Elementary and middle-school science teachers from the Chicago Public Schools were connected to the real work of Illinois Tech scientists and engineers this summer in a collaborative program involving our university, National Louis University (NLU), and the Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL).

Illinois Tech and National Louis University Summer Institute for Science, Technology and Engineering Practices (IN-STEP 2020) provided teachers with actual experiences in the work of scientists and engineers, and helped them translate those experiences into classroom instruction. It has grown out of an Illinois Tech / NLU / AUSL collaboration on a US Department of Education Teacher Quality Partnership award.

IN-STEP 2020 focused on exploring Community Based Science and Engineering. The Illinois Tech team of five faculty and three graduate students ran four modules: What’s for Dinner? The Human Climate (Dakota Bunn and Sally Laurent-Muehleisen), Proteins and Illicit Drugs (Jeff Wereszczynski and Andrew Howard), Density – not just for Boats and Rocks! (Mohsin Ishaq and Adam Hock), and Earthquake Hazard Mitigation (Michael Desch and Mehdi Modares). Click here for more information.