ITEST Resources

Introduction to a special issue of CITE wherein three ITEST projects are highlighted. The three projects in this issue share characteristics: programs that interweave formal and informal learning environments, incorporation of practices that allow participants to engage with STEM content in a hands-on manner, and a dedication to improving research on project impacts. This editorial describes these characteristics in depth. This article is part of a special issue of Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education (CITE).

A 2011 report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce shows that 65 percent of Bachelor’s degrees in STEM (science, engineering, technology and mathematics) occupations earn more than Master’s degrees in non-STEM occupations. Similarly, 47 percent of Bachelor’s degrees in STEM occupations earn more than PhDs in non-STEM occupations. Furthermore, people with only STEM certificates can earn more than people with non-STEM degrees; for instance certificate holders in engineering earn more than Associate’s degree-holders in business and more than Bachelor’s degree

This review looks to literature on teacher change in science and technology education. We address the following question: How do science and technology teacher professional development programs define and describe changes in teaching beliefs and practices that lead to the effective implementation of sophisticated science and technology into formal classroom teaching?

Presentation by Beverly Parsons and Tirupalavanam Ganesh at the AYS "Building Experience, Building Bridges" conference in October, 2009.

The ITEST LRC asked four ITEST projects a series of questions about technology use and teaching methods in summer program activities in order to capture insights that can inform program design and practices in other ITEST projects and beyond.

Enhancing student learning and understanding by combining theories of learning with the computer’s unique attributes. In “Computational Thinking,” Jeannette Wing struck a chord that has resonated strongly (generating positive as well as negative responses) with many computer scientists and non-computer scientists. In this article, Cooper et al. reframe the way computational thinking is conceptualized and present a new model for computational learning in K-12 education.

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

The WGBH Educational Foundation and the Education Development Center, Inc. collaborated to create a series of six individual ITEST project profile videos and multiple video clips submitted by projects and edited by WGBH. The full collection is hosted on the STELAR Vimeo Channel and includes: Bioinformatics: the Rutgers Initiative in Teacher Enhancement (BRITE) Build IT: Girls Building Information Technology Fluency Through Design Catfish Environmental Monitoring (CEMO) Community for Rural Education, Stewardship and Technology (CREST) Green Energy Technologies in the City (GET City) Urban

This article in Scientific American (August 2014 issue), features the ITEST Research Study, Predicting STEM Career Choice from Computational Indicators of Student Engagement within Middle School Mathematics Classes (see page 72). The article details efforts to bring more rigorous science to classrooms and research that is showing that our intuitions about education may be wrong.

In this special issue, PIs and evaluators from diverse ITEST projects described their professional development practices.