The Society for Science and the Public’s Advocate Grant Program provides selected Advocates with funding, resources, and information. Advocates include classroom teachers, school and district administrators, university professors, and informal science educators in community-based programs. The role of the Advocate is to support three or more underserved middle or high school students in the process of advancing from conducting a scientific research or engineering design project to entering a scientific competition. Advocates receive a stipend of $3,000; opportunities to meet and interact with
The landscape for out-of-school STEM learning in Hong Kong is evolving. In 2017, to capture this change, the Croucher Foundation conducted a mapping exercise. This is the second annual mapping exercise conducted by the Croucher Foundation.
The study reveals a rich and vibrant ecosystem for out-of-school STEM in Hong Kong with almost 2,000 discrete activities covering a very wide range of science disciplines. This second report indicates extremely rapid growth in available out-of-school STEM activities compared to 2016 and an even larger increase in the number of organisations offering out
The Croucher Foundation recently embarked on a research study to explore informal science learning in Hong Kong. This is the first study to focus on the out-of-school ecosystem for science learning in Hong Kong. This exploratory and investigative study identified over a thousand out-of-school STEM activities that happened between June 2015 and May 2016, including courses, workshops and exhibitions available to Hong Kong school students over this twelve-month period. The study excluded tutorials and exam-orientated courses and focused instead on activities designed to encourage an interest in
DESIGN SQUAD GLOBAL (DSG) is a web-based, mobile-accessible digital hub and outreach initiative that creates new opportunities to empower middle school youth to solve real-world problems and understand the impact of engineering in a global context. The project builds on the Design Squad model for engineering education (including a television show and website). The ultimate goals of Design Squad Global are to: (1) develop innovative ways to incorporate effective engineering education into informal learning environments; (2) inform the field about promising practices in cross-cultural
The development of character is a valued objective for many kinds of educational programs that take place both in and outside of school. Educators and administrators who develop and run programs that seek to develop character recognize that the established approaches for doing so have much in common, and they are eager to learn about promising practices used in other settings, evidence of effectiveness, and ways to measure the effectiveness of their own approaches.
In July 2016, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held a workshop to review research and practice
The “Fourth Industrial Revolution” is transforming the world of work. Just as it happened with the technologies of the steam, electricity and computer revolutions, digital technologies are now becoming pervasive and reshaping all parts of the global economy. The computing industry’s rate of job creation in the U.S. is now three times the U.S. national average. This rapid expansion of the computing workforce means that computing skills – with coding at the core – are the most sought-after skills in the American job market.
Yet amid this boom, research by Accenture and Girls Who Code shows
Summary
Girlstart’s mission is to increase girls’ interest and engagement in STEM through innovative, nationally-recognized informal STEM education programs. Girlstart examines in this report how STEM education directed toward elementary school girls influences long-term readiness and participation to math and science learning. This report compares Girlstart After School participants’ academic performance to nonparticipant performance. Specifically, it examines how Girlstart After School influences science STAAR performance and course enrollment in subsequent elementary and early middle
STEM learning ecosystems harness contributions of educators, policymakers, families, businesses, informal science institutions, after-school and summer providers, higher education, and many others towards a comprehensive vision of STEM learning for all children. This paper offers evidence of the impact of cross-sector partnerships on young people, and a logic model template for communities so they may further develop the attributes, strategies, and measures of progress that enable them to advance opportunities for all young people to succeed. Further research will help us expand the promise
This project will help address the urgent need for a new engineering workforce. Middle school students will be entering a workforce that is increasingly global. They will need not only technical skills but also global competencies including: the ability to investigate the world, recognize perspectives, communicate ideas, and take action. This model integrates engineering with global competencies and will provide new knowledge about how this type of learning experience impacts students and educators. This project builds on the success of the previous Design Squad project funded by NSF and developed by WGBH, which has implemented a national model for engineering education for middle school youth. This project expands the model internationally, connecting U.S. based youth with those in Southern Africa (including South Africa, Botswana, and Swaziland). The project partners are FHI 360, a non-profit organization in 60 countries around the world that helps build capacity for improving lives. They will facilitate the implementation of the afterschool programs in Southern Africa . The US dissemination partners include Promise Neighborhoods Institute, Middle Start, Every Hour Counts, and the National Girls Collaborative Project. Project deliverables include a global engineering curriculum; a web platform with videos, games, activities; an afterschool Club Guide; and a Community of Practice for informal engineering educators. A knowledge building component will provide new evidence on how high quality accessible resources and strategies can impact students' development of global competencies and engineering skills to solve real world problems. An iterative approach will be used to develop the resources including the global engineering afterschool curriculum, Club guide, and other components. The methodology uses a continuous cycle of improvement including: assess/design, test/ implement, synthesize/reflect, and utilize/disseminate. The Summative Evaluation will generate evidence about whether and how this kind of collaborative work builds children's understanding of engineering, motivation to participate, and confidence in taking informed action on behalf of pressing global problems. This will contribute to a larger body of work about whether and how engaging with global, collaborative engineering problems leads to greater self-efficacy for children with very different backgrounds, experiences, and opportunities. This project will add new knowledge about how the well-honed Design Squad model in the U.S. can be expanded with a global context and global partners. This proposal was co-funded by EHR/DRL, Engineering/EEC, and International Science and Engineering. During the project period approximately 125,000 children in the US and 5000 children in southern Africa will be reached. In the long term, with the continued global access to the resources, the reach will potentially be in the millions.