Summer Institute

Teachers Gained Professional Development Since 2006: 83

Students Introduced to Transportation Engineering Since 2009: 3500

About the Program

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K-12 science and math teachers have a pressing need for training in the use of instructional materials that engage students and facilitate learning of complex concepts and principles in the content areas of math and science. Students often do not recognize real-life applications of math and science concepts taught in the classroom. To remedy this, faculty of the Nebraska Transportation Center and Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln forged a partnership to launch the Professional Development Science and Math Summer Technology Institute for secondary school teachers.

At the Institute, teachers interact with engineering faculty who share their research and demonstrate how math and science concepts are used to solve real-world problems. Education research faculty members provide program evaluation, offer guidance in preparing effective lesson plans, and facilitate presentations and activities on, for example, promoting scientific inquiry with students and meeting state math and science standards.

Watch video - Summer Institute Abstract

Information for K-12 Parents and Students

The Engineering Education Excellence Institute is a once-in-a-lifetime experience designed especially for middle and high school students. Participants visit a University of Nebraska campus to enjoy a day of interacting with world-renowned engineers, executives in industry, and leaders in government, touring on and off-campus sites, and experiencing and reviewing lessons from a student perspective. Education faculty from the Nebraska Center for Youth, Families, and Schools help teachers create lessons that are relevant, effective, and use core math and science concepts to illustrate engineering ideas. Lessons are designed to use students' math and science skills and to teach students about several different disciplines of engineering.

This is a great opportunity for students to find out what engineering is all about or to explore their interests in engineering and transportation. Each year is always something a bit different - students have participated in activities ranging from "driving" a professional truck driving simulator to watching a crash test at the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility testing ground. No matter what special activities are planned, it is always a day packed with learning and unique experiences.

Information for K-12 Teachers

The Summer Institute helps more teachers gain new knowledge, experience, and skills that translate directly to the classroom. In Part I, teacher participants in the Institute spend about four intensive days engaging in professional development activities on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus. These include content presentations from engineering and education faculty and graduate student researchers, tours of labs and facilities, discussion time with peers, and time for lesson plan development. In Part II, teachers spend one or two days finalizing their lesson plans and practicing them with one another. Students then arrive to experience the learning activities the teachers have planned! Teachers are also expected to implement the lesson in their regular classroom in the fall.

Teachers from Lincoln Public Schools can earn professional growth points for participation in the Institute. There is no registration fee and participants receive a stipend upon completion of the program.

Summer Institute Teacher Alumni

Summer Institute Partners

With funding from MATC, the Nebraska Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education and the U.S. Department of Transportation Garrett Morgan Technology and Transportation Education Program, the Summer Institute was created to enhance the skills of middle and high school math, science, and industrial technology teachers in the use and application of real-life engineering resources. In the long-term, the program seeks to establish a new culture of collaboration among educators, engineers, and university professionals, creating a model program for the goal of building a technologically savvy transportation workforce and contribute to the body of literature on effective STEM teacher professional development programming and instructional practices.

• Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools
• Nebraska's Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education
• United States Department of Transportation
• Central Community College
• Nebraska Department of Transportation
• Nebraska Department of Education
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln