Engaging Secondary Students in Regionally Relevant Science Topics Through Videography

2015 - 2021

This project will advance efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that increase students' motivations and capacities to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) by engaging students and their teachers in studies of environmental change.

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Expanding Geospatial Technology Career Development for High School Students Through Teacher Professional Development

2015 - 2020
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The Power of Data (POD) project is designed to increase secondary student awareness of and interest in careers that use geospatial technology (GST) and data; increase their knowledge of educational pathways to enter these careers; and develop their 21st century workforce skills. Building on successful implementation in Arizona, the 4-year project will be carried out on a larger scale. The project will use a train-the-trainer approach involving some 30 teacher educators, 90 teachers and 27,000 students.

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Building Enhanced Scientific Thinking through Modeling Ecosystems

2015 - 2019

An ongoing collaboration between the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will advance efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that increase students' motivations and capacities to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM). Specifically, this project will explore how a modeling-based curricular approach advances 4th and 5th grade students' understanding of science as a way of knowing.

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An Impact Study to Examine the Efficacy of a Mathematics Professional Development Program for Elementary Teachers

2015 - 2021
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The project will develop and research the impact of an expanded model for mathematics professional development (PD) for elementary second and third grade teachers. It builds on the NSF-funded project, All Included in Mathematics (AIM). The PD is designed for elementary teachers to learn and use successful mathematics discussion strategies shown to support student learning.

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The Youth Digital Storytelling STEM Academy

2015 - 2019

The project will develop a student-directed intervention that leverages research on motivation to encourage student interest and engagement in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)-related field of climate science. The intervention is designed to give students the opportunity to use video storytelling to tell their own stories in a meaningful way for their communities. Through this experience, students will develop competencies in climate science, engineering design, media technology, and communications including storytelling.

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Creating a Virtual Infrastructure for Engaging Rural Youth in STEM Disciplines through Computer Science

2016 - 2019

This project will advance efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that increase students' motivations and capacities to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) by developing and studying an educational intervention for rural youth to engage with computer science and math concepts through a popular videogame.

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Zipping Towards STEM: Integrating Engineering Design into the Middle School Physical Science Curriculum

2015 - 2019

This project will advance efforts to better understand and promote practices that increase students' motivations and capacities to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics through the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers program. It will integrate engineering design principles into Akron Public School district's curriculum unit on force and motion for 1800 underrepresented eighth grade students across 12 schools and 98 classrooms.

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ET-ECS: Electronic Textiles for Exploring Computer Science with High School Students and Teachers to Promote Computational Thinking and Participation for All

2015 - 2019

This project advances efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that increase students' motivations and capacities to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM by producing empirical findings and/or research tools that contribute to knowledge about which models and interventions with K-12 students and teachers are most likely to increase capacity in the STEM and STEM cognate intensive workforce of the future.

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Soft Robotics to Broaden the STEM Pipeline

2015 - 2019

This project aims to increase female interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers through the emerging field of soft robotics. Soft robotics diverge from other robotics in that they leverage materials science (understanding how materials stretch and deform), chemistry (polymer synthesis), and biology (bio-inspired design) to provide aids for human needs.

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