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Augmented Reality
Katie Ann Wilson/ William McCoy
The Making of a Geochemist Dawn Levy
Creative Problem Solving Pat Kozyra
Defined STEM Videos Renee Emery
Everyday Life \\200v
May 2015
Math in
GLOBAL STEM STATES The Global STEM States Inc. is a not for profit association, incorporated in Australia, which aims to act as a forum through which industry, associations, academia and government can come together to discuss Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education and innovation, and the role it plays in the needs of industry, export, trade and development.
The background to the ‘Global STEM States’ is as a grassroots movement, with a medley of not for profit, academic, industry and government organizations entering into dialogue over the role STEM education plays in a State’s future human resource needs, and how this should be implemented.
www.stemstates.org
CLASS STEM LESSON Recipe for one person: l 1/2 cup sugar l 2 1/4 cups flour l 1/8 tsp. all spice l 2 cups water l 3 eggs l One Cornish Hen l 2 tsp. salt l 1/2 tsp. pepper
Math I use everyday. Assignment: 4 people are coming for dinner. l Re-calculate recipe
Yes, you will use math (usually easy math) everyday. Don’t be afraid of it. Your brain is actually wired for it.
May 2015 Katie Ann William
Augmented Reality
Wilson & McCoy
Renee
Emery
Dawn
Levy
Defined STEM Videos
The Making of a Geochemist
Ashish
DWARJ “A Research Project”
Pat
Creative Problem Solving
Shrivastava India
Kozyra
Hong Kong
Abstracts are due soon
S.T.E.M. Magazine is excited to announce a partnership with - Global STEM STATES for the remainder of 2015. To learn more about Global STEM States visit: www.stemstates.org STEM Magazine is a non-profit monthly education publication for teachers, students, their parents and anyone interested in STEM education, career development, work-force development and the global economy. CEO Wayne Carley is the publisher and senior editor for all content in S.T.E.M. Magazine.
Advertising Full page ads are available for global exposure. We limit ads to 10 per issue for maximum impact. Contact the Publisher to find out more.
S.T.E.M. Magazine believes that the key to success in seeing higher graduation rates, improved testing results, student inspiration and a strong work-force rests in the hands of the teacher. The example and inspiration of individual wayne@stemmagazine.com educators carries tremendous weight on a daily basis, greatly impacting the quality and effectiveness of the classroom environment. Curiosity is the beginning of all things STEM.
Wayne Carley Publisher
25 Expert
Presentations, including:
“Skilling a Nation’s Future”
Teaching and Learning Policy and Curriculum Development Industry Engagement STEM Ambassador Programs STEM Projects Adult Education Open and Distance Learning
Dr Joe Schwarcz McGill University
Mr Etienne Clement UNESCO
These hot topics and much more… 2nd International Festival of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
www.stemstates.org Open PDF Brochure Here
Dr Suhaidah Tahir
South East Asian Ministers of Education Organisation
Dr Tony Wagner Harvard University
Mrs Cindy Moss Discovery Education Document Name Your Company Name (C) Copyright (Print Date) All Rights Reserved
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Opportunities in Asia What does the rise of Asia’s STEM sector mean for North American Universities and education suppliers and how can you be part of it. This is just one of the hot topics being explored as part of the 2nd International Festival of Science, Technology, Engineering and mathematics.
www.stemstates.org th
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September 27 to October 3 2015 Document Name Your Company Name (C) CopyrightSaskatoon, (Print Date) Canada All Rights Reserved
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Augmen
nted Reality Back to Life By William McCoy and
Katie Ann Wilson
Centuries ago, if you wanted to learn how to do something, you tried it or learned from someone who knew how to do it. Eventually though, you were going to experience actually doing it yourself. Learning occurred in a three dimensional world, and included the fourth dimension of time. You were engaged in the learning as you were hearing and seeing and feeling it. All learning was in context, and learners were immersed in the actual application of learning.
Then we ruined it. Education and learning slowly morphed from a world of actual experiences and three-dimensional objects and flattened into a lifeless two-dimensional rote memorization activity. The written word became more important than the spoken word, and the experience of doing something was cast aside for this concept of a book as a proxy for actually doing something. Life and history and personal involvement literally flattened into a two dimensional plane called the page. How could we let that happen? Where along the way did someone decide that extracting the experiences of life and literally representing them on a two dimensional flat plane would help? Okay, it wasn’t a singular decision. The ancient cultures wrote down ideas so that they could be kept and disseminated to the masses. Gutenberg didn’t set out to destroy motivation and excitement in the classroom. However, in the attempts of our predecessors to codify life, law and history, the third and fourth dimensions were lost.
