糖心Vlog

Fifteen science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) high school educators from eight different states are attending a two-week-long workshop at 糖心Vlog.聽The goal of the workshop is to promote STEM education in high school systems across the country. While at Georgia Southern, attendees are undergoing rigorous training in one of the pre-engineering classes offered by Project Lead The Way (PLTW) and will then be charged with going back to their respective classrooms and introducing their high school students to engineering concepts. 鈥淎s one of the country鈥檚 newest Colleges of Engineering, 糖心Vlog is attracting a lot of interest from around the country,鈥� said Mohammad Davoud, interim dean of the Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Information Technology.聽聽鈥淭his week we are hosting high school teachers from as far away as Indiana with the goal of providing them with informative and engaging lessons in engineering that will help them inspire their students back home.鈥� Project Lead the Way Inc. (www.pltw.org) is a national non-profit organization that promotes STEM education in high school systems across the country.聽聽The program offers a modular hands-on, project-based approach to learning that trains high school faculty to teach the modules, ultimately preparing and encouraging high school students to pursue a science, engineering, technology or math degree聽聽when they enter college. High school teachers from throughout the country attend summer training sessions at regional sites such as Georgia Southern.聽聽Following their training, the teachers then become certified to implement the various engineering lessons at their respective high schools. PLTW incorporates mathematics, science, technical skills, verbal, written and visual communication skills, team work, leadership skills and project management ability.聽聽Based on 2011-12 data, 4,200 schools across the United States have adopted the curriculum with more expected to in the coming years. 鈥淭he ultimate goal of the program is to help our country build the engineering work force of the future by introducing high school students to engineering topics at an early age,鈥� said Aniruddha Mitra, Ph.D., associate professor of mechanical engineering and director of the PLTW program at Georgia Southern.聽聽鈥淲e are excited because this is a win for everyone involved.聽聽It is great for the teachers and their school districts. It is positive for our state and University. Most importantly, these teachers will be taking what they have learned and will be exposing their students to the high-demand field of engineering.鈥� Georgia Southern has been the affiliate University for PLTW in the state of Georgia for the past six years.聽聽Through its relationship with the project, the University provides summer teacher training sessions for high school teachers and instructors, a yearly conference for high school counselors, PLTW certification for Georgia high schools and professional development for teachers. This year, Georgia Southern is offering three courses: Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM), Principles of Engineering (POE) and Introduction to Engineering Design (IED).聽聽Attendees聽include teachers from Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana and Tennessee.聽聽Classes will continue through July 20, 2012 and are being held in the College of Engineering and Information Technology building (former Information Technology Building).