Resources

This monograph shares results of our inquiry into pedagogical strategies that infuse career awareness into science lessons. We first identify four cognitive building blocks of career development and four promising approaches for raising awareness of science careers. We then provide a typology of ten replicable teacher practice strategies, with accompanying examples of each. These findings are part of a larger exploration into the potential for secondary science teachers to increase student awareness of, and interest in, science careers, and are intended to contribute to field-building efforts

The interrelationship of structure and function is a key theme of biology. One important example of this relationship involves how the three-dimensional shapes of proteins are related to the roles they play at the cellular level. The treatment of protein structure in many introductory textbooks, however, is cursory and focuses on the relationships among primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structure without a clear link to how these levels of organization contribute to functional aspects of the protein. This short and engaging hands-on activity helps reinforce the connection between

Understanding how high school students become aware of STEM career options, how educators can help students translate awareness into pursuit of STEM careers, and how to provide students with the support and skills they need to succeed, are crucial elements in ensuring the future of our STEM workforce. One important factor is the role that high school science teachers can play in fostering STEM career interest and awareness. As part of our study, we conducted interviews and focus groups with over 70 high school science teachers and other science and career education experts. Teachers’

We investigated the effects of our Bio-ITEST teacher professional development model and bioinformatics curricula on cognitive traits (awareness, engagement, self-efficacy, and relevance) in high school teachers and students that are known to accompany a developing interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. The program included best practices in adult education and diverse resources to empower teachers to integrate STEM career information into their classrooms. The introductory unit, Using Bioinformatics: Genetic Testing, uses bioinformatics to teach basic

To explore the role and impact of Youth Radio’s NEXT: The Innovation Lab, Rockman et al, an independent research and evaluation organization, conducted an external evaluation of the project. With funding from the National Science Foundation’s Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, the Innovation Lab sought to develop and research a scalable, evidence-informed theory of action to engage underrepresented youth in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) learning through the collaborative creation and dissemination of original journalistic media, technology, and

Fossils and the science of paleontology provide a charismatic gateway to integrate STEM teaching and learning. With the new Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), as well as the exponentially increasing use of three-dimensional (3-D) printing and scanning technology, it is a particularly opportune time to integrate a wider variety of fossils and paleontology into K–12 curricula. We describe a curricular prototype that integrates all four components of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) into authentic research using dentitions of the Neogene giant shark Megalodon (Carcharocles