Literally, depth, scale and time were extracted from learning, and left to the sidelines only for the privileged and adventuresome.
One view of Michelangelo’s David is not enough, nor is a graphic of the solar system fit neatly into an 8 ½ by 11 sheet, not to mention static images of tectonic plate movement resurfacing our planet. Unacceptable.
Then, to add insult to injury, learning on the page was diluted to the multiple choice test. Now, you didn’t only need to experience anything, but you really didn’t have to ask questions yourself, or seek to understand on a deeper level. What little spark was left in the fire of learning all but extinguished amidst the downpour of standardized testing. Until now … New technologies are bringing life back into learning. Augmented Reality shows incredible promise for bringing excitement and inspiration back into the classroom. Learners will again be able to see and experience learning, ideas, and explore in a virtual world. They may not be able to physically travel to China, but they are able to virtually stand on the Great Wall and look in 360 degrees via Augmented Reality. There are now systems which place learners at the center of a landscape where they can look up, down, and all around, as if they were in the other location.
Books and the written page are the launch pad to further learning, not the sterile end to it.
The world is no longer left wondering what happens beyond the edge of the photo in a history book. Instead, a student can stand in the center of the Battle of Gettysburg and look around for his or her self. Want to learn more about geometry, and repeating patterns, why not travel across the world looking at masterful tile crafters and architects? Why not look at examples of those items in 3D right in front of you? But it goes well beyond that when we consider the matter of scale. Students can virtually travel inside a cell, or to the edge of the galaxy. That ability to shrink or expand takes us beyond what was possible hundreds of years ago. We can see things at a level and scale unimaginable even 150 years ago. That takes learning well beyond what was lost when education was flattened on a page. It takes us to the limits of what can be imagined.
When you add animation or live 360 degree cameras, the ideas come to life. Students can witness processes and events, and safely explore well beyond what is available from a single place in space and time. Who wouldn’t want to stand in the crowd to hear the “I Have A Dream” speech? Who wouldn’t want to witness the Wright Brothers first flight at Kittyhawk? Personally, I want to use the knowledge of our planets and stand on the surface of another world. If we want to breathe life back into education, we literally must resuscitate it first. We must provide learning tools for students that are alive with possibility and creativity and motivation. It is imperative that if we are going to raise generations of students capable of providing the world with great thinkers, artisans, and engineers we must not only sustain their interest in learning, but must engage them to think beyond our limits. I cannot imagine learning engineering in a two-dimensional world when we can literally build models in
virtual three-dimensional space that appear like a hologram in front of you. We are working on ways to even bring “maker” activities into the virtual world for STEM education.
So we are adding three dimensional images and motion back into learning, but what about providing students with items that they can manipulate and experience tactically? We can now do that too. We are integrating 3D images with the power of 3D printing to
provide students with actual models of materials to be learned. Want to study the human heart?
First we can show animated 3D images of a heart, and while you are learning from a cardiologist about how the heart functions, we can be printing a life size model that you can explore when the video is over. Want to learn more? We can delve deeper into the subject and provide you with physical models of heart valves. Deeper still, let’s print a few models of red and white blood cells to explore.
I haven’t even touched on the idea that education can now be provided to an extent well beyond the distribution of books. If we distribute affordable technologies to those places where learning resource are limited, we expand their worlds and opportunities exponentially.
Learning isn’t just better, it is universal. By providing access to technology, we in turn multiply the opportunities of new learners to help us solve the challenges of tomorrow. So as we literally bring learning “off the page” and back to the real world, we would love for you to join us. As emerging technologies like Augmented Reality and 3D printing become mainstream, we look forward to seeing how you will contribute to the conversation, and to the learning.
Call for Abstracts Closes June 1st 2015
Educators should submit abstracts & synopsis at http://stemstates.org/stemfest-2015/submit-a-paper.html
Augmented reality games for HoloLens Voice and motion control aren’t new to anyone who’s played a Kinect game, and gaze-tracking — the headset’s ability to see where its wearer is looking — is a central component of VR. But being able to “see” the real world changes everything. The HoloLens origami collection was just a group of disembodied objects floating in space, but by the time we were done, you could tap to place the notebook on a table, say “move, ball” (or another phrase of your choice) to drop the two paper balls, then watch them roll
off the table, onto the floor, and around each other. As long as you’ve created objects that will respond to basic physics, the HoloLens sensors can do the rest. There are more advanced options like an occlusion feature that would supposedly make the ball realistically disappear if it rolled behind, say, a couch leg. HoloLens as a way to get people interacting with technology together, instead of looking at their phones or squeezing in front of a TV. There are no external markers or scanning devices, and it’s not clear if
HoloLenses can sense each other. Being able to program something on HoloLens doesn’t mean you know anything about its inner workings. It also doesn’t mean you can design a good HoloLens game. There are probably going to be a lot of holographic Rubik’s Cubes and puzzle boxes in the early days of the platform, except that you’ll only be able to move them by staring and tapping. But just under
standing the basics of building for such an unfamiliar platform makes it seem more real — and, despite all its problems, more viable. ________________ Does this spark your curiosity? Learn more. Explore the new tech. Find out what careers are connected and how to prepare.
