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2024 NSF ITEST PI Meeting Project Summaries
Welcome to the ITEST Project Summaries Library! These one page artifacts were created to share information and unpack project work across the three ITEST pillars 1) Innovative Use of Technology in Teaching and Learning, 2) Partnerships for Career and Workforce Preparation, and 3) Strategies for Equity in STEM Education.
We invite you to search, filter, and explore these pages—and add comments to engage with your colleagues!
The overarching goal of our ITEST project is to create accessible data science tools and curriculum that are legally compliant with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and to evaluate these materials with a diverse group of high-school aged student learners. We have created through this work a set of multi-modal data science technologies that were born accessible and have re-imagined what data science could become through first…
We are presenting on Year 1 of a three-year, NSF-funded project (2023-2026) entitled Agents for Inclusive Science Communication (AISciComm). The project involves a research-practice partnership between University of California-Irvine, Utah State University, and Orange County Department of Education. Our main goal is to support high school students (grades 9-12) in Title I schools in Orange County (OC), California to develop systems understanding that (1) reflects how climate change will impact…
“Living and Working with Artificial Intelligence” is a 9-week elective course for Georgia middle school students co-designed by the investigators and a cohort of six teachers. We created the course and professional development materials to study student and teacher AI learning. For students, we are interested in the most effective ways to promote interest in AI and robotics among different demographic groups who are underrepresented in STEM: rural white students, urban black students, and…
Neuroscience for Neurodiverse Learners (NNL), provides hands-on experiences in neuroscience disciplines, networking opportunities, and resources to high school and early postsecondary students identified as neurodiverse learners—those with academic challenges related to conditions such as dyspraxia, dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyscalculia, autism spectrum disorder, and Tourette syndrome—and disseminates findings to teachers of courses that are related to neuroscience and…
Wireless radio communications, such as Wi-Fi, transmit public and private data from one device to another, including cell phones, computers, medical equipment, satellites, space rockets, and air traffic control. Despite their critical role and prevalence, many people are unfamiliar with radio waves, how they are generated and interact with their surroundings, and why they are the basis of modern communication and navigation. Making Waves with Radio has created a series of hands-on activities…
Everyday AI (EdAI) addresses the need to develop a diverse workforce with the knowledge and skills to work with AI and answers the call for widely-accessible and age-appropriate AI Literacy education. Broadening participation in AI is important in ensuring that AI technologies are founded on principles of inclusivity and equitability. MIT and Boston College prepared over 120 middle and high school teachers from districts across Florida, Illinois, New York, Virginia, and New Mexico who tengaged…
Central to our work is engaging high school as teachers, mentors, and role models who teach their younger peers in applying concepts and ideas from physics, plant science, engineering design, and coding to design and build a smart automated desktop-sized greenhouse. In the building of the greenhouse, youth use physical computing where they are learning how to connect coding to the physical world through microcontrollers by programing sensors to collect data and using that data to control…
This study introduces an innovative augmented reality (AR) environment, augmented by Linibot, a physical robot, to cultivate computational thinking skills in young learners. Integrating AR technology with Linibot, children navigate a grid-like environment on a tablet, guided by the robot through AR obstacles. The objectives include fostering STEM problem-solving, symbol comprehension, and confidence in technology. Pre- and post-tests evaluated the impact on computational thinking in the…
As artificial intelligence (AI) transforms our society, it is essential for students to understand its mechanics, how machines learn from data, and the role of humans from diverse backgrounds and expertise in shaping AI. While computer science standards and organizations have emerged with commendable approaches, they often relegate experiences to self-selecting students who already show interest in the topic, and most students remain unaware of how AI is reshaping their future. Further, the AI…
Our goal for the STEM Career Connections project is to develop an innovative career readiness model for both in and out of school settings that will profoundly increase the knowledge of, and interest in, STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) and computing careers for middle school youth within Eagle County, Colorado, who are often underserved in STEM fields. To achieve this goal, we have three integral components of the project: • a community partnership working together to…