Building Automation and IoT as a Platform for Introducing STEM Education in K-12

Publication

There is growing concern in the United States about the lack of interest and aptitude in science, math and, in particular, technology and engineering disciplines. Certainly one reason for this could be the lack of true engineering experiences available to students when they are in junior high and high school. This is in part due to the fact that while most teachers are well versed in math and science through their formal education, very few have experience and/or educational backgrounds in engineering and technology. To promote STEM careers, a partnership among university engineering faculty

Read More

Petrosino shares ideas about integrating computer science in schools of education in NSF-sponsored event

News

Computer science education researchers, leaders from colleges of education, teacher educators, and computer scientists from across the U.S. participated in a workshop to address critical questions related to the integration of computing education into schools of education. The National Science Foundation (NSF)-sponsored conference was held in New York City April 8 and 9 and focused on bringing computer science into colleges of education around

Read More

Changes in Teacher Dispositions Among Participants in Hands-on Teaching of a STEM Curriculum

Publication

Going Green! Middle Schoolers Out to Save the World (MSOSW) focuses on students using energy monitoring equipment to assess the amount of standby power consumed by their home entertainment devices and appliances when not performing any useful functions. This program focuses on improving the STEM pipeline by preparing both teachers and students in engaging activities aimed at creating and increasing interest in STEM careers for students. Teachers who participated in this hands-on, real world curriculum project, that included professional development, project tools and resources, gained in their

Read More

Conversations: Startups need our students to buck up

News

In December, software companies WebPT and Galvanize are set to bring more than 800 new employees to the area as they renovate a 120,000 square foot building on Grant Street. How can the Arizona Commerce Authority continue to attract even more companies and convince them that the Phoenix region is the center of STEM and innovation? How will they convince startups that we’ve got the talent to build their workforce? Arizona SciTech is collaborating

Read More

SIUE’s “Digital East St. Louis” inspires local students to explore city’s history and culture

News

Students from East St. Louis are documenting the culture and history of their hometown, while gaining valuable knowledge and computer skills, by participating in Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's Digital East St. Louis program. Now in its third year, the program continues to incorporate new interactive projects for the students, with the underlying goal of inspiring a love for STEM through creative digital humanities content.

Read More

You Can Take it With You: Empowering Learners Across Contexts

Publication

A central way in which FUSE provides powerful learning affordances is by breaking down the silos of A key way in which FUSE provides powerful learning affordances is by breaking down the silos of traditional STEM disciplines, and engaging learners in more authentic, interdisciplinary, and personally meaningful experimentation ICLS 2016 Proceedings 1029 © ISLS and making (e.g., Dewey, 1897; Resnick et al., 2009). Consequently, FUSE activities have the potential to not only motivate students to engage in future STEM learning, but also to provide them with a toolkit of knowledge and practices to

Read More

Learner Choice and the Emergence of Diverse Learning Arrangements in FUSE

Publication

This paper explores how FUSE Studios are organized, describing key design elements, the ways these differ from a traditional classroom model, and the types of diverse learning arrangements that emerge. Data in this paper was primarily collected from five classrooms in the 2013-14 school year and the analysis was refined through discussions within the research team about ongoing data collection during the 2014-15 (one classroom) and 2015- 16 (seven classrooms) school years.[See pages 1025-1032]

Read More

Style Engineers

Curricular Materials

Style Engineers is a program designed for young girls who love fashion as much as we do! We think the real magic of fashion is how science, technology, engineering, and mathematicsare part of the process of fashion design. On this site, you will find a series of activities designed to explore the science and technology of fashion.

Read More

A School Connectedness Scale for Use with Adolescents

Instruments

Evaluators are frequently asked to assess the effectiveness of school programs implemented to improve academic achievement. School connectedness has been shown to be directly related to academic achievement and is therefore of interest to evaluators. The construct of school connectedness has been shown to consist of 3 elements: connectedness to adults in schools, connectedness to peers, and connectedness to the school. This paper reports the psychometric properties and factor analyses findings from a School Connectedness Scale (SCS) given to adolescents in 2 very different high schools in the

Read More

Social Justice Driven STEM Learning (STEMJ): A Curricular Framework for Teaching STEM in a Social Justice Driven, Urban, College Access Program

Publication

This article presents the curricular framework for a social justice driven STEM curriculum (i.e., STEMJ) within an out-of-school time program for Boston Public high school students (i.e., College Bound) at Boston College. Starting with a discussion of the authors’ ideological positionality within critical social justice discourses, the authors share how Bronfenbrenner’s (1994) General Ecological Model provides a conceptual framework for operationalizing social justice inquiry with and through STEM. Positioning this curriculum within the College Bound program’s overall design gives readers a

Read More