia Southern University

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

Conference Program

Istem Teaching & Learning Conference Program 2017, Interdisciplinary Stem Teaching & Learning Conference

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

iSTEM Conference Program 2017

Clay Modeling Of The Musculoskeletal System: Does Active Learning Increase Retention And Comprehension, Kelly Massey

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

The focus of a Structural Kinesiology course is a detailed study into the musculoskeletal system and joint action. The course contains a lot of memorization: skeletal muscle origin, insertions, innervations and muscle/joint actions but there is also an applied component for the content. Group study has been incorporated into the course to increase knowledge retention and comprehension however group interaction has been seen to be minimal. Two studies have looked at group construction of skeletal muscle models using clay during class time in assisting with the active learning of muscle origin, insertion and actions (Cruz-Espaillat et al., 2010 & Waters …

Outgrowths Of Usg Stem Initiatives: Service Learning Courses And A Stem Honors Camp, Tim Howard, Kimberly Shaw, Cindy Ticknor

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

We examine two programs that have developed out of USG STEM Initiative projects. With the first STEM Initiative, Columbus State University initiated an Academy of Future Teachers that has led to an expanded STEM Honors Camp for recruiting university students into high school teaching and heightening high school students’ interests in STEM careers. With STEM Initiative II, Columbus State launched a Project FOCUS replication that contributed to the establishment of the UTeach Columbus program for preparing high school STEM teachers.

Assessing The Effects Of A Teaching Course On Biology Graduate Student Teaching Assistants, Caralyn B. Zehnder

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

Research was conducted to measure changes in knowledge and perceptions of teaching and learning by biology graduate students enrolled in a Teaching Techniques course at Georgia College. Results show that graduate students exhibited gains in their knowledge of assessment and active learning pedagogies and saw some changes in how they viewed the role of the teacher in the classroom. This research demonstrates that a semester-long teaching course affects graduate students learning and attitudes toward teaching.

Real Stem: Scientific Research For Rural Georgia Students, Deborah M. Walker, Robert L. Mayes, Raushanah Oglesby

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

This poster will tell the story of creating a STEM research experience for students through a partnership between research institutes, University Faculty and high school teachers. The poster will provide a visual showing how the grant work was structured, barriers to implementation and successes that spur us on to continue to bring STEM experiences to rural, southeast Georgia.

Math 1113 Precalculus Emporium: A Multi-Institutional Online Pre-Calculus Course, Kris Biesinger, Chuck Kutal, Nathan Moon

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

One stumbling block for students considering becoming a STEM major has been introductory math courses. A new, innovative precalculus course being developed and delivered by five USG institutions may provide a solution. MATH 1113e Precalculus Emporium combines lessons learned from the Math Emporium model pioneered at Virginia Tech with elements of MOOC delivery to create a highly interactive and support rich online course model. While the pilot debuted in January 2014 with students and faculty from five institutions, the larger vision is for the course to become available for all USG institutions in the near future.

Real Stem: Scientific Research For Rural Georgia High School Students, Deborah M. Walker, Robert L. Mayes, Raushanah Oglesby, Rich Mccombs

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

This is the story of creating a STEM research experience for students through a partnership between research institutes, University Faculty and high school teachers. The story of Real STEM will include a discussion of how the grant work is structured, barriers to implementation and successes that spur us on to continue to bring STEM experiences to rural, southeast Georgia.

A Discussion Of A Flipped Classroom Model (For Calculus), And Of The Use Of Self-Graded Homework, Frédéric D. Mynard

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

The intent is to share my experience with a flipped Calculus course using resources I have developed: instructional videos, e-books, and a comprehensive set of resources for self-graded homework. I have also used this technique successfully for other non-flipped courses, and this may be of interest whether one wants to flip the classroom or not.

"When Scientists Look At Their Data, They Don't Know The Answer:" Talking Science In A University Introductory Science Course, Victoria M. Deneroff, Rosalie Richards, Markeeta Clayton

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

We use conversation for instruction in our introductory level physical science course. The content focuses on science as a way of knowing, particularly the ways in which scientific claims are backed by evidence. We find our 21st Century students do understand consensus building and have some skill in listening to each other’s ideas, and are learning to harness these strengths for instruction.

Complex Adaptive Systems And Quantitative Reasoning In An Interdisciplinary Stem Mathematics Classroom, Robert L. Mayes, Kania Greer

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

In this presentation we will share outcomes from the Real STEM project, which provides professional development for rural teachers in the Georgia Coastal Plains supporting implementation of interdisciplinary STEM courses as well as STEM modules in mathematics and science courses. Real STEM includes a number of innovative student-active strategies for teaching including: Understanding by Design (UbD) approaches to teaching for understanding, problem-based learning (PBL), place-based education (PBE), complex adaptive systems (CAS) thinking, and quantitative reasoning (QR). QR is the mathematical underpinning of the projects. The projects are ongoing so we will report our results on impact on teacher practice and …

The Power Of Animations In Stem Courses, Adrian Heinz, Xin Xu

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

We demonstrate educational web-based animations to facilitate teaching and learning in STEM courses. These animations were developed by IT students who closely worked with the researchers and faculty. The animations are later used in the classroom to explain specific concepts to students of STEM disciplines such as chemistry, biology and mathematics. The interactive nature of the animations allows students to become active participants of the learning process. In order to measure their value as a teaching and learning tool, pre and post survey data was collected and analyzed.

Food, Cooking And Nutrition-Engaging A Wide Audience To Explore Inter-Disciplinary Science Topics, Sharmistha Basu-Dutt, Victoria Geisler

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

Food and cooking have been a central theme in several courses developed recently at the University of West Georgia. In this presentation, the nature of the content and learning outcomes of these courses will be presented. A unique multi-tiered approach will be offered to show how this theme can be effectively used to engage audiences of all ages and capabilities to use the scientific method. Sample activities will show how to engage the young novice elementary student to explore introductory science concepts in a fun environment and challenge the college science major to design an effective experimental design to answer …