SimInsights helps Seattle students engage deeply with Physics concepts

Michael Town,  Physics teacher at University Prep high school in Seattle, Washington, set an ambitious goal for his students to work on a project with simulations: every student was assigned to build their own simulations to challenge each other’s understanding of constant velocity and acceleration in 1 and 2 dimensions. The experience was deep, rich and open-ended, resulting in a greater variety of responses from students relative to a traditional activity. 

 Michael is a Knowles Science Teaching Fellow, and holds MS and PhD degrees in Atmospheric Sciences from University of Washington, and MS in Teaching from Seattle University.

SimInsights selected as semifinalist for 2012 Milken-PennGSE Education Business Plan Competition

SimInsights has been selected as a semi-finalist in the 2012 Milken-PennGSE Education Business Plan Competition organized by the University of Pennsylvania! Only 20% of the submissions make it this far.

In addition to competing for the Milken Family Foundation's First and Second Prize, SimInsights has also been chosen as semi-finalist in the following prize categories: The Startl Prize, The American Public University System Prize and the Erudient Borderless Education Prize!

The Erudient Borderless Education Prize is the award for the best business plan that addresses the educational needs of the students, practitioners, and education systems of all countries, regardless of geography, demographics, or socioeconomic status.  The intent is to create new thought and structure for education models that address the challenges facing the global community, rather than at a regional/country level, and to support the growth and success of all educators and students alike. The Borderless Education Prize amount is $10,000.

SimInsights invited to present at Gulf Comparative Education Society (GCES) Symposium in Bahrain

SimInsights invited to present at Gulf Comparative Education Society (GCES) Symposium in Bahrain 

SimInsights Inc has been awarded a grant and invited to present the innovative SimInsights platform at the Gulf Comparative Education Society (GCES) Symposium to be held in Bahrain on March 24-25. This year's focus is Global Innovation, Local Adaptation: Trends & Reactions.

Title (Dr., Prof.,): Arun R. Srinivasa (Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station and Qatar)

Iman Khandil (Teaching Associate, Texas A&M University, Qatar)

and

 Rajesh Jha (President & CEO, SimInsights Inc., Irvine, California, USA)

Title of Abstract:

Web based simulation tool to enhance student engagement and participation in Engineering Mechanics course at Texas A&M University (TAMU) at Doha, Qatar

Abstract

Faculty teaching engineering mechanics have always contended that one of the major difficulties with student understanding is the fact that they do not have an intuitive ``feel’’ (ability to qualitatively predict or anticipate physical events based on experience gained by prior unscripted interaction with physical objects). This need for ``feel’’ for dynamics is a result of the fact that they  satisfy a number of constraints  that have to be internalized before physical components can be built and that severely restrict the  feasibility of creative possibilities. This lack of ``feel’’ or ``experience’’ with such objects is especially acute at TAMU Qatar where students are by and large unfamiliar with most engineering tools, having no prior  interaction with them. We are seeking to answer the following question, “can students develop at least a part of the ‘’feel’’ by using the SimInsights web based simulation tool that is operated by the students themselves to explore dynamics, together with some specially developed scripted lessons?” We will show some of the lessons developed at TAMU-Qatar and demonstrate how the web based interactive nature of the software allows the instructor to focus on the lesson without concerns about software incompatibility, maintenance etc.

SimInsights nominated for 100kin10.org

Three weeks ago, SimInsights was nominated as a potential 100kin10 partner. This is a national effort to galvanize 80+ organizations in the private and public sectors for one purpose: to attract and retain 100,000 STEM teachers over the next 10 years. We're proud to have been nominated by Donorschoose.org!

Why are we so excited?

This nomination reflects the focus of our company. We see teaching as a challenging, worthwhile endeavor. Great teachers give students the ability to explore while channeling their focus and energy, they create pathways for learning and make critical instructional choices that no computer program could ever fully replicate. Over the past year or so, we've realized that our platform is only great when its in the hands of a great teacher.