Defined STEM Videos
A Major Role in the Education Crusade! by Renee Emery For years schools and district offices have been on a “national crusade” to improve our educational system. Parent’s want their children to be equipped with every 21st century educational skill they need to obtain a bright and successful future after they graduate. Parents rely greatly on teachers to achieve that goal, and the Defined Learning team knows that, and is playing a remarkable hands-on role in making a difference with their Defined STEM resource. The Defined STEM resource combines a number of different content types that teachers can use to accentuate the educational strategies of STEM education. Literacy Tasks, Performance Tasks and Real-World Videos set the stage for each lesson taught in the classroom by showing the practical application of educational concepts within a company or industry.
“The tasks associated with Defined STEM prioritize learning around application and transfer of knowledge, as well as skills within and across subject areas. When you combine those tasks with the career based videos, a connection is made between academic content and 21st century educational skills, such as critical thinking, creative problem solving, collaboration, communication and use of different technology offered to students,” says Joel Jacobson, President of Defined Learning. Defined STEM’s Performance Tasks are built from the Understanding by Design (UBD) framework and presents a real-world
problem within the context of a career/industry. The videos frame the task, which allows the students to see the task through the career lens. Tasks contains the big idea, essential questions and learning outcomes which outline what will align with the learning of the task. Teachers present the task using the G.R.A.S.P. model (Goal, Role, Audience, Situation and Products), which allows students to produce products that are based on the goal of the task. Teachers have the option to assign any or all of the products based upon content, learning levels and/ or multiple intelligences. Through the “Editor Feature” a teacher can remove or add products or upload other pertinent information to the task. Accompanied with the tasks are the rubrics for each type of the product. Teachers have the ability to download the rubric, which makes it very simple to edit to their specifications. Click here to view a small sample of our Performance Tasks.
Defined STEM’s Literacy Tasks are created based on the work of the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC), which are developed to align to English Language Arts Standards. Literacy Tasks are aimed to promote high-quality student assignments that develop reading, writing, and thinking skills in the context of learning science, history, English, social studies, and other subjects. Informational and argumentative tasks are provided and aligned with a career based video and a performance task. Each literacy task provides the student with an overview of the content, guiding questions closely aligned with research articles, a language prompt, tier three vocabulary, and a rubric aligned with English Language Arts Standards. The tasks present the students with a “real-world” situation that encourages their writing through either informational or argumentative products. Click here to view a small sample of our Literacy Tasks.
“The districts we work with love the bond between the foundational content in the classroom and our career based real world connections. Our videos focus on professionals who utilize science and math as part of their everyday activities. Ultimately, our content reflects the marriage between educational strategies of STEM education and project-based learning,” states Jacobson. To promote the relevant connections between college and careers to educational concepts, Defined STEM specifically designs RealWorld Video Connections. Defined STEM highlight’s various jobs from many different industries depicting how workers are using math, language arts, science and technology in their job. By interviewing a diverse group with varying types of educational backgrounds allows students to see a road map to a specific job and the skills sets that are needed to achieve their goal. Click here to view a small sample of our real-world videos.
“Our Defined Learning team has been developing educational content for over 20 years, and I think the ultimate goal for Defined STEM is to play a part in a paradigm shift in the way students are taught. Teachers are constantly challenged to create lessons that are engaging and relevant with a cross-curricular focus on 21st century skills. We see this as the core fundamental of what STEM education is all about and Defined STEM strives to bring this type of learning to each teacher and student in a school. We do not want to replace core curriculum content, we want to accentuate it and provide the content to real world applications those students and teachers need in order to be successful in the 21st century,” says Jacobson. “By 2020, we anticipate that STEM education will be viewed as critical for all students. We see this happening through the connection between the foundational knowledge gained in the classroom and the real world.
