MORNING PLENARY PRESENTATION
Pathways to Middle-Skill STEM Occupations and Beyond: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities
Janice Earle, National Science Foundation; Dale Allen, Quinsigamond Community College; Deborah Boisvert, Broadening Advanced Technological Education Connections, University of Massachusetts, Boston; Kimberly Green, National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium; Mary Wright, Jobs for the Future
Panelists representing diverse perspectives and experiences will set the stage for the day's conversations by reflecting on critical issues, challenges, and opportunities related to developing alternative and seamless pathways to middle-skill careers. They will discuss approaches for aligning education with the workplace, and offer insights on improving connections between policy and practice. In addition, they will present the landscape at national, state, and school/college levels, suggesting implications for leveraging resources, and addressing scale-up and sustainability.
MORNING BREAKOUT SESSIONS
Digitally Supported Pathways Transitioning Students into Technical Education Fields
Ginny Hall and Caroline Christ, Clemson University Center for Workforce Development
In this session, a STEM Pathway Development Plan focusing on state-of-the-art digital learning, P-20 partnerships, and pathways through stackable credentials will be introduced. This model was developed by the Center for Aviation and Automotive Technology Education using Virtual E-Schools (CA2VES) and represents a partnership among the Clemson University Center for Workforce Development, technical colleges, school districts, and local industry. Participants will engage in reflective activities, experience digital learning tools, and learn about open learning resources available to support STEM pathway initiatives.
Making Is Learning: Developing Curricula Around Materials Exploration and Tool Literacy
David Wells and Janella Watson, New York Hall of Science
Making encourages experimentation and provides a platform for students to make mistakes but still feel confident and maintain a strong sense of identity to pursue their interests. The goal of this session is to explore ways to connect making to education and provide an overview of the framework the New York Hall of Science Maker Space uses to create programs to engage groups and individuals of diverse ages, genders, and backgrounds.
Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Implementation Strategies for STEM Courses
Fenna Hanes, New England Board of Higher Education; James DeLaura, Central Connecticut State University; Nicholas Massa, Springfield Technical Community College
The New England Board of Higher Education’s authentic, industry-based Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Challenges are being incorporated into secondary and post-secondary STEM courses to enhance students’ content knowledge, PBL, critical thinking, and ability to work in teams. Participants in this session will be introduced to the Web-based multimedia “PBL Challenges” (case studies) and will learn how to implement the Challenges and assess student learning. Participants will receive instructional materials to take back to the classroom.
Real-World Externships for Teachers of Science, Mathematics, and Technology: A Bridge for Uniting Education and Industry
Jeffrey Weld, Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council and University of Northern Iowa
In this session, the presenter will discuss the profile of a three-year project involving over 40 Iowa companies—including John Deere, Principal Financial, Pella Window, Monsanto, Tones, and others— that have hosted over 200 secondary teachers for full-time, summer-long work. The teachers gain valuable and authentic experience while earning graduate credit, a stipend, and “street cred” in their fields of expertise.
The STEM Academies at Wheaton High School
Heather Carias and Andrea Robertson-Nottingham, Wheaton High School, Maryland
Wheaton High School in Maryland graduates more than 100 students annually who have completed a STEM program at its Bioscience Academy, Engineering Academy, or Academy of Information Technology. In this session, the presenters will focus on the work done in the past decade to build these programs and serve students from a diverse suburban high school where the majority of students qualify for free and reduced meals.
Using Universal Design Principles and Assistive Technology to Improve Student Learning and Success
Donna Lange, National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Rochester Institute of Technology; Samantha Langley-Turnbaugh, University of Southern Maine
Universal design in education is an approach to designing course instruction, materials, and content to benefit people of all learning styles. During this presentation, participants will experience what it is like to be a deaf student in a mainstream college class and discuss what universal design principles could have been used to improve the instruction and learning, not only for deaf students, but for all the students in the class. The session will also include a discussion of assistive technologies most commonly used in STEM classes. Participants will be able to experiment with sample technologies during the session.
