Other Speakers- Liz McAlpin, Batavia School District 101, John C. Dunham STEM Partnership School, Elementary Teacher

Presentation Title: Engineering in the Elementary Classroom 3rd – 5th
Abstract: Engineering with elementary students? Absolutely!! Engineering helps students attain the skills necessary to be successful in today’s ever changing world. Students not only grow in the areas of science and math, but in collaboration, communication, creativity and critical thinking. Elementary students are natural engineers and problem solvers. Providing students with the opportunity to explore the design process allows students to expand their thinking and problem solving expertise. Not only do design challenges provide hands on learning experiences for children, but provide teachers with countless opportunities for authentic assessment. In this session, teachers will engage in hands-on activities and walk away with concrete examples to enhance current classroom practices and curriculum with science and engineering practices.

Biography: Candace Pierce and Liz McAlpin currently teach grades three through five at the John C. Dunham STEM Partnership School, a public third through eighth grade school located in a suburb of Chicago. While teaching at the John C. Dunham STEM Partnership school, the presenters have been involved in interdisciplinary curriculum writing as well as building partnerships with corporate and not-for-profit organizations. Both presenters have been invested in public education for more than 20 years.

Other Speakers– Jrène Rahm,Geneviève Lessard,Nathalie Anwandter-Cuellar

Presentation Title: Embracing the Unknown While Exploring STEM: A Key Towards Inclusion, Motivation and Empowerment of Learners and Teachers

Abstract: Primary teacher’s attitudes and beliefs regarding STEM influences their teaching of STEM. It has been shown that while testifying to have low self-efficacy and anxiety related to STEM, teachers felt more secure when using strict, pre-planned and multi-step activities in STEM. Unfortunately, the rigid pre-planned and fully adult controlled activities in STEM literally “nurture” learners’ motivation problems, resulting in the development of negative attitudes towards STEM and considerably limit the students’ development of problem solving skills. Research has shown however, that breaking this cycle of avoidance and insecurity in STEM is possible. For instance, hands-on activities in the STEM classroom support student engagement and the development of practical sustainable strategies in STEM. Hence, we will share in images and short videos some promising practices as ways to animate engaging whole class dialogue around STEM issues with students, how to pursue open-ended questioning activities, how to optimise materiel discovery, and how to develop a community of expert-practitioners in the STEM classroom. Research suggests that these activities and strategies increase teachers’ and learners’ motivation and inclusion, making them experience science in meaningful and empowering ways. Therefore, this curriculum burst activity should inspire teachers and school advisors to explore and implement new practices in the STEM classrooms.

Biography: Julie Bergeron studied anthropology (B.Sc.), educational sciences (minor) and psychopedagogy (M.Sc. and Ph.D). She has been a professor of educational sciences at the University of Quebec in Outaouais since 2012. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the UNESCO Chair in Democracy, Global Citizenship and Transformative Education (DCMET). She is responsible for the Education Partnerships Commission for UNESCO-DCMET. She is involved in numerous research projects in national and international educational development. She is particularly interested in accessibility, motivation, psychosocial adjustment and school perseverance of marginalized populations such as children with special needs and women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Also interested in optimizing social and school adjustments for children, she was in charge of a cultural and intercultural committee developing learning opportunities for diverse students in underserved communities. She also developed and led a professional internship program for student teachers in Panama, engaging them in culturally responsive teaching through an authentic experience in place.

Presentation Title: Diffy & Divvy – Two Math Games for All Ages

Abstract: While current state and national mathematics standards emphasize the importance of building number sense and performing arithmetic accurately, it can be difficult to find activities that provide practice with arithmetic operations, while also engaging or motivating students. In 1975, a game called DIFFY appeared in an issue of the “Arithmetic Teacher.” This game is still relevant today, as a motivator for elementary students to perform subtraction with whole numbers, integers, and rational numbers. The presentation will show how the game works and discuss its implementation at various grade levels. Participants will be provided with reproducible DIFFY boards. As an extension to DIFFY, there is another game called DIVVY that can use the same game board to practice division. Extensions of both games to higher level mathematics are possible, and the following questions will be discussed: (1) Can we use DIFFY/DIVVY for practice with operations on irrational or complex numbers or algebraic expressions? (2) Could DIFFY be used in a computer programming course?

Presentation Title: Car Hacking as Career Exploration – SAE Battelle CyberAuto Challenge

Abstract: The modern vehicle infrastructure is more complex than it has ever been, but lacks the workforce to keep up with trends in engineering. We will discuss the annual SAE Battelle CyberAuto Challenge and how participation by high school students can set them on the path toward a career in the automotive and cybersecurity industries. Participants will learn about the CyberAuto Challenge and how they can get their students, schools, and/or companies involved in “Challenge Week.” Founded in 2012, the CyberAuto Challenge brings together high school students, college students, STEAM educators, automotive industry professionals, government employees, computer security professionals, and independent researchers for a week-long workshop of instruction and computer hacking on modern vehicle platforms. These are cars that you could drive off of a lot today. Through the use of a combination of lecture and learn-by-doing strategies, participants explore the computer systems that allow modern automobiles to operate. Courses include CAN Bus basics, SocketCAN tools for interacting with CAN Bus, hardware reverse engineering, software reverse engineering, wireless attack vectors, and how to plan a threat assessment, among others. We then apply these lessons directly to the learning platforms in order to, on the one hand, see what “makes them tick,” and on the other hand, provide a rich experience for our young participants to learn, grow, network, and build lifelong contacts that they can parlay into school, internship, and career opportunities. Curriculum Burst is an appropriate amount of time to convey information about the event without requiring the use of hands-on activities to explore CAN Bus and other related topics.

Biography: David Quinton-Schein is a high school teacher and educational consultant in Baltimore, Maryland. While his background is mathematics, he also teaches Project Lead the Way engineering and has taught computer networking and computer science. He has had the pleasure of working with SAE and Battelle on the CyberAuto Challenge since he was a participant in the inaugural event in 2012. He operates a multi-faceted entertainment and educational consulting firm out of his Timonium home.