NIA | Outreach Programs | In-Service Teacher's Program

In-Service Teacher's Program

NIA organizes and supports a two-week educator’s workshop for middle and high school teachers. A goal of the workshop is to facilitate the teachers so they can develop instructional materials that will educate and motivate students on how science, technology and mathematics can improve their quality of life, as well as provide career objectives for future scientists and engineers. The Third Annual NIA Educator Training Workshop was held on July 11-22, 2005, and was a joint effort between NIA, NASA LaRC Office of Education, the Virginia and North Carolina Space Grant Consortia and NIA University partners from Virginia and North Carolina.

Select this link for details on the 2007 Educator's Workshop

Over forty educators from Virginia and North Carolina were involved this year in the NIA Summer Workshop, which involved two weeks of intensive activities including lectures, analysis of experiments, and operating specialized equipment. The teachers first spent one week in their home states participating in activities associated with their state universities and space grant consortia.

The North Carolina teachers spent the first week of the workshop split between NC State and NC A&T where they were exposed to technical demonstrations from NIA affiliated faculty as well as outreach specialists such as the Kenon Institute and the Science House. The technical activities at NCSU included lectures, presentations and demonstrations on: the Tumbleweed Competition, Wind Tunnel Testing, Mars art, Life in Space, and a space station lecture. The activities at NC A&T included lectures and demonstrations of: Composite Materials fabrication and testing, optical microscopy, the Big Bang, Gas Turbine testing, and plants in space.

Virginia teachers spent the first week with the Virginia Space Grant Consortium participating in a variety of activities. These included: a one-day program on Astronomy taught by the University of Virginia Astronomy Department and a one-day program on the Mars Mission and Space Exploration which is part of the NASA/JPL Solar System Educator Program. Also included was a one-day session on GPS/GIS in the Classroom from Virginia Tech and the VSGC OVERspace Program; a one-day program on Atmospheric and Earth Science from Hampton University’s Center for Atmospheric Sciences; a half-day program on Remote Sensing in the Classroom from Old Dominion University’s Center for Coastal Physical Oceanography; and a half-day activity on Student Hands-On Projects taught by Prof. Larry Richards, MAE Dept., University of Virginia.

Both groups then spent the second week of the workshop at NASA Langley Research Center, where the Langley Office of Education arranged lectures, demonstrations, tours of many of the NASA programs and educational resources. In addition, the Langley Office of Education provided time for the teachers to develop curricular material that they will be incorporating into their classroom as well as sharing with their colleagues. These teachers gained knowledge about ongoing NASA research, visited the Center’s research labs and facilities (including wind tunnels), and were exposed to NASA’s vast educational resources. The teachers also spent an afternoon at the Virginia Air and Space Center.

We are in the planning stages of the Fifth Annual NIA, NASA, and Space Grant Educator Institute, which will be held on July 8-20, 2007. Additional details are on the following link 2007 Educator Institute.