From Data To Awesome (D2A): Youth Learning to be Data Scientists

2015 - 2018

Increasingly, the STEM workforce requires knowledge of data science and data analysis including representations of data for public use such as in media outlets. The project will be a partnership between a non-profit organization and a university in order to engage youth in data science projects as they produce interactive media for local and national audiences. The technology platform, Local Ground, allows youth to collect, map and visualize data.

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The Youth Digital Storytelling STEM Academy

2015 - 2019

The project will develop a student-directed intervention that leverages research on motivation to encourage student interest and engagement in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)-related field of climate science. The intervention is designed to give students the opportunity to use video storytelling to tell their own stories in a meaningful way for their communities. Through this experience, students will develop competencies in climate science, engineering design, media technology, and communications including storytelling.

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ET-ECS: Electronic Textiles for Exploring Computer Science with High School Students and Teachers to Promote Computational Thinking and Participation for All

2015 - 2019

This project advances efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that increase students' motivations and capacities to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM by producing empirical findings and/or research tools that contribute to knowledge about which models and interventions with K-12 students and teachers are most likely to increase capacity in the STEM and STEM cognate intensive workforce of the future.

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Educational Pathways Into College & Career

2015 - 2018

Educational Pathways Into College and Career is a multi-faceted summer program designed to equip students from low-performing schools, low-income families and ethnic/racial groups underrepresented in STEM fields with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to succeed in STEM majors and pursue STEM-related careers.  Students, through the course of learning about innovative technologies, will develop a project that can transform the lives of a community.

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Science, Technology and Engineering Mini-business Incubator (STEM-Inc)

2014 - 2018

This project innovatively aims to motivate early teens to pursue careers in engineering and computer science through an afterschool program. This program combines these subjects with business entrepreneurship by engaging students in designing computer science and engineering products. Students will learn not only about these subjects, but also about the design process and business. The design process will be guided by two principles--intelligent fast failure and lean start-up--which emphasize planning for and capitalizing on short feedback loops.

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Innovative Technology-Enabled Astronomy for Middle Schools II (ITEAMS II)

2014 - 2019

Nationwide, middle-school youth from underrepresented communities have few opportunities to engage in authentic STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) investigations that build on the students' intrinsic interests in space science and robotics to increase their interests in both ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) and STEM careers. ITEAMS II is a collaborative project of science educators and researchers at the Harvard College Observatory and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.

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GIS/T Resources and Applications for Career Education (GRACE)

2014 - 2018

The GIS Resources and Applications for Career Education (GRACE) project builds upon a recent NSF-funded project, the Mayors Youth Technology Corps (MYTC), that developed a model of geographic information systems and technology (GIS/T) based education. MYTC developed a model of purposeful applications of GIS/T-based education for STEM careers in the workplace that provided youth in economically disadvantaged communities experience using and applying GIS/T to real world situations.

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The CryptoClub: Extending Learning with Student-Generated Tutorials

2013 - 2019

In existing CryptoClub after school programs, middle school students use mathematics to make and break secret codes. The CryptoClub website has tools for encrypting, messages to crack, treasure hunts and other activities. In this project, the learning in fifteen Crypto Clubs is extended by having the students generate tutorials that explain how they solve mathematics and cryptographic problems. The flexibility of the after school setting provides the opportunity to experiment with content and technology.

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Seeding the Future: Creating a Green Collar Workforce Through Learning about Indoor Urban Farming Technologies and Alternative Energy Sources

2013 - 2017

This project develops an interdisciplinary and transformative in- and out of-school science education and technology program that engages high school aged youth and their teachers in 1) the production of food using hydroponics, and 2) the use of green energy technologies (solar, and wind) to power hydroponic systems. This distinctive program integrates food production, a novel model of parental outreach, a focus on green career development, and an authentic reason (growing their own produce for selling at a market) for learning how and why to use alternative energy technologies.

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