Understanding Interventions has three main goals:

• First, to provide new insights into teaching, learning, and training through research. 
• Second, to enhance the community that understands and utilizes the results of educational interventions, by sharing information and fostering collaborations. 
• Third, to provide training and professional development for all STEM personnel, with the goal of increasing diversity in the field. 

Nearly two decades ago, Understanding Interventions was born out of a workshop that was a collaboration between the National Research Council and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. Its mission is to translate insights for those responsible for educating students in STEM, to equip them with the skills and resilience needed to succeed in their careers and contribute to society. UI seeks to develop strategies and offer tools that aid practitioners in serving students and accumulating knowledge. 

Currently, black, and Latino students face high dropout rates in STEM Ph.D. programs, with 46% leaving before completion and 45% taking up to seven years to finish. Understanding Interventions is working towards changing these statistics by innovating programs that educate and empower students. Patrick Valdez, of the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education, believes that “our programs must also be innovative” to shape the next generation of innovators. 

I had the opportunity to ask Dr. Anthony DePass, one of the founders of UI, a few questions about the organization and its goals:

What was the impetus to start Understanding Interventions?

While there has been a long history of developing opportunities and programs to address broadening participation in science careers, much of this has been fueled by intuition and not necessarily by empirical research. This is not to say that research has not been conducted in this area. However much of this research is academically focused and not necessarily looking at translational implications. In other words, much of the research has not necessarily been sufficiently informed by practice and is often published in journals that practitioners do not read, and even if they were to read it the language can be impenetrable. In 2006, Clif Poodry, the former leader of the National Institutes of Health’s division for Training, Workforce Development, partnered with the National Research Council to investigate this issue. Clif joined the NIH back in the mid-1990s, and his efforts really pushed the idea of accountability where programs or the grant proposals to fund programs needed to start having mechanism by which they would set clear objectives and do the proper assessment to see if those objectives are being met. The next step that Clif from this foundation of accountability was to do work on the scholarship of interventions- moving from the “what,” to asking the “why” questions. 

The need for such an effort was demonstrated when a program set up to fund this type of work and disappointingly, many of the proposals failed to pose the kind of questions or employ the appropriate methodologies were appropriate to gain deeper understanding the interventions that were being utilized. These approaches and methodologies required deeper integration of those used in the social and behavioral sciences, while most practitioners and emerging researchers in this translational space were in the basic sciences like biology chemistry and math. The research involved the study of non-cognitive aspects and psychosocial factors that would be predictive or significantly influence decision and performance outcomes for individuals pursuing STEM and STEM-related careers.

This collaboration resulted in the formation of a committee that was Co-Chaired by me and Larry Hedges distinguished professor at Northwestern University, I was a professor at Long Island University at the time, where I ran several programs, and served as program evaluator and grant reviewer for many programs targeting diversity in STEM. At the end of the year, the work of the committee culminated in a workshop in Washington DC. That workshop brought together individuals from communities of practice and research, and it was clear that an area of research that is more translational needed to be defined, with venues set for collaboration across communities, and dissemination of this work. 

How has Understanding Interventions changed the STEM landscape for students?

Understanding Interventions stands to significantly impact the STEM landscape as it creates opportunities for many to develop deeper understanding of the components and factors that impact decision making and performance outcomes as it relates to STEM, especially from those individuals from underserved and marginalized communities. We see not only the generation of scholarship in this area, but that translation of the scholarship into interventions in the classroom and in the laboratory, as well as in other spaces where we train the next generation for the STEM workforce. It is through informed approaches related to STEM teaching, learning and engagement that we will more effectively expand diversity in our STEM pathways, as well as significantly integrate the careers that by necessity requires deeper understanding of STEM and quality training in STEM areas.

How has it helped STEM practitioners?

Understanding Interventions, through its training activities, dissemination of research, and the provision of resources facilitate informed practices leading to more productive outcomes related to broadening participation in STEM. There is significant evidence that some of what we see as positive outcomes from several programs and activities might have been through selection and cherry picking, rather than development of talent in individuals who otherwise would not be in STEM. We see Understanding Interventions and the work that comes out of the conferences the journal and the other resources in terms of access to the literature as helping to inform practitioners and inform activities so we can be much more effective not only in training individuals, but also bringing in communities that have been previously marginalized and minoritized and frankly excluded from this space.

What is the most significant challenge for students and practitioners of color in STEM careers?

Unfortunately, we have disproportionate numbers of students of color who also are from lower socioeconomic classes in this country, and many others in the world. Consequently, there are issues of access and not only to equipment and facilities but also to qualified teachers in this space. Success in STEM often means early access and early interventions. The realities would make it lacking for certain aspects of the population and as a result make it challenging for members of these minoritized and marginalized communities to successfully pursue STEM in ways that reflect their representation in the general population. 

What do you hope Understanding Interventions will accomplish in the next five years?

Understanding Interventions since 2007 has developed a strong community spanning several areas. We have not only trained emerging scholars and practitioners, but we have also curated scholarships in this area. We have launched an Understanding Interventions Journal that serves as a venue for published work in this area. We have also developed the UI Index that is a curated database of articles and other information that individuals who want to perform scholarship in this area or are practitioners who are looking to locate aggregated published work on Interventions. Our annual conferences provide venues for dissemination, and in finding and networking with colleagues in the areas of scholarship, practice, and evaluation. These opportunities facilitate collaboration and discourse. 

This year, we released UI IMPACTS (Inclusive Matching for Professional Advancement and Inclusion in Science) that serves as a public square for STEM. This is a social media platform that allows individuals in all areas of STEM at all levels to interact, find opportunities for mentoring, locate opportunities for post-secondary STEM training and adds a social context that STEM has lacked historically. Here is where individuals can network, form groups based on interests, recruit and provide relevant information to be recruited as users can develop and maintain a portfolio of the work that they have done across several media. There are also opportunities to include information on prior training, personal statements, and other information useful such that venues training and academic programs as well those for potential employment to identify potential candidates. This is especially valuable for those from minorities and marginalized communities. We are potential employers and programs have struggled with recruitment.

