By Guest Blogger
Posted on 2017-09-15
For anyone who isn’t yet familiar with The American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT), here’s a bit about who we are. We’re 4,500 members strong, though we’ve only been around for three years. Most of us are teachers, and some are other chemistry professionals. We all care deeply about chemistry education and recognize that teachers of chemistry span all grade levels. We are the first national association by and for teachers of chemistry, and we’re proud to join the company of other science education organizations who share many of our goals.
We define our goals like this:
The STEM Certification Conversation
When the conversation around STEM certification began, we saw that this effort would likely overlap with our interest in quality professional development, because, of course, the value of any certification is in the training, preparation, and experience that underlies it. As advocates for best-in-class professional development, we understand that seeking and renewing certifications are often the driving force behind time and funding being allotted for professional development.
There are certainly many teachers out there who could benefit from training and experience with STEM teaching methods and content. If a certification structure could bring those teachers the experiences and tools they need to better serve their students, then it’s a structure worth considering. Through AACT, we interact with many members who teach other sciences in addition to chemistry, and we appreciate initiatives that support practitioners of multiple disciplines.
In my own teaching career, having taught math and physics along with chemistry, I have gained a real understanding of the relationships among the disciplines. This has benefited my students, as I have been able to reveal those relationships in their classroom experience. The webinars that we have offered that deal with incorporating engineering, solving mathematical problems with intuition in stoichiometry and working without a calculator have all been well received and reflect our members’ interest in multiple disciplines.
Often times, practical know-how and tips for effective teaching are passed on through informal networks and mentorships among teachers. While that is certainly valuable, there is also value in formalizing and clarifying paths for seeking and attaining that knowledge. A clear, formal path can be widely available to all who aim to improve their practice. And, ultimately, the more teachers who benefit from training, mentorships, and so on, the more students those highly-trained teachers will be able to reach.
And aren’t the students what we’re all about in the end? AACT is proud to join our sister associations in pursuing top-quality education for all of our students by advocating for highly supported, well trained, teachers.
Jenelle Ball is the AACT President and Governing Board Chair. She has teaching high school chemistry for over 30 years. She currently teaches chemistry at Chico High School in Chico, CA.
Editor’s Note
This is the second post in a series from expert voices in STEM education who together are pondering questions about STEM certification. The first post in the series can be found here. Consider adding your thoughts about STEM certification in the comments below. As we tackle this issue and others like it, the steering committee for the STEM Forum & Expo will be building the program for the 7th Annual STEM Forum & Expo, hosted by NSTA, to be held July 11–13, 2018, in Philadelphia, PA. Please subscribe to the conferences category at http://nstacommunities.org/blog/subscribe/ to get updates as these blogs are posted.
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For anyone who isn’t yet familiar with The American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT), here’s a bit about who we are. We’re 4,500 members strong, though we’ve only been around for three years. Most of us are teachers, and some are other chemistry professionals. We all care deeply about chemistry education and recognize that teachers of chemistry span all grade levels.
By Martin Horejsi
Posted on 2017-09-15
With all the connectivity possible built into the TI-Innovator Hub, it was inevitable that programable motorized peripherals would become available for I-Hub. And that day has arrived. Texas Instruments, the maker of the ubiquitous graphing calculators like the TI-84, has announced the TI-Innovator Rover, a two-wheeled programmable robotic vehicle designed to work directly (hardwired) with the TI-Innovator Hub.
A 360 degree tour of the TI-Innovator Rover is available here, but below are a few more screenshots of the Rover.
The TI-Innovator Hub was detailed on this NSTA Blog back in December. We were impressed with the Hub’s ability to provide feedback and control options in as little as 10 minutes. The coding process of the Hub required an appropriate TI graphing calculator so the coding experience involved a command-line interface rather than the drag-and-drop “language” of many more toy-like coding devices. The current list of comparable calculators includes one model of the 84 (Plus CE), and seven TI-Nspire hardware/software combinations.
According to Peter Balyta, the president of TI Education Technology, “We created Rover to demystify robotics and give students who might be intimidated by programming an easy on-ramp to learn to code. Given the sheer joy we have seen on students’ faces as they learned to code during our testing phase, we are excited to see how Rover will inspire more young minds through an introduction to robotics.”
The TI-Innovator Rover leverages the ubiquitous TI family of graphing calculators and requires a command-line understanding of the coding process. While the learning curve might be steeper for command-line coding, the capabilities are not limited by an available set of drag-and-drop code icons.
The aluminum TI-Innovator Rover with rechargeable battery has two independent drive wheels, a motor shaft encoder, a gyroscope, color sensor, LED lights, and a marker holder that will lay a path for science, art or both at the same time.
TI-Innovator Rover puts STEM into motion. I’m excited to take it for a drive when available.