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STEM Camp Q and A with Dr. Margaret Mohr-Schroeder.
Q: What success have you seen with STEM Camp?
A: Through the research we’ve conducted with STEM Camp, we have found that students have better attitudes toward science, technology, engineering, and mathematics at the end of camp compared to when they came to camp. This is important to us, because we like to reach and attract students who don’t necessarily like STEM or those who have had negative experiences with STEM in the past. We’ve also had a significant number of students become more interested in STEM careers by the end of camp. We realize these students may not end up going into a STEM field, but research indicates that middle school is the pivotal time when career interest is peaked, so we’re excited that students leave camp interested in a STEM career!The See Blue STEM Camp is currently NSF-funded, with a focus on broadening participation of underrepresented populations, especially females and students of color. We’ve been successful in hitting our goals each year because of the relationships we’ve formed with the area school districts and the Family Youth Resource Service Coordinators at the local schools. We were recognized in Fall 2015 by NSF as a Top 5 Model for Broadening Participation. We were excited to share our model and look forward to replicating camp at Morehead State University this summer.
Q: How do activities with students and K-12 schools inform what you do as a professor?
A: Engagement and outreach with the community has always been a big part of what I do as a faculty member and my philosophy and approach to teaching and learning. Doing activities such as STEM Camp and Family Nights keeps me connected to the K-12 community. I love teaching and miss it and so this is a way that I can stay connected to the classroom, inspire and motivate students, and work with their families and teachers to make meaningful connections to STEM. I also think I’m a better professor because of the engagement work I do. I stay connected to the schools and the community. I have a real pulse on what the real issues are, what’s going on in classrooms, what students are grappling with these days, and what teachers are faced with. I think it’s easy as a professor to get lost in our higher ed lives; but what really matters is how we can relate what’s happening in K-12 to the students/preservice teachers we’re preparing. Helping to connect our professors, especially the STEM content professors, to the K-12 community is also really important. Many of the STEM content professors have a strong desire to do more engagement work, but don’t really know how to approach it or want to do it on a smaller scale. Doing informal learning activities such as STEM Camp or Family Math or STEM nights enables them to try out new ideas on a smaller scale, get feedback and tweak it for the next implementation. Many of their graduate students are also involved. Most of these graduate students have never worked in a K-12 setting beyond their own personal experiences with schooling. Showing them the importance of connecting to the K-12 community (we hope) will have a strong and lasting impact on their future as a STEM professor.
Q: On the other side of the coin, in what ways does having research/university-level experts work in partnership with K-12 students/educators benefit students?
A: I think the K-12 students and teachers benefit from the fresh and new ideas that professors and our preservice teachers and graduate students bring to our engagement projects. We share our ideas and research and they get to pilot and try new ideas with lots of support. The K-12 community also gets to experience first-hand STEM content from professors who are top-notch experts in their fields. Sometimes we come to them and sometimes they come to us. There are not a lot of students and teachers across the US that can say they were in a university biology lab conducting experiments on cockroaches or fruit flies. Or touring the latest engineering labs. Or helping to conduct experiments at the Center for Applied Energy Research. Just giving them positive, authentic experiences with STEM content is a huge benefit.
Q: In general, do you see perceptions of mathematics changing? Are fewer students taking the attitude of “I’m not good at math, it’s too hard, etc…” If so, why?
A: In general at a local level, I do think we are seeing a shift in perceptions regarding mathematics, in a positive direction. We are doing a lot of things right in Kentucky. We’re focusing alot on the mathematical (and science and engineering) practices…the work of the mathematics (and STEM) in the classroom. That’s what is going to truly translate into real life. We also have worked hard to put informal learning experiences into place that help in reducing mathematics anxiety. The See Blue Mathematics Clinic specifically targets struggling mathematics learners. The See Blue STEM Camp specifically targets underrepresented students and students who are disinterested in STEM. The Department of STEM Education has several other projects that target giving students and their teachers positive, authentic experiences in STEM. The more of this we can do, the more impact we’re going to have at the classroom and community levels.