We see the Understanding Interventions community growing significantly over the next five years. Our last meeting had nearly 250 registrants we see that significantly increasing as we embark on broader collaborations with programs and the National Institutes of Health the National Science Foundation and many other agencies that provide funding that could leverage the information and training that understanding interventions provides.“Finding information about women in science and engineering, as well as underrepresented minorities in these fields, is not a challenge. However, it can be difficult to locate information about the intersection of both.” This statement was made by Mahlet Mesfin from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Understanding Interventions is broadening the impact of science by bridging these gaps and igniting innovation!

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I have always considered myself an early adopter in the world of online teaching and assessment and have worked to prepare some of my peers for the online environment. But before the pandemic, nearly 99 percent of our classes at The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) were taught in-person – so the movement to online teaching in full swing was a drastic change for many of our educators.

Like most educators, we came to the stark realization over the last two years of the COVID-19 pandemic that the way you build and teach your course in a live, in-person course isn’t as simple as just taking that content and moving it online when forced to go digital. Our educators needed a more intuitive way to teach complex STEM subjects and a platform that would give even our most reluctant professors confidence in teaching online.

Faculty Workload – The Big Sticking Point

Unlike larger universities, we don’t have teaching assistants at NAIT. Our faculty do it all, from soup to nuts. Their workloads can be heavy, so anything that can make them more efficient at teaching is a big sticking point for our instructors. Our faculty came up against some big challenges when moving teaching online.

In 2018, we started using Möbius, an advanced digital learning platform for teaching higher education STEM courses that enable students to learn by doing and receive immediate and meaningful feedback to support better learning outcomes. We wanted a platform that could move seamlessly between online, in-person, and hybrid environments, that offered flexibility to customize content to support each faculty member’s unique style, approach, and curriculum choices.

One major challenge with taking course content online is that the assessment tools are often insufficient; the questions have to be multiple choice. In the right time and place, this works well, but multiple-choice questions don’t assess higher-level skills. And although automated grading had promised to be a game-changer for faculty, the grading is often incorrect. A student who types one-fourth as the answer might be graded as incorrect when the algorithm looked for 25 percent as the response.

The stress and anxiety that results from students who think they did poorly only to find out they actually got the answer correct when faculty re-assess the answers, is unnecessary and unfortunate and makes the time-saving aspect for faculty null and void. Möbius has given us the peace of mind that students are being graded correctly because of its symbolic and numeric math engine. When automatic grading works the way it should, the benefit is that students get faster feedback to focus on the concepts where they need extra help.

Driving Innovation Through Interdisciplinary Faculty Collaboration

Most assessment platforms make it difficult to share content with other instructors, departments or schools because of privacy and security rules around student data. This means that there are often overlaps in the work done amongst our faculty when building their assessments; the electrical department, for example, would benefit by sharing content with the automotive department because some of the basic electrical curriculum content may be similar. When content isn’t shared, faculty have to spend time doing extra work.

With our new STEM teaching platform, NAIT faculty now share content across departments and with six other colleges; this saves faculty time and improves the quality of course content through collaboration and conversation around what works best for students. Each faculty member can determine how much or how little they are willing to share, by the question, by exam, and or by the entire course curriculum.

A great example of this was seen with our industrial heavy equipment technology group. Half of the faculty were early adopters of online teaching, and the other half were not. When the pandemic hit, the early adopters who had been teaching digitally the two years prior shared their course content with the faculty who had not yet started teaching online, giving even the most reluctant faculty the confidence to make the transition. This made a huge difference in terms of helping instructors who were very used to hands-on teaching.

Having faculty collaborate when building content, especially content that is shared inter-disciplinary, offers an incredible challenge.  Concerns about student data, customizing content to suit individual preferences, increased risk of cheating, and intellectual property rights all present as forefront concerns from faculty when their content is being shared.  Möbius allows faculty to select how much or how little an individual wants to share their content and further allows for collaboration in a seamless fashion.  Rather than simply duplicating content, Möbius allows faculty to share content in a way that allows people to inherit the content.  This method of sharing allows content to receive automatic updates, and furthermore allows individuals to customize the inherited content.  If a team of faculty are building a final exam, they can easily track changes to that final exam, make the modifications they desire, optionally share the exam with other faculty teams, and further allow other teams to refine a custom copy of the resource in the way they best see fit.

As a large institution, NAIT faces many challenges when it comes to faculty collaboration.  It is very difficult for our faculty to build course content together, and even more so to create an effective review process for course materials.  If four or more faculty are working on building a set of resources for a particular course, it can often be frustrating to track what is the most recent version of individual resources.  Reverting to naming schemes like final-exam-v017 was becoming quite popular.  But now, faculty can share entire directories of course resources, and even share the contents of an entire course, without sharing any student data.  It not only has made it easy to utilize resources that were authored within the same office bank, but has also created a sharing community amongst faculty that extended to our satellite campus’ and into other institutions.

I recall the days when I used to pickup an assessment off the photocopier and noticed in the tray there was courseware printed by a colleague.  Although it may have been for a different course, I realized parts of the resource could benefit my students.  This observation led me on a hunt to see if I could get a copy of the same resource.  This was a common practice years ago.

Two faculty that worked in the same office but could not find the time to formally collaborate. It is unfortunate, but in many ways this way of sharing resources has remained fairly unchanged at most colleges and universities. Instead of course materials living in individual computers, resources are now commonly stored in individual courses on learning management systems.  In most cases, this makes it so faculty cannot browse the resources created by others in their own department, and most certainly not by faculty working at other institutions.

The long and short of it is, with the advent of cloud-computing, faculty should expect, and receive, better.  When I author content that I want to share, I should be able to share it in a way that won’t burden my time or alter my resources in a way that disrupts my course delivery.  I share my entire course content with others in my department, and they often share theirs back with me.  In our free time, we browse through resources and select ones that we feel will positively benefit our students.  In effect, it is like we are standing by the photocopier sharing everything with one another.  We started to share content in this manner with other institutions.  Those institutions have since shared their content back.  This informal exchange has had an immediate positive effect on the quantity and quality of resources available to us.

