EDUC 597 Teacher Engineering Education (Graduate)

This course is designed for K‐12 in‐service teachers who want to expand their practice to integrate more engaging, hands‐on engineering principles & projects in their classroom. It includes an introduction to multimodal composition and inclusive tactile design to create more accessible books, games, and classroom materials through the application of engineering and making technologies. Modules designed in two‐week segments to enable teachers to flexibly apply the projects in their classrooms and will range from the use of physical computing devices such as Makey Makey and Microbits to 2D/3D design to building cranky cardboard gear contraptions. There will be an emphasis on access, equity, and social justice threaded through the course and instructional strategies to enact projects with students.

Sample projects include building larger game controllers for a student with fine motor control challenges by combining Scratch and a Makey Makey, and integrating literacy, computer science, and engineering to solve a problem faced by a character such as Nya in A Long Walk to Water.

Some teacher benefits include:

• Lesson plans and new ideas/strategies to ignite passion, purpose and play in the classroom
• Receive a Makey Makey, 3D Doodle Pen and Bit Booster and keep to use with students (tools subject to change)
• Learn a variety of engineering concepts that are easy to replicate

Prerequisite: None