In order to attract and retain underrepresented student groups (USGs) who aspire to major in STEM fields, educators recognize that science and math instruction must improve and also develop students’ non-cognitive and social-emotional skills. Foremost in that effort is Xavier University of Louisiana, a historically black and Catholic university located in the heart of New Orleans. Throughout the past thirty years, Xavier compiled an extraordinary record as a top producer of African Americans who receive bachelor’s degrees in biology, chemistry, and physics. Although Xavier enrolls only
This is a report of an evaluation of the content and design of the science components of the Education Development Center's TV411 program, conducted by Owen Consulting, Inc. In 2010, EDC received a grant from NSF to reconstruct the TV411 website, produce new science content, including videos and web lessons, improve user interactivity, and develop materials to support adult educators who work with the site's target population of low literacy adults. This report lays out the evaluation design, provides an overview of site web metrics, describes the registered user population discusses the ways
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Education Development CenterEric GraigDavid Owen
This volume explores how technology-supported learning environments can incorporate physical activity and interactive experiences in formal and informal education. It presents cutting-edge research and design work on a new generation of "body-centric" technologies such as wearable body sensors, GPS tracking devices, interactive display surfaces, video game controller devices, and humanlike avatars. Contributors discuss how and why each of these technologies can be used in service of learning within K-12 classrooms and at home, in museums and online. Citing examples of empirical evidence and
Innovation spaces are springing up around the world. This phenomenon is driven by emerging technologies in additive manufacturing, by new thinking about learning, by a desire to grow the Michigan economy through the democratization of innovation and entrepreneurship and the need to provide authentic experiences to engage and retain students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) disciplines and careers. We are presently engaged in the project planning phase of the Innovation 5 concept. Innovation 5 will be a community-based rapid prototyping/additive manufacturing facility that will be housed within and will be integral to the Impression 5 Science Center in downtown Lansing, MI. This space is envisioned to house resources such as rapid prototyping and additive manufacturing equipment, meeting spaces and networking facilities for collaboration, This space will also serve as a core element of the informal learning experience for visitors to the Impression 5 Science Center. Impression 5 is currently planning a dramatic renovation and expansion which provides a window of opportunity for development of this new concept. Innovation 5 is planned to function at the intersection of three major trends in education and economic development; additive manufacturing and rapid prototyping, authentic STEM experiences for students and community based innovation and entrepreneurial support.. Additive Manufacturing/Rapid Prototyping: Additive manufacturing and rapid prototyping are poised to be the next great digital revolution, where the barrier between digital concept and physical object ceases to exist. "Machines that turn binary digits into physical objects are pioneering a whole new way of making things" one that could rewrite the rules of manufacturing in much the same way that the PC laid waste to traditional computing (The Economist Technology Quarterly Dec 1, 2012) This technological revolution is becoming a central feature of a new set of institutions that make these facilities available to entrepreneurs as shared community resources. Global networks are already forming as non-profits such as FabLabs and MakerSpaces, commercial entities like TechShop and at the Federal government level, such as the recently announced National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute. Authentic STEM Experiences for Students: There is increasing recognition that student learning can be dramatically enhanced by enabling students to engage in inquiry-driven work that connects their learning to the real world and that involves collaboration and communication. For example, the National Science Foundation is devoting significant resources to promote the concept of learning through innovation through such programs as the I-Corps. The informal science education community has moved strongly towards becoming a center for STEM learning in conjunction with more traditional learning environments. The National Science Foundation recently changed the name of its Informal Science Education (ISE) division to Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL). The Impression 5 Science Center is also actively pursuing the link between informal education and innovation through its new exhibit, the Build Zone where children are encouraged to create and test new structures in a wide variety of physical formats. Community-based Entrepreneurial Support: The Maker/FabLab culture emphasizes the democratization of these new technologies. We feel that this can be a key contribution of Innovation 5 to the City of Lansing community. The population of the City of Lansing is diverse with a high proportion of members of underrepresented groups. In addition, Lansing is undersupported compared to neighboring communities in terms of access to technology and related educational resources. By becoming the local "on ramp to innovation," Innovation 5 can provide low-cost, easy-entry access to these new technologies for community members, whether as microentrepreneurs or just to access these technologies for personal interest. The goal of the Innovation 5 proposal is to meld these threads into a new type of institution. We view the Innovation 5 space as a graded environment for STEM learning through innovation. The facility is envisaged to have a "front end" that serves as an inviting informal education setting where children and families can learn about and participate in the process of innovation and where they can actually see and interact with, in a controlled fashion, the rapid prototyping facility. The "back end" of the facility will have multiple spaces with various levels of controlled access. There will be a collaboration space with visual global networking capability and access to design tools that will be relatively open. Beyond that area would be a space with rapid prototyping tools that require training and supervision for access and operation. One step beyond this might be small spaces for entrepreneurs to pursue more advanced projects. Students will participate integrally in all aspects of Innovation 5's functioning, from interacting with children in an informal setting to serving as team members in developing products from concept to market. Students will also provide the core of the group managing the facility, with substantial input into the direction Innovation 5 will take. Consistent with this vision, 6 student interns are diligently working this summer as a project planning team. They are focusing on various aspects of the facility, from design and equipment needs to marketing and social media. We anticipate completing the project planning phase this summer, to be followed by focused fundraising efforts to install and maintain Innovation 5. Impression 5 Science Center is strongly supportive of this project and has generously offered to provide ample space within their current building envelope for Innovation 5. With this support as well as financial support already received from Lansing area community, education and economic development groups, we are confident that we are well on our way to creating Innovation 5, the first facility of its kind in the United States, and one that has great potential to be replicated nationally.
