CEEO Builds Better Teachers with LEGO

The Center for Engineering Educational Outreach (CEEO) hosted the second annual LEGO Engineering Symposium January 13–15. More than 50 K-16 educators, in addition to industry representatives from LEGO, National Instruments Corp., and Vernier Software & Technology collaborated to discuss effective tools and methods to implement and sustain K-16 engineering education.

Kevin Staszowski explains LEGO Mindstorms software to Elisa Heinricher, an educator from Bancroft School in Worcester, MA, and Michele Brezovec, a middle school teacher at South Meadow School in Peterborough, NH.

Kevin Staszowski explains LEGO Mindstorms software to Elisa Heinricher (left), an educator from Bancroft School in Worcester, MA, and Michele Brezovec (center ), a middle school teacher at South Meadow School in Peterborough, NH.

The three-day conference schedule offered a balance between hands-on workshops and guest presentations. Birger Brevik, a professor from Norway’s Akershus University College presented a lecture "Bringing Engineering Work Processes to the Classroom." CEEO's own doctoral student, Brian Gravel, gave a lecture on "Rethinking How Students Represent Ideas in STEM Activities.” In the workshops, educators generated projects that included hands-on trigonometry proofs, the modeling of real car physics via LEGO robots and, amazingly enough, a miniature Segway. Between the organized events, participants had the opportunity for further brainstorming and networking, which fostered an environment for valuable engineering education discussions.

The CEEO's seven staff members, nine graduate students, and more than 40 undergraduate students are carrying the momentum generated by the Symposium through the rest of the year as they accomplish the Center's mission: to improve education through engineering. Specific initiatives include supporting national and international LEGO Engineering conferences (http://ceeo.tufts.edu/content/view/40/57/), expanding and sustaining STOMP (Student Teacher Outreach Mentorship Program) at satellite university locations, continuing the development of web resources and custom software tools, and researching effective engineering education methods.

Learn more about one of CEEO's main web resources by visiting http://www.legoengineering.com/ and explore a new educational software tool at http://www.samanimation.com. Stay tuned to http://ceeo.tufts.edu for updates on future projects, as well as details on the regular summer LEGO workshops offered for both K-12 students and educators.

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	v Top Stories > Making South Africa a Model for Water Quality > Engineers Earn Tufts' Top Teaching Awards > Pamela Goldberg Wins Award for Excellence in Entrepreneurship Education > Visualization Wall Grand Opening > David Walt Elected to National Academy of Engineering > Engineers Head to Middle East for World Future Energy Summit > Lautze Dams Malaria in Ethiopia > Caterpillar-Inspired Robot Morphs into Modern Art > CEEO Builds Better Teachers with LEGO > Archives	Home » About » News » Top Stories » CEEO Builds Better Teachers with LEGO CEEO Builds Better Teachers with LEGO The Center for Engineering Educational Outreach (CEEO) hosted the second annual LEGO Engineering Symposium January 13–15. More than 50 K-16 educators, in addition to industry representatives from LEGO, National Instruments Corp., and Vernier Software & Technology collaborated to discuss effective tools and methods to implement and sustain K-16 engineering education. Kevin Staszowski explains LEGO Mindstorms software to Elisa Heinricher (left), an educator from Bancroft School in Worcester, MA, and Michele Brezovec (center ), a middle school teacher at South Meadow School in Peterborough, NH. The three-day conference schedule offered a balance between hands-on workshops and guest presentations. Birger Brevik, a professor from Norway’s Akershus University College presented a lecture "Bringing Engineering Work Processes to the Classroom." CEEO's own doctoral student, Brian Gravel, gave a lecture on "Rethinking How Students Represent Ideas in STEM Activities.” In the workshops, educators generated projects that included hands-on trigonometry proofs, the modeling of real car physics via LEGO robots and, amazingly enough, a miniature Segway. Between the organized events, participants had the opportunity for further brainstorming and networking, which fostered an environment for valuable engineering education discussions. The CEEO's seven staff members, nine graduate students, and more than 40 undergraduate students are carrying the momentum generated by the Symposium through the rest of the year as they accomplish the Center's mission: to improve education through engineering. Specific initiatives include supporting national and international LEGO Engineering conferences (http://ceeo.tufts.edu/content/view/40/57/), expanding and sustaining STOMP (Student Teacher Outreach Mentorship Program) at satellite university locations, continuing the development of web resources and custom software tools, and researching effective engineering education methods. Learn more about one of CEEO's main web resources by visiting http://www.legoengineering.com/ and explore a new educational software tool at http://www.samanimation.com. Stay tuned to http://ceeo.tufts.edu for updates on future projects, as well as details on the regular summer LEGO workshops offered for both K-12 students and educators.
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