This project increases (STEM) skills through problem-based learning modules in which 9-12 grade students solve problems through data collection and analysis utilizing geospatial technologies. Professional development is provided for 40 secondary teachers in Career and Technical Education (CTE), mathematics, and science. Participants and researchers then examine the effectiveness of the modules on the learning and science and technology efficacy of 800 secondary students. The project has five objectives. 1.

This study by Worcester Polytechnic Institute will ascertain how well "disengagement" of students in mathematics can be determined from math learning software and how well it predicts later outcomes of STEM learning and career advancement. The study will use with metrics automatically extracted from a computer-based math learning tool in middle school to predict STEM workforce participation after high school.

The Real World Externships project provides professional development for 150 mathematics and science teachers in grades 7-12 in Iowa. The teachers participate in externships with local science-based industries for six weeks during the summer. Teachers learn current applications of science and mathematics that they can use to enhance their teaching.

The Robot Algebra Project creates three scalable, middle school level units for use in informal settings. The units are designed around fundamental robot movement concepts but emphasize proportional reasoning - a big idea in mathematics. There are over 12,000 FIRST Lego League teams across the U.S. that purport to use robots as a motivator to engage students in STEM. However, most of the time the students use guess and check procedures thwarting the opportunity to learn STEM content.

SCI-TALKS (Supporting Community Initiatives for Teaching, Learning, and Knowing Science), an ITEST strategies project, is designed to deliver after-school energy and environment (EE) education programs in community settings for rural low-income upper elementary students in West Virginia. The goal of SCI-TALKS is to provide pre-service and in-service teachers with professional development and technology resources to ensure that their students build workforce readiness skills through EE education program.

This project will enable high school and middle school STEM teachers and students to conduct environmental research aided by the analysis of images from digital cameras, scanners, and the Internet. The project explores how digital image analysis can be applied to environmental quality issues that can readily be introduced into STEM courses, engaging students and encouraging them to think about related careers. The project will develop research agendas that will employ a variety of image analysis tools.

Tri-Regional Information Technology (Tri-IT), is a collaborative project building on the IT strengths at three diverse colleges located in the state of Florida. Tri-IT includes Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) in Northeast Florida, Florida A&M University (FAMU) in Northwest Florida and Seminole State College (SCC) in Central Florida. Tri-IT will address Florida's IT gender inequality in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) by serving a total of 180 high school girls.

WestEd and the University of California-Berkeley are improving student learning and workforce preparation in science as well as information and communication technology by embedding the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program into curricula of selected high school-level green energy career academies in California. Embedding GLOBE within California's green energy academies will pave the way for broader GLOBE implementation in California and other states.

The Student Enabled Network of Sensors for the Environment using Innovative Technology (SENSE IT) project will integrate STEM skills into a robust interdisciplinary curriculum and teacher development effort by teaching 3,000 high school students to design, build, test, deploy and interpret their own environmental sensors. SENSE IT will span three distinct residential regions in New York's Hudson and St. Lawrence River valleys, as well as a diverse socioeconomic and racial spectrum.