The Chester County intermediate Unit developed strong collaborations between school districts and informal education providers across Pennsylvania to engage thousands of students in high quality learning experiences. NASA will support these partnering institutions as they engage local teachers in professional development in high quality instruction during the school year. Requirements for both summer activities and school year activities necessitates cooperative agreements with secondary education partners to ensure fulfilling participation requirements such as reaching a large number of middle school students and teachers. The CCIU has many potential partners in the PA SoI project who have expressed interest in participating; including Carnegie-Mellon Robotics Academy, Cheyney University, Widener University, the Philadelphia School District, the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the NASTAR flight facility. With a renewed effort by the CCIU the PA Summer of Innovation Program will be implemented through the PAIU NET to provide quality STEM programming to students and STEM training to teachers while monitoring student outcomes. In Eastern PA camps will be held August 1-5 at 36 sites in the 20 participating school districts statewide. In Chester County, camp sites include Gordon Elementary School and Pope John Paul II Regional Catholic School. Additionally several NASA SoI Mini-Camps were held increasing the breath and depth of the program's impact.
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Chester County Intermediate UnitJohn Hall
Florida State University and partner University of Alabama will collect and analyze data on how STEM teachers can most effectively collaborate with librarians. The data will be collected at focus groups held at four national conferences: the American Association of School Librarians, the Public Library Association, the National Science Teachers Association, and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. This variety of participants at these conferences will allow for diverse opinions, thoughts, and ideas to be compiled, supporting the analysis of how the collaboration between STEM teacher and librarian is working today and providing recommendations on how it could be improved. The overall goal of this planning grant is to assess what is happening in the field so the information can then be shared with the educational and library communities for greater impact.
The Howard County Library System (HCLS), in partnership with the University of Maryland Baltimore County, will use this grant to enhance the teen digital media lab at the Savage Branch Library by adding science, technology, engineering, and math projects and implementing that same STEM-focused model in three other libraries. The "Hi Tech Academy: The Road to a STEM Career" project will address the increasing demand for workers with STEM-related skills as the number of college graduates in these fields decreases. This program will create a model to be replicated at other libraries, bring awareness of how to best teach these skills, increase interest in STEM for youth, and address the demand for these skills in the community.
There is a widely acknowledged, urgent need for improving and increasing science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills among our citizenry and students to navigate the modern world and access the opportunities it affords. The need for a more STEM literate workforce has been discussed in respected reports such as “Rising Above the Gathering Storm” from the National Academies, and data on the workforce show clear benefits of a STEM‐related post secondary education in the current job market. This brief from the Afterschool Alliance explores the impacts and outcomes of afterschool STEM
The University of Arkansas Center for Math and Science Education (CMASE), one of eleven mathematics and science centers on university and college campuses around the state, provides quality resources and materials to the home, private and public education community. The Arkansas NASA Educator Resource Center, located within CMASE, is the state's dissemination point for education materials provided by NASA. Resources and school/classroom presentations are free of charge. The main objectives of both centers are to provide: (1) K-16 education outreach to the home, private and public Northwest Arkansas education community; (2) quality professional development for pre-service and in-service teachers at local, regional, state and national levels; (3) access points for dissemination of educational materials, resources and information; and (4) links to common education allies throughout the state and nation.
There can be a mistaken impression that the new vision for K-12 science education is only relevant to classroom science instruction. But youth frequently engage in powerful science and engineering activities that take place after or outside-of-school. They learn STEM content, engage in STEM practices, and develop an understanding of how STEM is used in the world. To capitalize on those assets, educators and other stakeholders should learn about, leverage, and broker connections for youth across the STEM learning experiences available in and out of school.
Although studies in a variety of settings suggest that participant reactions to the research context can threaten the validity and generalizability of study findings, there have been almost no investigations of participant reactivity in museums. In this experimental study, the authors compared the behaviors and learning outcomes of visitors at two versions of an interactive mathematics exhibit who had either been actively recruited by a data collector or passively recruited using posted signage. They assessed the amount of time visitors spent at the exhibit, the number of mathematical exhibit