The real world connect is significant as students need to understand how math and science impact all careers. This will have the benefit of better preparing our students for the college and career choices they will face in the 21st century,� says Jacobson. Defined Learning is a K-12 educational media company that combines technology, creativity, and curriculum expertise to provide useful and relevant products to schools. Defined STEM is a platform that enables teachers to provide application of knowledge to students through the use of project based learning, real world careers and meaningful reading and writing activities. Defined STEM was recently chosen as one of the Top 12 New and Noteworthy Products by K12TD at TCEA 2015. For more information, visit: http://www.definedstem.com
DWARJ Ashish Shrivastava New Delhi, India
“A Research Project”
“Dwarj” is a research project about a new generation of high speed rail engine. Transportation plays a key role in today’s ‘fast-moving’ life so that we can reach our destination instantly. According to my research, such project is not available globally. Its most fascinating fact is the speed as it may attain a maximum speed range of about (700-950) km/h.
Math assignment: “Convert to miles per hour”.
Dwarj is about a new generation of high speed rail engine. The word “Dwarj” has been derived from two Sanskrit words: “dve” means “two”; and “urja” means “ energy”. Thus, Dwarj is a type of rail engine that would operate on two energy sources and these energy sources are renewable making it eco-friendly.
Many countries, like China, Japan and France have discovered new technologies and are still working on such to manufacture highspeed rail engines. As we all are aware that now-a-days railways are not limited to tracks only. The technology is so developed that it operates on magnetic tracks (popularly known as Maglev).
In today’s scientific era, life has become so fast that all of us want to get our work completed quickly. To fulfill such requirements in this ‘fast-moving’ life, there are many discoveries being made.
On 3rd April 2007, the world record for speed of high-speed rail engine is held by the V150, a specially configured and heavily –modified version of Alstom’s TGV which clocked the maximum speed of around 574.8 kmph (357.2 mph) on a test run (on tracks). On 3rd December 2003, the world record for highest speed of Maglev is held by Japanese experimental MLX01 is 581 kmph (361 mph)
For example: E-mail (to transfer information instantly), cell phones (to communicate with anyone in the world within few seconds), etc. Among these, transportation plays an important role to fulfill such requirements. Transportation can be of several types, like roadways, railways, airways, seaways. Railways are collectively considered as the fastest, cheapest and safest mode either to travel or transfer luggage from one place to another.
Keeping this vision, Ashish Shrivastava in India started working on a new version of high-speed rail engine that would run on tracks. This engine is globally unavailable and is designed to keep all the aspects favorable for the
environment, to make it faster, eco-friendly economical and most importantly safest way of transportation. The engine will utilize power from two renewable energy sources, simultaneously.
reduce the resistances opposing its motion, thus increasing its speed and would have very low air resistance.
Now coming to its structure, the engine has very compatible design. It has been kept very simple which would have sleek look. Most importantly, the structure has an aerodynamic design so as to
Bogies are also known as cars or coaches in some countries. There are basically of two types: steerable bogies and non-steerable bogies.
BOGIES
In non-steerable bogies, a pair of
Japanese experimental MLX01 is 581 kmph (361 mph)
train wheels is rigidly fixed to an axle to form a wheel set. Normally, two wheel sets are mounted in a bogie (or commonly known as truck in the US). Most bogies have rigid frames. While steerable bogies incorporate a form of radial movement in the wheel set to overcome some of the mechanical problems of the rigid wheel set mounted in a rigid bogie frame. Besides speed, commuters seek amenities as well, thus needed for fast and comfortable transportation. To meet this requirement, the structure has been designed in such a way so as to reduce jerk while traveling. In this regard, steerable bogies have been proposed to be installed in “Dwarj�.
Non-steerable
Steerable
BRAKING SYSTEM & COUPLERS
Since the speed range of the rail engine is extremely high, therefore, there must be strong braking system that can be used in emergency situation as well. To overcome, a new type of braking system will be installed in it. This braking system will stop the train from its top speed to the state of rest within few minutes. This braking system has been named as ALT braking system. Couplers are the parts of the part of the train that connects two adjacent bogies together. In Dwarj, a new type of coupler will be installed. This coupler will work on the push-pull principle. The key feature of this coupler will be that it will automatically eject whenever an accident occurred tries to derail the locomotive. This means that whenever the train may try to derail, the coupler will automatically be ejected so as to prevent other bogie from derailing with respect to it.
CONCLUSION Following points can be concluded about Dwarj: l High-speed rail engine based on renewable energy sources. l Globally not present or avail able till date. l Maximum speed range about (700-950) kmph. l Independently motored-axle wheels. l Advanced braking system technology, especially for emergency situation.
Disclaimer: The author would like to specially mention that he is the sole author of the work “Dwarj” and is not copied. However, proper reference has been mentioned wherever required about the source of information. Therefore, the author is not responsible for any similarity resembling to a work being performed by someone else. If it somehow happens, it will be only a co-incidence. The author will not be responsible for any such incidence under any circumstances. Email: meetashish91@gmail.com Bio: http://shrivastvaashish.blogspot.in/p/about-me.html
From the publisher: The previous article is provided to readers, students and educators as an example of the creative process and presentation of ideas or concepts from individuals who strive to make their dreams a reality. Mr. Ashish Shrivastava of India is expressing his vision founded in
his curiosity and imagination of what “may be”. Everyone is capable of a vision and STEM Magazine welcomes those with imagination and drive to chase that dream.
