State education superintendent to kick off Purdue STEM conference

The state’s top education official will attend this year’s Indiana STEM Education Conference at Purdue University.

Superintendent Jennifer McCormick will be joined by Purdue President Mitch Daniels in delivering welcoming remarks to attendees, kicking off the daylong event on campus. The conference began at Purdue in 2016.

McCormick has been a recognized innovator and leader in education for more than two decades. She is beginning her second year as superintendent of the Indiana Department of Education.

Carla C. Johnson, chair of the conference and a professor of science education, said the state’s department of education has been a great partner promoting education in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).

The event is the largest STEM conference in the state of Indiana.

The annual conference runs from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday (Jan. 11) in Stewart Center. This is the third year for the event, sponsored by Purdue’s College of Education, the Center for Advancing the Teaching and Learning of STEM (CATALYST), the Indiana Department of Education and the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.

The conference workshops and presentations are split into three strands: K-12 STEM practice, STEM education research and STEM resources. More than 500 attendees are expected.

As part of the conference, numerous educators from across the state, including Purdue faculty, will offer presentations on their approaches to implementing STEM in their curriculum.

Johnson said this event is designed to capitalize on the knowledge and experiences that have been generated to continue moving Indiana forward.

“In the three years since the Indiana STEM Education Conference started, we have seen an exponential increase in schools across the state implementing STEM activities, curriculum and innovative experiences for students in the public and private school sectors,” Johnson said.

 “We are excited each year to learn from the growing number of educators who share their work at the conference and the impact of the work has is great,” she added.