2019 Materials and Manufacturing Summer Teachers Institute
July 23 – 25, 2019
Overview
The Materials and Manufacturing Summer Teachers Institute is a school-to-career initiative that targets STEM skills instruction in the New Haven and Bridgeport Public Schools grades 7-12. The project is sponsored by the New Haven Manufacturers Association (NHMA) and CRISP at SCSU/Yale. Through the professional development of their science teachers attending the institute, students will experience in their classrooms and school laboratories how the STEM skills of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are integrated in the manufacturing industry to create products out of materials. This introduction will provide insights that increase academic achievement in science and mathematics and prepare students for internships and hands-on school-to-career opportunities in high school. An objective of the project is that early preparation will also provide students with a foundation of knowledge and expertise that will lead to college and careers grounded in the STEM skills as they relate to manufacturing and industry. This outreach effort, which is a strategic partnership between SCSU, CRISP, the Southern CT Chapter of the American Society for Materials International, The Connecticut Department of Education, and the New Haven Manufacturers Assn. focuses on teacher education. It immerses teachers in the needs, rigors, skill sets, applications, and training that the manufacturing community need and employ. 2019 marks the 7th year of the Materials and Manufacturing Institute.
Project Design
The professional development of their teachers is the project’s strategy for engaging 7th – 12th grade students in the practical uses of STEM skills in manufacturing and materials science. The proposed program’s mission is as follows:
“To provide science teachers and coordinators with an introduction to industrial product design as it applies to requisite STEM skills. The application of STEM skills to real world challenges and the creation of useful products will be explored in order to create a basic understanding of the integration and transferability of STEM skills” (Project Steering Committee, January 2013).
This year the theme was Bridging Problem Solving to Manufacturing – using the Truss bridge design as a foundation example. The teachers will learn about how small mathematical errors can multiply over distance or possibly other forms of measurement.
The work at Milford’s Platt Technical High School was preceded by a tour of Holo-Krome, a manufacturer that produces critical application fasteners for a multitude of industries such as Aerospace, construction, military, environmental, and more.
STEM teachers and school administrators/counselors, including those from the New Haven and Bridgeport Public Schools, participate in the institute. In addition to the hands-on component, those attending will hear from industry operations and technical professionals about the following:
1) Their firms and what they produce
2) STEM skill sets that are required
3) The raw materials used, how the product is made and what it is required to perform
4) Why certain materials are utilized and the critical properties of those materials
5) What goes into creating a product
6) Obstacles and limitations associated with creating a product