Mark Schneider is a professor of the Mathematics department at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and 2021 3M National Teaching Fellowship winner.

The post Northern Alberta Institute of Technology: Adapting and Improving for STEM appeared first on Getting Smart.

For me, STEM is all about finding patterns and connections. My pattern-finding intuition helped me develop my latest innovation, Spark Care+, an innovation that personalizes music therapy treatment for mental health improvement using artificial intelligence (AI), skin response (GSR) and photoplethysmography (PPG).

In 2021, I won the 3M Young Scientist Challenge and the title of America’s Top Young Scientist. During that competition, hosted by 3M and Discovery Education, I got to put my intuition to the test. Here are some of the lessons I learned that might inspire other students to pursue STEM:

Question Everything

My favorite question is, “Why?” I find it gets to the heart of any topic and helps find the patterns in the world. “Why?” led me to ask questions about everything, including how many sounds a violin can produce; that is how I discovered the concept of infinite. It was a shock to me back then when I was 4-5 years old because the piano could make a finite number of sounds, only 88, but the violin has an infinite sound spectrum.

Teachers can help build curiosity-focused environments by having students ask questions about other classes. For example, in a math class, prompt students to ask questions about their music class. Why does a violin have an infinite sound spectrum while a piano doesn’t? Are there other instruments that do?

Questioning seemingly non-scientific things revealed the STEM in them – from things like puzzles and blocks, to music and art. Questioning everything nurtures natural curiosity and is a perfect first step to thinking like a scientist.

Student ideas are valid

I’ll be the first to admit, STEM can be daunting. There’s this myth that an idea needs to be big to be super impactful. But any idea – big or small – can improve your community in powerful ways. Begin from who you are, what you like, and what means the most to you. If you observe the world around you and research any questions or ideas you have, you are a scientist. In my case, I connected my musical passion to science which led to the creation of Spark Care +

Tell students that their ideas are valid and important. Encouragement helps them grow the confidence to ask questions and share more ideas. Teachers can help empower students in two ways. First, listen, listen, listen. Be an open ear and helping hand for any and all STEM ideas. You have no idea how important it is as a teenager to feel heard, especially when trying out something new or sharing your thoughts. Second, share all opportunities related to STEM. You never know what might come from them. 

Build a network

As teenagers, it’s easy to feel like you’re the only one thinking about or struggling with something. Whether it’s personal or for school, I’ve found one of the greatest things for building up STEM confidence is to create a network. For example, I keep my STEM curiosity alive by observing the world around me, asking questions to myself and others, and reading books related to my interests. I connect with my peers around the STEM questioning process by asking them what they thought about class, if they’ve read a particular book, or even chatting about that “new thing” on the internet.

As I entered middle school and then high school, I joined peer groups that shared interests and passions with me. Robotics club is one of them, math team is another, and through the summer camp experiences, I was able to get connected with kids from the broader community. The highlight of my middle school was entering the 3M Young Scientist Challenge, meeting with finalists from the nation, and meeting my scientist mentor. My STEM curiosity exponentially matured, and I love sharing that with others.  

Ultimately, it’s important to do what makes you happy. If that happiness can be shared with other people, expand it. Then, it will gradually change the world in a positive way. It begins with each student, and with teachers to help us students discover and explore the wonderful world of STEM.

Sarah Park is the winner of the 3M Young Scientist Challenge and the 2021 America’s Top Young Scientist.

The post 3 Tips to Build Student’s STEM Confidence and Curiosity from America’s Top Young Scientist appeared first on Getting Smart.

The mismatch between the way jobs actually operate vs. the kind of talent that conventional education aims to produce is glaringly apparent. Working with creative and passionate people is something that everyone should be able to experience. The best way to give others this opportunity is to ensure there are plenty of talented people with which to work. As we enter the dawning age of augmentation and automation, workers need to be creative, collaborative, attentive to details and self-motivated enough to solve a new set of problems with every project.

CodeDay is a 24-hour introduction to that kind of problem-solving through computer programming, where many participants come with little if any background in computer science or programming.

Pitches and Project Scope

Shortly after check-in there is a pitch period where anyone present can propose a project idea.

While it’s possible to narrow the scope of the projects on which teams will work, keeping CodeDay as open as possible allows for ideas we would never have dreamed possible- like The Turing Test (pitched at the time as a “boyfriend simulator”). Any attendee can pitch an idea around which teams can form.

The biggest challenge during open pitch sessions is ensuring that the scope of the project pitched is realistic. Too simple a challenge and the event will be boring, too complex and few will get anywhere near completion.

While choosing and evaluating project ideas seems like it would be straightforward, accurately assessing the scope, and thus difficulty, of a project can be far more difficult and error-prone than it would seem. This is due to an analog of Moravec’s paradox (things that are easy to do as a human are hard for a computer to do) and due to differences in experience for each team and team member.

Project Management

Events tend to run more smoothly if immediately after pitches, kids are rotated through three 15 min mini-lessons about project management, online research methods, and basic programming concepts. These skills help them transition seamlessly to the next step…

After the pitch and intro talks, attendees form groups of their choosing. It’s strongly encouraged to work in groups of 2-5. Larger groups of up to 8 have been tried but they tend to have too many issues with delegation of work, communication within the group, and final integration of the project materials. Not surprising as the same dynamics are at play in tech companies.

Mentorship, Volunteers, and Speakers

Most of the event time is taken by working on group projects and one of the biggest factors that affects the quality and enjoyment of the event is the quality of the mentors. Because of the limited time frame (24 hours) students need to be quick at figuring things out or have access to mentors that can effectively communicate their knowledge in a way that attendees can immediately put to work to solve their current issue.

Mentors must also have a good rapport with attendees. A big part of the outcomes Code Day achieves is due to mentors coming from local companies, and thus being potential future co-workers for the attendees. In this way, they have ‘skin in the game.’ Getting time to casually socialize with the mentors also gives attendees a view behind the curtain of what it looks like to work at various tech companies.

In some cases, attendees were actually in the same building at which they might work in the future once they got hired. It doesn’t hurt that in tech there are ping pong tables, cereal bars, and slides built into such workplaces.

