(continued from page 5) Engineering Education and Department of Curriculum and Instruction, will be exploring different ways students utilize and connect new scientific concepts with one another as they engage in different activities,” Capobianco says. Teacher assessment will include lesson plan and implementation review, classroom observation, interviews and reflection sessions. “We will examine how well the partnership itself works through measures including surveys and interviews of participants and use of the SLEDhub cyber-infrastructure.” -The benefits could extend beyond science learning, Lehman suggests. “The design process provides a memorable way for students to learn, and it’s a
On the SLED Team
Partners include regional industries and:
Purdue University
• Colleges of Education, Engineering, Science and Technology • Discover Learning Research Center
Indiana School Corp.s
• Lafayette, Taylor Community, Plymouth Community and Tippecanoe County school corporations vehicle for integrating various scientific concepts, mathematics, and even content from other disciplines, such as literacy.” Tyrie’s students, for example, may go on to a language arts class to create brochures or write about developing the prosthetic leg prototype. “This has become my passion,” says Tyrie, who has worked with the College of Education on earlier engineering/science projects, too. “This is the best thing for students right now. They have a client, and the client has a need, so the students come up with solutions and a prototype.”
Learn More
Tap into the Science Learning through Engineering Design exchange, dialog and lesson plans at:
http://sledhub.org
View a Purdue Exponent video about SLED:
www.youtube.com/user/ purdueexponent#p/u/30/Ur_T7pHxiio
6
TAKE NOTE FALL 2011
ONLINE MASTER'S DEGREE
-by Tonya Agnew
Overwhelming response to a new, completely online master’s degree program
Twenty. Originally the plan was for an initial cohort of 20 students in a new online master’s degree program focused on learning design and technology (LDT) to begin this fall. But demand has exceeded expectations. LDT, which has been offered through the traditional, in-person method for nearly 35 years, is the first completely online master’s degree offered at Purdue. The program prepares graduates to design, implement and evaluate learning materials and experiences that integrate effective instruction and technology for a variety of fields and organizations. “We have 43 admitted students to the LDT online program,” says Timothy Newby, professor of learning design and technology. “That number required us to double all of the projected classes for this first semester.” Three years in the making, the online master’s program in learning design and technology provides a convenient mode to obtain a degree in a growing field. Students access a virtual classroom interface where they post coursework,
43 admitted students