A warm welcome to our newest educators, students and monthly readers in...
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S.T.E.M. is Global
The Making of a Geochemist: Q&A with Andrew Stack Interview by Dawn Levy
When fields collide,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researcher pioneers discoveries.
Today, Andrew Stack conducts geochemical research on problems related to energy as a research scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He performs experiments at high powered neutron and X-ray sources, uses atomic force microscopy, and conducts molecular simulations and other routine chemical analyses.
Scientists who bridge disciplines often take research in new directions. Andrew Stack of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory calls on his expertise in geology, chemistry and computing to advance understanding of the dynamics of minerals underground. Working in the Geochemistry and Inter-facial Sciences Group of ORNL’s Chemical Sciences Division, he investigates chemical processes that take place on mineral surfaces at scales ranging from individual atoms to entire rocks. These processes can trap contaminants, such as nuclear waste, carbon dioxide and toxic by-products from hydraulic fracturing. Fundamental knowledge of chemical transformations is crucial to many DOE missions and serves as a basis for developing ways to lessen the environmental impacts of energy use.
Q: How did your multidisciplinary career begin? A: I was good at science in intermediate school and went to a high school that specialized in it (Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology). It probably helped my interest in science that my parents worked for the Food and Drug Administration in Washington, D.C. (I have my Dad’s old balance in my office). One summer in high school, I volunteered at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, helping to preserve their space suit collection and creating a file of space shuttle missions for their research library. What an amazing experience that was! That alone would get somebody interested in science. In my senior year I really liked an Earth science course in which we read a novel by John McPhee (Rising from the Plains) about a geologist in Wyoming. Just when I was starting to think about a career path, my mother arranged for me to talk
to a paleontologist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History for a couple of hours. The novel Jurassic Park had just come out, and I wanted to talk to him about the feasibility of resurrecting dinosaurs. I thought that whole concept was really cool, and we talked about problems with the novel and what careers in geosciences were like. Q: What was your college experience like? A: I got into Virginia Tech in 1993 and decided to major in geology. I liked geology because you could work outdoors as well as do hightech science. But freshman year I also discovered that I liked chemistry—so much so that I was agonizing about whether to change majors when my department offered this new geochemistry degree, geology with a chemistry minor. I thought, hey, that solves my problem! I got a job during summers and breaks in the Water Resources Division of the US Geological Survey with a geochemist who needed a computer programmer with some geochemistry sense.
What he got was me, a geochemist who had taken a computer programming course and liked computers. It turned out—and this was random luck— that my supervisor was a famous geochemist, Niel Plummer. My mineralogy and geochemistry professors at Virginia Tech, Mike Hochella and Don Rimstidt, were also really good and opened my eyes to how interesting minerals and their reactions are. I ended up deciding to go to graduate school with one of Mike’s former students, Carrick Eggleston, at the University of Wyoming.
Q: You had other offers, though. Why Wyoming? Of the schools I applied to, the University of Wyoming was the lowest ranked, but my advisor was great and doing the science that interested me the most out of the schools I applied to. I also remember looking out over the plains in Wyoming and seeing snow-capped mountains in the distance and thinking, ‘Gosh! This is an incredible place!’ Q: How did graduate school go? A: I did both my master’s and doctoral degrees with Carrick in Wyoming. The master’s degree was on a laser technique called second harmonic generation. I used it to look at the surface charge of a mineral called corundum, which is aluminum oxide. Rubies and sapphires are made of corundum.
The difference between them is they have some different impurities that give each of them their nice colors. The surface charge of minerals is important in groundwaters and soils because similar minerals affect the transport of contaminants, such as toxic metals. If the dissolved metal ion has a positive charge and the mineral
ion has a positive charge, too, the like charges repel and you don’t tend to get a lot of adsorption. Q: What big scientific question were you exploring? A: A big question that geochemists want to answer is whether the minerals present in a rock or in a soil are going to be positively or negatively charged in groundwater. The laser technique allowed us to isolate a specific crystal surface of that mineral to see how charge might change from crystal face to face. What I found was that the surface charge might change a lot, and you should account for this. Q: How did you decide on a PhD topic? A: I decided to stay for a PhD with Carrick but on a different subject, scanning tunneling microscopy of surfaces of hematite, a common iron oxide mineral. When you look at the Grand Canyon, its redness is due to hematite. For the first part of my degree, Carrick and I wanted to know
what the structure of this mineral looked like at the atomic scale, specifically whether the surface was covered in iron or oxygen atoms. We found that the mineral could have mixtures of both. For the second half of my PhD, I was interested in an organic compound chemically similar to those that might be used by bacteria to transfer electrons to hematite. There are several species of what are known as iron-reducing bacteria. Similar to the way we breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide after transferring electrons to the oxygen, these organisms transfer electrons to iron minerals. So they’re essentially “breathing” on the iron minerals. The mineral becomes unstable and dissolves during this process, and I wanted to understand the reaction mechanisms that were controlling it. I found that the electron-transfer process was much faster than the rate at which the minerals dissolved and couldn’t be controlling the dissolution.
