Youth Motivation and Interests in STEM | STELAR - STEM Learning and Research Center

From honorable mention to first place

17-year-old John Arnault's project, “Sunscreen’s Entrance into the Nano World,” placed first in the Medicine/Health category at the Carver Science Fair. Arnault is a Frankford High School junior--and a participant in ITEST-Nano, a collaboration among Penn GSE, Penn’s Nano/Bio Interface Center, and the School District of Philadelphia.

Teen girls discover digital technology as ‘COMPUGIRLS’

Dr. Kimberly Scott is the principal investigator and creator of a National Science Foundation-funded ITEST project COMPUGIRLS, an innovative technology program designed to teach girls of color how to use technology to bring about social change. She was concerned with the low participation of young women from higher needs school districts in STEM, so Scott developed COMPUGIRLS from a program she initiated at Hofstra University in New York.

Computer scientists bring digital world to Bronx kids

Jonathan Santiago, co-founder and managing director of STEM2GETHER, describes his experience working with ITEST project GreenFab and teaching advanced technical concepts to students in the Bronx.

This article was also published on Live Science.

Developing a Paleontology Field Program for Middle-School Students

The University of Montana’s Paleo Exploration Project (PEP) was a professional development program for K-12 Montana teachers, which also provided authentic, field-based, residential summer research experiences for over 80 Montana middle school students. The program’s scientific focus was the ancient environments and fossils of eastern Montana, which to leveraged student’s innate interest in dinosaurs to build a deeper understanding of “doing science” and encouraged future pursuit of STEM coursework and careers.

Seen in NY: Bridging the Gap at the Central Park Zoo

ITEST project Bridging the Gap was profiled in this video article by the New Learning Times (Columbia University).

Engineer Your Life

The result of extensive research into the reasons girls are less interested in engineering than boys, Engineer Your Life shows high school girls and adults in their lives how varied and creative engineering can be and what a different engineers make in the lives of others.

Prime the Pipeline Project (P3): Putting Knowledge to Work

With funding from NSF, the Prime the Pipeline Project (P³) is responding to the need to strengthen the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) pipeline from high school to college by developing and evaluating the scientific village strategy and the culture it creates.

Winners named in global underwater robot event

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 13 different countries competed in this year's event.

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

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.

Unlimited slots left.

Role Model Videos

Through these role model videos, professionals' real world views and application of math show high school students just how relevant math is to their futures. Filmed on location, professionals tell students about how they use math in their careers and what math meant to them in high school.

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