CIESE+-+Center+for+Innovation+in+Engineering+and+Science+Education

[|CIESE]

"CIESE (Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education) was founded in 1988 to improve K-12 science and mathematics education through the use of technology ...

CIESE's enhanced mission is to catalyze and support excellence in teaching and learning of science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) and other core subjects through innovative, research-based instructional strategies and use of novel technologies. CIESE collaborates with K-12 and university educators, researchers, policymakers and educational organizations to develop curriculum materials, conduct professional development programs, and research new methodologies to strengthen STEM education.

Dedicated to improving K-16 STEM education through the meaningful and effective integration of technology, CIESE fosters the use of research-based instructional methodologies and technologies to improve and pioneer novel technologies to explore and better understand their impact on improved education and society."

Projects span grade levels from 1-12 but most seem to be geared towards secondary students. All are science related and involve students collecting data and sharing it worldwide. Many involve a discussion board component for students to communicate.

The start and end date of each project is listed along with a short description and recommended grade levels. Each seems to involve a different amount of time from one month to an academic year. Upon clicking on the project, there are directions for how to get involved fairly easily - it just requires knowing with the registration period will be. For example, there is a project called "The Noon Day Project" where students contribute measurements around the world to try to recreate measure of the circumference of the earth through a method that was first used by Eratosthenes over 2000 years ago. There is a teachers guide, recommended websites, possible book titles, a place for a student gallery, and a discussion board.

The project is extremely exciting and I can see where students would be beside themselves to collect the data and interact with students around the world. The only hesitation I had was with the timeframe and wondering how teachers get an alert for this. It was not readily apparent to me.