Q: Where did your career take you after you received your doctorate? A: I obtained a postdoctoral research position at the University of California–Davis to look at reaction mechanisms of water that’s bound to mineral surfaces. One can synthesize molecules that have similar chemical structures as minerals but that are easier to characterize. My advisor, Bill Casey, and I were interested in understanding how quickly water molecules bound to
a mineral surface exchange with each other, with the idea that this process is connected to how fast the mineral reacts generally. When you expose a mineral to water, one water molecule will be bound to a metal site on the mineral surface for a little while, and then it will get pushed out by another one; or it will leave and another one will come in. I simulated that process using quantum chemical calculations.
I knew what the answer was on this particular molecule because it had been measured by someone else in my advisor’s group. If I could simulate the reaction on the molecule correctly, then I could simulate the same thing on a mineral surface and be confident that I got the right answer. I found that I could get mostly the right answer, but I needed to simulate many more water molecules than we could do at the time to get a better answer. Q: What other topics did you explore as a postdoctoral researcher? A: I also did some work related to the National Ignition Facility (NIF), where they use lasers to create fusion. They were having trouble growing crystals of potassium dihydrogen phosphate to use as optics in the lasers. I was doing fundamental work to understand how that type of crystal grew. NIF researchers needed to grow crystals several feet wide, and it takes a long time to grow a crystal that big.
They wanted to grow them more rapidly but with a low number of defects in the crystal. Defects make the crystal not last as long, and too many defects make it useless. I found that, while I couldn’t determine what they were precisely, the atomic-level mechanisms for reaction on the crystal surface were important for determining the shape of the crystal and how fast it grew.
Q: What job opportunities were available to you next? A: In 2005 I decided to take a position at the Georgia Institute of Technology as an assistant professor. I felt I could do more advanced science there as opposed to my other job offers. Whenever I’ve been faced with a career decision, I have always picked the path that lets me do the science that’s the most interesting. Q: What science interested you most at Georgia Tech? A: Regarding those iron-reducing bacteria that I had mentioned from my PhD, I started working on the bacteria themselves, trying to understand more about what controls how much of the iron oxide mineral they can access. I also continued working on simulating water exchange. This time, instead of working on an idealized molecule, I was simulating the water exchange on the mineral surfaces themselves. Finally, I kept working on the
atomic scale mechanisms for crystal growth to find out what they really were. I started working on barium sulfate, which is called barite, and calcium carbonate, which is calcite. Barite is not as common geochemically as calcite, but it is important because it precipitates in wells and pipes during the production of oil and natural gas, and people are thinking about using it to stop radium from contaminating the flow-back water from hydrofracturing operations. Q: Did following your scientific curiosity bring you to ORNL in 2010? A: Yes. DOE’s Office of Science has been very supportive of research on the kinds of atomic-scale mineral reactions that I am interested in. Another thing is that collaboration with other scientists at the national labs is so much easier than at a university. At a university you might talk to your friend or somebody across campus and get a collaboration going between two
or three of you. At ORNL, papers often have a whole bunch of co-authors, even from other national labs or universities, because the labs are about large, collaborative projects. The scope of the problems that you can tackle or that you can try to understand is larger at a national lab than what you can do by yourself at a university.