Reseda Science Magnet students Alondra Rosas, left, Rose Griesgraber, second from right, and Richard Coca. right listen to Dr. Andy McMahon explain using compounds to keep neuron cells alive for ALS research at the Choi Family Therapeutic Screening Center at the Stem Cell Day of Discovery event held at the USC Health Sciences Campus in Los Angeles, CA. February 4th, 2017. The event encourages students to learn more about STEM opportunities, including stem cell study and biotech, and helps demystify the fields and encourage student engagement. Photo by David Sprague
NAS Oceana and the Virginia Beach City Public School (VBCPS) system have once again partnered to provide every fifth-grader enrolled in Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) the opportunity to take a one-of-kind field trip to Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana, Friday, Sept. 15. The special Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Lab Day, was part of the annual Air Show. This event is being provided free of cost for all students and every child had a chance to take part in hands-on activities and learn about STEM careers in a real-world setting. This included displays and exhibits from NASA Langley, the Office of Naval Research and Naval Research Laboratory, Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, Wesleyen University, Engineering for Kids, Old Dominion University, Landstown High School, Navy history and heritage command, U.S. Naval research laboratory and Virginia Department of Transportation.
Photo by Craig McClure
17223
© 2017
ALL Rights reserved by City of Virginia Beach.
Contact photo[at]vbgov.com for permission to use. Commercial use not allowed.
A new one on me, but I think it might be one of the Stem Sawflies, so named because the larvae bore into the stems of grasses and shrubs.
The Center for STEM Education hosted the 3rd annual West Point Middle School STEM Workshop May 29-June 1, with 110 students throughout the nation participating in this hands-on exploration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Photo by Mike Strasser, West Point Public Affairs
These students from Kashmere, North Early College, and Wheatley High Schools worked in cooperative groups to solve a real world problem. Each group of 3 to 4 students posed as an engineering firm that would submit a robotics solution to a geophysics problem. Teams used the LEGO Mindstorm NXT robot to design a vehicle that could climb to the top of a Mountain to retrieve rocks that stored energy. Their vehicle should be able to climb the mountain and continue its motion as the slope of the mountain increased. The team whose robot climbed the highest would win the bid with my company.
INL’s Chief Information Officer, Bob Hillier, supported an “Hour of Code” activity designed to bring computer science and coding education to hundreds of eastern Idaho students. INL’s employee volunteer program Team STEMazing sent 18 employees total into local schools.
Late Friday night, 40 high school girls arrived at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for a STEM-themed sleepover, ready to learn about careers in Science, technology, engineering and math. The educational event offered young women a chance to meet working female scientists and to discover opportunities for women in STEM-related professions.
The teens kicked off the third annual STEM Girls Night In with an astronaut Q&A, talks from female scientists across disciplines and a collection of hands-on activities. The night culminated in a three-hour Mars rover competition and concluded with a late-night showing of “Hidden Figures.”
Credit: NASA/Goddard/Jessica Koynock
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.
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NAS Oceana and the Virginia Beach City Public School (VBCPS) system have once again partnered to provide every fifth-grader enrolled in Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) the opportunity to take a one-of-kind field trip to Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana, Friday, Sept. 15. The special Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Lab Day, was part of the annual Air Show. This event is being provided free of cost for all students and every child had a chance to take part in hands-on activities and learn about STEM careers in a real-world setting. This included displays and exhibits from NASA Langley, the Office of Naval Research and Naval Research Laboratory, Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, Wesleyen University, Engineering for Kids, Old Dominion University, Landstown High School, Navy history and heritage command, U.S. Naval research laboratory and Virginia Department of Transportation.
Photo by Craig McClure
17223
© 2017
ALL Rights reserved by City of Virginia Beach.
Contact photo[at]vbgov.com for permission to use. Commercial use not allowed.
NaCCA organises a five-day workshop on the development of a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) curriculum. Held at AH Hotel on 13th June to 17th June 2022
Peeled banana stem in banana field. Photo by IITA. (file name: DSC_6637_n). ONLY low res file available.
Northrop Grumman mentor Danielle Rodriguez assists students from Slauson Middle School with their Lego(TM) STEM Project, from left: Nolen Bertoneau, Peter Gutierrez, Hubert Lam and Savannah Rudder. More than 40 students, separated into eight teams, participated in the engineering design competition aimed at promoting awareness of careers in the engineering and technical fields.
Vlasta Lyles, a faculty member in biological science, instructs scholars in the Bridges to Stem Cell Research Program.