STEM Integration in K-12 Education examines current efforts to connect the STEM disciplines in K-12 education. This report identifies and characterizes existing approaches to integrated STEM education, both in formal and after- and out-of-school settings. The report reviews the evidence for the impact of integrated approaches on various student outcomes, and it proposes a set of priority research questions to advance the understanding of integrated STEM education. STEM Integration in K-12 Education proposes a framework to provide a common perspective and vocabulary for researchers
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TEAM MEMBERS:
National Research CouncilMargaret HoneyGreg PearsonHeidi Schweingruber
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) permeate the modern world. The jobs people do, the foods they eat, the vehicles in which they travel, the information they receive, the medicines they take, and many other facets of modern life are constantly changing as STEM knowledge steadily accumulates. Yet STEM education in the United States, despite the importance of these subjects, is consistently falling short. Many students are not graduating from high school with the knowledge and capacities they will need to pursue STEM careers or understand STEM-related issues in the
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Steve OlsonJay LabovNational Research Council
STEM learning ecosystems harness unique contributions of educators, policymakers, families, and others in symbiosis toward a comprehensive vision of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education for all children. This paper describes the attributes and strategies of 15 leading ecosystem efforts throughout the country with the hope that others may use their lessons to deepen rich STEM learning for many more of America’s children.
This report proposes a comprehensive study to answer the question: How does conversation as a socially mediating activity act as both a process and an outcome of museum learning experiences? The study will examine museum learning across six kinds of museums and across different kinds of visiting groups. This proposal describes a model of museum learning that puts conversation among different kinds of coherent conversational groups at the core of museum learning. It focuses on ways that conversations are elaborated, enriched, and extended as a consequence of museum activity. The model recasts
This is an interview with paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould exploring his personal background, career accomplishments, research on Darwinism, and views regarding religion.
This report offers an assessment of environmental literacy in America that is both sobering and hopeful. This summary of almost a decade of NEETF (National Environmental Education & Training Foundation) collaboration with Roper Reports provides a loud wake-up call to the environmental education community, to community leaders, and to influential specialists ranging from physicians to weathercasters. At a time when Americans are confronted with increasingly challenging environmental choices, we learn that our citizenry is by and large both uninformed and misinformed.
This is a report of the NSF Advisory Committee for Environmental Research. It contains a call to action, research priorities, and sections on environmental research and citizen science.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
NSF Advisory Committee for Environmental Research and Education
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This chapter examines what is known about the use and the potential of including informal science education in formal science teacher preparation. The chapter’s first section provides an introduction to the argument for innovation in formal science teacher preparation and the potential positive inclusion of informal science education. The second section provides a definition with conceptual understandings and common features of informal science education. The third section presents a review of the literature on including informal science education in formal science education for preservice
The authors use existing data from videos and field notes to analyze the effects of TV viewing on children as they are watching a program. They present a case study of two siblings to demonstrate their interactions, finding that children display complex reasoning practices while watching TV, but only under certain conditions and with certain types of social support.
In February 2012, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History ( NMNH) convened 100 colleagues from 43 organizations to initiate a collaborative learning research agenda focused on examining important areas for innovation to better serve twenty-first-century audiences. The conference organizers anticipated that scientists, educators, exhibit professionals, and other members of the natural history community would identify and prioritize research questions about what, how, why, when, and where people learn about natural history. We prepared to engage in a conversation about how natural
This chapter explores natural history exhibits, particularly dioramas, with regard to both art and authenticity. Dioramas are treated as a novel form of scientific model.
Women have made tremendous progress in education and the workplace during the past 50 years. Even in historically male fields such as business, law, and medicine, women have made impressive gains. In scientific areas, however, women’s educational gains have been less dramatic, and their progress in the workplace still slower. In an era when women are increasingly prominent in medicine, law, and business, why are so few women becoming scientists and engineers? This study tackles this puzzling question and presents a picture of what we know—and what is still to be understood—about girls and
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Catherine HillChristianne CorbettAndresse St. Rose