When we had out-of-state mentors for CodeDay that didn’t interact much with our attendees, the event went very poorly and we had few returns for the subsequent event.

Where to find mentors?

I started attending almost every technology meetup I could find in the valley (about 2-4 per week). As we pulled in engaged members of the local tech community, the quality of the mentorship and thus the events themselves increased dramatically. We have repeatedly seen mentors spend 6-12 hours working with a single team to complete amazing projects. These partnerships are usually followed up with internships, job offers, and occasionally, former attendees that end up guiding the whole community.

Tips and techniques for finding, engaging, preparing, guiding, and retaining high-quality mentors could fill a small book. We’ve instituted a number of different practices over time to make this process as smooth as possible. Mentor support consists of pre-event, mid-event, and post-event activities. Comfortable, confident, and engaged mentors are key to a successful event. Finding the right balance between not enough support and too much guidance/mentor time taken is a subtle art that varies with each mentor.

Sample Projects

Though CodeDay projects tend toward video games, projects have included:

• Video Games
• Community Reporting/Improvement Apps
• Finance Software
• Neural Network (built from scratch)
• Hardware Projects Utilizing IoT Devices and Neural Control

The Transformations

While we do offer prizes, we’ve decided to keep them quite modest; small, laser-cut wood trophies. We could go the route of offering TVs, game consoles, tablets and computers, but intrinsic motivation is critical to STEM work. Having the “prize” be the event itself and the time you spend with teammates and mentors leads to far better outcomes, especially in the mid to long term.

We’ve seen increased involvement in the community as attendees maintain connections to the companies, meetups and mentors that they meet at the events. In several cases, kids that really have drive and a bit of talent have been offered internships and jobs applicants.

One attendee ended up becoming heavily involved in the cybersecurity community and was even brought on to a federal grant as project manager. The work had a lasting impact on the Arizona cybersecurity community, increasing collaboration between companies, schools, and the state and federal government. Those collaborations lead to events that improved access to Cybersecurity education and jobs for disadvantaged communities and the larger community.

Key Takeaways

For anyone considering taking on a ‘CodeDay’ in their community, here is a checklist of the three ‘A’s’ to consider:

Accessibility and Location

1. Events should be held at places of business, never on a school campus. We wanted the kids to experience what it’s like to be in an entrepreneurial setting and be in total control of a project. Agency over your work leads to better outcomes and dramatically improves morale.
2. Events must be accessible. We strove to hold events along Phoenix’s limited light rail system. Co+Hoots was located along this line at the time and worked very well as a venue until we simply outgrew the space with attendance into the hundreds of kids.

Having a strong commitment to accessibility meant that we had to turn down multiple excellent venue options. Though the upside is that we gained access to some phenomenal talent that most initiatives miss due to their inaccessibility. Being truly accessible is hard, much harder than it should be. If you think you are accessible it’s worth asking a few questions:

• Who can get to the venue?
• Can attendees get there by themselves or do parents need to take time out of their day?
• Can parents and students attend given the day and time over which the event is held?
• Who can get into the venue? Ramps, narrow passages, etc.
• Do attendees need any expensive gear e.g. computers?
• Are there mentors available that can help all attendees?

Agency: Project Planning and Collaboration

Some of the most successful projects have occurred when students were given brief training in project management and tutorials with tools such as Git, that facilitate combining all of the digital pieces that make up a project such as code, and both visual and auditory art assets.

Autonomy: Don’t Over-Structure

While having absolutely no structure will lead to a bad experience, ‘hack-a-thons’ thrive when the participants have higher amounts of agency and autonomy. The more it feels like a small, scrappy startup and the less it feels like spending time at school, the more successful your hack-a-thon will be.

CodeDay is a great intro to STEM but it doesn’t occur frequently enough and the event isn’t long enough to really get kids into coding in a serious way. Moving forward, the organizers have agreed that we’d like to pull together a broader community initiative to help kids find their way into tech.

Learn more about CodeDay and how you might start your own by visiting CodeDay Phoenix or egx.org.

Elio Grieco is the Founder/CEO of EGX and partner for CodeDay Phoenix. Learn more about Elio at egx.org.

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Knowing where to begin with STEM can bring uncertainty as there are so many choices in activities, tools, curriculum, and more, or perhaps, some of the options may require specific knowledge or skill set, or resources. Regardless of grade level or subject area, we have a lot of quick ways and tools that are easy to use to help us to bring STEM into our classroom.

Benefits of STEM

STEM activities will help students develop the essential skills needed for life and workplace success including social-emotional learning (SEL) skills and the critical 21st-century skills we have been talking about in education for many years.

As we prepare our lessons each day, I recommend checking the information available through the World Economic Forum, to keep up with the types of skills employers are looking for, so that I can plan better activities in my classroom to prepare students. Some of the top skills include collaboration, communication, creativity, problem-solving, and teamwork. There are many options for helping students to develop these skills through the methods and tools that we use in our classroom. With some of the options below, we can find ways to connect the content being taught with incorporating STEM activities in our classrooms.

We can also use some methods like genius hour or 20% time or project-based learning (PBL), which provide students the opportunity to engage in independent work and enable them to develop these essential “workplace” and SEL skills. Trying some design challenges in small groups is great for team building and developing collaborative skills. Earlier in October, Global Maker Day, led by Jaime Donally and an amazing team, provided a variety of maker activities from educators and students around the world. Take time to check out the resources shared from this yearly event! You can find different STEM challenges that can be done in any class or level that will foster the development of these essential skills without requiring a ton of time to get started.

STEM challenges

A few years ago I participated in my first STEM challenge with a team of educators. At first, I did not want to participate, however, after a short time of brainstorming ideas, communicating with the team, and testing out solutions to the challenge, I better understood how these same experiences can positively impact our students. Have you ever done a solo cup challenge? In this challenge which does not require many materials or a lot of planning, the goal is to move a stack of cups to build a tower by only using the rubber bands and string that have been provided. This simple activity promotes collaboration and communication, problem solving and teamwork, while also adding fun into the group learning experience.

