The week before SUNY Oswego started its fall classes, 10 teachers from across the state gathered in a Park Hall lab to learn about and use advanced robotics, thanks to a grant from Micron Technology.
The collection of middle-school and high-school teachers building robots and testing them in friendly competition was the first step in the development of the SUNY Oswego Regional Center for STEM Excellence, a partnership between the university and Micron to prepare students for in-demand careers.
“We are connected to thousands of our tech teachers in New York state through our annual fall conference, which is entering its 86th year,” said Richard Bush, chair and professor of technology education and the event’s coordinator. He put out a call for participation in this training using VEX IQ robotics kits – provided by Micron – through that network and quickly learned how in-demand the opportunity would be.
“It took 2 hours and 43 minutes to fill the class, and by the second day, I had 34 people inquire,” Bush said. “So this is something that a lot of people are interested in, as the excitement of the 10 who made it in shows.”
Two Oswego alumni working with the Liverpool School District, Matt Starke and Alex Parsons, did much of the teaching using existing lesson plans but tailored for such an advanced audience.
Since Oswego has many graduates working in technology education, many of the learners were alumni, such as Leah Wooster from the Letchworth Central School District in Western New York. Wooster said the district uses standard VEX VR kits for eighth graders and high-school students but welcomed the opportunity to train on a more advanced VEX IQ system to take back to classrooms.
“This is all plastic-based, whereas what I'm used to is all metal-based with nuts and bolts,” Wooster said. “So this so far seems like it would be a lot easier for some of the younger students to put together and make quick models with.”
For Wooster, who earned both a bachelor’s and master’s in technology education for Oswego, the sense of connection to campus was part of the draw.
“Rich has been my mentor since day one,” Wooster said. “I met him when I came here for orientation as a freshman, and he helped me get everything squared away. And it's just he's made everything really easy for me.”
Andrya Heller, who teaches STEM courses for those in grades 7 to 12 at Boquet Valley Central School in Essex County was interested in bringing a more robust robotics program back to the district.
‘Almost too good to be true’
“When I heard about this, I jumped on the opportunity because it's just almost too good to be true,” Heller said.
“We've been learning about curriculum development, how to use the kits that we've been given in class, how to implement it with different age groups and different size classes,” Heller said of the training. “Everything from organization, classroom management projects, small projects to large-scale competitions. All of it.”
While the three-day training involved plenty of intense learning on advanced technology, the event provided plenty of fun as well. On the second day, two-person teams built robots that could pick up, stack and carry blocks for a game where they had to move blocks into their opponents’ side of a divided table.
As the robots collected, carried and deposited blocks, teachers also engaged in strategies on the fly, such as assisting teammates and playing defense. It provided a quick look inside the kind of imagination and problem-solving skills such hands-on lessons can unlock in middle-school and high-school students.
“We're really trying to teach problem solving and giving kids transferable skills that they can use no matter what career they end up in,” Wooster said. “I love teaching kids hands-on. One of the things we have with technology education is we can teach our skills and our standards.”
“The technology is already in place, and it's only going to become more advanced as time goes on,” Heller noted. “Plus it's real-world, real-time problem-solving. And as a teacher, we're more of a facilitator than just a giver of knowledge. So we help them and guide them to hopefully gain those skills, on their own.”
Micron connection
Micron is planning to invest $100 billion in leading-edge memory manufacturing over the next 20-plus years in Central New York, creating nearly 50,000 jobs. Since Micron's project was first announced, the company has been working with leading educational institutions, workforce development professionals and community organizations to help expand the rich regional talent pool to prepare and train a highly skilled workforce.
“As Central New York’s semiconductor industry continues to grow, connecting technology educators with the tools and insights that translate to hands-on learning for students is essential,” said Rosita Najmi, Micron's global head of social impact and community engagement. “We are proud to partner with SUNY Oswego and K-12 teachers from across upstate to help deliver foundational education that prepares students for the careers of tomorrow.”
“I absolutely can't say thank you, thank you, thank you to Micron enough for their sponsorship of this whole program,” Bush said.
For Laura Spenceley -- dean of SUNY Oswego's College of Education, Health and Human Services -- this was one step in a larger partnership as Micron’s microchip fabrication plant comes to nearby Clay, three miles from the Oswego County line.
“Micron has provided not only foundational support, financial support to these initiatives, but has been part of the development of our priority areas, co-curricular programing and really helping us think through what are the unmet needs in the semiconductor industry as part of our esteemed continuum of programing,” Spenceley said.
The SUNY Oswego Regional Center for STEM Excellence’s other activities will include STEM dialogues across disciplines, collaborative events to align STEM programming with educational and industry needs; building bridges to STEM careers working with educators, counselors and industry leaders; enhanced math partnerships including expanded tutoring services and professional development for math educators to improve student outcomes; and instrumentation investments in lab and teaching equipment to provide students with cutting-edge learning experiences.
SUNY Oswego established itself early as a key partner, with President Peter O. Nwosu chairing the Oswego County Micron Strategy Steering Committee, which brings together leaders and other stakeholders to explore how the county can play a role in this historic development.
For Bush, this represents a look into the future, supporting a need within the field of robotics, which has become key to so much manufacturing. He was part of a delegation including several SUNY Oswego students who toured the Micron plant in Manassas, Virginia.
“It was really fascinating to watch a completely robotic, controlled plant and knowing you have these workforce needs and understanding how this works,” Bush said. “Current and future teachers and their students should be prepared for this field.”
“We're thinking a lot about how efforts like this can help improve our technology educator preparation in learning by doing, while we're also seeing the joy that sparked in the classroom teachers who will then bring that excitement to their classroom communities,” Spenceley said.
“In so many ways, I think it sets the stage for the mission and the vision of the College of Education, Health and Human Services, and we're so excited to see that come to fruition this spring,” she added.
The plan is for the teachers to bring their students back to campus in the spring for a robotics competition to combine learning, doing and fun.
“We could not be more grateful for Micron’s support to date and really look forward to what our future together will look like across the region,” Spenceley said.
Teachers from around New York state converged on the SUNY Oswego campus in August for VEX IQ robotics training -- building and playing games with robots while learning -- in sessions sponsored by a grant from Micron Technology