The really amazing thing to me about the lab is that the opportunities for research topics are so diverse. I’ve got five projects right now, and they include things like neutron and X-ray scattering, which I had never done before I came to ORNL. We’re working now on rare earth element minerals, geologic carbon storage, hydraulic fracturing, mineral reactions during nuclear waste
ORNL–Historic Oak Ridge National Lab Facility disposal and other things. The lab has helped me realize my potential and allows me to work on important problems for society. Interview by Dawn Levy
HONG KONG Creative Problem Solving by Pat Kozyra Educator / Author / Motivational Speaker Hong Kong & the Globe It is common for people to ask, “What really is Creative Problem Solving anyway, and how is it different from just plain old problem-solving?” Among many definitions that can be found on the web, the following one explains it clearly. “Creative Problem Solving is a form of deliberate creativity: a structured process for solving problems or finding opportunities, used when you want to go beyond conventional thinking and arrive at creative (novel and useful) solutions.” In my 50-year teaching career, I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend a week-long
Creative Problem Solving Conference, always held in the month of June, on three different occasions, at Buffalo State University, in New York. Buffalo is the birthplace of the academic study of ‘creativity’ and the term ‘brainstorming” was born there in that city sixty years ago. The purpose of this week-long conference was to specifically to learn the formal six-step process or method of Creative Problem Solving (CPS). This process is now well known and is used worldwide. People from all over – far and wide - and from all kinds of professions, attend ‘CPSI’ (‘sipsee’ as it is pronounced) to help them be more creative and productive in their job, work or profession, and
G
in their daily lives as well. One example of very serious participation was the IBM Company. I vividly recall their sending many employees to Buffalo,in hopes that they might return to their jobs at IBM-less inhibited, less encumbered with perfectionism, mind sets, and road blocks to creative thinking, and better equipped with divergent, creative, and productive thinking skills. Gone were their formal dark suits and ties for the week as they literally rolled up their sleeves to participate and learn a new way of thinking and have fun at the same time. This program was also always held each year in San Diego in January. I actually checked the web to see if this all still exists and was absolutely amazed to learn that this institute is now celebrating its 60th year after a 10 year hiatus from the Buffalo Site and after suffering some financial woes. I also now read that it is held in some cities in Europe as well. Yes, CPSI is still alive and well! It is truly a life changing experience that I would
highly recommend – you yourself will benefit and your students will benefit too.
In 1954 Alex Osborn and Sid Parnes co-founded the Creative Studies Program at Buffalo State College, where both of them were working at the time. There were no other creative academic programs and it was that very year that the first CPS Conference began. Sadly, Dr. Sidney J. Parnes passed away on August 19th 2013, so now neither of the two founding members are any longer alive. Videos about the CPS program and interviews with these two amazing men abound on the web,
so for those who are interested, I am merely whetting your appetites. I did note in searching the web that some changes have occurred since I attended many years ago.
by Bob Stanish , Donald Treffinger and Bob Eberle.
For example, the original six steps are now eight steps and new terms have been introduced liked “probortunity”. New models have evolved with new vocabulary. Apparently, these changes tend to be author/practitioner preferences and are not changes to the basic material in any way shape or form.
The Six Steps of the Creative Problem Solving Process
Creative Problem Solving can be taught to children right from Kindergarten, and there are many resources that can be purchased that are designed and published by CPSI (Creative Problem Solving Institute). One of the most popular books we were all buying at CPSI at that time was “The Magic of Your Mind” by Edward DeBono (lateral thinking) which is still very popular today.
Level 2. Fact - Finding - getting the information as an aid to understanding the situation – digging in and getting at the cause of things – asking questions – finding out about it for sure.
Materials and resources can be purchased for classroom use by Prufock Press and D.O.K Publishers. Many of the books used in the classrooms by teachers are written
Listed below are the explanations/ definitions of the six official steps of problem solving.
Level 1. Sensing Problems and Challenges (The Mess) - being alert to situations and conditions needing improvement – noticing and getting the feeling that things are not as good as they should be.
Level 3. Problem - Finding - looking at the whole puzzle to see how the pieces fit together - using facts to identify the parts of a big problem – selecting and stating a manageable problem. Preparing a plan to put the ideas to work – figuring out what needs to be done and how to do it – finding out about other things that need to be improved. Level 4. Idea - Finding (Brainstorming) - coming up with lots of ways to solve a problem – thinking of ways that are different and far out – thinking up things that nobody else will think of. Level 5.Solution – Finding - looking at all the ideas to see which one might work- coming up with some
measures to see how good our ideas really are (developing criteria for choosing the best ideas) picking out the ideas that measure out as the best. Level 6. Acceptance - Finding preparing a plan to put the ideas to work – figuring out what needs to be done and how to do it – finding out about other things that need to be improved. Note: The levels appear and should be taught in hierarchical or stairstep order. Each level is an outgrowth of the preceding level and follows in sequential order. Remember that out of some solutions come problems (maybe smaller ones) and for that reason you may have to go back to the drawing board with that particular problem and this could happen several times until the solution works and is the right one.
About Brainstorming One of the rules for brainstorming (trying to think of as many ideas as possible) is to make sure you use the acronym called “SCAMPER” to help generate more ideas without judgment or criticism. Here is what each letter stands for and the student runs these through his or her mind in order to be able to “hitch-hike” onto another idea and think of other solutions ultimately.
