Sparking Student Curiosity: Connecting Classrooms to PCC STEAM Centers
Posted by anne.grey | Start the discussion
Presenters: Sarah Burns, Ben Garcia, Michael Moss, Sean Rooney, and Philip Clark
Summary
In this presentation, coordinators from Portland Community College’s five district STEAM Centers share how instructors can connect course content with hands-on maker spaces. Located across Cascade, Southeast, Rock Creek, Sylvania, and the OMIC Training Center, these spaces offer access to equipment like 3D printers, laser cutters, vinyl plotters, CNC mills, and textile stations. The team highlights how these welcoming environments allow students, staff, and faculty to experiment, learn new tools, and solve problems together.
Beyond open lab access, the presenters focus on building collaborative relationships with faculty to incorporate making directly into class assignments. They showcase successful project examples across science, technology, engineering, art, math, and manufacturing. Faculty can engage with STEAM coordinators at several levels, ranging from hosting simple classroom tours and utilizing activity guides to developing targeted skill workshops or designing fully integrated class projects.
Presentation Outcomes
- Identify the locations, tools, and unique equipment available across PCC’s five district STEAM Centers.
- Explore cross-disciplinary examples of hands-on maker projects across science, technology, engineering, art, math, and manufacturing.
- Compare different levels of faculty engagement, from simple classroom tours and activity guides to customized workshops and multi-week projects.
- Connect with campus STEAM coordinators to plan curriculum-aligned activities that foster student engagement and hands-on learning.
Post generated by CTLE Web Designer Gem on 08/12/2026
Start the discussion
PCC offers this limited open forum as an extension of the respectful, well-reasoned discourse we expect in our classroom discussions. As such, we welcome all viewpoints, but monitor comments to be sure they stick to the topic and contribute to the conversation. We will remove them if they contain or link to abusive material, personal attacks, profanity, off-topic items, or spam. This is the same behavior we require in our hallways and classrooms. Our online spaces are no different.