Honeywell space programme promotes new teaching methods

Nguyen Thanh Thuyet from Khanh Hoa High School in Vietnam’s southern province of Soc Trang was the third Vietnamese teacher in three consecutive years that won a five-day scholarship to attend the 2015 HESA programme

Created in partnership with the US Space & Rocket Centre in 2004, HESA is designed to address the trends in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education by providing teachers with new technical skills and teaching techniques that help motivate students around the world.

Since the programme’s inception, more than two million students have been reached and inspired by 2,381HESA alumni from 55 countries.

In the middle of this year, teacher Nguyen Thanh Thuyet from Khanh Hoa High School in Vietnam’s southern province of Soc Trang was the third Vietnamese teacher in three consecutive years that won a five-day scholarship to attend the 2015 HESA programme with other 204 teachers from 23 countries in Huntsville, Alabama.

“HESA has brought me precious experience from all activities of intensive classroom, laboratory, and training focusing on space science and exploration. The programme has inspired me to come up with a new innovate and more effective teaching method to in turn inspire my students and help them further love science subjects,” said Thuyet.

“At Honeywell, we always see education as a key platform to the development of economy and society for any country. Teachers who have joined HESA always return with great feedback and refreshed experience,” said Mai Trang Thanh, president of Honeywell Indochina. “We would like to see the momentum continues for Vietnam and more teachers from the country will be able to benefit from this exciting programme.”

Each successful applicant will receive a full scholarship following a rigorous and lengthy application and selection process involving competing teachers from around the world.

Scholarships include tuition for the five-day programme, round-trip airfare, meals, accommodations, programme materials, and flight suits, all sponsored by Honeywell and contributions from Honeywell employees.

During the five-day programme at HESA, educators participate in 45 hours of intensive classroom, laboratory, and rigorous training, focusing on space science and exploration including astronaut-style exercises and attended seminars, listened to the astronauts about their experience in applying the programme’s knowledge from teachers of previous years.

Educators learn through simulated astronaut training and activities designed to promote life-long learning in a classroom setting.

The application for the 2016 Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy is now open till January 4, 2016. Applicants will be assigned one of the two sessions: June 8 – 14, 2016 or June 15 – 21, 2016. Acceptance notifications will be made by email by late January 2016.