Using simple activities like this one helps students to develop relationships as they learn with and from their peers. One challenge that a friend shared earlier this year is to have students write their names using a variety of materials they can find and in a length or height that matches their own. As a follow-up to this, asking students to explain why they chose their materials if there were any design challenges or problems encountered while completing the challenge, helps us and other students to learn about one another. With just these two activities, there are many benefits for developing SEL and fostering a collaborative classroom community. Also, check out the STEAM cafe for activities that can be done at home!

Here are six resources to explore STEM in your classroom:

Cornucopia is a resource that I came across this summer and I like all of the free STEM education games that are for use in classrooms as well as for after-school programs. Some of the options available enable students to manage a plot of land, plant crops, and earn technology upgrades to make their farm a success!

CoSpacesEDU is an augmented and virtual reality platform that helps students to learn about emerging technologies and also build coding skills and more. It can be used for any grade level or content area to have students design a book summary or use it for STEM projects. I recommend checking out the examples available in the CoSpaces gallery.  There are many lessons and plans available specific to STEM.

Grasshopper is a fun way to learn about coding. It was named after Grace Hopper, a pioneer in computer science, and is a great choice for beginners. Grasshopper will work well for adult learners who are interested in building their coding skills. Some of the topics available include animations, array methods, fundamentals, web page design, and more. Grasshopper is free on Android and iOS and is also available through the Web.

Hacking STEM has been made available through Microsoft and using Hacking STEM, teachers can explore a library full of lessons and resources to make it easier to bring STEM into the classroom. What I like about it is that there are short, bite-sized activities, master skills guides, and full-length activities to choose from, so educators can find something that works for their students. Every lesson comes with a full lesson plan, relevant standards, a list of materials needed, and estimated costs associated with the activities.

Ozobot has been a favorite in my STEAM class for a few years. Ozobot is a one-inch robot for teaching students about coding. It has several subjects available including ELA, math, and more. You have two choices for coding with Ozobot: using the screen and also screen-free through the use of markers and color codes. Training for teachers is available online and there is also a library full of resources to get started.  

PBS Kids has a ton of options for some building challenges that can be done on or offline. Check out the prompts that encourage students to find items and see what they can build. There are different categories and skill levels to choose from.

As we prepare students for the future, it is important that all students have the opportunity to learn about STEM and discover their own interests in STEM-related fields. Something that I recommend is to choose a few of the options and create stations for students in your classroom. Ask students to select something that interests them and then rotate or let students decide on one area for an independent project for PBL. Having more choices available will make it easier to offer learning that meets students’ specific interests or needs and will promote engagement and spark curiosity for learning.

Choosing an area to focus on will empower them through self-driven learning as they develop SEL skills and learn about emerging trends in STEM.

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Automotive industry. There is a prediction that there will be 33 million self-driving cars on the road by 2040. To learn more about self-driving cars, I recommend checking out the virtual driverless course from AI World School, which I had been using with my STEAM class.

Ecommerce. Algorithms track our use of certain websites such as Amazon, which then leads to more personalized experiences. Although it can be a bit unsettling at times to see ads pop up on other sites. Have you looked at a shopping site or searched something on Google, to then find similar products popping up on the other websites that you interact with?  Algorithms make this possible.

Finance. AI processes large amounts of data and can instantly complete tasks and transactions that in the past took hours or days and multiple people to complete. There are “Robo advisors” which are capable of building personalized portfolios and profiles for investors and can do so without any human interaction.

Healthcare. For example, diagnosing pathology by analyzing tissue samples using machine learning and algorithms which can help doctors identify problems more quickly and provide care for patients.

Transportation and travel. More than 80% of people regularly use their phones to search local restaurants and landmarks. Algorithms scan the roads and adapt and provide information in real-time. Think about how often you rely on Google to search for a location or information about local landmarks.

These are just five of the industries seeing an increase but AI is used in many sectors of life and work.

What this means for our students

As we consider how to best prepare students for the future, there is one thing that I believe is clear. Regardless of what our students decide to do in the future, it will involve technology. Students will also need a variety of skill sets to be prepared for whatever changes the future brings. An article from the World Economic Forum referred to a “reckoning for skills” and how certain skills will be essential as 1 billion jobs will be transformed by technology in the next 10 years. The Jobs of Tomorrow report stated that there will be an influx of jobs in the areas of artificial intelligence, data analytics, and cloud computing.

Beyond the statistics showing growth in these areas and with the emerging technologies and smart machines that are being developed, we have to recognize the likelihood that many jobs which are currently done by humans will be done with machines.

So what does that mean for us as educators and for our students? What types of opportunities do we need to provide for them and how can we prepare ourselves enough to get them started? First, help students to understand what artificial intelligence is, where we see it being used in our daily lives, what are some areas of the work or in the world that it is making an impact, and what the concerns are that we should have when it comes to AI.

We need to create a space for students to explore, to develop their own understanding and to interact with it, and then create their own AI. Regardless of what grade level or content area we teach, there are resources available for students even as young as pre-K to learn about AI. When it comes to artificial intelligence, giving students the chance to learn and a more hands-on or self-directed manner will make a difference. We need to give students the chance to try something, to fail at it, to adapt, and then to set new goals.

Here are seven resources to explore to find courses, curriculum outlines, and helpful materials for getting started with AI.

Getting Smart Town Hall was a recent discussion presented by Getting Smart on AI and its impact on our lives. Panelists discussed the implications of AI and how to prepare our students, with many resources shared.

AI World School offers three flagship AI courses for different age groups and also, several micro-courses. AIWS also has a virtual driverless car course and is offering summer camp courses. Also available this summer is the AI Covid Warrior contest.

DAILy from MIT offers a curriculum for students to explore AI as well as other activities and a mini-course.

ISTE’s AI and STEM Explorations Network has created four free hands-on AI projects for the classroom guides which are available for download from ISTE and GM. I helped to create a lesson on the use of AI in language classrooms. The guides are available in English, Spanish, and Arabic.

Microsoft AI for Good offers many resources for educators or anybody to look at how artificial intelligence is being used and to also better prepare teachers

Microsoft Educator Center presents educators with courses on learning about machine learning and other AI technologies.

