Underwater LEGO Robotics as the Vehicle to Engage Students in STEM: The BUILD IT Project’s First Year of Classroom Implementation

Publications

The BUILD IT project is a university-school collaboration to increase precollege student and teacher interest and achievement in engineering, science, mathematics, and information technology through a novel underwater robotics project that utilizes LEGO Mindstorms kits, theNXT programmable brick, and related equipment. The project is being implemented in 36 socioeconomically and academically diverse schools throughout New Jersey for students in Grades 7-12. Through a series of increasingly complex challenges, BUILD IT exposes students to science,mathematics, and engineering concepts such as

Read More

Changing the High School Culture to Promote Interest in IT Careers

Publications

Interviews with high achieving middle school girls enrolled in a math and technology summer program showed that one fourth of the girls were interested in careers in IT. The girls were interviewed four years later when they were in high school. We found that all of them were still interested in math and most of them were taking, or had taken, advanced math courses. However, only several were taking or had taken a computer science course and only one girl expressed interest in pursuing a career in IT. They showed a general lack of information about computer science, computer scientists and

Read More

Seven Lessons Learned in Eight Years Hosting the ITEST Learning Resource Center at EDC

Publications

On July 11, 2011 Joyce Malyn-Smith and Siobhan Bredin presented “Seven Lessons Learned in Eight Years of Hosting the ITEST Learning Resource Center at EDC,” as part of a panel session for a cross-division audience of National Science Foundation program officers who are interested in including resource centers in their upcoming program solicitations.Presented by Joyce Malyn-Smith and Siobhan Bredin at the National Science Foundation, Washington, DC, July 2011.

Read More

Bridging Barriers: Using Technology to Attract, Retain, and Mentor the Engineering Workforce of Tomorrow

Publications

Today’s technology-based global economy places a high premium on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education. Educators committed to increasing the interest and achievement of females in engineering struggle to find appropriate resources. The Gender and Science Digital Library (GSDL) from Education Development Center, Inc., (EDC) is a unique on-line collection of exemplary resources aimed at encouraging girls and women to pursue science and engineering education and careers. Participants will receive an on-line tour of the GSDL and a hands-on look at exemplary

Read More

Space Aliens? Women, ICTs, and Gender-Equitable Electronic Resources

Publications

This paper explores some of the critical issues surrounding gender and technology, examines what they mean for teaching and learning online, and then describes two projects at the Gender and Diversities Institute at EDC. The first project is research on online learning and its links to gender equity. The second project builds on this base to create a gender and science digital library. Both reflect the work of the Gender and Diversities Institute as it tries to determine how best to create web-based resources and materials that value gender and diversity and support the learning needs of

Read More

Analysis of Middle and High School Student Learning of Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Concepts Through a Lego Underwater Robotics Design Challenge

Publications

The Build IT project is a university-school collaboration to increase precollege student interest and achievement in engineering, science, mathematics, and information technology through a novel underwater robotics project that utilizes LEGO Mindstorms kits, the NXT programmable brick, and related equipment. The project is being implemented in 36 socio-economically and academically diverse schools for students in Grades 7-12. Through a series of increasingly complex challenges, Build IT exposes students to science, mathematics, and engineering concepts such as buoyancy, Newton’s Laws, momentum

Read More