NSU holds PLTW's last seesion

Northwestern State University's Department of Engineering Technology and Computer Information systems hosted its final summer training session for high school teachers who will be teaching Project Lead the Way classes this fall.

Led by master teacher Peter Grimm of Minneapolis, Minn., the class worked on several projects they will repeat with their students this fall.  The two-week boot camp   included group projects, homework and individual study. Grimm, who has a background as a mechanical engineer, has been teaching for 17 year, the last nine with PLTW and has been a master teacher for the last five years.

During one session, the class was worked on a reverse engineering project in which they used industry-standard Inventor software to disassemble a model car. Each student made a diagram of the parts and drawings in order for the object to be reassembled and manufactured.

Project Lead the Way is a non-profit program that integrates math, science and technology in projects that encourage middle school and high school students to become aware of careers in the STEM (science, technology, mathematics and engineering) areas. Administrators hope the program will help today's youngsters be productive in future domestic and global workforce markets and attract high tech industry to Louisiana.

Thomas Randall, a geometry teacher at Camden-Fairview High School in Camden, Ark., has a background in mathematics and has been teaching five years. Randall attended two PLTW training sessions at NSU this summer.

"Kids have all types of learning styles. With Project Lead the Way, kids who are hands-on, visual learners learn to apply concepts in math and science to real world situations," said Randall, who is constantly seeking ways to challenge his exceptional students, as well as engage his marginal students. Because no two projects have to be solved in the same manner, PLTW meets this need.

Randall will be teaching the PLTW class for the first time this fall and hopes to incorporate some aspects of the PLTW projects into his regular geometry classes. The first project he worked on during the workshop was constructing a puzzle cube, which demonstrated how each person's cube came together with no two alike.

"They'll love it.  One kid can make a simple cube and another might make a cube that is the same size but it is more complex," he said. "In my experience, when students who have potential get into the activity and get their hands on it, I see that they do understand."

Randle said he think his students "will run to do their homework" and looks forward to the PLTW class being as challenging for him as for his students.

Joel Blackburn of Springfield, Mo., is a new teacher with a background in art education but has some expertise in engineering. He was involved in a program similar to PLTW in high school, has a father who is an engineer and enjoys restoring hot rods.  Blackburn believes his college emphasis in sculpture and ceramics gives him a unique edge in 3-D modeling and understanding the third dimension.

"The program is awesome.  There is a lot of individuality in the process," he said. "It's challenging but since this is a computer-based program and the students have so much familiarity with computers, I expect the students to exceed expectations."

Blackburn's favorite project was one with few restrictions:  creating a desk organizer.  The only parameters were size (12 x 12), accommodations for two folders, spaces for pens and paperclips and two supplemental attachments.  With a creative background and expertise with design programs like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, Blackburn tackled the project with enthusiasm. He believes his background in art will allow him to make his students aware of possibilities in industrial design, commercial design, even furniture design.

"As an art teacher, I was introducing design from the art aspect.  Now I can introduce design from the industrial aspect," he said.

NSU, which is Louisiana's PLTW affiliate university, has hosted two previous PLTW training sessions for middle school and high school teachers.  The Department of Engineering Technology and Computer Information Systems provides lab space and equipment, not only for summer training workshops but also for schools in Natchitoches Parish that are implementing the program.
For more information on Project Lead the Way, visit the organization's website at www.pltw.org <http://www.pltw.org> or contact Dr. Phil Brown, associate professor in NSU's Department of Engineering Technology, at (318) 357-5026 or e-mail brownp@nsul.edu <mailto:brownp@nsul.edu> , or Professor Adam Jannick, Project Lead the Way affiliate professor, at (318) 357-6924 or e-mail jannika@nsula.edu <mailto:jannika@nsula.edu> .