The Professional

Educating educators SMTC gears up to support teachers adopting new statewide standards This past summer, while many K-12 teachers were enjoying a well- deserved break, a group of teachers spent six weeks improving their science and technology skills. Thanks to a National Science Foundation grant, 24 participants – including science teachers, CMU students in education and engineering, and CMU engineering faculty – joined forces to work on research projects through CMU's Science, Mathematics and Technology Center. Everyone involved put in 40 hours per week. The only compensation was the knowledge they acquired. "I joined this program without really knowing what I had gotten myself into, but now that I've reached the end, I'm very glad that I had a chance to be a part of it," says Jeff Yoder, a science teacher at Midland High school. "Being a part of actual research helped me to realize the level of patience and tenacity needed to make even a modest advance. I'm now much more appreciative of all those who have gone before us in developing the technologies that we take for granted today," he said. In one of the research projects, a group worked in CMU's Microfabrication Laboratory to create very small sensors – smaller than a human hair – that can detect humidity. Once they designed Get involved • Janis Voege at 989-774-3573 • Tolga Kaya at 989-774-1494 the professional • November 2012 3 Participants in the NSF grant-funded program present the research they completed through CMU's Science, Mathematics and Technology Center. and created these sensor devices, they worked on translating this research into their classrooms. The NSF grant project was one of several that the SMTC stages every year to create professional development opportunities for both public and private school teachers in surrounding counties and develop curriculum support. This is especially important with the new Common Course and the Next Generation Science standards on the horizon – which SMTC already has begun developing programs to support, says SMTC Director Janis Voege. CMU's SMTC is one of 33 centers of its kind across the state, started in 1985 under a mandate from the Michigan Legislature. But CMU's is one of only four that are aligned with a university. "We are fortunate that we are at a university," says Voege. "Because we are here we really have easy access to professors in science, engineering and technology, and also in education, so we can bring them together in creative ways – not just to help us with content, but also with the pedagogy." • CMU's Science, Mathematics and Technology Center will engage science teachers from around Michigan in another round of research projects in summer 2013. If you are interested in participating, contact:

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