AAAS Pacific Division 2020

We are co-chairing two sessions at the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Pacific Division at their annual summer conference, June 16-19, 2020 in Ashland, Oregon (coinciding with their Shakespeare Festival). We are looking for open-source science hardware presentations and hands-on science and math teaching experiences. The more the audience can be hands-on too, the better!

We are looking for presenters in two sessions described below. Apply here BY MARCH 23.

Here are the tentative session descriptions:

Open-source Science

Open-source electronics, 3D printers, and similar lower-cost hardware have the potential to make some scientific data-taking lower cost and easier to scale and replicate. However, it is not without its challenges to take this approach. We will lay out the pluses and minuses and discuss what is possible and what has already been done. We will in particular discuss how K-12 school makerspaces can explore and answer scientific questions.

Hands-on Math and Science

This workshop will demonstrate and discuss work-in-progress concepts to use 3D printing, CAD programs, and other hands-on tools to help students learn math and science concepts. We have found that teaching with physical objects first and abstractions later also often requires scaffolding learning differently than traditional chalk-and-talk might require. The presenters will make the workshop as participatory as practical.

The conference is described in detail here.

The American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the oldest science advocacy society in North America, and publishes the prestigious journal Science.