So much happening at EiE this month: New videos for elementary teachers, a grant from Oracle that brings EiE PD to MA educators, a national award, and more! Have you completed our NEWSLETTER SURVEY? We want to hear from you! Your feedback helps us make our publications event better.  —Cynthia Berger, newsletter editor.

We’re delighted to report that EiE’s parent institution at the Museum of Science, Boston, the National Center for Technological Literacy® (NCTL®), has been recognized by the National Science Board (NSB) with the 2015 Public Service Award. The award recognizes substantial contributions toward increasing public understanding of science and engineering in the United States.

"NCTL’s innovative programs  . . . have brought engineering, technology and science to millions of students  . . .  and provided teachers with the professional training they need for the 21st Century classroom," said Vint Cerf, chair of NSB's Committee on Honorary Awards.

NSB also recognized the American Museum of Natural History with a Public Service Award. The award ceremony was held May 5th in Arlington, VA. To read the full announcement, click here.

EiE's online “Classroom Videos” are designed to help teachers see the flow of EiE lessons, observe effective teaching strategies, and learn solutions to common classroom challenges.

The ultimate goal is a video collection that covers all 20 EiE units—and last month, we made an important step toward that goal with three new sets of videos, for these EiE units: 

• Designing Alarm Circuits
• Designing Solar Ovens
• Designing Walls
  

To view these videos, click on the link, then scroll down to "Resources for this Unit."

We thank the teachers who generously welcomed us into their classrooms: Cerissa Myers of Napa Junction Elementary in American Canyon, CA; Linda Kurtz of Dunleith Elementary School in Marietta, GA; and Chentel Neat of Colbert Elementary School in Hollywood, FL. EiE’s Video Library is being developed with support from Cognizant and The Gordon Foundation.

Speaking of videos . . . . a short video created by EiE® was a favorite at the recent “Teaching and Learning Video Showcase,” hosted May 11 - 15 by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The showcase is a way for NSF-funded educational research projects to share their work with a large audience. A total of 112 NSF-funded projects shared videos describing their work, and more than 22,000 visitors dropped by to view and comment. EiE’s submission was one of 10 voted “most compelling” by the general public! We also gained special recognition from the event’s facilitators.

“EiE’s video team has created an online library that’s an outstanding resource for teachers,” says EiE director Christine Cunningham. “We’re so pleased to see their work celebrated in this way.”

The EiE curriculum was originally developed with support from NSF. Currently, we're conducting a “gold-standard” efficacy study thanks to a second NSF grant.

Massachusetts recently revised its K-8 science standards, creating new expectations for elementary teachers to integrate more engineering content and practices with the science lessons they teach. A recent award to the Museum of Science, Boston by the information technology company Oracle will help 20 Massachusetts teachers boost their classroom engineering skills.

The award underwrites tuition for teachers to attend an EiE professional development (PD) workshop at the Museum of Science, Boston. Each teacher will also receive a complete set of EiE classroom materials.

This is the second year in a row that Oracle has supported EiE PD for teachers. Last year, an award from Oracle allowed 40 California elementary teachers to attend an EiE workshop at The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose. The grant also supported three PD workshops for afterschool educators, who learned to use EiE’s Engineering Adventures curriculum.

If you attend an EiE teacher workshop, you might see Jason Brewer at the front of the room. Jason joined our professional development team about a year ago, and he brings a deep understanding of what teachers look for in a workshop, because he’s walked a mile in their shoes—he was an elementary teacher himself.

After earning a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Jason taught in Nicaragua as an environmental educator with the Peace Corps. Later, in his native state of North Carolina, he taught fourth and fifth grade.

In Nicaragua, Jason became fluent in Spanish, and he’s putting that skill to great use at EiE. For schools that offer bilingual instruction, he has translated our workshop presentation materials into Spanish. He can also lead workshops in Spanish for some EiE units.

You might not expect a transplant from North Carolina to enjoy Boston weather, but Jason likes snow! So does his dog Canela (Spanish for “cinnamon”), who came north with him from Nicaragua. 

INVITED LECTURE: EiE and Educational Equity

If you live in the Boston area, join us! Dr. Heidi B. Carlone of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro will present her research on EiE at the Museum of Science, Boston at 1:00 PM on Tues., June 2, 2015.

The event starts at 1:00 PM in the Museum’s Cahners Theater and is free and open to the public. Use the Museum parking garage and bring your ticket to the information desk in the lobby for validation.  GET DETAILS

June 13 - 17, 2015

ASEE Annual Conference

EiE staff will make two presentations at the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference in Seattle.  GET DETAILS