We will describe the design, development, and implementation of a longitudinal STEM career awareness and STEM workforce preparation program that starts in 7th grade and continues through 12th grade. We will discuss the collaboration that involves school level partners, businesses, community colleges, and a research university. Specifically, our collaboration is recruiting, retaining, and preparing students from underrepresented populations in STEM and provide them with the opportunity to opt into and stay in a STEM career pathway. With this goal in mind, our diverse team which involves STEM faculty at Massachusetts Bay Community College, three school districts (Boston, Waltham, and Framingham) and faculty in the School of Management (social entrepreneurship) and the Lynch School of Education from Boston College in collaboration with MentorNet (MentorNet.org) to grow the pipeline of youth graduating with the necessary skills to enter the local area workforce. We will describe project work the new courses and how we are focusing on supporting youth learning and developing the confidence, persistence, and the skills to fill STEM-based positions that are known as “middle skills”. We will discuss how our collaborative work, which cuts across after-school middle school programming and out-of-school programming in high school, is connected to a long-term career STEM pathway through community college. Also discussed is how we engage teachers in classrooms through a variety of science education programs and connect those in-school activities to the out-of-school activities. We will present lessons learned across the different contexts and make recommendations for others who are attempting to develop a similar program.
A panel of high school teachers/liaisons and university faculty will share their experiences with a partnership program (Project Accelerate) bringing AP® Physics 1 to underserved students in schools that do not offer AP® Physics as part of the school program of study. Project Accelerate blends together supportive formal structures from a student’s home school, a private online course designed specifically with the needs of underserved populations in mind and small group recitation and laboratory experiences. Funding for this program has been increased and Project Accelerate is looking to increase the number of partner sites.
Underserved high school students in many communities don’t have access to Advanced Placement® courses because of low student enrollment and lack of trained teachers. Project Accelerate serves as a model offering a solution to a significant national problem of too few underserved high school students having access to high quality physics education, resulting in these students being ill prepared to enter STEM careers and STEM programs in college.
Boston University is in the second year of piloting this model with four Boston Public Schools (BPS) high schools and three small suburban high schools. The course is structured to work seamlessly with a typical high school schedule with assessments designed to encourage early success. Students receive midterm progress reports, quarterly grades and AP credit on their high school transcript. During the 2015-16 academic year, thirty weeks into the pilot year, we have an 88% retention rate, 90% recitation attendance, and an average course GPA of 3.3.
A question is a propulsive agent that can spark curiosity and fuel creativity, understanding, and imagination. As a part of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), students are expected to formulate and explore their own questions. Yet, it is rare that the skill of question formulation is deliberately taught to students. How can we transform teaching and learning and build the capacity for all students to acquire sophisticated higher order thinking skills through question-asking?
This session will introduce attendees to the Question Formulation Technique (QFT), a deceptively simple step-by-step process which teaches students how to produce, improve, strategize around, and use their own questions. The QFT is an effective pedagogical strategy used by over 100,000 educators to teach the skill of question-asking to students across all grade levels and from all educational backgrounds.
Participants will experience the QFT themselves, see examples of how the QFT is used in science classrooms, explore how the QFT address the NGSS, and learn more about how the QFT benefits student learning. Participants will identify ways they can implement the QFT immediately to teach their students how to ask their own questions that will ignite their own STEM curiosity and investigation.
The Reverse Science Fair is an annual event that brings Medford High School students and graduate students from Tufts University together in order to discuss applications of the scientific method and careers in science. Tufts graduate researchers from a variety of science departments at the university set up a poster session at the high school. The high school students are asked to speak with researchers about both the research being presented and about the process of doing the research. High school students are able to discuss real science and meet with young scientists in a low-pressure environment. Because the graduate students are close in age and come from diverse backgrounds, they relate well to the high school students and become role models. The high school students are able to see where they themselves can go in the future if they pursue science. The graduate students also gain valuable experience from the event, in presenting their own research to an audience that is not familiar with their field. After attending the Reverse Science Fair, high school students carry out their own science fair projects during the next several months. Student projects are then judged in the school science fair by the same graduate students that came to present earlier, reversing their original roles.
This roundtable discussion is designed to encourage high school and university partnerships by discussing the Reverse Science Fair and engaging members of both levels in conversation about how to organize and run such an event.