Rex Academy offers many different courses to explore and has an AI and machine learning pathway. You can sign up for a 30-day trial.

It is important for our students to understand these emerging technologies, especially ones that will continue to grow and impact us in the future. We must make sure that we best prepare our students by providing access to resources that provide them with the right information and opportunities to work at their own pace and explore based on their specific interests and needs. It is important that we bring these topics into our classes so that our students can have exposure to learning about them on a consistent basis so that they are better prepared for the future.

For more, see:

• Where the STEM Workforce is Headed and What Society Must Do to Get There
• How AI Curriculum Can Prepare Students for Success in a New World
• Artificial Intelligence: Growth in many sectors in light of a Pandemic

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The post The Growing Need for Skills in Artificial Intelligence appeared first on Getting Smart.

In 2018 Sayan and Sohil Bhatia co-founded Start STEM Early as a nonprofit organization. Over the past three years, they have been sharing their knowledge and experience with younger students by teaching the basics of mobile app development to students across the nation. Their mission is to increase interest in STEM among young students through curated programs. Early in the founding year of the organization, they taught groups of students on topics such as physics, chemistry, and earth science. They gradually expanded the curriculum to technology courses, and in 2020, during the peak of COVID19, Start STEM Early was able to accelerate its outreach through online programs and amplify its impact.

Realizing that programming was a heavily undervalued skill among young students, their organization created Intro to App Building, a completely virtual 6-week program offered for free by Start STEM Early. Within days of opening the registration, the course had garnered over 400 students from all over the USA. Through the organization’s Intro to App Building program, students embarked on a journey from having absolutely no computer science or programming knowledge, to building 5 full-fledged mobile apps. They received a large number of testimonials and appreciation for the sessions they taught. Currently, Start STEM Early has amassed over 3,300 students from all over the US. In order to further advocate for STEM education, their organization will continue to offer new and unique STEM programs to young students.

From the beginning, Start STEM Early has strived to make a consistent impact on students worldwide. Starting in 2018, the founders faced issues in gaining attraction and developing an audience. Mentoring and teaching 10-15 students, Start STEM Early started with just a whiteboard and a room of students. Over the years, the organization grew its scope. The early days of the organization’s journey included mentoring robotics teams and teaching chemistry to young students in their local community.

The introduction of the coronavirus in 2020, threw the world into a virtual setting. As events, assemblies, and education began to move into this unfamiliar remote scene, both Sayan and Sohil utilized this unique opportunity. By creating courses such as Intro to App Building and Intro to 3D Design, the non-profit gained hundreds of students’ interest. Although these sessions taught complex subjects such as building apps, the format was provided in an easy, and simple manner. Intro to App Building guides students by not only teaching them the basic concepts of computer science but also allowing them to build projects in a fun and creative way. Students from across the nation built apps such as Paint, Pong, and much, much more! At the end of the 4-week program, students were invited to build and showcase apps from their creativity. You can check out some of these impressive apps here.

Students around the world began to easily grasp ideas and concepts of computer science such as user interface, and control structures. With this interest in mind, Start STEM Early hosted their first computer science-based student competition. The competition was held over the course of a week and had over 100 students in attendance. The event featured two different categories for students to compete in. One of which was the Creative category, and the other was the Step-By-Step. Both categories allowed students to compete in a way that was comfortable for their skill level. While some students built projects from scratch, others had the option to learn to build a simple project and then add their own unique aspects.

Each student built apps and projects, with winners announced at the end of the week during the virtual award ceremony. The event featured guest speakers from XBOX and had over $200 in prizes.

For more, see:

• Bringing STEM into Every Classroom Space
• Support STEM Education Through Student-Centered Challenges

Sayan Bhatia is a junior at Redmond High School in Washington and is a developer, entrepreneur, and STEM advocate. After learning software development, he released his first app to the Apple App Store in 2018.

Sohil Bhatia is a sophomore at Redmond High School in Washington. His love and passion for technology began when he developed Water Matters, a mobile app, and an IoT device for tracking water usage.

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The post Two High School Students Create STEM Program appeared first on Getting Smart.

I recently had the opportunity to learn more about the new middle school coding program available through Blackbird, the creators of the world’s first educational version of JavaScript. Mike Lynch, a former high school science teacher, now Director of Education for Blackbird, gave me a demo of the platform which recently launched and first middle school-focused code education platform. The Blackbird team ran trials of their program in several middle schools and coding academies in the United States, including in Portland, The Girls’ Place Chicago, and Florida.

The platform was built to address the “middle school gap” and provide students with the opportunity to learn JavaScript, which is one of the most commonly used programming languages. The “middle school gap” refers to the span of time between when students learn to code at the elementary level using block-based programs like Scratch and do not have many options until reaching high school, where they may enroll in more advanced computer science courses, if available.

What makes Blackbird different?

For many educators, there may be hesitation when it comes to coding programs because of a lack of experience or knowledge. In my own experience, I kept to coding programs that I knew and understood enough so that I could provide support for my students. However, I realized that I needed to open more opportunities for them to pass my own knowledge, or I was greatly limiting their potential. What makes Blackbird stand out is that all teachers can use the platform without any prerequisites when it comes to coding. Parents can also support students through this program. Blackbird made this program with teachers in mind, in particular, those who don’t have a background in technology and for use with all grade levels and content areas. They offer professional development online and many resources to support teachers as they roll this out in their classrooms.

Blackbird is an educational version of Javascript that enables middle school students to develop coding skills in a robust and scaffolded platform that is accessible for learning virtually or in person. Lynch said that “Students are focused on how computer programs work and how they can write their own programs.” With the scaffolds in place, all students can build skills and become more confident and interested in STEM fields.

The structure and scaffolded support of the platform makes it so all students and teachers can build skills at their own pace. It allows for differentiation and enrichment through the workshops and built-in supports available for students and teachers. The curriculum was made with a continuum in mind. Students work through modes of computer programming, then move on to completing guided projects, and then ultimately students have opportunities for more creative expression in a sandbox type of learning environment. It is initially structured and scaffolded and then the supports are removed as students build their skills.

