This project will advance 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 its focus on geotechnology (also called GIS or geospatial information systems) careers.

There is a growing need for citizens to be able to work with data and consider how data is represented. This work employs a design, make, play framework to create data modeling learning experiences for young children and their caregivers in an informal setting. The project will develop and test a curriculum for a workshop series for 5-8 year old children to engage them in playful exploration of data modelling. Children will engage in data collection, data representation and data analysis drawing their own experiences of the world.

There has been a strong push to expand the opportunities for students to experience Computer Science (CS) instruction in schools across the nation. To support the work at the federal, state, local levels and engage others in the effort, there is a need for coordination across these sectors. The current complex landscape does not have a central organization or connection point, thereby leaving many local education agencies (LEAs) unsure of how to proceed.

The project will develop, implement, and assess an initiative to promote robotic design and entrepreneurship experiences among students and teachers. Each year, 16 teachers and 32 students from 8 high schools located in all 5 boroughs of New York will attend a 4-week summer institute consisting of a 2-week guided training and a 2-week collaborative robotic-product development. The participants will come primarily from schools in underserved neighborhoods with socially, economically, racially, and ethnically diverse student bodies; approximately half of the participants will be female.

This project will advance 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 employing mobile technology to help up to 530 teachers and more than 9,000 students use proven retrieval experiences to improve STEM learning.

The project will develop and research an innovative credentialing process called Design League Badge Portfolios. (A digital badge, like a badge earned in a scout troop, is a validated indicator of accomplishment or skill that is housed and managed online and can be earned in informal or formal environments.) The process will give underserved youth a technology-supported method for presenting their Information Communication Technology (ICT) achievements in an out-of-school program in ways that are personally meaningful and that address the expectations of higher education institutions.

This Innovative Technology Experience for Teachers and Students project provides a model for increasing student interest in STEM careers and active engagement of business and industry partners with grade 6-12 aged youth in Arizona. The Chief Science Officers (CSO) program expands on the student government model to select one or several youth at participating middle or high schools who champion STEM interest, engagement, and communication. On-campus, CSOs identify and lead STEM opportunities such as speakers, field trips, and science nights, and other activities.

With current research indicating that up to one in 68 children is on the autism spectrum, it is critical to create programs that prepare students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to achieve their full potential in the workforce.

This project will develop and test a model of curriculum and community enterprise to address that issue within the nation's largest urban school system. Middle school students will study New York harbor and the extensive watershed that empties into it, and they will conduct field research in support of restoring native oyster habitats.

The Power of Data (POD) project is designed to increase secondary student awareness of and interest in careers that use geospatial technology (GST) and data; increase their knowledge of educational pathways to enter these careers; and develop their 21st century workforce skills. Building on successful implementation in Arizona, the 4-year project will be carried out on a larger scale. The project will use a train-the-trainer approach involving some 30 teacher educators, 90 teachers and 27,000 students.