Teachers at Pride will work with Dr. Amy Eguchi, assistant professor of education at Bloomfield College to create a program that will encourage students to pursue studies in math, science, technology, and engineering in college.
Bloomfield College Vice President for academic affairs, Marion Terenzio, described the program in this way:
"Providing students with the opportunity to create is one of the most effective forms of learning. Students are natural born creators and this program will provide the platform for them to do what they do best."
The program comes to Pride through the efforts of our 5th grade Math teacher, Mrs. Torres. As a junior at Bloomfield College, Mrs Torres received a Minority Academic Careers fellowship to pursue research into the connection between robotics and mathematics education. She presented the results of her research at the annual MAC convention and co-authored an article titled “Engage and Motivate Non-Computer Science Major Undergraduates Using Educational Robotics,” which she presented at the 2008 Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference in Las Vegas.
In her senior year, Mrs. Torres carried out her student teaching at The School at Columbia University where she worked with a LEGO Mindstorm student robotics team as part of an after-school program. Students from the school competed at the RoboCup junior competitions in New Jersey and in Singapore.
Mrs. Torres is very excited about the great opportunity to introduce robotics to PRIDE and to observe the impact it has on student learning, and the development of critical thinking skills:
"Through this grant we will receive all the resources necessary to begin a competitive robotics team at Pride. It will be an excellent opportunity for our students to experience a completely different learning tool."
More information about the new program can be found on the Bloomfield College website.
