ITEST Projects

The FUSE Studios project seeks to engage youth in meaningful ways on sustained pathways towards STEM-related careers and involvement in science in later life. FUSE Studios are organized around sequences of interest-driven challenges involving both digital and hands-on activities that are informed by authentic STEM occupations and practices, and linked together in a progression modeled after computer-game sequences.

This ITEST Strategies project will create a partnership of the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML), the Tri-City Technology Education Collaborative Inc. (TRITEC), and the urban school districts of Medford and Everett, MA to bring project-based, socially-relevant computing experiences to district middle school students.

Given recent advancements in geospatial technologies and the expanding geospatial technology industry, this project is timely in its focus on spatial thinking and strengthening geospatial technology skills among high school students.

Research studies, commissioned reports, and national and international tests of educational progress in STEM fields show that a large gap exists, in interest and achievement, between underrepresented students and their counterparts.

The GIS Resources and Applications for Career Education (GRACE) project builds upon a recent NSF-funded project, the Mayors Youth Technology Corps (MYTC), that developed a model of geographic information systems and technology (GIS/T) based education.

Project ReCharge will engage middle school and high school students as energy detectives in their schools. Using tablet computers to collect data on school energy use, students will learn to track electrical loads in their buildings.

This project innovatively aims to motivate early teens to pursue careers in engineering and computer science through an afterschool program. This program combines these subjects with business entrepreneurship by engaging students in designing computer science and engineering products.

This ITEST Strategies project, engages middle school students in project-based learning around their community's water resources. Through the innovative use of technology the project enables data sharing among schools in different parts of the country and provides a forum for the development of a professional learning community for teachers.

124 low income immigrant middle and high school students living in Seattle Public Housing participate in a year long program focused on mentoring, tinkering, and understanding the role that woman and people of color play in STEM fields.

The STEM Learning and Research (STELAR) Center is the resource center for the NSF ITEST program, housed at Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) and funded from 2013 to 2019 (formerly the ITEST Learning Resource Center - LRC).