The Cape Cod Regional STEM Network Teacher-in-Residence program paired 10 teachers from across six different school districts will five different museum/non-profit sites: Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, Chatham Marconi Maritime Center, JFK Hyannis Museum, Cape Cod Media, and Cape Cod Maritime Museum. The selected teachers received a stipend and spent two full weeks at one (or two) program partner sites. During that time, teachers gained new insights on STEM in the contexts of their residencies and in projects relating to the Cape’s amazing resources: our ocean, our historic places, or our emerging tech fields. They also collaborated with experts and museum staff on approaches to better engaging young people in STEM beyond the classroom. During this session, we will overview the program and share evaluations and what we learned about building community and collaborating in STEM. We will also have a panel discussion where participants can hear from a participating teacher and the education director at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History who served as a site leader to learn about what different individuals and organizations gained from this experience.
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.
Attendees will explore hands-on learning opportunities used in elementary and high school classrooms. Students have learned to use Makey Makey Kits, Hot Wheels, Snap Circuits, Sphero robots, Google Cardboard virtual reality, and 3D doodlers to support the STEM curriculum. These tools not only help students access and model the engineer design process but also afford them opportunities to delve into deep scientific thinking around STEM principles. Students are then able to relate their work to future careers. The STEM instruction has completely changed the way these two classrooms operate.
K-12 classroom teachers in any of them STEM disciplines could adapt these tools into their own classrooms. Examples of how to assess and reflect on these activities will be provided. Teachers will learn how to implement hands on strategies using these tools to teach concepts such as circuits, virtual reality, coding, 3D modeling, and design process thinking. Teachers will also see how using different ways to teach concepts promotes 21st century learning and teaching such as: problem solving, creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication skills.
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.
This session is intended for teachers and administrators working with middle and high school students who are looking for ways to partner with professionals, community groups, and local leaders to introduce students to STEM learning experiences and careers and to build a network to support STEM programming. Participants will work with teachers and administrators from Nipmuc Regional High School to learn about the school’s implementation of “21st Century Learning Conferences” for students. Introduced as part of the school’s STEM Scholars Program, these conferences take place during the school day, allowing students to work with professionals, community groups, and local leaders in STEM-related workshops that teach them about STEM concepts, introduce them to employability skills needed in STEM-professions, and connect them to STEM careers and colleges and universities. Modeled after workshops offered to educators and professionals, the 21st Century Learning Conferences allow students to choose from a variety of workshops/sessions on a range of topics.
Participants in this session will learn a variety of strategies to support STEM programming including developing a STEM advisory board for their school communities as a way to support STEM and career programming; building a STEM network of professionals, community groups, higher education representatives, and local leaders; and integrating STEM and career-focused learning experiences into the curriculum by partnering faculty members with STEM professionals.
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!
How do we provide hands-on projects, real world applications and engaging STEAM programming to students with serious disabilities? What are the positive outcomes from supporting these students as STEAM learners?
Many students with serious disabilities have large gaps in their education that manifest as unevenly developed skill sets. This can be the result of frequent changes in school placement, the inability to master the material within the time period it is presented, and/or teaching practices and materials presented in ways that are difficult for the students to understand. Some students have disabilities that require a placement outside of their home school district. This constellation of personal and systemic factors increase the likelihood that such students will be further marginalized due to a lack of the hard (knowledge- and experience-based skills) and soft (interpersonal and temperamental skills) needed to secure employment as they exit the traditional educational system.
It is our intent to demonstrate the essence of STEAM education by combining a traditional presentation with small group work, so that participants will understand how disabilities can affect learning and will gain insights into ways to support student learning. We will examine the benefits to these students of solving real world problems through practical applications of knowledge and hands-on projects. Experiential learning increases the acquired knowledge and understanding of students (hard skills) as it develops the needed skills in problem solving, collaboration, and planning (soft skills).
Audience participation and discussion are encouraged so all can learn from each other’s experiences in a process that will mirror the classroom expectations that are the focus of this session.As mathematics takes an increasing role in work and life, creativity must become central to its mission because: 1) creativity and creative problem solving are essential 21st century skills, 2) creativity drives engagement and enjoyment, and 3) creativity builds understanding. Over the past three years we have been discovering and developing math lessons using spreadsheets to enable students to ask the central creative question, “What if…” We have over 100 lessons for students of all ages that you can use as problems of the week, as project or problem-based-learning opportunities, or as challenges for those students who may need them. These What if Math Labs are open-source and available for free. They work in Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, or on iPads in Numbers. You can sign up to receive our Problems of the Week, or you can assign students a “Course” to work through. You are welcome to bring your computer or your tablet to the session. And we look forward to your suggestions for new lessons that we create or that you add to our growing curriculum.
