Informal Learning and Afterschool | STELAR - STEM Learning and Research Center

Journey North: A Global Study of Wildlife Migration and Seasonal Change

Curricular Materials

Journey North engages students in a global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change. Use this site to track the coming of spring through the migration patterns of monarch butterflies, bald eagles, robins, hummingbirds, whooping cranes and other birds and mammals; the budding of plants; changing sunlight; and other natural events. Find photos, real-time mapping, the latest news, a compendium of facts, and other resources on these and other topics. K-12 students are invited to track and share their own field observations with classmates across North America on this site and now through a downloadable app.

Analysis of Middle and High School Student Learning of Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Concepts Through a Lego Underwater Robotics Design Challenge

Publications

The Build IT project is a university-school collaboration to increase precollege student interest and achievement in engineering, science, mathematics, and information technology through a novel underwater robotics project that utilizes LEGO Mindstorms kits, the NXT programmable brick, and related equipment. The project is being implemented in 36 socio-economically and academically diverse schools for students in Grades 7-12. Through a series of increasingly complex challenges, Build IT exposes students to science, mathematics, and engineering concepts such as buoyancy, Newton’s Laws, momentum

Winners named in global underwater robot event

28 June, 2014 News

The Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center, the National Science Foundation, and the Marine Technology Society's (MTS) ROV Committee hosted their 13th Annual International Student ROV Competition June 26-28, 2014 at Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary (TBNMS) in Alpena, MI, USA.Sixty teams representing middle schools, high schools, home schools, after-school groups, community colleges, and universities from 18 different states and

NSF Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) Principal Investigator & Evaluator Convening 2014

Event

STELAR hosted the NSF Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) Principal Investigator & Evaluator Convening on Tuesday, August 19, and Wednesday, August 20, 2014, at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC. The convening was for active ITEST PIs and evaluators and was an opportunity to share successes, challenges, and lessons learned from the ITEST program. The event preceded the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) Principal Investigator Meeting at the Marriott Wardman Park.

STELAR Webinar: Mentoring Models in ITEST Projects

Event

Results from the Management Information System, which collects data from all active ITEST projects about what the projects do and whom they serve, showed that 51% of ITEST projects in the 2013-2014 school year included mentoring of youth participants as one of their project activities. During this webinar we will hear from three such ITEST projects and we’ll explore their mentoring structures, goals, challenges and successes.

Connecting Informal STEM Experiences to Career Choices: Identifying the Pathway

Publications

The focus of this literature review is out-of-school time activities in informal environments, a “vastly understudied” set of experiences (Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development 1992), and the role these experiences can have in shaping the direction of youth to pursue STEM careers.

ITEST Webinar: NSF ITEST Convening: Defining an Afterschool Research Agenda

Event

Presenter: Tony Streit, ITEST Learning Resource Center at EDC; Carrie Parker, ITEST Learning Resource Center at EDC; Karen Peterson, National Girls Collaborative; Siobhan Bredin, ITEST Learning Resource Center at EDC; Jennifer Adams, attendee; Priti Gupta, attendee

ITEST Info Brief: Meeting the Needs of STEM Workforce Development

Publications

This 2010 ITEST Information Brief shares examples and data about how the ITEST program strives to connect workforce development needs and K-12 learning in and out of school.

America After 3PM

Publications

America After 3PM is the nation’s most in-depth study of how America’s children spend their afternoons and spans a decade of data chronicling how children spend the hours between 3 and 6 p.m. — the hours after school ends and before parents typically return home from work.

The Impact of Informal Science Education: A Massachusetts Perspective

Publications

The projects described in this booklet represent the work that has been funded by the Informal Science Education program at the National Science Foundation. The outcomes of these projects have provided a wide range of opportunities for students, teachers, and the general public to become more familiar and interested in learning about science. Just a few of the impacts that have come about as a result of this work are:Wired to Win is expected to reach between 8 to 10 million viewers over a 5 year distribution period. In Boston alone, over 68,000 individuals have seen the film.Terrascope Youth

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