Pi-Sui Hsu knows her mission. “Scientific argumentation is one of the eight essential practices in the Next Generation Science Standards,” says Hsu, a professor in the Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment. “I firmly believe that this practice can produce young
Read moreETRA researchers employ robots again to nurture computational thinking skills within an NIU STEAM summer school
What began in Naperville Community Unit School District 203 could not stop there. Faculty from the Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment interacted with around 200 students in 2021 and 2022 to observe how working with LEGO educational robots might stimulate
Read moreETRA faculty attend May 16 workshop to understand, consider HyFlex teaching
Faculty in the Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment (ETRA) are now more skilled in the delivery of “HyFlex” – hybrid-flexible – teaching. Such courses provide “both a classroom and at least one online participation option, or mode, to students. Students
Read moreNorth Chicago teachers near completion of technology specialist endorsements
No matter their subject matter – English, English as a second language, history, math or even driver’s ed – teachers use technology. Six educators within those disciplines at North Chicago School District 187 are now upping their game in ways that will
Read morePhotos: ETRA at STEM Fest
Several representatives from the Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment staffed Booth 33 at NIU’s STEM Fest 2022, held Oct. 15. “Our VR and AR educational games were a great hit!” Chair Wei-Chen Hung said. “Kids and parents stood in long
Read moreWarmth of the Sun: Pi-Sui Hsu enables Rockford students to build solar ‘cars’
What provides the key to driving solar-powered model cars to the finish line? Observations and questions, apparently. At least that was the case for a dozen Rockford middle-schoolers who spent a week with Pi-Sui Hsu this June. “The purpose of the summer
Read moreSymposium to examine Paseo Boricua as ‘Community as Intellectual Space’
A two-day symposium in Chicago this month will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School and the broader work of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center. Laura Ruth Johnson, a co-organizer of the event, expects academic scholars, community leaders,
Read moreHard fun: Naperville children provide data on robots, computational thinking
Some faculty in the Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment (ETRA) were busy this summer writing about robots – and children. Can children program robots to sort differently sized objects for recycling? Can they write code for robots to simulate an
Read moreVirtual virtuosos: ETRA keeps Learn-IT online, adds student panel discussions
Learn-IT was still virtual in 2022 – and organizers remain enthusiastic about some of the benefits of that online delivery. The Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment’s annual workshop for pre- and in-service educators traditionally has been held the first Saturday
Read moreYanghee Kim wins NSF grant to study robots combined with augmented reality
Can robots and augmented reality combine to better teach problem-solving skills to kindergartners and first-graders? Yanghee Kim’s latest grant from the National Science Foundation will explore that question. Kim, the NIU College of Education’s Morgridge Endowed Chair and director of NIU’s CREATE
Read moreTransfers to BSAM-ITTE program find confidence, avenues for career growth
Christine Bailey has worked in information technology for more than two decades, many of those years as a systems analyst for K-12 public education. At age 47, she is ready to make her impact in a new way. “For 11 years, I
Read moreDecade of distinction: U.S. News ranks online graduate degrees in nation’s best
Online graduate programs in the NIU College of Education are celebrating their 10th consecutive year of high acclaim from U.S. News & World Report. The College of Education is ranked 21, placing in the top 10% of the 296 institutions assessed with
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