The conference will convene library leaders, climate researchers and educators, public health experts, and informal educators to examine the current prevalence of climate related programming in libraries, and how the concept of environmental health can be used by libraries to create locally and culturally relevant, change oriented, and equitable STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) learning experiences.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
Anne HollandNoah LenstraSteph HarmonPaul Dusenbery
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The challenge to the science communication field put forward by Bruce Lewenstein, of the sector becoming a ‘ghetto’ of women's over-representation (see the commentary by Lewenstein in this issue), is a very timely wake-up call. This Commentary however, elaborates and frames the pivotal and constructivist premises on which this phenomenon should be interrogated and understood on many levels. It is critical that we undertake a deeper introspection, beyond just simplistic head counts of the number of women and men in the field, if we are to make sense of the seeming paradoxes that pervade the
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
Elizabeth Rasekoala
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The NSF INCLUDES program supports models, networks, partnerships and research to ensure the broadening participation in STEM of women, members of racial and ethnic groups that have been historically underrepresented, persons of low socio-economic status, and people with disabilities.
The Algebra Project, in partnership with the Young People's Project, will convene a conference on inclusion in science, technology, engineering and mathematics(STEM) higher education in support of the National Science Foundation's Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (NSF INCLUDES) initiative. The conference will examine a critical question: What roles and structures are needed for a mini-backbone organization in order to scale a "bottom up" model of social change into an organized, full scale collective impact model? Additionally, the conference will develop participants' capacity to link action on the various design challenges, and backbone structures, to future actions that meet the needs of a potential Alliance on this Broadening Participation Challenge and others facing similar challenges.
Five pre-conference design teams will focus on key components to improve education of students from underrepresented and disadvantaged populations over a four-month period prior to the convening of the stakeholders in St. Louis, Missouri in 2017.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
Robert MosesBeverly Walker
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education and workforce development in the US are critical for global competitiveness and national security. However, the U.S. is facing a decrease in entrants to the STEM workforce which is not shared evenly across demographics. Specifically, women, underrepresented minorities, and people with disabilities obtain STEM degrees and enter the STEM workforce at levels significantly below their demographic representation in the U.S. The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (NSF INCLUDES) program supports models, networks, partnerships and research to ensure the broadening participation in STEM of women, members of racial and ethnic groups that have been historically underrepresented, persons of low socio-economic status, and people with disabilities. This conference focuses on collective impact as a strategy to address the broadening participation challenge. Collective impact is distinguished from collaboration in that the alliances require a backbone organization to succeed. The goal of this project is to organize a conference to inform backbone organizations toward broadening participation in STEM education and the workforce.
The conference takes place at the University of California, San Diego January 20-22, 2017 and brings together Project Investigators from the Design and Development pilots, along with stakeholders in broadening participation in STEM on a local, regional, and national scale. The overarching goal of the conference is to develop the knowledge base of participants in the application of the collective impact model, and the role of backbone organizations to address specific issues and transition points of the STEM pipeline. Conference participants include K-12, community college, and university representatives; leaders in graduate education, policy makers and private sector employers. The conference includes plenary sessions, flash presentations, and interactive workgroups engaged in the development of collective impact approaches to problems in Broadening Participation in STEM. Workgroups share their insights, and audience feedback is electronically curated via Twitter and Storify. To respond in real time to participant questions or insights this conference uses the innovative platform, IdeaWave, to solicit, sort and value ideas from the attendees before, during, and after the conference. Conference results are integrated into a final report to inform the NSF INCLUDES Alliances backbone organizations. The intellectual merit of the project is that it advances knowledge about the barriers to broadening participation in STEM education and the workforce, the collective impact model, and the role of the backbone organization to guide the vision and strategy, and support the activities, evaluation, and communication of the NSF INCLUDES Alliances. The broader impact of this project is that it benefits society by informing backbone organizations, which leads to broadening participation of the STEM workforce and ultimately increases U.S. global competitiveness and national security.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
Kim Barrett
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The National Science Foundation's (NSF)Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (NSF INCLUDES) program supports models, networks, partnerships and research to ensure the broadening participation in STEM of women, members of racial and ethnic groups that have been historically underrepresented, persons of low socio-economic status, and people with disabilities.
The University of Akron will convene a two-day conference to develop a backbone organization to support the preparation and advancement of underrepresented minorities K-12 through careers in the biosciences, a high growth area for engineering (biomechanics, biometrics and biomaterials). This conference draws on the expertise of a wide range of organizations, professional associations, K-20+, community based organizations, industry and museums. The intent is to strengthen the network among participants and leverage learning on how to engage youth in the biosciences.
The results of this first conference will be a white paper that will be disseminated to several professional societies that outlines a backbone infrastructure for addressing both short-term and longer-term aspects of an NSF INCLUDES alliance centered on bioengineering, biomechanics, biomedical engineering and biomaterials.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
Brian DavisCarin HelferRouzbeh Amini
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This award supports a conference entitled "Accelerating Data-Driven Collaboration for Large-Scale Progress" which will support the progress of INCLUDES (Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners that have been Underrepresented for Diversity in Engineering and Science) Launch Pilots toward their broadening participation goals. The issues and challenges affecting the persistence of students of color, students from low-income households, females, and students with disabilities in STEM learning surpass the scope of programs designed to promote awareness of STEM career options. The Launch Pilots will need technical assistance to leverage their strategic plans, become poised for the next level of becoming an Alliance, and ultimately show impact that results in large-scale progress.
