Resources included in these libraries were submitted by ITEST projects or STELAR and are relevant to the work of the NSF ITEST Program. PDFs and/or URLs to the original resource are included in the resource description whenever possible. In some cases, full text publications are located behind publishers’ paywalls and a fee or membership to the third party site may be required for access. Permission for use must be requested through the publisher or author listed in each entry.
Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center Curriculum
Curricular MaterialsThe Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center at the Monterey Community College in collaboration with Washington State University is engaging in a scale-up study of the remote operated vehicle (ROV) program to new audiences of middle and high school students and teachers. The MATE ROV competition is an engaging platform to prepare middle and high school students for careers in the ocean STEM workforce. The MATE Center has a variety of curriculum projects: SeaMATE ROV Kit CurriculumUnderwater Robotics TextbookROV Curriculum ResourcesSpanish GalleonOcean Drifter ProjectExploring Ocean
Using Robotics and Game Design to Promote Pathways to STEM
PublicationThis research report presents the results of a STEM summer program on robotics and game design. The program was part of a three-year study funded by the National Science Foundation. Children in grades four through six participated in a two-week summer camp in 2015 to learn STEM by engaging in LEGO® EV3 robotics and computer-based games using Scalable Game Design. Twenty-eight students participated in the study that took place in a small urban community in the Rocky Mountain West. This paper reports on the results of this part of the study, specifically, how children’s computational thinking
Generación STEM: Spanish Language STEM Videos
Curricular MaterialsGeneración STEM is a Spanish language TV series designed for middle and high school Latino youth and their families and is part of the STEM Mio Journeys program, developed by Arizona State University.Powered by CGI’s My Lifelabs platform, the STEM Mio program supports middle and high school Latino youth as they explore their personal passions, match those to STEM futures, connect with Latino STEM mentors, and gain the experiences to become strong college applicants. The STEM Mio journey is inspired through peer stories, supported through carefully designed learning challenges and peer
Developing Teachers' Computational Thinking Beliefs and Engineering Practices Through Game Design and Robotics
PublicationThis research report presents the final year results of a three-year research project on computational thinking (CT). The project, funded by the National Science Foundation, involved training teachers in grades four through six to implement Scalable Game Design and LEGO® EV3 robotics during afterschool clubs. Thirty teachers and 531 students took part in the Year-3 study that blended game design and robotics. Eight of these teachers and 98 students participated in a large urban city in Pennsylvania, while the remaining 22 teachers and 433 students participated in rural Wyoming. This paper
EAGER Maker Summit Video Day 2: Envisioning Groups Report to NSF
VideoThis is the final video from the NSF EAGER Maker Summit. At the close of day two, each thematic group provided a report-out to an NSF panel featuring Evan Heit, the director of the Division of Research on Learning (DRL), and NSF Program Directors Ellen McCallie and Robert Russell.
Youth’s Engagement as Scientists and Engineers in an Afterschool Making and Tinkering Program
PublicationMaking and tinkering is currently gaining traction as an interdisciplinary approach to education. However, little is known about how these activities and explorations in formal and informal learning spaces address the content and skills common to professionals across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. As such, the purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how youth were engaged in the eight science and engineering practice outlined within the US Next Generation Science Standards within an informal learnin environment utilizing principles of tinkering within the daily
Shifting Expectations: Understanding Youth Employees’ Handoffs in a 3D Print Shop
PublicationAs digital fabrication technology has become mainstream, the increased demand for 3D printed objects has created a new market for professional outsourcing. Given that most of this work does not require advanced training, and is an appropriate entry-level manufacturing job, there is an exciting opportunity to employ youth already skilled in "making" and interested in technology to do this work as an after-school job. The combination of this new technology and workforce calls for new workflows that streamline client-driven digital manufacturing. However, the limitations of current digital
The Engineer of 2020, in the Making: Understanding how Young Adults Develop Maker Identities and the Implications for Education Reform
PublicationMaking is a social phenomenon that encourages the adoption of many of the practices, skills, and knowledges associated with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines. It also incorporates many of the key personal attributes of the Engineer of 2020. Although educators have started to institutionalize this connection through the establishment of makerspaces and Maker-based curriculum, less effort has been made to understand how the current population of ‘‘grassroots’’ Makers have come to identify with this movement. In this qualitative research study, we analyze