Texas A&M University’s PK-12 Engineering Education Outreach office offers Maker U Professional Development. Our engineering design programming equips K-12 educators with strategies to integrate the Engineering Design Process (EDP) and foster an engineering mindset while promoting creative problem-solving and critical thinking. With our engineering technology courses, educators gain hands-on experience with tools like 3D printers, robotics platforms and CAD software. In addition, they learn practical applications for integrating engineering and technology into their classrooms enhancing STEM education.
Maker U is divided into multiple workshops to meet your specific campus needs. See the program details for additional information on individual workshops. Any PK-12 educator in a formal or informal educational setting
Questions? Contact the Spark! Team at spark@tamu.edu.
If you are interested in professional development opportunities for yourself or your fellow educators, please fill out the Professional Development Interest Form. Please note that all district professional development requests should be submitted at least 60 days in advance.
Online Professional Development Programming
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Help students experience science through authentic engineering problem solving. Embedding Engineering Practices into Science is a 6-hour asynchronous professional development course designed specifically for science educators who want to confidently embed engineering practices into their science instruction. Participants will explore how engineering design challenges can support student understanding of science concepts through hands-on, inquiry-driven learning experiences connected to real-world problems. The course provides practical strategies, classroom examples, and guidance for integrating engineering practices into science lessons while supporting science standards and scientific investigations. Educators will leave with classroom-ready ideas to help students apply science concepts through engineering design, investigation, iteration, and real-world problem solving.
- 6 asynchronous professional development hours (PDHs)
- Earn a shareable digital badge upon completion
- Self-paced and fully online
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Cost: $36 per participant
Get ready for the school year with new ideas for bringing engineering into your science classroom.
In-person Professional Development Programming
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This professional development from Spark! equips science educators to create lessons aligned to the Scientific and Engineering Practices (SEPs) of the Science TEKS, integrating science understanding and application through the use of engineering practices to design solutions to problems. Educators will engage in hands-on engineering design challenges that demonstrate how these practices can be integrated into effective science instruction.
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Learn how to create engineering design experiences for your gifted and talented students, which include the Depth & Complexity Framework. Experience connecting the Depth & Complexity Icons when problem-solving during engineering design. This six-hour training can be submitted for a school district’s consideration and verification of an educator’s six-hour GT update.
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Participants will learn how to create simple and complex designs and prototypes ready for manufacturing. They will also learn how to access the self-paced learning resources from Autodesk and how to utilize them in the classroom.
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This course will provide participants with a comprehensive Introduction to Industrial Robotics Fundamentals using the Dobot Magician industrial robot arm. In this course, participants will learn Industrial Robot Types, Uses, Robot Mechanics, and Programming methods in Flexible Automation such as Pendant Programming.
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This course inspires teachers to integrate problem-solving, critical thinking, coding and automation into their curriculum using the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 Core Set. Teachers will learn to foster important industry and technical skills to prepare students for the competitive workforce while offering more engaging, motivating and relevant educational experiences.
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Participants will be provided with an introduction to robotics design, programming methods and inputs/outputs in a microcontroller. Participants will be able to learn the programming basics in C++ and object-oriented programming and more about Arduino Uno and Arduino Integrated Development Environment.
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Invention Convention Texas Teacher Trainings ignite creativity in both educators and students. These professional development sessions provide hands-on strategies and classroom-ready resources that guide students from problem identification to innovative solutions. Educators earn professional development hours, gain tools to immediately apply in their classrooms, and join a growing network dedicated to fostering invention, entrepreneurship, and future-ready skills.
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In this course, participants will learn basic Computer-Aided Design (CAD) modeling, how to get started with 3D printing, real-world applications, the actual cost of 3D printing, maintenance and troubleshooting tips. Participants will practice designing, printing and prototyping with a 3D printer.
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This course will provide participants with the foundation to program VEX robotics with Python. Participants will explore inputs and outputs Python programming by building a VEX rover bot that will accomplish various tasks. The VEX EXP platform will be used, but the knowledge gained here is transferable to other VEX platforms such as the VEX V5.