Mentorship Reflection

My mentorship was a valuable experience in the sense that it allowed me to better myself at something I love, and it taught me how to share my passion for engineering with younger students. Working with the students at North Forsyth Middle School was an incredible opportunity. It was very rewarding to be able to help influence the next generation of engineers and roboticists with the hopes that they might pursue the same experiences I have been fortunate enough to have in engineering. I worked very closely with these students and got to see them progress over the school year, as they learned how to combine the fundamentals of engineering and design with team work and tenacity to create something new and exciting. I learned so many valuable lessons from not only working with the students, but by working under my mentor who gave me insight into a whole new career field.

My mentorship has prepared me for the future, by not only strengthening my foundations in engineering, but by teaching me how to affectively share my passion with others. It taught me communication skills, professionalism, and much more. My workplace gave me a unique experience, as it allowed me to work in a professional setting, while experiencing both formal and informal interactions on a day to day basis as I not only interacted with teachers and engineers, but I also grew to know the personal experiences and aspirations of the students I was working with.

All on all, the experience was very positive. I wish to continue my education and pursue a degree in mechanical engineering, so that I may start a career as a professional engineer. I took the mentorship not only to have the opportunity to share my love for engineering with other students, but out of an interest in engineering education with the hopes that it would give me perspective into another potential career field. I can now say that although I had an overwhelmingly positive experience, I do not wish to pursue a career in education, but rather in engineering. My passion lies in the satisfaction that comes of using careful design and craftsmanship to create something new. My goal is to turn that passion into a career. 

Prepared Presentation Video Reflection

For my prepared presentation, I plan on utilizing the techniques mentioned in the video to strengthen my speech and create a more memorable message. It seems the most important aspect of any presentation is confidence. As the video suggests, an important way step in gaining confidence is being extremely well prepared. I plan to practice my presentation many times beforehand, so that I will know my information very well and be able to confidently present it to my audience. Another important factor is presenting the information naturally. It is hard to keep the audience’s attention by just spewing facts and information; I’ll have to present it as if it were almost conversational. The presentation should have some sort of hook to get the audience’s attention, and supporting evidence to back up my message. My message will be about what I found during my capstone, and the evidence will be my research and experiences at my internship. I’ll have an exact plan as to how I will present, being sure to present my ideas in a logical and coherent order. Lastly, it is important to leave on a strong note, so I will come up with a conclusion that summarizes my ideas reinforces my message.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tShavGuo0_E

Annotated Bibliography 3

National Research Council. (2011). Successful K-12 STEM Education: Identifying Effective

Approaches in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Committee on Highly Successful Science Programs for K-12 Science Education. Board on Science Education and Board on Testing and Assessment, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

The article “Succesful K-12 STEM Education” explores research that identifies successes and drawbacks in different approaches to STEM curriculum and education practices. It overviews a variety of case studies and teachers to exemplify a variety of approaches to engineering education. It suggests a hands on approach to improve student feedback and engagement. Some potential quotes include: “School programs are designed to develop sound character, creativity, ethical judgment, concerned attitudes, and the ability to live productively and harmoniously in a global workforce.” and “the most useful way of identifying criteria for success relates to educational practices: what practices should be used to identify effective STEM schools? Focusing on practices instead of outcomes provides schools with concrete guidance for improving the quality of STEM instruction and, presumably, of STEM learning.” The article lists all its informational sources at the beginning. It is a “.org” source which typically suggests a degree of credibility as well. It is very well documented and provides a lot of unbiased and sourced information that I plan to use in my own research. It relates directly to my research topic and provides valuable resources for reference in my studies. 

