What is a career anyway? What does STEM career education look like from PreK–12?
BlogThe 2024 NSF ITEST PI Meeting engaged the ITEST community in an examination of project implementation through the lens of the three program pillars: (1) Innovative Use of Technology in Teaching and Learning; (2) Partnerships for Career and Workforce Preparation; and (3) Strategies for Equity in STEM Education. Discussions across the two days raised topics of interest and challenges felt by projects across these pillars. Questions related to
Introducing STELAR’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility Resource Library
BlogThe ITEST program’s support of the research and development of models that build K-12 students’ capacity to participate in STEM and ICT has been demonstrated over the past 21 years. It is this history that has highlighted the necessity for STELAR to prioritize being both anticipatory and responsive to the needs of the increasingly diverse K-12 student population in the US. STELAR’s catalog of resources cultivating an ethic of equity provides
Technical Intuition – Preparing Students for Work at the Human Technology Frontier
BlogJoyce Malyn-Smith, STELAR Co-PI We live in a world driven by technology, where discovery and innovation occur at the intersections of disciplines. If we want our students to be the discovers and innovators of tomorrow, we need to prepare them with the skills found at those intersections. To succeed in this “human technology frontier,” students will need to be ready to use tools and processes that integrate both technical and academic skills and
Project Spotlight: Enhancing Engagement and Conceptual Understanding of Fractions for Students with Learning Disabilities using the Model Mathematics Education Curriculum
BlogJessica Hunt’s research supports a re-conceptualization of research and instructional practice using practices from both mathematics education and special education such that students with disabilities can build mathematics proficiency. Specifically, she designs and tests asset based learning environments and interventions, such as game enhanced curriculums, to understand, support, and extend processes of student learning. Jessica is the Principal Investigator for ITEST project Enhancing Engagement and Conceptual Understanding of Fractions for Students with Learning Disabilities using the Model Mathematics Education Curriculum.
Imagining the Future of Work: The Equity Systems Change Compass
BlogAuthor: Clara McCurdy-Kirlis What working might look like in the future—even just 10 years from now—stokes our imaginations. The world of work is changing at such an incredibly fast pace, and recent events like the pandemic and the murders of people of color have exposed and underscored inequities and health disparities that must be faced and dismantled in order to have a future of work that is both inclusive and just. Who really benefits from
ITEST Solicitation 22-585: Initial Tips and Takeaways
BlogNSF released the ITEST solicitation (NSF 22-585) on April 14, 2022, to cover proposals submitted between 2022-2024. STELAR has reviewed changes in this solicitation from the previous (19-583) and share some of our takeaways...
Project Spotlight: Examining the Impact of an Industry-aligned, STEM Problem Based Learning Curriculum on Native Hawaiian and Underrepresented Youth Workforce Development
BlogWhat strategies have you found most effective and productive to broadening participation by engaging diverse underrepresented populations in STEM programs and careers? Through our STEMulate Project (DRL 1657625), students that participated in our STEM Problem-based Learning (PBL) Model students met and worked with STEM Industry partners in authentic ways - such as researching more about the presented problem or designing a solution pathway
STEM Career Pathways: Beyond the Braided Stream
BlogJon Boxerman is a research associate at WestEd. He's served as Co-Principal investigator for ITEST project Closing Gaps: Connecting Assessment and Culture to Increase Achievement and as senior staff for Exploring Careers and Learning Informally to prepare for STEM Employment.Recently, a colleague shared with me a concept paper on STEM pathways published in GEOS. As a geoscientist and learning scientist by training I was intrigued by how the
Project Spotlight: Curriculum and Community Enterprise for Restoration of a Keystone Species in New York Harbor
BlogIn New York City, there are numerous environmental issues that form the basis for inquiry-based science research by local students.
Comic book introduces kids to key concepts and careers in cybersecurity
BlogFeatured ITEST project: Cultivating Elementary Students' Interest in Cryptography and Cybersecurity Education and Careers This blog has been reposted with permission from The Conversation. CryptoComics is a curriculum designed to teach elementary school children – particularly girls of color – about cybersecurity – the practice of keeping digital information safe – and related careers. Pavlo Antonenko is an Associate Professor of Educational