Hoover High physics teacher Eric Robinson was one of 10 educators selected April 9 to join a newly formed national group of STEM instructors spearheaded by the organization Vernier Science Education.
Vernier Science Education is an organization dedicated to enhancing STEM education, and the selected group of educators will be known as the Vernier Trendsetters Community. The group will strive to engage in professional learning opportunities to grow and share their instructional knowledge and leadership in STEM. The community will also offer educators a forum to enhance their teaching skills, specifically through the use of Vernier data-collection technology, and to engage in meaningful collaboration with like-minded leading STEM educators.
“I am excited and honored to be a Vernier Trendsetter because, in my own practice, I have found Vernier equipment to be indispensable in having students be successful at producing high-quality scientific data that can be analyzed to produce the same scientific understanding yielded from centuries of scientific attrition using analog equipment,” Robinson said.
Robinson also expressed his appreciation for the equipment’s ability to make data fun and easy for students.
“I believe that the most effective learning experiences happen when we let students design and perform their own laboratory experiments,” he said, adding that many of these labs would not be possible without Vernier equipment.
Additionally, members may have the opportunity to be featured nationally for their implementation of data-collection technology and become eligible to receive financial support to attend and present at conferences.
“I hope that my participation in the Vernier Trendsetter program will allow me to spread these [science modeling method] practices with my entire department at Hoover, GUSD at large and someday the entire Southern California area,” Robinson said.
Jill Hedrick, CEO of Vernier Science Education, expressed her excitement for the group of “enthusiastic and passionate educators” in the cohort.
“We look forward to collaborating closely with these educators, showcasing their innovative practices and further elevating their teaching impact in the global science community,” Hedrick said.
First published in the April 20 print issue of the Glendale News-Press.
