ITEST projects provide meaningful learning opportunities for youth and their teachers, with a focus on increasing the understanding about possible STEM careers. A subset of the projects that have shown success are being funded to scale up. Others are working to improve the knowledge base on effective STEM experiences by conducting research or convening researchers and practitioners. This document demonstrates the scheme behind the evaluation of the ITEST program as a whole.SRI International presentation, 2012.

For at least the past 100 years science educators have been concerned about how best to encourage children’s natural interests in science; but the problem of waning interest through the middle school and high school years persists. Research on how best to maintain interest in what is now more broadly conceived of as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is more important than ever. These studies can be categorized as deductive research that begin with theories of action and lead to interventions to be tested; or inductive studies that begin with existing programs, and lead

Drawing on a multi-year research and development program, the authors report on the promise of integrating locally-focused student investigations with ubiquitous access to advanced technologies. By doing this, students are better able to see the relevance of STEM skills and knowledge as they work to improve their local communities. Specific program examples cited show the paradigm as it has been implemented with upper elementary and middle school students. Contrasting examples show challenges in implementation. A four-part framework of essential program elements is offered to guide further

In this white paper we describe youth engagement in cyber-rich science in a community setting, involving both knowledge/practice development and identity work through scientifically rigorous, culturally responsive, and generative activities.

In this white paper we describe a project underway at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education in which we are designing innovative technological environments that draw from theories of motivation to support and augment the engagement and motivation of students in Grades 5-8 mathematics.

Insights from the COMPUGIRLS project have provided significant evidence that lack of motivation is a misrepresentation of our girls’ lived experience.

An ongoing and at times seemingly intractable issue in science education and STEM fields is the underperformance and underrepresentation of marginalized youth. This is often attributed to disconnect between school in general, school science specifically and the cultures that youth enact and experience in their daily lives. Although research demonstrates that youth become engaged in STEM when it is relevant to their well-being and that of their community, the question of what motivates underrepresented youth to pursue STEM interests is still not fully understood. This white paper argues for

This paper summarizes lessons learned from eight years of hosting a national resource center for the ITEST (Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers) program, funded by the National Science Foundation. At the core of the resource center’s work is the creation, nurturing and expansion of an active community of practice among principal investigators directing projects focused on a wide variety of scientific content for participants ranging in age from kindergarten through adult (educators) located across the U.S. Design, implementation, evaluation, and evolution of the

This virtual brief paper describes the efficacy of hybrid professional development used for the CoastLines Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) project. Over a three-year period, CoastLines introduced middle and high school teachers to the use of geospatial technologies as a tool for science instruction. Its hybrid professional development format included 40 hours of Webinars and an 80-hour summer institute. In response to formative feedback, the format was revised each year throughout the course of the project. Ninety teachers were trained using the hybrid

Designing and building robots to perform a series of increasingly complex tasks in an underwater environment is the vehicle to engage, interest, and cultivate 36 middle and high schools inlearning engineering, science and information technology. Using LEGO components and a hands-on, team-based, iterative design process, teachers and students learn how to build robotsthat must operate underwater in a three dimensional space. In building their robot to perform these tasks (proceed in straight line path across a pool, negotiate a slalom course, ascend/descendin a water column, and grab/deposit a