Quick Links

• About Us
• Giving
• K-12 Lesson Plans
• Research
• Programs

• The GK-12 Institute for Teachers
• FIRST LEGO League
• FIRST Robotics Competition, Palmetto Regional
• Project Lead the Way

For more information

For more information, contact the Center's director:

Dr. Jed S. Lyons
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208.

803.777.9552
lyons@sc.edu

Giving

If you would like to contribute to any of our programs, you can make your gift online at: https://giftsonline.sc.edu.

Please type Center for Engineering and Computing Education in the textbox under Gift Description.

We accept donations in any amounts. Corporate or private donations are tax-deductible. Donors of any amount may have their name and logo placed on the web page of the Center for Engineering and Computing Education (http://cece.engr.sc.edu/aboutus.html)

Thank you for helping make our programs a success and fulfill the mission of the Center to develop a technologically-literate population and workforce in South Carolina.

Partners in Inquiry

The Partners in Inquiry (Pi) program supports engineering and computer science students to work with grades 3-8 science, math, or technology teacher for a whole year. Primary activities focus on collaboratively developing and teaching lessons. The goal is to improve the teaching and communication skills of the Pi Fellows while enhancing science, math and technology education in South Carolina Schools. For more information about this program, please visit here.

Initiative: Increase support for expansion of the Pi program. Individual Pi Fellows are supported at a cost of $10,000 per academic year. Full-fellowship sponsors will be acknowledged through the formal naming of the fellowship (e.g., the ExxonMobil Graduate Teaching Fellowship), and may also designate the K-12 school or the major of the graduate student to be supported.

Research Experience for Teachers

Research Experience for Teachers (RET) is a summer program to help middle- and high-school science and math teachers apply inquiry and engineering problem-solving strategies in the classroom. Teachers spend six weeks over the summer working on a research project with a university professor. The goal of the RET program is to bring more knowledge of engineering and technological innovation to the pre-college classroom and provide teachers with university contacts for future use and reference. For more information about this program, please visit here.

Initiative: Support the Research Experiences for Teachers program. Each $7,500 raised will support one or more middle and high school teachers to conduct engineering research on the USC campus during the summer.

Summer Institute for Teachers

The Summer Institute for Teachers Program disseminates the best practices and lesson plans that were developed during the school year by the Partners in Inquiry to teachers from high-needs schools across the State. For more information about this program, please visit here.

Initiatives: Increase the number of Institute teachers. Funding is being sought to make the Institute a permanent aspect of science, math, engineering and technology education for K-12 teachers through the University of South Carolina. Each $500 raised will enable a teacher to participate in activities that are based on the hands-on Learning Cycle model and correlated to the SC Science Standards.

Increase support for Institute teachers as they implement Institute lessons in their own classes. Corporate or private donations of any amount are being sought to support a mini-grant program that offers a follow-up workshop to Institute teachers to assist them with lesson integration in the classroom.

FIRST LEGO League

Palmetto FIRST LEGO inspires an appreciation of science and technology in children aged 9 through 14 by hands-on experimentation. Young participants experience engineering and computer programming principles as they construct and program unique robot inventions in an event designed for their age group. For more information about this program, please visit here.

Initiative: Professional development and support for FIRST LEGO League (FLL) teachers. Currently no training or professional development is available to FLL teachers. Additionally, no financial support is provided to teachers who work after school to sponsor a FLL team. Professional development opportunities will include an intensive summer training session culminating in teachers' engaging in FLL activities and a competition just as the FLL students do. The second thrust of this program would provide support to FLL teachers as they work with their students. The first form of support would come in the form of human capital. Undergraduate engineering students from the University of South Carolina would be recruited and prepared to work with Columbia area FLL teachers. These engineering students would get a small stipend to travel to FLL sites each week and assist both the teachers and students with LEGO activities.The second form of support would come in the form of financial capital. Rather than expect teachers or parents with varying qualifications to volunteer to sponsor a FLL team, the program would offer a small stipend to FLL team sponsors.

K-12 Engineering Week

Currently USC does not engage students in activities to promote engineering during Engineering week (February). Our goal is to create a program that would focus on grades 6-12 students and teachers developing a broader appreciation and understanding of engineering.

Initiative: Create a one-day engineering field study at USC for grades 5-8 students. This program will involve groups of grades 5-8 students in a design project activity. Students will also be also be exposed to either a Palmetto FIRST LEGO competition or a Palmetto FIRST Robotics competition to see their peer groups engaging in engineering work. We believe this type of exposure will develop a broader appreciation and understanding of engineering, thereby increasing the likelihood that more students will participate in these various programs.