College of Charleston Professors Train Public School Teachers to Inspire Interest in STEM Fields

College of Charleston Professors Susan Flynn and Michael Flynn, along with their Purdue University collaborators Brad and Alka Harriger, began training South Carolina middle school teachers to use the TECHFIT (Teaching Engineering Concepts to Harness Future Innovators and Technologists) on June 23, 2014.

Middle school teachers during a training workshop.

Susan and Michael Flynn, chair of the Department of Health and Human Performance and exercise science professor, along with Brad and Alka Harriger, were awarded a $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to use TECHFIT to increase interest for science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM fields.

The TECHFIT program will take place in four Charleston County School District middle schools and four Indiana middle schools. The South Carolina teacher training workshops are located in the College’sF. Mitchell Johnson Center for Physical Education room 201 (28 George St.) until June 28, 2014, and the Indiana trainings in West Lafayette, Ind. from July 14 – 21, 2014.

“These workshops will give teachers the information and technology hardware and software to develop after-school programs during which the students will design and build an exergame.” Michael Flynn said. “We hope the participating teachers leave with enthusiasm for developing a great after school program that combines technology and fitness.”

An exergame is an active-play video game, like Dance Dance Revolution and Wii Fit. To master the TECHFIT program, teachers will learn to program with Scratch programming language, how to connect and wire the hardware, sensors, buzzers, lights and other output devices, and how to incorporate fitness into game development.

“We hope the students who eventually use TECHFIT better understand that they can use technology for fitness purposes,” Michael Flynn said. “We want them to become excited about STEM disciplines and more actively pursue those disciplines throughout their academic careers.”

TECHFIT will begin in after-school programs in middle schools during the 2014-2015 academic year. The students will learn to assess fitness levels before and after the 10-week program. Additionally, investigators will assess students’ knowledge of and interest in STEM fields throughout the program.