(372b) Process Technology Learning Activities and Experiments Used In Workshops for K-12 Educators and Students

More than 30 workshops and summer institutes have been conducted during the past seven years for K-12 students and K-12 and community college educators as part of outreach and recruiting strategies to generate interest in chemical and paper technology and engineering degrees.  The workshops and institutes have been offered at a variety of venues (college campuses, high schools, and rural industrial sites) and a variety of durations from half-day to week-long.  We have used a number of hands-on and group learning activities during the workshops, including classroom small-scale experiments, pilot-scale experiments conducted in technology or engineering laboratories, and industry site tours. Best practices and assessment results for several learning activities used at the workshops will be presented. 

The summer institutes were conducted through a partnership between Auburn University, Alabama Southern Community College (Thomasville AL), and Lower Columbia College (Longview WA).  Faculty and industry partners from these institutions developed and delivered the workshops as part of the National Network for Pulp and Paper Technology Training (npt)², a National Science Foundation Advanced Technology Education Center.  Engineering workshops were also conducted through the Alabama Center for Paper and Bioresource Engineering at Auburn University.