Colorado School of Mines is continuing its push to innovate STEM education at all levels with its first-ever Engineering Learning Conference Aug. 16-17.
Hosted by Mines’ Trefny Innovative Instruction Center, more than 100 regional educators and engineers will gather on campus for two days of interactive workshops, roundtable discussions and panel presentations that aim to empower college faculty to think differently about the STEM courses they teach, designing learning experiences instead of just covering content.
“Engineering Learning is an intentional design process that positions students to cognitively engage with content and data using professional tools, while interacting and collaborating with peers to develop their content expertise, skills and professional practices,” said Sam Spiegel, director of the Trefny Center. “The end goal is to create the richest learning opportunities for students to become innovative STEM leaders.”
Educators from Mines, Red Rocks Community College and University of Colorado Boulder will be among the conference attendees and presenters. Mary Besterfield-Sacre, director of the Engineering Education Research Center at the University of Pittsburgh, will give the opening keynote address.
Mines professors who recently completed an intensive summer program to significantly revise one of their courses will present their results during a poster session from 4 to 6 p.m. Aug. 16. These faculty will implement and assess their course revisions over the school year before submitting research papers next summer documenting the changes and their impact on student learning.
The conference is part of Mines’ larger efforts to become a regional leader in innovative STEM education at both the college and K-12 levels. That also includes TEAM-UP, Mines’ partnership with the University of Northern Colorado that provides Mines students and alumni with a streamlined path to becoming secondary math or science teachers.
“The future holds new and exciting frontiers for our students. Recent forecasts project that nearly 80 percent of the knowledge and technology that STEM professionals will be using in 10 years does not yet exist. Simultaneously, immediate access to information is becoming more ubiquitous in our everyday lives,” Spiegel said. “Mines is addressing these needs through Engineering Learning.”
To learn more, go to trefnycenter.mines.edu/engineered-learning.html.
CONTACT
Emilie Rusch, Public Information Specialist, Communications and Marketing | 303-273-3361 | erusch@mines.edu
Mark Ramirez, Managing Editor, Communications and Marketing | 303-273-3088 | ramirez@mines.edu
