Integrative STEM Education Workshop

Tools: Google Docs, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint

Skills: Research, needs assessment, writing objectives. curriculum mapping, adult learning theory, instructional strategies, instructional alignment, assessment, ADDIE

Client: The umbrella organization for a coalition of colleges and universities, NASA, state educational agencies, and other institutions with an aerospace interest.

Related projects: 

I was contracted to design and deliver a three-day workshop to teams of high school educators on designing and creating integrative STEM education units.  The learners were teams of one math teacher, one science teacher, one career and technical education teacher, and one counselor from six schools in the region. I was the sole designer and trainer for this workshop.

After the three-day workshop, I was contracted again by the same agency to expand the program into a five-day workshop for a larger audience.

3 day iSTEM Ed Professional Development Outline.pdf

Workshop Outline

In this document, you can find the outline of presentations and activities aligned to the objectives and instructional methods. Click on the link to see the document full screen.

Farm the Wind Design Challenge.pdf

Presentation

This is a sample of one of the presentations. It introduces the design challenge after lunch on the first day. Click on the link to see the document full screen.

Interdisciplinary Curriculum Design Template.pdf

Participant Worksheet

This is a sample of a participant worksheet. Participants would use this as part of the Making and Modifying Integrative STEM Education Units portion of the workshop on day three. Click on the link to see the document full screen.

3 day iSTEM Ed Professional Development Assessment.pdf

Assessment

These are the objectives for the workshop aligned with the pre-workshop and post-workshop assessment questions. Click on the link to see the document full screen.

My Process

Analysis - While I was not able to survey or interview the learners before designing the workshop, I was able to use my experience with high school educators and my academic research into integrative STEM education to identify where knowledge gaps were likely to be. I was able to send out a survey to the learners a week before the workshop to make minor edits based on their previous knowledge and identified areas for growth.

Design -  I identified the objectives based on the client's goals of the contract. I also created assessment questions that would be used to assess achievement of those objectives. I designed an outline of the content knowledge that I needed to develop in learners. I began by identifying foundational knowledge they needed then built on that by having them apply their existing expertise in their profession to connect with both the new information and the others on their team.  Next, I developed learning activities that allowed learners to process, engage, and apply the content knowledge. Group discussions both within their site teams and within discipline teams facilitated multiple connections to the knowledge. I designed an activity similar to what they would be creating so that they could experience the process as their students would. Then we dissected the activity as professional educators to identify the design decisions involved in making it a successful activity. Finally, they worked in their teams to apply their learning and develop action plans for implementing the workshop content. 

Develop - I used Microsoft Office including Word, PowerPoint, Forms, and Excel to design the workshop materials. 

Implement - I implemented this workshop in person over a three day period. I designed implementation to include a mix of instructor led direct instruction, videos, whole and small group discussion, and group work projects.

Evaluation - All teams were able to develop an action plan to implement during the next school year by the conclusion of the workshop. Some survey comments were: