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.
Westchester Library System, in partnership with Lifetime Arts, ALA's Public Programs Office, and AARP Foundation, will improve, expand, and sustain creative aging programs in public libraries and position libraries as community cornerstones for positive aging. Built on Lifetime Arts' capacity-building model, this initiative reflects new scholarship on the benefits of social engagement and creative expression for healthy aging, employs nationally recognized best practices in arts education, and promotes partnerships between librarians and arts and community organizations. Through the new Lifetime Arts Affiliate Network, up to 150 librarians will participate in in-depth training, receive ongoing technical assistance, participate in a national peer network, and receive support to implement programs in their communities. The program will provide a practical, replicable, and sustainable approach for transforming library services for older adults to align with new knowledge, societal priorities, and collaborative practice.
Westport Library, with its partners, Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) and Connecticut State Library - Division of Library Development (CSL-DLD), and with SPARK! Consulting, will introduce a new model of maker space in libraries and a way to systematically integrate the culture of interactive "making" into the library profession. Westport will introduce a culture of innovation, while honoring the needs of more traditional libraries. There will be self-directed, hands-on maker experiences; maker workshops; and makers-in-residence who will support workshops and innovation labs on topics such as robotics, LED quilt creations, and tinkering with home electronics repairs. The library will also create Interactive Innovation Stations (iStations) to introduce people to the concepts and techniques of innovative thinking. It will be an environment where people can experiment, take calculated risks, and work collaboratively.
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.
The goal of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro's Academic and Cultural Enrichment (ACE) Scholars: New Americans for Community College Librarianship project is to increase the number of immigrants and refugees in community college librarianship. The project includes a recruitment drive, a targeted and focused curriculum that emphasizes multicultural, multilingual, and community engaged librarianship, and a proven practicum model, the Real Learning Connections. The project will result in a sustainable curriculum as well as a multilingual and multicultural cadre of 10 librarians, ready to serve diverse community college students, and ready to work in community college library environments.
The cybersecurity workforce is one of the most critical employment sectors in the country. The Cybersecurity for Science Information (CSI): Developing Workforce Proficiency project brings together the University of Tennessee (UT) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to develop plans for curriculum and research opportunities that will provide students with knowledge and hands-on experiences to confront today's ever-changing cybersecurity challenges. For this planning grant, UT and ORNL will collaborate with the University of New Mexico Library and the Los Alamos National Laboratory to develop a detailed recruitment strategy; blueprints of cybersecurity educational modules; a platform for sustainable curriculum design; and a strategy for ongoing assessment The project will also identify additional stakeholder groups.
The maker movement is fundamentally changing the way educators and educational researchers envision teaching and learning. This movement contends making — an active process of building, designing, and innovating with tools and materials to produce shareable artifacts — is a naturally rich and authentic learning trajectory (Martinez & Stager, 2013). Makerspaces are places where making happens in community. I craft my dissertation to explore these two defining characteristics of makerspaces through a comparative case study (Stake, 1995) and a design experiment (Brown, 1992). In the comparative
Science from the Start provides informal science learning opportunities for children, mainly those of pre-school age, along with support and information for their parents/carers. Activities use free or low cost materials to facilitate recreation or expansion at home and address a broad range of scientific topics, often linking with wider local, national or international science awareness events to give extra context. Science from the Start has received funding and support from the Lancashire County Council, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the British Society for the History of Science, the British Pharmacological Society, and STEMnet.