Teachers from around Louisiana felt like students Saturday as they created robots and rockets and played with grappling cups in a workshop presented by NASA education specialists.
Steve Culivan, an aerospace education specialist from the John C. Stennis Space Center, instructed the group of 31 K-12 teachers in Peabody Hall on creating their own miniature robots at the workshop, which is meant to inspire new ideas for classroom activities.
Culivan said kids like robots, and using them in the classroom can help teachers instruct students in math and science.
The workshop was designed to help teachers develop professionally, Culivan said. He said NASA has a budget set aside to fund educational programs such as this one.
Around the time when NASA began sending astronauts into space in 1961, it began holding these educational programs. Culivan is a former 8th grade science teacher at Redemptorist High School, and he decided to go to NASA because of his passion for science.
“Space is such an exciting topic. It’s really cool to see kids’ faces light up,” Culivan said. “It makes it worth it.”
Brenda Nixon, codirector of the University’s Gordon A. Cain Center for STEM Literacy, said the center focuses on educational programs to help students focusing on science and math get their teaching certifications. The NASA teacher workshops have partnered with STEM several times and have given great resources to teachers, Nixon said.
“It provides that enthusiasm and excitement about learning because they always have hands-on things. It’s directly applicable to the classroom. They have lots of education materials,” Nixon said. “This opens the door for teachers to get additional materials of instruction.”
Nixon said the main purpose of the NASA workshops is for teachers to take what they have learned and bring it back into their classrooms for the students. STEM supports innovation, and Nixon regards NASA as one of the most innovative companies today.
“The greatest challenge is teaching in the way we know students learn best,” Nixon said. “The challenge is: How do you keep creativity in the classroom? If we teach in the way students learn best, we can transform the entire learning profession.”
Teachers smiled and laughed as they watched their robots vibrate across a table and picked up water bottles using Styrofoam cups as grappling tools.
“We’re probably going to do the rockets with our students,” said Audrey Nix, a student teacher at Doyle Elementary School.
Eddie Roberts, 11th and 12th grade chemistry and physics instructor at Beau Chêne High School, said he plans to bring building applications back to his class and have the students build robots. He said it is vital for students to learn math and science.
“A lot of scientific investigation can be applied to all fields,” Roberts said.
 
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Contact Shannon Roberts at [email protected]