Region 7 Teacher In-Service Program Training Workshop Delta Meadowvale Resort Mississauga, Ontario, Canada Evaluation Summary

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1 Region 7 Teacher In-Service Program Training Workshop Delta Meadowvale Resort Mississauga, Ontario, Canada Evaluation Summary Overview: A one and a half-day Teacher In-Service Program training workshop for IEEE volunteers and invited educators in Region 7 was conducted on April 2011 in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada to encourage their participation in pre-university education programs. 79 attendees participated in the event. Activities and Discussions: 32 attendees completed the workshop evaluation. Attendees rated program segments on the following scale: 5=Excellent, 4=Good, 3=Average, 2=Could be Improved, to 1=Poor. 100% of the respondents rated the overall event as excellent or good. Below is a breakdown by activity/topic area. Area/Activity Rating 5 (Excellent) 1 (Poor) 1) Why Are We Here? 4.7 average 96.88% of the respondents rated this either 2) TISP Activity: Working With Wind 4.4 average Energy 84.38% of the respondents rated this either 3) Challenges and Opportunities in Canadian Schools 4) TISP Activity: Using Ohm s Law to Build a Voltage Divider 5) Alignment with Education Standards, Science & Technology in the Secondary Schools 4.7 average % of the respondents rated this either 4.3 average 81.25% of the respondents rated this either 4.7 average 96.88% of the respondents rated this either 6) How to Begin 4.4 average 84.38% of the respondents rated this either 7) Developing a Partnership with Local Pre-University Schools and School Systems 4.6 average 96.88% of the respondents rated this either 8) Breakout Group Discussion 4.4 average 84.38% of the respondents rated this either 9) Program Overall 4.7 average % of the respondents rated this either 1

2 The Overall Program received a strong rating with a 4.7 average response. Participants most enjoyed the Why We Are Here?; Challenges and Opportunities in Canadian Schools; and Alignment with Education Standards, Science & Technology in the Secondary Schools presentations (each rated at 4.7). Participants showed strong interest in the Developing a Partnership with Local Pre-University Schools and School Systems presentation (4.6). Participants showed interest in the Working with Wind Energy activity; How to Begin presentation; and Breakout Group Discussion each with a 4.4 average rating. The area that was least interesting to the participants was the Using Ohm s Law to Build a Voltage Divider activity (rated at 4.3). Effects of the Training Engineers participating in the workshop were asked to answer the following questions with definitely, maybe, no responses at the end of the workshop: 1. How likely were you to work with teachers/students/schools/school systems prior to this training? 2. How likely are you to work with teachers/students/schools/school systems following this training? 3. Did this workshop provide valuable information/resources to participate in pre-university outreach? 4. Did this workshop contribute to your understanding of the impact engineers can make through pre-university outreach? 5. Would you recommend this training to other engineers? 6. Should IEEE continue to conduct TISP training workshops? A summary of the 22 engineer responses received follow: 10. How likely were you to work with teachers/students/schools/school systems prior to this training? Definitely % Maybe % No % 11. How likely are you to work with teachers/students/schools/school systems following this training? Definitely % Maybe % 2

3 12. Did this workshop provide valuable information/resources to participate in preuniversity outreach? Definitely % Maybe % 13. Did this workshop contribute to your understanding of the impact engineers can make through pre-university outreach? Definitely % Maybe % 14. Would you recommend this training to other engineers? Definitely % Maybe % 15. Should IEEE continue to conduct TISP training workshops? Definitely % Maybe % The feedback received indicates that the Teacher In-Service Program training workshop for Region 7 was a successful and valuable event. Of the 22 engineers who responded to the survey, 100% say they would recommend this training to other engineers. These participants also stated the workshop provided valuable information/resources to participate in pre-university outreach (90.91%) and that the workshop contributed to their understanding of the impact engineers can make through pre-university outreach (81.82%). A strong impact was made on the engineers who stated they were likely to work with teachers/students/schools/school systems prior to this training (68.18%). Upon conclusion of the 3

