Teacher Professional Development ORISE workshops equip teachers with innovations to inspire STEM learning
The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education offers a variety of STEM opportunities to equip educators with valuable STEM skills and learning experiences. Our K-12 teacher programs allow educators to research alongside our nation’s leading scientists, explore STEM curriculum resources, and strengthen their classroom instruction.
ORISE provides professional development for teachers who will educate the next generation of STEM leaders. STEM teachers from kindergarten through high school, and others interested in the STEM fields, can choose from a number of professional development opportunities that aim to help educators engage their students across a number of STEM disciplines.
Scratch Coding and Civil Air Patrol STEM Kits
Target Audience: K-12th Grade Teachers
Designed for kindergarten through twelfth-grade teachers, this session will offer free resources for teaching students to code. Online resources from Scratch Programming, Khan Academy and others will be explored. This is an in-person session.
Hands-On Math with Desmos
Target Audience: K-12th Grade Teachers
This is a virtual session designed for kindergarten through twelfth-grade teachers and explores the Desmos activity builder, an online tool for teachers to create formative assessments and exploratory activities. This workshop will equip teachers with the knowledge of how to access and edit existing activities as well as how to build new ones from scratch.
3D Design in Everyday Classrooms
Target Audience: STEM/Technology 3rd-12th Grade Teachers
This in-person session will focus on turning ordinary classroom leaning into extraordinary learning experiences through design thinking and 3D modeling. The goal of the training is to provide teachers with extended learning and assessment opportunities they may add to existing lesson plans.
Give Artificial Intelligence a Try
Target Audience: 4th-12th Grade Teachers
This is a virtual session designed for fourth through twelfth-grade teachers and will explore fun, interactive ways to introduce and define AI technology with students. By discussing these issues with students, educators will be able to improve their digital literacy and develop the critical thinking skills necessary for navigating through the wealth of information available to them online.
Online professional development courses
These courses are self-guided, autonomous, and asynchronous. There are no discussion boards, presenter to ask questions, or anyone actively monitoring your progress. The courses are designed to take up to four hours to complete. It is up to you to go through the material, complete the assignments, and take whatever you can from these courses! Everyone has a different combination of content, context, and student needs that will determine what you take away from these courses. Upon completion of all requirements, you will be able to download a certificate that certifies your completion of the professional development.
Applying Real-World Data in the Classroom with CEDR is an online professional development course with the purpose of providing middle and high school teachers with the skills and knowledge to utilize data sets from the Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource (CEDR) in their classrooms. CEDR is the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) electronic database comprised of health studies of DOE contract workers and environmental studies of areas surrounding DOE facilities. The data are free to use in your classroom! The lesson plan provided in the course integrates math, biology, American history, and English while using health data from actual workers in Oak Ridge, TN to teach the standards.
Developing Your Students’ Data Literacy Skills is an online professional development with the purpose of supporting and equipping teachers of middle and high school students. The purpose of this course is to help you identify and incorporate opportunities for your students to practice and hone their data skills. Collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and presenting data are key scientific practices that also translate easily into the real world. This course offers methods of data incorporation, outside of actual investigations, that can be utilized quickly and consistently.
Incorporating Inquiry into Your Classroom is an online professional development with the purpose of supporting and equipping teachers to be able to provide authentic exploration to their students. The purpose of this course is to help you incorporate inquiry into your classroom without rewriting your entire curriculum.
Joint Science and Technology Institute West
The Joint Science and Technology Institute West is a two-week, fully-funded, residential STEM research experience for current high school students in the United States. Participants will engage in research projects mentored by Department of Defense, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratory research scientists and other subject matter experts. The purpose of the institute is to inspire and encourage students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, increase STEM literacy, and expose students to the importance of STEM through hands-on, relevant research.
Joint Science and Technology Institute East
The Joint Science and Technology Institute (JSTI) is a two-week residential program at Aberdeen Proving Ground (Md.) for current high school teachers exposing them to scientific research through hands-on projects. This program enables educators to work with real-world scientists and increase student awareness of career opportunities in STEM-related fields.
Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship
The Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program provides a unique opportunity for accomplished K-12 educators in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to serve in the national education arena. Fellows spend 11 months working in federal agencies or in U.S. Congressional offices, applying their extensive knowledge and classroom experiences to national education program and/or education policy efforts.