Shande King

Crossing Boundaries for STEM Teaching through Mini-Conferences part of Network of STEM Education Centers:Program Descriptions
Partnering with other STEM faculty members across the university campus, the our center hosted their first mini-conference, open for K-12 STEM educators as well as university faculty members, researchers, and other community outreach organizations. In this abbreviated PechaKucha-style conference, speakers from all university STEM and education departments, local K-12 schools, and other local STEM organizations presented different research highlighting educational practices that focused on advancing K-12 and undergraduate student engagement and inquiry into STEM fields. Concurrent sessions of 10 minutes allowed various departments and other education representatives to highlight their specific fields of interest, followed brief question-and-answer sessions. Sessions were grouped according to similar themes, and upon the completion of each theme's presentations, connections were made to underline the practices already advancing STEM education. Further, presenters and attendees provided helpful feedback for continued improvement in STEM education, and in this comfortable environment, they exchanged information for future collaboration.