{"id":57,"date":"2025-04-29T18:44:15","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T23:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/uteach\/?p=57"},"modified":"2025-04-29T19:49:50","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T00:49:50","slug":"building-towers-building-teachers-spring-2025-in-utch-1030","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/uteach\/2025\/04\/29\/building-towers-building-teachers-spring-2025-in-utch-1030\/","title":{"rendered":"Building Towers, Building Teachers: Spring 2025 in UTCH.1030"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dr. Lewis<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Spring semester, UTCH.1030 didn\u2019t begin with lectures, slides, or a syllabus scavenger hunt. Instead, it started with a simple but powerful question: What do you think is needed for effective STEM teaching?<\/em> But this wasn\u2019t a question to be answered with words alone.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students were invited to build their answers\u2014literally\u2014by constructing towers out of LEGO bricks. The towers were as unique as the students themselves\u2014some carefully engineered, others spontaneous and symbolic. Each one reflected their personal experiences as learners and their evolving ideas about what it means to be a STEM teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Later in the semester, the creativity challenge continued\u2014this time with a very different kind of building material: a roll of toilet paper. Or as I called it, \u201cloo roll\u201d (a little British flair never hurts). I walked into class with a stack of them and simply asked, What kind of lesson can you create using this?<\/em> It was one of those moments where you\u2019re not quite sure how it will land\u2014but once again, the students amazed me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They designed lessons across disciplines: some tested the strength and absorbency of different brands, turning it into a hands-on scientific investigation. Others used the loo roll as a springboard for math activities\u2014calculating area, volume, and comparing data. A few turned it into an engineering design challenge or even wove in literacy elements. What started as a silly prop quickly became a serious exercise in resourcefulness, imagination, and lesson planning under unexpected constraints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But the highlight of the course, of course, is the final: a poster presentation where students showcase the best STEM lesson they taught at a local middle school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This isn\u2019t just a casual end-of-semester project. Students present their work not only to their peers, but also to a room full of visitors. Department chairs, deans, and associate deans from the Colleges of Science, Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences joined us this year, along with representatives from the School of Education Advisory Board.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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And because no UTCH.1030 final would be complete without a bit of celebration, we make it a true event\u2014complete with a full meal. (Not many finals at UMass Lowell come with a buffet!) This year\u2019s menu was Mediterranean, and it gave everyone a chance to relax, connect, and truly celebrate the incredible growth and hard work of the semester. After a hefty feast, students were recognized with certificates for their creativity, effort, and thoughtful design in crafting both their lessons and their posters\u2014a small but meaningful way to honor all they had achieved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Lewis This Spring semester, UTCH.1030 didn\u2019t begin with lectures, slides, or a syllabus scavenger hunt. Instead, it started with a simple but powerful question: What do you think is needed for effective STEM teaching? But this wasn\u2019t a question … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1416,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/uteach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/uteach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/uteach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/uteach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1416"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/uteach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/uteach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/uteach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57\/revisions\/104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/uteach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/uteach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/uteach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}