HS Teachers Trained to Implement Engineering Curriculum at University of Iowa

JULY 17, 2019

High school students in Iowa and across the country this school year will build pinhole cameras and design earthquake-resistant buildings as part of an innovative curriculum that engages students in hands-on engineering experiences and builds creative problem-solving skills.

But first, their teachers had to tackle the same projects during two weeks of training at the Seamans Center for the Engineering Arts and Sciences on the University of Iowa campus.

The UI has partnered with Engineer Your World at the University of Texas at Austin to provide two-week professional development institutes in which educators engage in engineering practices, experience the curriculum they will teach, and discover the most effective strategies for project-based instruction.

Engineer Your World was developed in 2008 by University of Texas faculty, NASA engineers, and secondary teachers working with funding from the National Science Foundation.

David Rethwisch, professor of chemical and biochemical engineering and faculty director of Iowa Engineer Your World, says one of the things that makes the program so attractive is that it exposes students to the ways engineers improve people’s lives. …Continue Reading