Participants will use problems found in familiar early childhood children’s literature as the basis for hands-on models that promote children’s STEM learning in the preschool and pre-kindergarten childhood setting. Participants will experience opportunities to seamlessly infuse STEM concepts throughout the day with young children. While providing participants with tools and tasks that promote scientific inquiry, the presenters will share the actual work from their integrated public school early childhood center classrooms that allowed all of their 3, 4, and 5 year old students to behave as young scientists.
While engaging in STEM learning experiences participants will pose “What if…?” questions, make predictions, test their models, record their findings, develop solutions, and present their findings. All activities will be carefully linked to the Science, Math, and English Language Arts Curriculum Frameworks, as well as the Social and Emotional Learning, and Approaches to Play and Learning Standards. Focus will also be given to the integration of the eight science and engineering practice standards. Participants will be afforded opportunities to better understand the important roles of team work and problem solving in order to excite their students and provide students with experiences that reinforce feelings of success at the end of a challenge.With students, writing in science is a means to deepen students’ understanding of concepts and apply the science and engineering practices from Next Generation Science Standards. Research also shows that as students write in the content areas achievement improves as students are asked to clarify and organize their thinking.
Participants will review several examples to span grades K-8 of how writing in science can be used to improve student outcomes using science notebooks and different entry types. Students use their notebooks to begin a science investigation or engineering challenge by asking questions when given a specific focus of inquiry. Students also make observations of the focus of inquiry. From their questions, students generate an inquiry question and design an investigation or create a plan for their design to an engineering challenge. As students implement their investigation, they make prediction, observations, and collect data in their notebooks. Analysis of their data and observations will lead students to draw conclusions. Writing is also integrated into science project based learning as students research to complete a real world task.
Specifically, the session will outline efforts to strengthen students’ writing of conclusions in science using the framework of claims, evidence, and reasoning. Focus will be given to grades 5 and 8 MCAS achievement on open response writing. Resources including rubrics, professional development materials, and lesson ideas for supporting writing of conclusions will be discussed. Finally, participants consider how they will apply the strategies to their own classroom settings.
Partners HealthCare and its founding hospitals - Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) - recognize the universal lack of racial and socioeconomic diversity in the medical and science fields. The Student Success Jobs Program at BWH and the Youth Scholars Program at MGH provide innovative STEM programming and comprehensive educational and workforce preparedness services to Boston’s underrepresented youth. Specifically, these programs support educational attainment through STEM-focused activities, provide academic assistance, and offer paid internships and career exposure opportunities to young people interested in pursuing a career in health, science or medicine. Through the Partners Scholarship Initiative launched in 2012, these successful programs were expanded to include college bound youth, creating additional opportunities and extending the pathway to a more diverse healthcare workforce.
Technology is transforming our world and every career field. Most parents recognize the need for students to move beyond using technology, to understanding how it is made and how computing intersects with our daily lives. Teachers increasingly want to bring basic knowledge of computer science (CS) to their students. Yet more than three-quarters of U.S. schools do not offer CS.
The Massachusetts Exploring Computer Science Partnership (MECSP), with the support of the National Science Foundation, is preparing teachers to engage diverse Massachusetts 9th graders in a yearlong Exploring Computer Science (ECS) course. A teacher-leader, evaluator, and partnership member from MECSP will (1) discuss program impacts on teachers, students, and administrators; (2) present the standards-aligned ECS curriculum and rigorous professional development (PD) model; and (3) explain the research behind ECS; the social, economic, and educational challenges ECS is designed to address; and the successful multi-sector partnership structure of MECSP.
Session participants will leave with an understanding of access and equity issues in CS education, ECS’s design as a course to engage diverse students, how ECS fills a gap between K-8 engagement experiences and typical high school CS courses, ECS’s impact on student attitudes and self-rated skills in CS, the impact of the PD program and teaching experience on teachers, the impact of the course on schools, opportunities to bring ECS to MA high schools, teachers, and students.
The vision of the Massachusetts STE standards is to engage students in the core ideas through the integration of science and engineering practices, while making connections to what they know and the world they live in. Engage with other participants to learn where districts are in the process of transitioning to the 2016 MA Science Technology & Engineering (STE) Framework. Participants will gain an understanding of the STE Framework and learn about partnerships and collaborations throughout the state. To support districts during the transition to 2016 STE standards, DESE has trained a cadre of Science Ambassadors who are available to assist educators across the state to become familiar with the 2016 STE standards and the implications of those for curriculum and instruction. During the session, we will highlight the work of the Science Ambassadors and districts will present how they are working collaboratively to align curriculum and resources. We will discuss interactive strategies to use with your school/district as you begin to implement the 2016 STE standards. We will also share resources that educators and administrators can utilize in their districts.
Mount Wachusett Community College will present examples of industry-education partnerships it has developed through its advanced manufacturing programs. This will include program and curriculum development and review as well as delivery of curriculum to incumbent workers as a means to improve employee skills. Examples of short-term non-credit training delivered to incumbent workers will be shared. A 40-hour Quality Systems Training Program and a 60-hour Automation Technician Training Program will be presented. The intended audience for this presentation includes educators and employers looking for models and lessons learned regarding industry-educator partnerships. The objective is to show how both partners can benefit and how unexpected outcomes can emerge. The result of the described efforts is a demonstration of how short-term training can help build a career pathway and provide an impetus for students/employees to improve their employment prospects. Results from the programs and its associated outcomes will be presented along with employer perspectives. Additionally, program revisions and enhancements made for subsequent trainings will be discussed.
What is needed to assemble a successful STEM Team in your city or town? During this session, members of the Easton STEAM Education Team will discuss the genesis and evolution of their group and its accomplishments to date. Participants will have the opportunity to brainstorm resources and assets in their own communities and then share out with others to gain ideas for developing and strengthening STEM support for their own districts. This session is best suited for K-12 Educators and Administrators who are looking to generate support for STEM initiatives and interest, but business/industry leaders are welcomed to get ideas on how to approach the educators in their region and offer their perspectives.
We would like to share the process we used to begin dialogue with the business community, why we believe a model that is inclusive of diverse stakeholders has been a benefit, and how we have leveraged the relationships we have built to provide greater support for the initiatives of the school department and opened communication with the citizens of the town.
We will show you that once a team is formed and you chart your course, you will inevitably encounter paths you did not imagine. From there, you will develop relationships and collaborate with businesses, politicians, and citizens in your community in a way that is of great benefit to your students. There are limitless possibilities!