The Rules For Brainstorming 1. DEFER JUDGMENT – all ideas are acceptable. Don’t worry if your ideas are good or bad. Don’t put down others by laughing at or criticizing their ideas. Decide later how good the ideas are.
4. RECORD the ideas – note the main points, use short forms, and don’t worry about spelling! Work quickly. 5. ‘HITCH-HIKE’ or spin-off other ideas – it’s alright to combine or build upon other ideas. l you’ve run out of ideas, try hard to think of one or two more. Silence can often lead to the BIG AHA! 7. Use SCAMPER techniques to generate more ideas.
‘SCAMPER’ Techniques for Brainstorming SCAMPER CHECKLIST ( an acronym) - to run playfully about in your mind in search of creative ideas.
2. Try to BE ORIGINAL but stay on topic. Wild, different, or ‘far-out’ ideas may lead to something really good – but don’t get side tracked.
S - Substitute
3. BE FLUENT – the more ideas you have, the better your chances of coming up with some great ideas.
C - Combine
-to have a person or thing act or serve in the place of another.
-to bring together to unite, synthesis.
A - Adapt - Adjust – to adapt or
adjust for the purpose of suiting a condition or purpose
M - Modify – to alter, to change
the form or quality
Magnify – to enlarge to make greater in form or quality, exaggerate, thicker. Minify -to make smaller, lighter, slower, less frequent, understate, thinner.
P - Put To Other Uses – to use
for purposes other than originally intended.
E - Elaborate – to adorn, orna-
ment, embellish, or refine by adding detail. Eliminate -to remove, omit, or get rid of quality part or whole.
R - Reverse – to place opposite or contrary, to turn it around a 180 degree flip.
Rearrange – to change the order or adjust - make a different plan, layout or scheme.
On a personal note, my husband and I came back from CPSI one June to discover our dishwasher in total disrepair “again”. I felt it had to be the same old problem that had caused the flooding a couple of times before. I remembered that as I watched the repairman I took a few notes and convinced my husband we could fix it ourselves. We had pieces all over the floor and as we lay on our stomachs trying to put in the last couple of pieces we ran into a major frustrating road block. It was at that point the light dawned and we both said “Let’s do SCAMPER Techniques and put what we learned to good use since it’s fresh in our minds!” We ran through each of the seven scamper techniques and it was not until the very last one “reverse or rearrange” that we noticed what we had done incorrectly and as soon as we reversed a part we had it humming once again. It worked! I still use scamper techniques in my daily life. I often find things I lose.
When I taught Gifted Students for 15 years in Canada, I found that teaching this process to them was so rewarding. Not only were they able to go back to their homeschool and teach it to their own classmates, but also they were able to share it with their families. I well recall one student who said his family had no sitting deck outside their house because his family could never agree about how and where it should go. His parents informed me at the parent-teacher conference that Colin had insisted they try to solve it with Creative Problem Solving and that they now had a deck attached to their house and the whole family was enjoying it. Teaching can be so rewarding! It is my opinion the word brainstorming should not be bandied about loosely if the rules of brainstorming are NOT adhered to strictly. I well recall staff meetings where my principal would say, “O.K. we’re gonna brainstorm now for a few minutes so we can all solve this problem together”, and
he would then proceed to comment on, judge, put down, berate, laugh at or throw out any idea that was brought to the table so the inevitable happened - the staff basically shut down and offered him no more ideas except for that one person whose ideas he praised, liked, or gloated over. In a nutshell, we gave up and couldn’t wait for the meeting to end. NO!! that was NOT brainstorming. It was a total unproductive waste of time and energy. To this day, I can hear him say to me, “That’s ridiculous – that would never work!” Notice that rule NUMBER ONE of Brainstorming is “Defer Judgment!” A famous example of Brainstorming with Scamper Techniques that is often cited, is that of MacDonald’s founder Ray Kroc. Some of the ideas he used, obviously through the SCAMPER lens were : selling restaurants and real estate instead of just hamburgers (put to other uses), having customers pay before they eat (rearrange), letting customers serve themselves, avoiding
the use of waiters (eliminate) and I would not be surprised if substitute and combine were used by him as well. Creative Problem Solving is dealt with in my book “Tips and Tidbits For Parents and Teachers” celebrating 50 years in the classroom and sharing what I have learned, in the chapter on The Gifted Student. However, CPS is for everyone, not only the Gifted. Try it! You’ll like it and will wonder how you existed without it before! Enjoy and best wishes.
Call for Abstracts Closes June 1st 2015
Educators should submit abstracts & synopsis at http://stemstates.org/stemfest-2015/submit-a-paper.html
Open PDF Brochure Here
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