4 workshop, 95.45% of these same engineers stated they were now likely to work with teachers/students/schools/school systems. All of the engineers think IEEE should continue to conduct future TISP training workshops. Open Ended Questions The responses to open ended questions appear below and can assist us in continuing to develop TISP and address concerns and incorporate ideas of the participants. Follow up is vital to insure that the engineers are now given a chance to work with teachers and education programs to promote and enhance the understanding of engineering, engineering design and technological literacy. What went well? Presentations and activities Discussion of alignment with curriculum/expectations/outcomes Planning, dialogue, desire to share knowledge All activities were very good. Meals and service were excellent. Panel, breakout, learning projects The whole conference was well planned, excellent pace Well planned and executed event. Wind Energy The two activities were very hands-on and made me want to do more experiments. Maureen's presentation was very informative and an eye opener of the school system in Ontario Networking with colleagues The hands-on activities inspire me to use these lessons in my classroom. The action planning makes the way forward a possibility. Bringing teachers and engineers together. Covering all expenses. Showing how the activities can be executed All went well, great job on time management Hands-on activity and networking The whole workshop was great, lots of useful information and good links Canadian overview, Ontario system, networking, activities, and exchanging experiences Terrific hands-on labs The panel discussion was interesting. The lesson plan activity on wind energy was very well organized. Teachers' point-of-view, alignment of curriculum Hands-on activities were great. The teacher's involvement was a great idea. Presentations by teachers. Organization, speakers, activities Logistics, location, space, food, comfortable and supportive atmosphere. Program and schedule. The selection of government personnel and related topics were more relevant this time versus TISP R Excellent speech from R7 Director Everything was planned excellent Including teachers & ministers of education talk about their perspective and insight helps to know that they are willing to work with us Everything The presentations by the government agency reps All went very well 4

5 What could we improve on? Wind Energy seems to be a challenging project for the time and materials In the activities, link to Ontario/Canadian curriculum outcomes, provide sample assessment Networking with other participants Slightly less reading of PowerPoints. Give handouts/urls for presentations Not much, maybe more group work Bring in more teachers (who have used the TISP workshop instructions) to the next workshop for them to share their personal experiences with their classes and what worked/didn t work to bring inspiration to future teachers Need to link existing workshops to curriculum, rather than section needing to do that Training material Structure of activities and process of adaptation (maybe a case study), relate to other IEEE-related programs (i.e. EPICS, STAR), target discussions (i.e. intro to IEEE for teachers) and increase engagement 1 1/2 day format seems ideal Clear instructions before starting lesson plans could be helpful More workshops with wider audience (IEEE members) You (we) rock! Two days are not enough. Maybe four or five days can be more useful More opportunities to talk/share with other participants Continue to get motivating speakers, Past IEEE Canada President speech was irrelevant! Make presentations more relevant to Canada Perhaps a better introduction to Canadian education system for those of us who did not go to school here Talk more about or at least give one example of how a person started or about their first approach to a faculty or school board member Rather than focusing on just doing each lesson, focus on how to teach each lesson Are there additional ideas/topics that would be helpful? How to connect with Regional Science Fairs, Robotics Competitions Opportunities to discuss with other sections Excellent facilities More on robotics, special topic get-togethers It is refreshing to see the engineers come together with the teaching community to make learning more relevant. Provincial level links to curriculum Small group of projects Involving different types of engineers (not only electrical/computer), make it clear if committee member are to be IEEE members or not, focus groups More progress or mapping to Canadian curricula I think in the next workshop, sections can start sharing their experiences IEEE Canada, TISP Section may help curriculum alignment at different jurisdiction. Focus should be elementary How to reach education students. How to assist in improving education programs. Not just show that engineering relates to math but also how to improve math skills of teachers and teacher's candidates Yes, please share all activities on TISP Canada, specifically PPT, PDF, Videos, Images Technology, innovation, entrepreneurship 5

6 Have more TISP Champions present their stories Non-traditional engineering applications such as space, electricity, buildings, bridges. Incorporate it into sports for example, physics needed to design a ski course or sliding centre or into equipment to design a mountain bike. Design a back-up power system for a rock band concert How to Begin was too long and too much detail and slide font was too small Do you have any additional comments? Having Sections in the same Province cooperate on aligning with Provincial curricula, outcomes/expectations This is a very informative and well run session Thank you for the wonderful opportunity! This was very worthwhile. Thanks for organizing this. Very good workshop for not only engineers and teachers, but also university students who are interested in engineering who will spread the awareness to their university about what IEEE does (under TISP) Excellent workshop, lots of good contacts and information Follow-up session by committee To invite student branches as well Outstanding workshop, thank you! As engineers, we also wish to hear more from teachers on how they plan their classes, when is best time of year to approach them, etc. Very nice arrangements, thank you. My opinion is that problem number one is the math curriculum and the math skills. We need to do something in this direction! Thank you Please send us the presentation slides. Thanks! Bring on TISP R7 2013! Make sure students get the message that as an engineer (or with the degree) one can use the "way of thinking" can be applied to any career they choose or might change to 6