Qwest Foundation Awards MSUM Grant to Bring College for Kids to K-12 Teachers
By Jolene Richardson
Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM) has been awarded a $5,000 grant by the Qwest Foundation to add a professional development aspect for classroom science teachers to an existing College for Kids class called MotoTechs. College for Kids, a hands-on summer enrichment program for children ages 8 – 14, has been a program of Continuing Studies and Customized Education & Training for eight years. Through the grant, Kate Rockstad, a fourth grade teacher from Moorhead Schools, learned how to teach simple electrical circuits and motors using hands-on activities with students in the MotoTechs classroom. As an experienced teacher, she was an ideal candidate because she teaches this content in her regular classroom.
The MotoTechs course for both the teacher and children was taught by Dr. Steve Lindaas, MSU Moorhead Department of Physics and Astronomy. Dr. Lindaas has taught College for Kids classes for several years and is active with science educators in the region and in the state Minnesota Science Teachers Association.
The first week Rockstad herself explored concepts of electricity and magnetism in preparation for the MotoTechs class. She worked with circuits, voltage, magnets, electromagnetism, and logical thinking with mentor, Dr. Steve Lindaas. During week two, she worked with the 20 students in the MotoTechs classroom to practice using the instructional strategies she learned. In addition to learning strategies to teach the content and encourage problem solving, teaching strategies such as directing inquiry or questioning were discussed and practiced. Rockstad brought some of her own ideas for managing multiple student-directed projects to the MotoTechs classroom.
The Qwest grant covered the cost of materials, supplies, and instructor salary for MotoTechs which ended on July 27, 2007. Additional work to set the stage for an expansion of this type of in-service teacher training to cover additional topics will continue. The grant will also cover the cost of an external evaluator to determine the extent to which the teacher is able to implement the skills and activities in her classroom and a survey of area teachers to obtain information concerning interest in this type of professional development.
This is the first time a K-12 professional development component has been added to the College for Kids program. It is a pilot project to test the feasibility of a larger summer academy in which teachers from several disciplines come together to improve and practice their teaching skills using this professional development model.