STEM Content and Standards | 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.

New Skills, New Experiences - The Future of Learning: Highlights of the ITEST 2005 Symposium

Publications

The 2005 Summit Symposium event brought together ITEST project staff and invited external thought leaders. This publication summarizes key points of the panelists for the session on "The Importance of IT & STEM Learning: Behind the ITEST Agenda," and documents dimensions of the ITEST projects' work and impact on learning & careers.

Learning to Think Spatially

Publications

This National Research Council publication examines how spatial thinking might be incorporated into existing standards-based instruction across the school curriculum.

ITEST Info Brief: Active Learning in the Information Age

Publications

ITEST LRC Info Brief Volume 1 , July 2004ITEST project staff contributed to thoughtful discussion around how specific technologies can be harnessed to enhance academic learning and creative expression.

A Program Director's Guide to Evaluating STEM Education Programs: Lessons Learned from Local, State, and National Initiatives

Publications

In today's world of high accountability, strong evidence on intended outcomes is key to building credibility and replicability of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs. This primer, for program directors/managers, educators and others responsible for developing and implementing STEM programs: Provides evaluation guidelines and resources for program leaders who are implementing STEM programs in schools and community-based organizations. Reduces "evaluation anxiety" for individuals who are not professional evaluators by providing guidelines for good evaluation

STEM Semantics Survey

Instruments

The STEM Semantics Survey measures student interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics as well as interest in STEM careers. The survey is comprised of five scales each with five items measured on a 7-point scale. The STEM Semantic Survey is appropriate for administration to middle school students and teachers. The link below provides access to the instrument as well as information about the instrument. Authors provide instrument validity and/or reliability information.

North Carolina Test of Geometry

Instruments

The North Carolina Test of Geometry is a 60-item, multiple choice achievement test to be administered following the completion of the Geometry course of study. The link provided includes the North Carolina Test of Geometry, its answer key, and a raw to scale score conversion.

Technology Self-Assessment Tool (TSAT)

Instruments

The Technology Self-Assessment Tool (TSAT) has been designed for: teachers, to determine their own levels of technology proficiency and to identify personal technology professional development needs; schools/districts, to assess their professional development needs and to plan professional development activities that will help all teachers become proficient in technology; and, the State, to gather and report data on technology competencies and technology professional development. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education adapted the Technology Self-Assessment Tool

TerraNova 3: Science

Instruments

TerraNova, Third Edition utilizes multiple assessments to measures important higher-order thinking skills as well as basic and applied skills. These assessments generate norm-referenced achievement scores, criterion-referenced objective mastery scores, and performance-level information. The assessments include reading, language, mathematics, science, and social studies tests for grades 1-12. It is the only standardized achievement test to combine selected-response items with constructed-response items that ask students to produce their own responses. The TerraNova website provides access to

Place-Based Education and Geographic Information Systems: Enhancing the Spatial Awareness of Middle School Students in Maine

Publications

Spatial literacy is a new frontier in K-12 education. This article describes a place-based introductory GIS/GPS middle school curriculum unit in which students used measuring tools, GPS units, and My World GIS software to collect physical and spatial data of trees to create a schoolyard tree inventory. Maine students completed "memory maps" of their schoolyards as a pre/post exercise assessment. A statistically significant increase in students' spatial awareness was documented. A technology-based curriculum can significantly increase students' spatial awareness especially in a place and

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