Promoting learning and interest in mathematics for urban Black and Latinx children through culturally relevant daily robot coding activities

2022 - 2026

This Developing and Testing Innovations project will advance efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that increase students' knowledge and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and information and communication technology (ICT) careers. Specifically, the project will increase the interest and improve achievement in mathematics of New York City Black and Latinx students in 1st - 3rd grades.

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Integrating AI Learning into Middle School Science through Natural Language Processing

2022 - 2025

This project responds to the growing recognition that learners of all ages should have the opportunity to engage with and learn about artificial intelligence (AI). Of AI's many subfields, natural language processing (NLP) is one of the fastest growing. NLP focuses on how to automatically understand spoken or textual data, and billions of these textual or spoken exchanges are recorded online every day.

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STEM Tales: Investigating the effect of media read-alouds on young children's STEM and literacy learning and interest in STEM careers

2022 - 2024

Exciting young children's interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is an essential way to attract more students to STEM course work and STEM careers. This project will use a variety of tools to engage four- to eight-year-old children and their families. First, the project will create a five-episode STEM media series for the Public Broadcasting System. The series will include diverse STEM professionals, including astronauts and engineers, reading STEM picture books from space, Earth, and sea.

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Engaging Rural Students in Artificial Intelligence to Develop Pathways for Innovative Computing Careers

2022 - 2025

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are fundamentally reshaping the workplace of the future and accelerating the demand for creating and sustaining an AI-literate workforce. This growing demand has highlighted the importance for all K-12 students to develop an understanding of AI to prepare them for future careers. Middle school years are crucial in shaping youth dispositions toward STEM.

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A Model Program to Engage Students in Authentic, Technology-Infused Coastal Research and Monitoring: Building Student Data Literacy and Career Competency through Partnership

2022 - 2026

The project will introduce and investigate an innovative model for using authentic community-relevant research to deepen students' STEM knowledge and skills, while building strong community connections between Maine's coastal school districts and their communities. The project will involve teachers and administrators, STEM and STEM education faculty, and business leaders and other community members in a research practice partnership.

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Co-Robots to Enhance Motivation and Self-efficacy in Formal STEM Education

2021 - 2024

Rehabilitation and assistive robots are becoming more prevalent as the population is aging. Healthcare technologies are rapidly evolving and becoming increasingly high-tech and reliant on sensors for biological data collection and human-robot interactions to augment human capabilities. Not only is the field changing, but the demand for a highly skilled workforce is growing rapidly.

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Preparing Secondary Teachers and Students for Quantum Information Science

2021 - 2024

Quantum information science (QIS) is imperative to economic and national security, commerce, and technology.  Development of a "quantum smart" workforce needs to begin before college. The logical venue for exposure to quantum might be a physics course, but numerous K-12 students attend schools where physics is not offered. Since most students will not major in physics, it is vital to expose K-12 students to quantum concepts that are relevant to everyday experiences with credit card security, phones, computers, and basic technology.

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Robot-Mediated Learning: Exploring School-Deployed Collaborative Robots for Homebound Children

2020 - 2023
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a child tele-operating a robot and walking with friends

Over 2.5 million children in the US are medically homebound. They are socially isolated, physically segregated, and current educational practices largely exclude them from their school communities. Telepresence robots have emerged as a possible means to support these children to return to their local schools, however, it is not yet understood how homebound children can effectively use these robots for optimal learning and social development experiences.

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Connecting Students with Autism to Geographic Information Science & Technology Careers

2021 - 2024

Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are less likely to start or graduate from a postsecondary educational training program than their peers. Additionally, they are routinely unemployed (or underemployed) as young adults. Consequently, there is an urgent need to create workforce development models that advance ASD students toward viable education and career paths. This project is a three-year project that will motivate and prepare high school students with ASD to enter postsecondary educational training programs and careers in geospatial and data science sectors.

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Supporting Early Learning of Computational Thinking Using Mixed Reality Technology

2021 - 2024

This project will introduce young children to computational thinking, which involves breaking down complex problems into manageable pieces, identifying steps and sequences to solve the problem, and generalizing a solution to solve similar problems. Problem-solving skills are foundational and cut across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) domains and disciplines. The project will research and develop an innovative mixed reality (MR) learning environment combining visual displays and a robot with programmable movement.

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