Data Jam

Curricular Materials
Image
Logo for Data Jam
Engaging students with local ecological data in Puerto Rico Data Jam is an initiative of the Luquillo Long -Term Ecological Research (LTER) program. The University of Puerto Rico's Luquillo LTER has compiled decades of data on the El Yunque rainforest ecosystem and made it publicly available. The Data Jam program engages middle and high school students in the process of formulating their own questions about environmental phenomena in El Yunque and then exploring, analyzing, and summarizing long-term data as evidence to support their scientific research questions. Successful Data Jam projects
Read More

Luquillo Data Jam: A Powerful Model for Broadening Participation in Science

Publications
The Luquillo Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program in Puerto Rico has implemented a Data Jam initiative that fosters student engagement in ecological data science. In December 2023, over 175 middle and high school students presented 51 data-driven projects at a symposium in El Yunque National Rainforest. The initiative, rooted in the LTER’s extensive datasets, allows students to develop research questions, analyze data using the CODAP tool, and present findings. The program includes professional development for teachers, with workshops and Virtual Lab Meetings that equip them to guide
Read More

Developing Hands-on Virtual Reality Science Laboratory Experiences

2019 - 2024
This project addresses our nation's urgent need for an agile and diverse science and technology workforce by innovating cost-effective and scalable hands-on chemistry and biochemistry laboratory training using virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) educational technologies. Learning is
Read More

Peering a Generation into the Future: NSF's Young Scholars Program (YSP) and the nation’s STEM workforce

Poster

This project is a multiyear study of the impact of an enrichment program that the US National Science Foundation (NSF) managed in the 1990s. The Young Scholars Program (YSP) involved around 18,000 7th–12th grade students and 600 separate grants between 1989 and 1996. The purpose of YSP was to introduce high-achieving middle and secondary school students to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields to encourage their entry into those fields and thus increase the size and quality of the nation’s STEM workforce.

Read More

Bolstering STEM Pathways for Students in Rural New England Through a Comprehensive, Multi-Year Learning Community

Poster

The New Hampshire Academy of Science ITEST grant began Sept. 1, 2022 and will enable wrap-around programming to provide underrepresented students in underserved rural communities with scientific research experiences along with mentorship and college prep throughout high school, starting at each grade level. We are currently developing recruitment strategies for our first two cohorts. 

Read More