Tufts CEEO is excited to report on another successful LEGO Education Symposium and Tufts STEM Education Conference! The combined events took place from June 5th-7th on the Tufts campus and attracted 170 educators from over 30 countries in addition to highlighting some of the amazing research and outreach done by Tufts’ own faculty. Keynote speakers showcased the work of professors across Mathematics, Education, and Engineering.
The three-day event involved 24 workshops centered around innovative STEM learning and teaching methods in K-12 education. One of the highlights included a workshop led by Barbara Bratzel, a long-time partner of Tufts CEEO and local teacher, called “LEGO and the Maker Movement” which captured the creative, hands-on learning opportunities of maker environments. Another workshop was “Students Solving Problems through Creating Mobile Applications” in which participants learned to use Thunkable, a cross-platform app that allows kids to make their own mobile apps. It was led by the the company co-founders, Tufts Mechanical Engineering Professor Anil Saigal and Arun Saigal, also the CEO of Thunkable. Additional workshops spanned topics from LEGO Six Bricks, learning through play, musical instrument design, designing robots that mimic animal behavior, makerspaces, Novel Engineering, ScratchJr, and KIBO robotics.
At the conference, 20 participants were recognized as 2018 LEGO Education Teacher Award Winners for their innovative teaching practices. These teachers were able to showcase their work during a reception on Wednesday evening, and some even set up elaborate displays with robots they had brought from overseas.
The final day of the Tufts STEM Education Conference featured an exciting announcement and demo of a new app created by Tufts CEEO. Design Keeper is a free app that allows students to document the engineering design process on an iPad. Teachers are able to access the students’ documentation through an online portal.
The events also marked the 20th anniversary of the valued relationship between Tufts CEEO and LEGO Education. The past 20 years have included the release of new technologies including RoboLab and EV3 MINDSTORMS, which has impacted education, from elementary school classrooms to university level engineering courses. The ongoing research and development of new STEM curricula and technologies has also been supported by online communities such as Dr. E’s WeDo and MINDSTORM Challenges and the LEGO Engineering Community. To celebrate the anniversary, special guest speakers highlighted some of the most important moments in the 20 year relationship.
