 OverviewThe Tufts University STOMP program was the first of many STOMP sites in existence today. As the flagship, Tufts STOMP has offered programs to both its main campus in Medford/Somerville, MA and its Boston Campus for over 10 years. The program at Tufts has always been a paid $10/hr job for both undergraduate and graduate students to participate in up to 8-10 hrs/week. Each semester the program averages about 35 fellows of all ages from a variety of disciplines ranging from engineering to child development. The main goal for Tufts is to partner pairs of fellows with K-12 teachers in the greater Boston area to create an engineering curriculum that reaches across all disciplines, peaks the students' interests in engineering, and improves the students' problem-solving skills. The engineering curriculum also specifically meets the standards required by the Science, Technology, and Engineering component of the Massachusetts Frameworks. WATCH A MOVIE OF STOMP AT TUFTS IN ACTION IN SPRING 2009 !
| My First Day as a STOMP Fellow "Melissa, why is my LEGO car going so slow?” asked one of my 4th grade students. I knelt down to troubleshoot with the student, talking through all of the problem solving steps for the benefit of myself and, of course, the student. “First, let’s see what the problem is. Ok…now let’s check the wheels first… oh, look, they are too close to the car and are rubbing against the side… see how hard it is to spin the wheel?” The student’s facial expression transformed from a look of dejection to revelation, and I knew that I had succeeded. Both the student and I sat there on the floor together more self-confident than we were only minutes earlier, and that’s when I realized I had discovered the perfect college job. Melissa Pickering
Tufts University BSME 2005 |
