“K-12 students could benefit from more exposure to these concepts so they can get excited about careers in these important developmental fields,” said another educator. “Teachers who teach STEM classes are key to communicating that excitement, particularly those who are
Twenty-nine local teachers attended a workshop led by the College of Pharmacy (CoP) on the University of Hawaii at Hilo campus over Christmas break. The workshop will help them introduce engineering concepts in their own classrooms.
“Engineering plays an important role in many careers, including pharmaceutical manufacturing,” said Ken Morris, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences who led the one-day workshop that provided tools teachers need to inspire students to look into engineering careers.
“This represents a huge opportunity to address many issues on the Big Island, from energy generation to the observatories, to roads and bridges,” said Morris.
The program is funded via a grant from the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center on Structured Organic Particulate Systems, with UH-Hilo as an outreach partner.
The opportunity to attend the workshop was offered to faculty members at the Hilo-Laupahoehoe-Waiakea Complex who teach in science, technology, engineering and math, known as STEM disciplines. Future plans are to offer the workshop to all Big Island school complexes.
“We hope this will provide a natural link to training students in engineering at the undergraduate level at UH-Hilo and other UH campuses,” Morris said.
The course combined classroom instruction with hands-on activities and laboratory exercises that focused on understanding engineering concepts and methods.
Raj Dave, a distinguished professor of engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology, was both an instructor and advisor for the College of Pharmacy on the engineering-specific content of the workshop. UH-Hilo instructors included Mahavir Chougle, assistant professor in pharmaceutical sciences, and Mazen Hamad, assistant professor in chemistry. Xinyan Wang, the undergraduate engineering coordinator at UH-Hilo, organized the workshop with Bess Jennings, one of three state Department of Education STEM resource teachers on the Big Island who attended the workshop.
“The workshop gave teachers a better understanding of the range of careers in engineering and how to interest their students in the subject,” Jennings said. “This is important, because the discipline of engineering is a key aspect of the focus on revitalizing teaching and learning through STEM-based education.”
Janice Harvey, Community Outreach and Education Programs leader at the Hawaii Journey through the Universe project at the Gemini Observatory, helped link the CoP-driven effort with her school system network in an introductory session to principals in the summer. Superintendent Valerie Takata led the effort with the Hilo-Laupahoehoe-Waiakea Complex area schools.
The collaboration should result in more students understanding engineering concepts and possibly choosing careers in related fields to help build a better Hawaii.
Teachers rated topics they would be interested in learning more about for a future three-to-five-day workshop.
“I want to introduce my middle-school students to careers in engineering, so lessons that deal with relevant activities that highlight careers in STEM fields would be great, especially for Hawaiian jobs,” one of the teachers said in a review of the class.
Many teachers also said they would like to see future workshops geared to elementary level students.
“K-12 students could benefit from more exposure to these concepts so they can get excited about careers in these important developmental fields,” said another educator. “Teachers who teach STEM classes are key to communicating that excitement, particularly those who are exposed to what engineering is all about, such as in this workshop.”
