Monthly Highlight: Black History Month
February is Black History Month, when we honor and celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of some great champions of STEM—“Hidden Figures” who are hidden no more. We also celebrate by carrying their legacy forward into the future.
A central goal of the NSF-ITEST program is to broaden participation in STEM fields by students from traditionally underrepresented and historically marginalized groups. Over the years, ITEST projects have developed many innovative strategies for recruiting, retaining, and engaging these students in STEM education and career pathways. Click on the links below to see some examples of ITEST projects that are promoting a more equitable STEM workforce and inspiring the next generation of STEM innovators.
- Digital Mathematics Storytelling: Fraction Stories from Urban Emergent Communities will help urban elementary school children learn to use current technology to craft mathematics narratives that help them see themselves as mathematically powerful while still connected to their community.
-
Transforming Preschoolers’ Spatial Orientation: Leveraging New Technologies for Learning in Early Childhood Classrooms and at Home leverages digital touch-screen tablets and augmented reality technologies with other hands-on, developmentally appropriate spatial learning activities to increase preschoolers’ spatial orientation learning and STEM identity, particularly for underrepresented and underserved groups.
-
Students Build Augmented and Virtual Reality Plant Models to Understand the Role of Design in STEM gives underrepresented and underserved students from both urban and rural communities access to novel educational tools as they learn to create 3D models of different parts of plants. With the support of instructors, mentors, and scientists, high school students acquire skills in the use and applicability of AVR technology, 3D design, and plant science.
-
Early College Career Exploration Through STEM Courses and Apprenticeships in Advanced Manufacturing addressed longstanding inequities in education, training, and employment of Cleveland, Ohio-area youth living in poverty. The project successfully supported students in 10 local high schools as they moved into successful STEM careers.
Save the Date!
Mark your calendars to attend the 2024 ITEST PI Meeting. This year's theme is Innovating Equitable STEM Learning for the Future Technological Workforce. The meeting will engage the ITEST community in workshops designed to unpack project work through the lens of the three ITEST Pillars: Innovative Use of Technology in Teaching and Learning, Partnerships for Career and Workforce Preparation, and Strategies for Equity in STEM Education. Interested in presenting during the meeting? PIs, check your inbox for the Call for Presenters. STELAR will continue sending updates with more details!