Week of 2/06/17

I am currently working on multiple aspects of my mentorship capstone project. One of the main aspects of the project is “real-inquiry.” I plan to utilize not only interviews with my mentor, but feedback from the students I am working with for this part of the project. In order to answer the essential question of my project, I am currently researching scholarly articles regarding similar classroom case studies. In addition, I am working on research of my own regarding student engagement in the classroom as well as the effects of competition robotics. As far as the visual aspect of my project, I will prepare powerpoints overviewing my project as well as observations. I will include pictures from my mentorship in addition to presentation of information. The end of competition robotics season is approaching and the information for my project is all starting to come together. From here I just need to collect a bit more information and turn it into a coherent study that is presentable to an outside audience. 

Annotated Bibliography

Mizell, S., & Brown, S. (2016). The Current Status of STEM Education Research 2013-2015. Journal Of

STEM Education: Innovations & Research, 17(4), 52-56.

The information presented in the article conveys the data and observations regarding current research of American STEM proficiency in students of grades kindergarten through 12^th. The article addresses data recovered from ten case studies over the past 20 years, and illustrates trends regarding demographics, schooling, and student involvement. It overviews involvement nationwide, and it gives a wide overview of many different case studies and projects. The data portrays continued development of STEM research based on a call to action by the American government for an all hands on effort to increase proficiency nationwide. It overviews not only methods of education, but methods of progress tracking through the case studies. It describes the processes of data collection, and analyzes the data. The data is used to draw conclusions about the viability of STEM research, and profiles trends in student ability. The advancement of STEM proficiency is increasing according to the data. It goes on to contend that; “This is encouraging since proficiency in STEM fields is critical to remaining a leader in the 21st century global workforce.” (Mizell, 54)

Potential quotes from the article include statements reflecting the data such as, “The current analysis has demonstrated that the research base for STEM education has expanded” (Mizell, 54) or “As the two studies are compared, it is apparent that there are areas in which a shift has taken place.” I could also include quotes regarding data reflection such as, “In the original article, Brown suggested that more rigorous methods could strengthen the field of STEM education research.” (Mizell, 54)

The source is credible, as it is a scholarly article regarding a collection of data. It is rather unbiased and draws valid conclusions based on the data. It is not politicized; it is just a reflection of data that leaves room for interpretation. The information presented within the article is completely cited and the source itself was procured from the Galileo search engine. The source is up to date as well, having been published October first of 2016.

The article fits well into my research as it demonstrates the current state of American STEM proficiency. I will use it to illustrate trends, and make connections to my experience with the robotics students. The data will be a valuable reference in my research, and it will help me to draw conclusions of my own. It suggests trends that directly reflect the students I am working with in my research. 

Annotated Bibliography

Name: Simon Langen

Source: Mizell, S., & Brown, S. (2016). The Current Status of STEM Education Research 2013-2015. Journal Of STEM Education: Innovations & Research, 17(4), 52-56.
Annotation: The article summarized the current state of STEM education in America. It overviews involvement nationwide, as well as the trends of research on students K-12. It gives an wide overview of many different case studies and projects nationwide.
Potential Quotes: “The current analysis has demonstrated that the research base for STEM education has expanded since Brown conducted a similar analysis in 2012. This is encouraging since proficiency in STEM fields is critical to remaining a leader in the 21st century global workforce.” Page 52
Assessment: The source does not take a particular view. Rather it gives an overview of many different case studies and research projects with data and observations to supplement. It was found using the Galileo search engine and is a scholarly article.
Reflection: I will use this primarily to show data reflected in American STEM proficiency levels and possibly compare it to that of other countries.

Week of 1/15/17

My research is driven by a passion for engineering. I hope to share it with the students I interact with through my internship. My essential question remains: how does the implementation of competition robotics into Engineering class-curriculum help inspire interest in STEM fields, as well as improve overall student engagement, creativity, and satisfaction? I plan to showcase through either presentation or documentation of actual robots built by the students I work with. I have powerpoint presentations I have created for engineering lessons as well. There is plenty of research regarding scholarly articles and case studies in which the effects of STEM curriculum on student participation have been observed. This combined with accounts my own experiences, what I have learned from my mentor, and what I have observed firsthand among students a will provide the basis for my real inquiry.