Teachers from Iowa, Illinois, California, and New Jersey were onsite in July for some intensive training and networking during the Jacobson Institute’s annual STEM Innovator® Ed Camp.
Led by Leslie Flynn, Tippie professor of STEM entrepreneurship and innovation, and Institute Director Dawn Bowlus, the workshop is for high school teachers in the STEM Innovator® professional development program. Ed Camp gives teachers a chance to workshop their innovation and entrepreneurship models and to network with their peers and University of Iowa STEM experts.
Highlights of the workshop were presentations by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, a Jacobson Institute partner, and by Britany Flockhart, a Keokuk High School senior and spring 2018 Innovator Competition winner. The USPTO presented on intellectual property. Flockhart presented on her hunting invention, developed in a STEM class with her STEM Innovator® Certified Instructor, Courtney Giesel.
STEM Innovator® was developed by Flynn and Bowlus to help teachers infuse innovation, entrepreneurship, and invention into STEM classes. Through the training of teachers in these concepts, STEM Innovator® helps equip students with the 21st-century skills and practices that they need to be college and career ready.
STEM Innovator® has trained 256 teachers in nine states since 2013, with an estimated impact on nearly 63,000 students. The Jacobson Institute is a part of the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center (Iowa JPEC) at the Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa.
