ITEST Symposia at AERA

News

The AERA Annual Meeting is the largest gathering of scholars in the field of education research. It is a showcase for ground-breaking, innovative studies in a diverse array of areas -- from early education through higher education, from digital learning to second language literacy. It is where to encounter ideas and data that will shape tomorrow's education practices and policies, and where to connect with leading thinkers from the U.S. and

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Students explore STEM careers in Botball competitions

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Battle lines were drawn inside Mission Bay High School’s gymnasium as students from San Diego County competed in the 2014 Botball Assistive Robotics Sand Diego Regional Tournament on March 29. The tasks, to have Botball students develop effective robot technologies to solve state-of-the-art problems.

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STEM program builds ties between Stanford and East Palo Alto middle school

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An innovative course and afterschool mentor program bring lessons from education, design and engineering to a local school. The program complements the charter school’s science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) offerings in a low-pressure, afterschool environment. Focusing on teaching design solutions that emphasize empathy, it has reached about 60 EPAPA students over the last three years, with some returning for a second year.

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Shoot For The Moon! The Mentors and the Middle Schoolers Explore the Intersection of Design Thinking and STEM

Publications

This paper describes the journey of a group of university students as they worked with underserved middle school students as mentors in a STEM-based afterschool program. Design thinking provided a frame within which students learned how to be mentors, how to create user-centered learning experiences, and how to share their experiences as developing STEM professionals with middle school students.

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Impact of Environmental Power Monitoring Activities on Middle School Student Perceptions of STEM

Publications

Middle school is a crucial stage in student development as students prepare for a fast changing future. The science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills that students acquire in middle school lay the foundation for a successful career in STEM. Moreover, most STEM occupations require competencies in science, math and logical thinking prior to engagement in problem solving. Therefore, it is vital to prepare and develop interest in middle school students to participate in the future STEM workforce. This study examines the impact of hands-on authentic projects on middle school

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Longitudinal analysis of cognitive constructs fostered by STEM activities for middle school students

Publications

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the changes found to occur pre- to post intervention in students' cognitive structures continued to persist two years later. Major findings were: 1) higher-order STEM-related constructs established during the treatment year tended to persist two years later, even as component dispositions varied, and 2) gender differences in level of persistence emerged in only one of the four higher-order constructs identified. For the participants taken as a whole, perceptions of science and STEM as a career became more aligned with interest in being a

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Future ROV Designers to be Found at the Center 2013 International Underwater ROV Competition

Publications

2013 was the 12th year the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center at Monterey Peninsula College has held this competition. Their goal in doing so was to increase awareness of marine technical fields and careers. Their efforts connect students and educators with employers and working professionals. The ROV competition is a big event, but it is not all they do. Their workshops provide educators with resources and training to bring the world of marine technology, research, exploration and industry to their classrooms.

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Students learn about engineering in remotely operated vehicle competition

News

Teams from six Milwaukee area high schools and five middle schools were challenged to design, build and operate an ROV to identify an unknown shipwreck recently discovered in the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary waters, collect microbial samples and remove trash and debris from the shipwreck and surrounding area, in a “Remotely Operated Vehicle Competition" in Milwalkee, Wisconsin. Eventually, the hope is that these students want to take

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From first graders blogging to teens building underwater robots, District 57 bringing STEM curriculum to life for students of all ages

News

District 57 is placing a major emphasis on the critical subjects of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM curriculum), through extracurricular offerings and enhanced school-day lessons that help prepare students to be the next generation of leaders in STEM-related fields. STEM curriculum has become a major focus in education, because the subjects play an important role in the high-tech, high-skill global economy that eventually will

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