Culturally Relevant Computing Activities and Career Readiness for At-Risk Youth

2018 - 2023

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 engaging in hands-on field experience, laboratory/project-based entrepreneurship tasks and mentorship experiences.

Read More

The Bessie Coleman Project - Using Computer Modeling and Flight Simulation to Create STEM Pathways

2018 - 2021

This strategies 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 the fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM). Specifically, the project will use computer modeling and flight simulations as mechanisms to provide unique entrées to STEM and STEM careers for predominately underrepresented elementary and middle school students in the Rocky Mountain and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.

Read More

Project BUILD (Building Using an Interactive Learning Design)

2017 - 2021
Image

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 bringing together youth (grades 2-5), their families, librarians, and professional engineers in an informal environment centered on engaging youth with age-appropriate, technology-rich STEM learning experiences fundamental to the engineering design process.

Read More

Designing the Impact Studio -- Dynamic Visualizations in the Write4Change Networked Community

2016 - 2021

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 engaging them in quantitative data analysis to support their own communication skills. The amount and variety of information generated and shared online requires young people to be adept at effectively producing, analyzing, assessing, using, visualizing, and circulating data.

Read More

Socio-Environmental Science Investigations Using the Geospatial Curriculum Approach with Web Geospatial Information Systems

2016 - 2019
Image

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 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.

Read More

Chief Science Officers: A Strategy for Student Awareness and Industry Engagement

2016 - 2022
Image
Chief Science Officers

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.

Read More

Kids as Urban Scientists: Mapping the Biodiversity of the Philadelphia Promise Zone

2016 - 2019

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 providing immersive field experiences for inner-city students from groups underrepresented in STEM fields.

Read More

Researching A School District's Integration Of The Maker Movement Into Its Middle And High School

2016 - 2018

The beginning of the 21st century saw the rise of Maker Spaces or informal community workshops where people of all ages engage in a variety of creative design and fabrication activities with materials and equipment that would otherwise be out of reach for the average person. The grass roots nature of the Maker movement reflects the general public's strong interest and engagement in informal science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning activities.

Read More

Expanding Geospatial Technology Career Development for High School Students Through Teacher Professional Development

2015 - 2020
Image

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.

Read More