LUNCHTIME PLENARY PRESENTATION
The Hidden STEM Economy: The Range of STEM Knowledge Across Occupations
Susan Singer, Division of Undergraduate Education, National Science Foundation; Jonathan Rothwell, Brookings Institution
In this plenary, recent research that redefines STEM occupations will be described. The presenter and author of the The Hidden STEM Economy report will discuss how one can determine whether a job is considered STEM-intensive by understanding its knowledge requirements. The presenter will also discuss how many STEM jobs that require only a sub-bachelor's level education still share some of the positive characteristics associated with professional STEM jobs, such as high pay and importance to innovation or health.
AFTERNOON BREAKOUT SESSIONS
FabNet: Extending the FabLab Classroom
Sonia Amira Bendjemil, University of Virginia (replacing Nigel Standish); Stephen Portz, Triangle Coalition for STEM Education
In this session, the presenters will focus on the FabNet initiative, a project exploring the use of digital fabrication to allow middle school students to create digital designs that are realized as physical objects, such as Joseph Henry’s galvanometer, reciprocating motor, and telegraph. The FabNet initiative findings will inform the next generation of schools that are planning to integrate engineering education into their curricula.
GLOBE CAP: Using Real-World Science to Further College and Career Readiness
Svetlana Darche, WestEd; Erin Fender, College and Career Academy Support Network, University of California, Berkeley
Using the Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) California Academy Program (CAP) as an example, presenters will introduce a set of critical elements that define high-quality career exploration and work-based learning, expanding options beyond traditional workplace-based internships. Participants will use the critical elements framework to explore and evaluate similar strategies that can be implemented in their own communities and discuss effective instruction, equal access, and infrastructure that can facilitate implementation.
Health IT Entry Certification: A Rapid-Growth Industry Beckons New Talent
Patricia Dombrowski, Bellevue College
Bellevue College and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) developed an entry-level technician certification and free exam preparation curriculum to expand access to the field of health information technology. Participants in this session will sample interactive courseware co-developed with Carnegie Mellon, and join the presenter in assessing the benefit of the Certified Associate in Health Information and Management Systems credential to veterans, underserved learners, and incumbent workers.
Strategies to Interest Women and Girls in STEM Programs
Donna Milgram, Institute for Women in Trades, Technology & Science; Mel Cossette, National Resource Center for Materials Technology Education, Edmonds Community College; Karen Wosczyna-Birch, Regional Center for Next Generation Manufacturing and Connecticut College of Technology
In this session, presenters will share proven practices and strategies that have resulted in significant increases in female enrollment in STEM programs at the secondary and community college levels where females were underrepresented. Participants will walk away with three strategies they can implement in their schools right away.
The New Tech Network: Transforming Schools into Innovative Teaching and Learning Environments
Dan Liebert and students, Tech Valley High School, New York; Paul Buck, New Tech Network
In this session, presenters will explain the model of teaching and learning employed in the 134 New Tech Network schools and how one—Tech Valley High School (TVHS)—engages students through real-world projects and the use of 1:1 technology. TVHS infuses the engineering design process in all its project-based learning coursework. Projects are designed, taught, and evaluated in collaboration with university and industry partners to expose students to applied science and engineering. TVHS students in attendance will be available to speak about their experiences.
Unlocking the Mathematical Gate: Pathways to and Through College Mathematics
Andre Freeman, Capital Community College
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching launched two Pathway courses for developmental math students in fall 2011: Statway, a statistics course, and Quantway, a quantitative reasoning sequence. The work of the Carnegie Community College Pathways Program is carried out through the establishment of Networked Improvement Communities. In this session, the presenter will describe the collective impact of the Pathways Program and discuss how a network of researchers and practitioners work to identify the causes of barriers to student motivation and learning, and design interventions to address these barriers.
AFTERNOON PLENARY PRESENTATION
Connected Learning in the Workplace
Deborah Boisvert, Broadening Advanced Technological Education Connections, University of Massachusetts, Boston; Jim Whalen, Boston Properties, Inc.; Jeff Stolz, Integrated Defense Systems, Raytheon Company; Kostian Iftica, Brilliant Geeks; Henk Portier, Engineering Operations (Intern), Raytheon Company
In this session, panelists discuss work-based learning experiences that connect students to the world that they will enter after finishing their academic programs and give them a competitive edge. Presenters include an employer and student from two such programs: Tech Apprentice, which connects talented Boston Public Schools high school students with paid technology-focused summer internships in local companies; and Learn and Earn, which connects community college students to a paid internship in conjunction with a three-credit internship course that counts toward their major.