Inquiry Series

The Northwest Ohio Center for Excellence in STEM Education (NWO) at Bowling Green State University’s College of Education and Human Development invites educators to the STEM Inquiry Series, a series of STEM professional development workshops to engage educators in quality STEM education to learn skills and concepts in STEM teaching and learning to bring to their classrooms. The STEM Inquiry Series offers free registration and is open to in-service and pre-service teachers, higher education faculty, and business/community partners in the region.

The STEM Inquiry Series will feature four 3-hour inquiry-based sessions highlighting current trends in STEM education research and professional development during the Spring of 2025. Session topics include concepts from the Ohio Department of Education STEM School Quality Model: A Culture for STEM Learning, STEM as an Approach to Teaching and Learning, and Pathways to Careers. The series is sponsored by Bowling Green State University’s College of Education and Human Development, NWO, and the Ohio STEM Learning Network.

Session THREE:

Project TILES: Teams for Immersive Learning Experiences and ThingLink

March 19, 2025

Facilitator: Allison Goedde & Mark Stevens
Location: BGSU Levis Commons
1655 N Wilkinson Way, Perrysburg, OH 43551
5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. (light dinner provided)

The TILEs (Teams for Immersive Learning Experiences) project is an initiative created to support the construction of educators digital learning materials for customized learning experiences. NWO is featuring a professional development opportunity for educators to learn to build immersive learning experiences using a platform called Thinglink.

Using Thinglink and the TILEs initiative, a STEM/STEAM focused classroom can become space where educators and students collaborate on projects that require critical thinking and problem-solving skills. This classroom encourages student creativity, collaboration, communication, and artificial intelligence. The Partnership for 21st Century Learning suggests that collaboration, critical thinking, communication, and creativity are the four Cs of a 21st-century learner. When students are empowered to collaborate during the creation process, they demonstrate depth of knowledge.

Through technology integration and TILEs initiative, educators will meet the needs of a new era of learners (the alpha generation) and will empower students’ digital interaction and updated communication channels.

Registration: https://tinyurl.com/m9hk9zyy

Certificates for contact hours will be provided.

UPCOMING SESSIONS

More information and registration on the last session will be announced soon!

Session Four: Citizen Science: Connecting Students to Authentic Data

April 22nd, 5:00 p.m.- 8:00 p.m.
Location: Hull Prairie Intermediate School
25480 Hull Prairie Rd, Perrysburg, OH 43551
Facilitator: Amy Boros
(light dinner provided)

This session will facilitate experiences that will help teachers and school leaders to move toward building a STEM/STEAM culture within their classrooms/their school. Participants will explore a framework of activities focused on introducing teachers and students to gathering, analyzing and utilizing authentic data through Citizen Science:

is adaptable across elementary through high school
allowing students to "be the scientific expert" as they design and conduct experiments on school grounds to share with experts with NASA and biologists.
fosters an environmental mindset, scientific inquiry, and collaboration with individual accountability for students
Citizen Science organizations explored include NASA/s GLOBE, iNaturalist, eButterfly, Bumblebee Watch, NOAA, Monarch Watch and Journey North.

PERVIOUS SESSIONS

Session ONE:

Scaffolding Extraordinary STEM Culture through Design Thinking, Invention, and Entrepreneurial Spirit

January 14, 2025

Facilitator: Jason Hubbard
Hull Prairie Intermediate School

Hull Prairie Intermediate School,
25480 Hull Prairie Rd, Perrysburg, OH 43551

5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. (light dinner provided)

is adaptable across elementary through high school
moves from light and fun designing for a fairy tale character to thoughtful and planned product design for a real-world community partner
fosters innovation, entrepreneurial spirit, inquiry, and collaboration with individual accountability for students

This session will help participants move toward competency and development in the following area from the OSLN STEM/STEAM Designation rubric:

1.1 Cultural Strategies (Minimum rating required for designation: Executing) STEM and STEAM schools exhibit age-appropriate, school-wide cultural strategies reflecting innovation, an entrepreneurial spirit, inquiry, and collaboration with individual accountability.

Cultural strategies reflect a community’s understanding of success. Community needs drive instructional and delivery strategies in each school. Habits of Mind reflect what a community values in a successful adult and are explicitly taught and continually utilized within the school

Session TWO:

Mastery Learning

Febuary 18, 2025

Facilitator: Marcy Raymond
Location: BGSU Levis Commons
1655 N Wilkinson Way, Perrysburg, OH 43551
5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. (light dinner provided)

This session will focus on Mastery Learning strategies to implement in the classroom as it relates to the ODEW STEM Quality Model.