UPCOMING EVENTS
Get updated to know about any upcoming flagship IgniteSTEM or satellite IgniteSTEMx Conferences near you!
As our conferences are free and very intimate with a limit of at most 150 attendees, subscribe to get notified about applications, event logistics, conference speakers, workshops, and travel information, as well as gain a unique online opportunity to interact and discuss with other attendees and speakers online in a forum environment before and after the conference.
If you are unable to attend our conference, after our conferences, we send out speaker bios, selected video footage, workshop materials, lesson plans, and other conference resources in our newsletter, thus still fostering your opportunity to network with other teachers and attendees and access informative conference content.
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
On every newsletter, we will feature a teacher or school that has an inspiring, amazing, and engaging STE(A)M curriculum, program or activity to help you ignite STEM at your school!
TEACHER GRANTS
Every one of our events, we give out various grants to educators, students, and other attendees. In addition, we are excited to present grant opportunities throughout the year for our newsletter subscribers.
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LESSON PLANS
Every month, we gather some lesson plans that we LOVE and that are free to use for anyone in their classroom. Some examples include:
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Extensive free lesson plans in science/engineering for all grades, plus complete lesson packages can be found on teachengineering.com!
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On the Artsedge website one can find many interdisciplinary activities that combine art with subjects of your choice
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CodeFWD is a free online program for educators and organizations working with 4th through 8th graders to inspire young programmers!
FULL NEWSLETTER ARTICLES
A Student's Triumph with AI-Powered Self-Study
Recent developments of artificial intelligence software such as chatGPT have changed the way in which teachers and students approach learning and academics. Since the release of chatGPT, there has been a rise in plagiarism and academic dishonesty, and a lack of personal growth in learning since many students use AI to complete their assignments, resulting in disciplinary actions that discourage and hinder students from utilizing AI in their learning.
However, when used in an academically honest manner, AI, especially chatGPT can be quite useful in aiding students in areas such as broadening their intellectual interests in certain topics and self-studying for classes and/or academic areas of interest. For instance, I have a friend who had never taken chemistry in high school, who decided to utilize chatGPT to learn and study the different units of AP Chemistry in preparation for the Chemistry placement test at Princeton. When using chatGPT, you can ask any question, ranging from asking it to explain a certain concept such as molecular and ionic compound structure to asking it to provide formulas needed to solve certain problems. Especially when you are doing practice problems that would not be submitted as homework and just for your own learning, chatGPT can guide you step by step on how to solve the problem, essentially explaining the problem conceptually, which is very helpful and convenient especially when you do not have access to an instructor or a tutor.
As a result of self-studying using chatGPT and doing practice problems for two weeks, my friend was able to score over 50%, and one point away from placing out of general chemistry 1.
This is just one of the many examples of how one can self-study or learn using chatGPT, so instead of condemning students for using chatGPT, demonstrating how they can use it ethically to further their education and encouraging them to explore their interests is a way to incorporate modern developing technology into the expansion of learning.
AI Rules in the Classroom
To allow students to feel comfortable with using AI without fear of being reprimanded, you must clearly define the rules for the classroom and each assignment.
Rule number one must explain the overall goal of using AI in the classroom: learn from it, do not rely on it. Thus, students cannot use AI to write their entire essay. Instead, they could use it to brainstorm essay topics. On homework and tests, students should not ask AI to solve the problem (emphasize how tools like Chat-GPT can be wrong!). Instead, they should use AI to explain the concepts they don’t understand, cross-checking with another educational tool like a textbook or video. (Click for more rules)
Rule number two should outline expectations and what happens when students violate them. For example, if you ask students to put their devices away and students refuse, you should remind me that not listening to you could mean the entire class could lose AI privileges. You could also stress the importance of not plagiarism, telling them it could have serious consequences, such as having a violation on their permanent record.
Rule number three should monitor the use of AI on each assignment. Have students write a “Tools Cited” section where they can disclose the questions they asked the AI. For extra credit, you could ask students to discuss the correctness of the AI’s response, having them evaluate what the AI could have done better.
Rule number four should make students open to asking questions about technology and AI. Some potential topics you could touch on are data privacy, misinformation, and utilizing AI in the workplace. By being open to students’ questions, they will feel more comfortable using AI to support their learning needs.
