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

MIT App Inventor has enabled middle school students to learn computing while creating their own apps-including apps that serve community needs. However, few resources exist for building apps that gather and share data. There is a need for new tools and instructional materials for students to build data-enbaled, community-focused apps. We developed an extension for App Inventor, called AppleVis, which allows app-makers to publish and retrieve data from our existing web-based collaborative data visualization platform.

How algebraic reasoning can be fostered within the important big idea of equivalence is demonstrated using hanging mobiles. A concrete-representational-abstract approach is used, without any formal algebraic symbolism, to elicit algebraic reasoning and higher-order thinking.

The challenges of addressing increasing calls for the inclusion of computational thinking skills in K-12 education in the midst of crowded school curricula can be mitigated, in part, by promoting STEM learning in after-school settings. The Visualization Basics: Using Gaming to Improve Computational Thinking project provided opportunities for middle school students to participate in after-school clubs focused on game development and LEGO robotics in an effort to increase computational thinking skills. Club leaders and teachers, however, first needed to develop proficiency with the computational

In this chapter you will learn how a community college in rural Wyoming is implementing professional development resources in Computer Science and computational thinking skills for middle and high school teachers in their communities. The objective of the community college was to build relationships with schools to teach Computer Science concepts and computational thinking skills in the classroom. In this day and age, many people young and old are spending time on playing games or simulations. Why not teach Computer Science concepts and computational thinking skills through gaming and

This article examines teacher preparation and teacher change in engineering and computer science education. We examined culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy (CRTSE), culturally responsive teaching outcome expectancy (CRTOE) beliefs, and attitudes toward computational thinking (CT) as teachers participated in one of three treatment groups: robotics only, game design only, or blended robotics/game design. Descriptive data revealed that CRTSE gain scores were higher in the robotics only and blended contexts than in the game design only context. However, CRTOE beliefs were consistent

Understanding middle school students’ perceptions regarding STEM dispositions, and the role attitudes play in establishing STEM career aspirations, is imperative to preparing the STEM workforce of the future. Data were gathered from more than 800 middle school students participating in a hands-on, real world application curriculum to examine the relationship of the students’ interest in STEM and their intentions to pursue a career in a STEM field. Among the middle school students who completed surveys for the MSOSW project, 46.6% expressed a desire to pursue a career in STEM at the time of the

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