U.S. Embassy-Kazakhstan funds Asunda’s international STEM instruction proposal
The Embassy of the United States of America in Kazakhstan – American Councils for International Education will fund Paul A. Asunda’s proposal, “Leading Academic Transformation: Enhancing STEM Instructional Methods”.
The project was selected as it fulfills the goals of the U.S.-Kazakhstan University Partnerships Program to create sustainable international engagement and partnerships between U.S. and Kazakhstan institutions of higher education in the areas of curriculum development, research, and capacity building in agriculture, renewable energy, IT, and/or other STEM-related fields.
Asunda, associate professor of engineering/technology education in the Department of Technology Leadership and Innovation in the Purdue Polytechnic Institute, has a joint appointment in the College of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction. He is also an affiliate faculty member for the Center for Advancing the Teaching and Learning of STEM (CATALYST).
“The project seeks to create sustainable international engagement and partnerships between myself, Aktobe Regional University, and Satbayev University in the areas of curriculum development, research, and capacity building in STEM education,” Asunda said.
As well as preparing pre-service teachers with best practices around curriculum development, including assessment practices in STEM learning and workforce initiatives, Asunda conducts research on supporting integration of engineering design and computational thinking practices in integrated Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (i-STEM) disciplines at the P-12 level, STEM learning and engineering design across the professional continuum, computational thinking and engineering design initiatives in career and college success, and assessment and evaluation in engineering design integrated within STEM disciplines. He also continues to do international work related to STEM teaching through engineering design practices and teacher preparation in Peru, Kenya, and now Kazakhstan.
The project will run February 2023 – February 2024 and is funded for $24,000.
Asunda was hired in 2014 as part of the College’s K-12 integrated STEM Cluster faculty hiring effort. He has a joint appointment with the Purdue Polytechnic Institute. This project as well as others in Peru and Kenya show his and the College’s commitment to collaboration within Purdue and internationally.
Source: Higher Education Partnerships & Capacity Building, Field Operations and Programs, American Councils for International Education, Embassy of the United States in Kazakhstan