The conference will support the Launch Pilots in their broadening participation goals by providing opportunities to (1) develop innovative new ways to gather data and make evidence-based decisions, (2) connect with best practices on the frontiers of data-driven collaboration, and (3) apply new knowledge and innovations to their projects that address societal needs. The overarching design of Data-Driven Collaboration is to facilitate the sharing of ideas, struggles, and promising practices in a collaborative and participatory manner. This will occur by fostering a network improvement community (within and across Launch Pilots), engaging participants in systems thinking and problem-solving through collaborative modeling, and a 2.5-day Public Support and Engagement Lab conference. Launch Pilots who engage support from Data-Driven Collaboration will have a variety of technical assistance services available between November 2016 and April 2017.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
Alexis PetriRonda Jenson
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (NSF INCLUDES) intiative supports models, networks, partnerships and research to ensure the broadening participation in STEM of women, members of racial and ethnic groups that have been historically underrepresented, persons of low socio-economic status, and people with disabilities.
The University of Cincinnati, lead for a tri-state (OH, KY, IN) project, will convene a three-day conference to convene national and local experts to explore the best practices that support the development of a backbone organization in the context of using a social innovation model for broadening participation in STEM. The intent is to strengthen the network among participants and leverage learning from the Cincinnati Strive experience with collective impact across the Midwest and beyond.
Results from the NextLivesHere: Social Change Innovation Summit, will be disseminated in the tri-state region through the Greater Cincinnati STEM Collaborative (GCSC and the Ohio STEM Learning Network (OSLN). National dissemination will occur through informal and formal STEM professional organizations and publications as well as through participation in the NSF-developed national backbone organization.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
Kathie MaynardRoss MeyerShiloh TurnerGeoffrey ZimmermanGisela Escoe
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The NSF INCLUDES program supports models, networks, partnerships and research to ensure the broadening participation in STEM of women, members of racial and ethnic groups that have been historically underrepresented, persons of low socio-economic status, and people with disabilities.
The University of California-Irvine (UCI), in partnership with the University of California-San Diego and the University of California-Davis will convene a state-wide conference on inclusion in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) higher education. The California STEM INCLUDES Conference and Network will share best practices for promoting STEM inclusion and provide an infrastructure to further these practices and track the outcomes. The purpose of the conference is to form a backbone for a large regional network in support of the National Science Foundation's Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (NSF INCLUDES) initiative.
The five goals of the conference are to:
--increase California educator awareness of demographic gaps in STEM participation and the research on factors influencing such participation gaps;
--engage participants in discussion of promising practices for increasing STEM inclusion
--broaden the impact of existing successful programs for STEM inclusion, through program modification and replication, scale-up, and increased collaboration;
--create a mechanism for sustained discussion, sharing and collaboration around STEM inclusion across California institutions;
--create central repository and common standards for reporting on STEM inclusion and implementation program impact for the state.
Approximately 340 individuals serving a broad cross-section of California's K-12, higher education, public, private and non-profit constituencies will participate in 2 ½ days of intense dialogue on topics such as data and research, successful implementations and sustainable networks for collaboration and sharing. The conference will be held in Spring 2017.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
Michael DenninSarah Eichhorn
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This award supports the collaborative efforts of the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity Education Foundation, FSG, the Aspen Institute, the Collective Impact Forum, 100Kin10, National Girls Collaborative Project, Women in Engineering Pro-Active Network, MentorNet, Science Museum of Minnesota, Changing Communities, National GEM Consortium, American Society for Engineering Education and the Education Development Center to implement a project to inform the design of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Inclusion across the National of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science(INCLUDES)Initiative. The NSF INCLUDES program supports models, networks, partnerships and research to ensure the broadening participation in STEM of women, members of racial and ethnic groups that have been historically underrepresented, persons of low socio-economic status, and people with disabilities. The purpose of this conference is to inform the most critical design features of the structures and supports needed so that the NSF INCLUDES Alliance mini-backbones and the National backbone can work effectively and build the capacity to transform the STEM ecosystem.
This conference will bring together the most qualified current experts in inter-organizational collaboration, intersectionality and broadening participation in STEM to apply their collective wisdom to the design of the support structures of the NSF INCLUDES Alliances and National Network. Applying the understanding of complexity theory, adaptive leadership, intersectionality and collaboration models to the field of broadening participation in STEM has the potential to disrupt the current system enough to build capacity to create impactful Alliances. The outcomes of this convening have the potential to advance knowledge for all organizations working to broaden impact in STEM as well as those applying inter-organizational collaboration to the field of social innovation. Using intersectionality as a lens in developing more effective collaborative efforts that are responsive to the organizational partners and the context of the communities they serve can add a critical element to this field. The diverse members of the organizing committee can disseminate the results of this work to multiple networks where the results can impact the practice of inter-organizational collaboration and broadening participation in STEM.
After-school programs are a source of powerful, positive experiences for an estimated eight to ten million youth, especially those in low-income, under-represented populations (the majority of youth in these programs). Through this conference grant, TERC, along with the Exploratorium and the Lawrence Hall of Science, proposes to launch a national initiative to create, support and sustain engaging, research-based science and mathematics activities in the after-school community. This planning conference will bring together the leaders and experts who run exemplary after-school programs, create quality science and mathematics materials, and provide effective staff training to identify the challenges, goals and questions of greatest interest and value to the national community. Intellectual merit and broader impact are evidenced by the gathering of key players, promotion of dialog and the facilitation of connections between developer and after-school communities.