There are ten stages with lessons for each stage. It is standards aligned with the Common Core State Standards for Math and English, Next Generation Science Standards  (NGSS), and Computer Science Teachers Association Computer Science standards. Blackbird integrates with Clever and Google through SSO. Teachers have a dashboard where they can track student progress including lessons completed, time spent on each, review errors and even send direct messages to students in response to their questions. The data is easily accessible to teachers, and the way the platform is designed, also leads to increased student engagement in learning. Teachers can give more meaningful, personalized feedback that will help to improve student achievement as well as build their confidence in learning to code.

Students begin by programming a simple game, building from the ground up and progressing with each lesson. Students can work at their own pace and as they progress, there are supports in place for them such as “Show Me” which highlights in red any errors in the code they are writing on their own. They can choose “Steps” to verify the steps in the program and see how the code works. Through the Teacher dashboard,  teachers can see each student’s progress, any hands raised for questions and are able to support students as they work through each stage and lesson.

Blackbird Education Platform:

• Students learn JavaScript through game and animation creation
• Can be implemented by educators and parents – without any level of technical expertise required
• Integrated Learning Management System (LMS)
• Promotes student-driven learning
• Provides resources for educators including detailed student reports, class overviews, solutions page with answer keys
• Offers materials to get started including videos, checklists, course outlines, syllabus, PD resources

It was easy to see how students and teachers would quickly be able to get started with Blackbird as it is designed for self-paced learning whether in person or remotely. Educators and parents can create an account that offers several lessons for free as well as additional advanced levels for a premium price.

Because many jobs will rely on coding in the future, it is important that we provide students with opportunities to explore the possibilities and determine their interests in these areas. We must offer options that will lead to more authentic and meaningful experiences that promote the development of essential skills for the future. With the Blackbird platform, we now have the opportunity to provide more engaging and student-driven, independent, hands-on learning.

For more, see:

• Bringing STEM into Every Classroom Space
• The Importance of Understanding Technology, Coding & Computational Thinking

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The post Smart Review: Blackbird Education Platform appeared first on Getting Smart.

Frankfurt International School (FIS) and Consilience Education Foundation found a way to combat the obstacles created by COVID-19. Together, they ran an asynchronous and synchronous blended learning experience of hands on making, innovation, and design with the facilitator six time zones away and restrictions on the number of people that can occupy a physical learning space. Robust learning for adults that impacts student learning is about personal experiences and self motivation.

This four day learning experience has already impacted student experiences and will continue to help shape the future of learning at FIS to help foster creativity, confidence, and resilience for our young innovators.

Philosophy of Maker Learning and Constructionism

Maker learning is a way of experiencing educational content and subjects through the context of making, designing, fabricating, and constructing. Stemming from the Piagetian idea of “learn by doing,” maker learning allows students to construct tangible artifacts of learning while also constructing mental models and cognitive associations to previous experiences, thus allowing connections between subject matter and skill development. Maker learning requires a pedagogical shift in school culture from instructionism, to guidance and facilitation and also by intentionally designing learning experiences that are conducive to making meaningful connections.

Seymour Papert, inventor of the first programming language for children and inspiration for the LEGO Mindstorms robotics systems, laid the foundation for maker learning in his development of the learning theory called constructionism. Building on the Piagetian term of constructivism, constructionism posits that learning happens most conducively when children are engaged in meaningful projects that allow for the construction of new knowledge in environments that make use of tools and materials as objects to think with. Papert would often share the famous African parable of “teach a person to fish, rather than provide the fish” and believed that education should be no different. We should provide children with the means to learn and the means to be the leaders of their own learning instead of providing a pre-baked curriculum taught through textbooks and lectures.

“Instead of pushing kids to be more like adults, we might do better to remember that they are great learners and to try harder to be more like them.”

– Seymour Papert, from The Children’s Machine

What We Did at Frankfurt International School

2020 has been a challenge to say the least. The world of education has not been disrupted globally in this way since World War Two. What does this mean for next steps? How can we leverage this disruption to move education in a direction that serves the needs of learners in the 2020’s?

Frankfurt International School (FIS) is leading the way in many aspects and has the will and drive to continue to push the limits. When we originally planned the four day Maker Educator Certificate workshop there was no sign of a pandemic and very little discussion around blended, hybrid, DLP’s, asynchronous, and synchronous learning. Our reality has changed, so now what?

The show must go on. We were prepared to run an in-person workshop with all participants in one space, a multi location workshop for smaller numbers to protect the integrity of divisional and campus bubbles, or a maker workshop in 28 different sites from the homes of all the educators involved. We eventually set up asynchronous and synchronous sessions over four days to maximize the direct contact inputs with the support and hands on making, reflection, and implementation planning.

Outcomes

To see 28 adults engaged in creating, playing, prototyping, failing, re-tooling, and trying again was a joy and a stark reminder of the importance of giving time to design and innovate. In a world pressed by time limits, it is no different in schools as subjects, transitions, and schedules drive students from place to place to learn in sometimes disconnected silos. The aha moments were vast in this learning experience for all adults and this will directly translate into the development of skills and attributes for FIS learners of all ages. When one of the teachers shared, “I never thought I could code,” the discussion quickly turned to the connected nature of design and innovation. Throughout the workshop, they were making with cardboard, circuits, coding in Scratch, using a Makey Makey, hot glue guns, and a wide variety of other materials. A group of teachers from various disciplines and age groups shared, “It doesn’t matter whether we are using digital or product design, scissors or iPads, it’s all the same process, and there is so much learning to be had from going through the process, and failing many times.”

FIS is dedicated to lifelong learning and can’t wait to provide these kinds of learning experiences in Maker Fairs and community events, post-COVID, of course. In the meantime, the impact has begun with students integrating design and making into inquiry units, Science and STEM labs, personal projects, Design-for-Change classes, Design Technology, computer science and much more. When a school consistently revisits its practices, seeks commonalities and shared language, and drives forward with new technologies and pedagogies, it truly serves the needs of today’s learners.