We've made some attempts to unearth some of these great teachers and see how they re-imagine the simulation-centric classroom. The past few weeks have been nothing short of astonishing. Take a look at the profiles and work of teachers who recently used our software to have their students do some incredible work.

But back to SimInsights and 100kin10.

How do we think we can help motivate the best teachers to remain in the classroom?

1. By making them content authors/app developers: Now when a teacher has a cool idea for a simulation based lesson or inquiry, they can find it in our repository or build it by themselves in a few minutes, instead of working for hours trying to pigeonhole existing resources to fit their student needs. We hope to crowdsource the efforts of thousands of teachers, creating the world's number 1 database of 100% INTERACTIVE science and math problems, activities and assessments. Goodbye, boring textbooks. Hello, learning through exploration.

2. By increasing their impact: You know how every school has that great teacher whose class everyone wants to be in? Now more students can have access to content developed by those teachers through our repository. We hope that when these great teachers see how many people respect and use their work, they will be more motivated to keep producing it. Also, we just might be able to figure out some creative ways to reward these teachers, like providing them gift cards on Donorschoose.org, or paying for them to get some awesome professional development to that they can build even more cool lessons... If you have ideas, drop us a line at info@siminsights.com

3. By creating an intellectual community: Now instead of plowing a lonely furrow in their STEM classroom, every new teacher has an online network that will provide them with resources and critical feedback as they learn the ropes. Our community consists of engineers, scientists, educators and students, who can all work together to help teachers test and refine their cool ideas. We need to show them that they are needed and that we appreciate them!

SimInsights software helps engineering students learn system dynamics

Over 50 mechanical engineering undergraduate students at University of Michigan - Jiao Tong University (UM-SJTU) Joint Institute in Shanghai used SimInsights as part of junior level system dynamics course. Students completed homework assignments that required them to build computer models of mechanical and electrical systems and simulate them to study their responses by viewing the animations and charts. In some cases, students were asked to compare the simulation results with their hand calculated analytical solutions.

Students found SimInsights to be a valuable complement to other learning resources such as textbooks, calculators and other software applications. According to Professor Robert Parker, the instructor for the course:

 

"SimInsights software engages students in a different way than lecturing and textbooks can, and it triggers students' imagination and creativity in analyzing engineering systems. Students respond to SimInsights problems with enthusiasm. They appreciate the more dynamic interaction as a supplement to traditional textbook problem solving."

Professor Parker is Distinguished Professor Chair and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Michigan-Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute.

Lesson Design Contest for Teachers

We are working on an initiative that would enable the most creative, passionate science teachers to reach the greatest number of students with web-based lessons.

We want to run a competition for science teachers to create an engaging, interactive simulation based module to teach students a challenging concept in mechanics or electricity.

Your reward: we'll pay for your students to have snazzy new lab equipment, go on an awesome field trip, or you to get the awesome professional development workshop you've always wanted.

The catch: you need to use our platform www.siminsights.com to design and teach your lesson. Sure, we know it's basic and has stuff we could improve. We love feedback! In the meantime, start figuring out how you might use our tools to create that winning lesson.

We'll have more info for you in the coming weeks. If you have thoughts on prizes that you would like, companies you want to sponsor those prizes or know people who might have info on sponsoring a prize, hit me up! I'm working on finding some awesome sponsors for this contest! Let's recognize, reward and retain our best science teachers!

SimInsights integrated with Facebook

We are excited to announce the integration of Facebook with SimInsights. Please see attached a few slides for how it works.

 Facebook integration will add names, faces and a lot of warmth to our site which will help build a community. It should lead to new connections being formed among users, more lively interactions and richer discussions. 

 

Please take a minute to log in to www.siminsights.com using your facebook account. You can also login using your google or yahoo accounts. Just click on "My Sims" link on the top gray bar, select "Settings" menu item and link to your facebook accounts at the bottom of the page.

 We look forward to seeing your pictures on your portfolios!