Article from LocoRobo Innovations: What STEM/STEAM College Readiness Looks Like As a university professor who engages with high school students at university open houses, I often meet with students interested in entering into engineering, computer science and robotics programs. At a recent open house, one student I met made me think “I wish more students were as prepared as she is to take my classes. This is what college readiness looks like.” As a K-12 teacher or administrator, I am sure you find yourself thinking about shaping your classrooms to help students achieve college and career readiness by the time they graduate. Here are some key traits of the high school student that I mention above: 1) Experience with computer science related topics, projects and hardware that are being applied in college courses and modern industry 2) The ability to articulate her current experience and explain its specific relevance to the work we do in my lab and in my courses 3) The ability to process the exposure she has had and frame her knowledge in the grand scheme of things 4) An excitement to take her place in higher education combined with humility about the potential for college to expand her knowledge and prepare her for a career I believe these traits can be developed in the K-12 stage of a student’s life if we provide them the depth, breadth and rigor through a modern pedagogical approach: Teacher + student centered pedagogy Differentiated learning Subject matter treatment grows in depth as students spend more time Project-based and collaborative learning Foundational concepts within a modern, industry standard environment

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Pramod Abichandani, CEO and Founder of LocoRobo Innovations Inc, is passionate about finding ways to bring modern technology out of the lab and into K-12 curriculum.

GIS with CMU Professor Tammy Parece

On January 11th, 2017, CMU Professor Dr. Tammy Parece met with MCSD teachers to discuss GIS (Geographic Information System). Dr. Parece graciously shared a wide variety of resources for teachers to begin using various GIS tools in the classroom. Dr. Parece is willing to return to MCSD for a more extensive training. If you are interested in this, please contact John Steele.

For the full shared folder of resources, click here.

Here's Dr. Parece's presentation outline from January 11th:



Here are Five GIS Activities you can do in five minutes:



Here's a collection of GIS resources for educators:

InvenTeams STEM Grant from MIT

Check out the InvenTeams Grant opportunity for STEM educators below:

"Inspiring a new generation of inventors.

Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams™ are comprised of high school students, educators, and mentors that receive up to $10,000 each to invent technological solutions to real-world problems of their own choosing. STEM educators from the continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, and territories of the U.S. may apply."

Remember, before applying for a grant, you should first fill out a Grant Request form from the MCSD District Office. Contact John Steele or Jessica Beller for more information. 

Welcome to the New MCSD STEM Blog!

The Montrose County School District welcomes you to the new online home of all things STEM and PBL!

Here you will find regular updates on all the MCSD STEM and PBL news as well as teacher resources.

Please bookmark this page and check back regularly for updates.