Schools like FIS understand that constructionism provides opportunities for learners to lead in their own learning and have paved the way for teachers to design learning experiences that allow for meaningful connections through maker learning. FIS also understands the importance of building an entire school culture that supports the necessary pedagogical transitions that can allow maker learning to flourish. This starts with a strong foundation, supported by professional development, continuous coaching, and self-reflection. In this process, teachers are empowered to become learning designers and learning facilitators, often taking on the roles of the student and maker to master their own crafts. Teachers at FIS have reported the powerful effects of maker learning and are inspired to continue growing, learning and evolving.

For more, see:

• Creating a Makerspace That Works
• Building a Kinder World: How Maker Education Can Solve Problems and Foster Empathy
• Maker Learning Network Launches Long-Term Solutions to High-Quality Learning Online

Mark Barnett is passionate about project-based learning and teaching students to create with technology. With 15 years of experience in STEAM and maker education, he has consulted with teachers and administrators all over the world to set up and design impactful learning experiences with makerspaces and related education themes.

Mike Johnston is the Assistant Head at the International School of Frankfurt. He has led workshops for teachers and administrators around the world on sustainability, building global competence, deep personalized K-12 curriculum, and how service learning should not just be what you do, but who you are as a school. 

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The post Maker Learning PD in COVID Times: A Transformative Campus-wide Shift in School Culture appeared first on Getting Smart.

As a result of the impact of Covid-19 on education, we need to find beneficial learning opportunities that will work for in-person, hybrid, and full remote learning environments. Hamda expressed that with so many students learning online and the great concern for screen fatigue, Ozobot can help by offering screen free ways for students to engage in coding activities. He also emphasized the importance of helping teachers to feel comfortable with using technology and how Ozobot has helped teachers by providing a seamless integration of coding into their classrooms.

Everyone can code: Reaching more classrooms

Ozobot classroom launched in January of 2020. Schools are now able to provide a 1-to-1 learning experience with Ozobot robots. The company joined the Google for Education Integrated Solutions Initiative and integrated Ozobot Classroom with Google Classroom, the platform used by more than 100 million teachers and students worldwide. Some of the subjects available in the lessons include math, English Language Arts, and more. Ozobot offers two different ways to code, using the screen and also screen-free through the use of their markers and color codes. The lessons are ready-to-run and they are remote-friendly which is great for teachers.

“More students are having the chance to learn about coding from home as well as in the classroom through the new Ozobot 1:1 Program.” There are approximately 30,000 schools working with the new classroom kits now. Each kit comes with 18 robots and in the Ozobot classroom, students use the robot to complete lessons and it then captures data through color and blocks which goes to the teacher dashboard in real-time. Students can work together with a partner and are easily able to identify their robot based on the specific color code assigned to each robot. A system like this definitely helps with keeping track of robots when collecting materials in the classroom.

The lessons in Ozobot classroom are self-directed and each chapter has a video that introduces the lesson with steps for students to follow. Students can submit their work directly into Google classroom.  As the students work with robots, the robots are actually saving the data and returning it back directly to the system. This works very well in a hybrid learning environment, and Hamda says it is “easy to learn and fun to master.” According to the Ozobot team, “having a one-inch classmate with a heart of {code} can help a student’s social-emotional well-being during COVID-19.”

How does it work

To learn more, I had a demo from Adrienne White to see how Ozobot Classroom works. During the demo, it was easy to see how students and teachers would quickly be able to get started with the Ozobots whether in or out of the classroom. It is designed for learning anywhere and for self-paced learning whether in person or remotely.  There are levels for students starting at pre-K, where they code through the use of images, and then the grade levels each offer slightly more advanced coding possibilities.

Ozobots use color and optical sensors to carry out decoding. There are two different ways to code. For screen-free coding, students can draw the specific color-coding or use the stickers or create a code for the Ozobot to follow. Color codes Robots can be coded to change direction, move on a timer, speed up or slow down, and more. Students also have the option to use their devices and Ozoblockly to code. There are over 30 color codes in their specific language. It is device-agnostic so can be used on an iPad, Mac, Chromebook which is beneficial for schools looking for options that will work with multiple devices for students.

In the teacher dashboard, a three-color ID is generated for each Ozobot and then each bot lights up in matching colors, which makes it easy for students to identify their bots. Teachers get live insights directly in their dashboard and can be notified when students need help. Students can push on the EVO to ask teachers for help which will then add a comment to the teacher dashboard. Teachers get a summary of students’ work and can add notes to each student’s progress. For accessibility,  each color has a specific letter which helps students who may have problems with color recognition. Students are able to see the assignments that are due and those that have been completed. There is an introductory video that explains the lessons and tasks that students have to complete.

Teachers can also access one hour of training or take advantage of the lessons available in the library through their dashboard. Teachers can search and filter based on grade, subject, or remote-friendly lessons. Standards are included for addressing the ISTE or common core standards and each lesson includes activities and more resources.

The Ozobot team spent the past two years building the infrastructure and it was built in collaboration with feedback from more than 1,000 teachers. Teachers who are using Ozobots can create and submit their own lessons. Each lesson idea that is submitted is vetted and if it meets their criteria it gets added into the Ozobot classroom program.

Ozobot’s education products include the Educator Entry Kit, which comes with one Ozobot Evo plus teacher training in the 2 Ways to Code for $99. Once educators have tried the product and are ready to bring Ozobots to their students, options include the Classroom Kit for in-person instruction and the new Ozobot 1:1 Program which is flexible for in-person, remote, or hybrid instruction. Interested educators can request a demo at ozobot.com. Ozobot also qualifies for the CARES Act ESSER funds and other federal and state initiatives.

It was amazing to see how Ozobot works and the many ways that students are using coding for their classes in all grade levels. With so many jobs that will rely on coding in the future, it is important to provide students with opportunities to explore the possibilities and determine their interests in these areas.

For more, see:

• Getting Started with Coding: 18 Tools for Early Learners
• The Importance of Understanding Technology, Coding & Computational Thinking
• South Fayette School District: Leading Educators in Computational Thinking

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The post Smart Review: Ozobot Brings 1:1 Coding to the Classroom appeared first on Getting Smart.