Reaching the ‘A-ha’ Moment: Inspiring STEM Life-Long Learners Through Future Teachers 

Innovative technologies are paving the way to a technologically advanced future, and a skilled and motivated workforce is essential to fueling this progress forward. Using ASPIRE’s Teach Engineering (TE) program, two University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) professors are doing just that. 

“Student success begins long before students arrive on a college campus,” said Gabby Gandara, the assistant dean for engineering student success. “My role is to create opportunities where future teachers, and engineering and computing students work together to inspire K-12 learners through engaging, hands-on STEM experiences. By building these connections, we strengthen the pathway from awareness to learning and ultimately to success in the engineering and computing profession.” 

Under the direction of their mentors, future teachers piloted the TE program in the classrooms they are working in. By piloting this program, they hope to spread awareness about the resources and curriculum available to help teachers share about STEM-related opportunities. 

“The Teach Engineering Curriculum is a great resource for teachers who do not have a dedicated engineering curriculum to follow, yet many educators in our community are unaware of these materials,” explained Katherine Meraz, the director of UTEP’s secondary education program. “By placing our scholars in local classrooms, we create a connection between the innovation work taking place at universities and the students and teachers who benefit from it most. Scholars introduce hands-on, research-based engineering activities that supplement existing lessons while helping students develop critical thinking, problem solving, and STEM skills. In doing so, they help bring university-developed resources and best practices into K-12 classrooms, making STEM learning more accessible and engaging for our community.” 

As they teach these lessons to students in El Paso and surrounding region, they hope to inspire students to recognize how exciting STEM-related learning can be, an excitement Gandara has termed the “a-ha” moment. 

“Reaching the ‘a-ha’ moment is what we feel will create the intrinsic motivator to be STEM life-long learners,” he explained. 

To foster an opportunity for participating students to have their own “a-ha” moment, the curriculum relies on hands-on activities to allow students to have a positive experience with STEM. 

“The curriculum is designed to take concepts such as magnets and magnetic fields and allow students the opportunity to explore and deepen their understanding of how these phenomena work,” Meraz said. “The students are then challenged to consider broader applications of these concepts about how these ideas can be utilized to drive innovation on a larger scale.”  

The idea for this program first sparked with a need for outreach in the community, which led to conversations with UTEP’s ASPIRE leaders. By combining the practices of UTEP’s MaST Academy and ASPIRE’s mission and drive, the lessons were successfully implemented, bringing hands-on opportunities to students in the local community. 

Behind these efforts was a lot of hard work, dedication, and coordination as mentors, future teachers, and in-service teachers spent countless hours ensuring their students had access to STEM activities. And these efforts wouldn’t have been realized without the help of those in-service teachers who took on the role of mentors for these emerging scholars. 

“We collaborate with local school districts to pair our scholars with high-quality mentor teachers that model best practices and are supportive of our efforts. The scholars were in the classrooms over 75 hours during the 15 weeks of the spring semester, while still balancing outside jobs, college courses, and family responsibilities,” Meraz explained. “Our mentor teachers have played an essential role in supporting our scholars by providing feedback, mentoring them in content areas that may not be too familiar, and working with our scholars to create meaningful experiences. We are truly grateful for the mentors for their participation in this program.” 

Moving forward, the team hopes to continue showing that efforts like these don’t just take place around the nation, they take place in El Paso — in their local community. As they continue to ensure the curriculum meets the needs of an evolving workforce, they look forward to future collaboration of ideas. 

“Collaboration is a key to this work which requires constant communication and effort,” Gandara said. “To evolve the current Teach Engineering curriculum, we need to understand and meet the needs of students from every angle that includes the teaching and student perspectives.” 

To spark an “a-ha” moment in your students, check out ASPIRE’s Teach Engineering curriculum at www.teachengineering.org/aspire. For the latest news, publications, and research highlights from ASPIRE, visit aspire.usu.edu. 

About ASPIRE: 

ASPIRE, a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center headquartered at Utah State University, leads groundbreaking research and development at the transportation-grid edge. With over 400 global collaborators, ASPIRE focuses on creating seamless, affordable electrified transportation systems, accessible for all vehicle classes, along with the public infrastructure needed to support them. By reducing costs, improving air quality, and fostering economic growth through job creation and workforce training, ASPIRE’s work spans engineering, social science, policy, and business. Partnering with top universities, industry leaders, and community groups, ASPIRE is driving the future of advanced transportation-grid systems. Learn more at aspire.usu.edu. 

Contacts: 

Kat Webb
Content Director
Marketing & Communications 
ASPIRE ERC  

Writer: 

Kayleigh Kearsley 
Marketing & Communications Intern 
ASPIRE ERC