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This is a reposting of a blog originally published on Education Development Center, Inc.'s Learning and Teaching website.Jim Diamond has extensive experience in formative research, instructional design, and the effective use of digital media and games to enhance K–12 education and promote social justice. He leads an evaluation of iDesign, a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST

STELAR had the opportunity to speak with Courtney Raquel Wiggins, M.A. (Wildlife Conservation Society) about the Bridging the Gap project, which is a school-to-career model program that consists of afterschool and weekend programming for high school students at four New York City area zoos and an aquarium, followed by mentoring. The goal is to promote affective, cognitive and behavioral outcomes among 150 low-income minority youth necessary to

STELAR had the opportunity to catch up with Mercedes McKay from the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) at Stevens Institute of Technology) and Karen Peterson about the Build IT Underwater Robotics Scale Up project (BISU).

STELAR recently had the opportunity to interview Ryan Baker about his ITEST Project, Predicting STEM Career Choice from Computational Indicators of Student Engagement within Middle School Mathematics Classes, which is examining how "disengagement" predicts later outcomes of STEM learning and career advancement.1) Can you share how your ITEST project impacts youth?We are studying how student engagement, emotion, and learning within middle school

STELAR recently caught up with Irene Lee about her work on Project GUTS: Growing Up Thinking Scientifically. Code.org has entered into a partnership with Irene Lee to roll out Project GUTS across the nation as part of their middle school computer science training.

STELAR recently had the opportunity to interview Anika Ward and Joseph Adamji (in photo) along with their team members Oanh Vu and Roi Ward from the Kitty Andersen Youth Science Center (KAYSC) at the Science Museum of Minnesota. This team leads the ITEST Project Bits-2-Bites, equipping young leaders in urban communities with skills and experience to understand and use STEM as a vehicle for creating solutions to social injustice. Anika and Joseph

The STELAR center organized a panel at the Summit to highlight findings from the ITEST program related to motivating students to pursue and persist in STEM education and career pathways.

STELAR recently had the opportunity to interview Chadia Affane Aji and Mohammad Javed Khan at Tuskegee University from the ITEST Project Innovative Flight Simulation Experiences for Students and Teachers to learn more about the program. Middle and high school students from rural communities in Macon County, Alabama, have been using a low-cost dynamic flight simulation environment during the weekends and over the summer to enhance their learning

This summer, twenty four students had an opportunity to meet Dr. Alex “Sandy” Pentland from MIT’s Media Lab, Dr. Gene Stanley from Boston University’s Center for Polymer Studies, and other researchers to learn about current applications in network science.

STELAR recently had the opportunity to interview Jill Zande from the MATE ROV Competitions: Providing Pathways to the Ocean STEM Workforce project to learn more about the project’s current work. The MATE ROV project just held its annual international competition at the end of June.