Computer and graphic design instructor Colette Marie McLaughlin
completed a fellowship that is expected to enhance Gavilan
College’s efforts to prepare students for careers in science and
math.
Computer and graphic design instructor Colette Marie McLaughlin completed a fellowship that is expected to enhance Gavilan College’s efforts to prepare students for careers in science and math.
McLaughlin and 154 other educators developed strategies over the past eight weeks as part of a summer science research program called Industry Initiatives for Science and Math Education.
The Industry Initiative for Science and Math Education seeks to transform teaching and learning through industry-education partnerships, according to a press release. Part of each fellowship is dedicated to planning innovative ways to make courses more relevant to students.
Lockheed Martin sponsored McLaughlin’s during the program stint and has hosted 334 fellows since Industry Initiatives for Science and Math Education’s inception 27 years ago.
“One of the greatest rewards is working with faculty like Dr. McLaughlin who strive to continually improve their teaching and create an environment that breeds success for students,” said Gavilan’s College Dean of Career Technical Education, Sherrean Carr.
“Helping these students succeed requires technology courses that adapt with constantly evolving industry trends and standards,” she said.
McLaughlin teaches in the Computer Graphics and Design program at Gavilan College. The program prepares students for careers as designers, architects, engineers, game/simulation developers, and other design fields that produce and market real and/or virtual products.
McLaughlin noted that “the interdisciplinary nature of today’s workforce requires competency in the ‘four C’s’: critical thinking, communications, collaboration and creativity along with mastery of the three Rs (Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic).
“These skills are in high demand in today’s workforce where ‘lean and agile’ employees are in short supply. The lessons I learned over the summer will be implemented by integrating ‘real world’ experiences into the curriculum so students may develop 21st century skills and become Subject Matter Experts in their chosen career fields,” McLaughlin said.
For more information about the Computer Graphics and Design program at Gavilan College, go to: http://www.gavilan.edu/cgd/.
IISME was founded in 1985 by a consortium of San Francisco Bay Area companies (including Lockheed Martin) in partnership with the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California at Berkeley. For more information go to http://csee.lbl.gov/Programs/IISME/.
