Workshop to help teachers improve their ability to impart 3D spatial skills

Faculty members or future teachers interested in improving their ability to teach 3D spatial skills may want to attend a workshop April 28 and 29 from Sheryl Sorby, a professor in the Engineering Education and Innovation Center at The Ohio State University.

Sorby's workshop will include two main elements:

  • A review of the relevant research findings regarding the impact of spatial skills training for improved STEM outcomes
  • Hands-on instruction with the curriculum Sorby developed, which is designed to help students develop their 3D spatial skills. Participants will learn key strategies for helping their students to develop their 3D spatial skills.

These strategies can be readily implemented in K12 and university classrooms to help students, especially females, improve their 3D spatial skills.

Sorby is particularly interested in promoting achievement and retention of minorities in STEM fields, with focus on female students.

The deadline to register is April 21, and the workshop costs $300. For general questions or for help registering, contact Stacy Gardner at stacy.gardner@harpethhall.org. For questions about logistics at WWU, please contact Cristina Sampaio at cristina.sampaio@wwu.edu.

In addition to her job at OSU, Sorby is a professor emerita of mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics at Michigan Technological University. She also has served as program director within the Division of Undergraduate Education at the National Science Foundation. Her research interests include graphics and visualization. She has been the principal investigator or co-principal investigator on more than $15M in external funding for educational projects and is the author of more than sixty journal publications and seven textbooks.