The STEM Education Alliance, in cooperation with the National Defense Education Program (NDEP), provided a professional development training for SPAWAR in Charleston SC on August 8, 9 and 10. The training included two sessions: (1) Educational Climate and Ethics, and (2) Robotics and Advanced Robotics. The Educational climate and ethics training provided military and civilian personnel with an awareness of the ethical issues that exist in the K-12 environment. This training provided the information necessary for safe and productive interaction between military and school personnel with students in a classroom setting. The ethics training was accomplished through the use of real-life ethical dilemmas and a review of practical guidelines for safe school interactions. In addition, the training provided comparison between military and school climate. This comparison prepares scientists, engineers and recruiters for in-school experiences.
The robotics training first provided a general overview of how to build, program and test robots using LEGO Mindstorm NXT 2.0 kits. The robotics training is designed to provide a foundation for scientists, engineers and teachers with which to support students with classroom robotics activities. In addition, the robotics training included information on pedagogy techniques for inquiry-based learning, as well as ways to integrate robotics and inquiry learning into pre-existing curriculum.
To Learn More about SPARWAR Systems Center ATLANTIC Outreach Program.

