Instructor Guidelines

E4T is very appreciative of all our instructors and volunteers. We, in turn, hope that the experience is rewarding and memorable knowing that the time spent teaching STEM concepts will have an influential impact to each middle school participant! 

 

E4T always emphasizes that STEM is FUN!  We have compiled a few tried and proven techniques/methods for instructors in planning the workshop details. Please feel free to share additional comments and suggestions for our next generation of instructors.

• focused interaction with participants through low instructor to students ratio - TAs are definitely a big plus!

• remove fear and intimidation factors that have been associated with STEM concepts

  • introduce concepts at the student's pace

  • understand your audience - may not have previous exposure to STEM concepts

  • while working on his/her own project, consider pairing up with another student as peers so they can ask for feedback/exchange ideas etc - thus promoting teamwork

• deliver immediate hands-on learning experience with easy to follow instructions

• 2-hour workshop schedule (recommended)
  • ​​introductions (15 min)​

  • succinct workshop concepts (15 min)

  • hands on activities (80 min)

  • wrap it up - survey students on their takeaways (10 min)

• during the class...

  • encourage students as needed​

    • provide necessary 1x1 attention​

    • push for teamwork between students

    • understand that some students may be more advanced than others - plan a more advanced task for students who may finish the project/workshop activity earlier than others

  • planned time management​

    • identify and track workshop milestones ​

    • have a 5 min status update - pause the workshop to sync up with the class as a whole - this helps identify students that may need additional attention 

Finally, the success of any workshop may be determined if students/participants can say that they've learned something new about STEM and had FUN doing so!

​