Science, Technology, Engineering & Math | Features
Educators Look for Resources, New Programs Amid STEM Push
Districts, schools, and individual educators are struggling to keep up with new emphases on science, technology, engineering, and math education. Resources and partnerships are available to those who know where to look.
Educators are facing mounting pressure to improve the quality of
science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) instruction across
the country. While numerous studies suggest that students need to learn
science through hands-on inquiry, classroom teachers are often unable
to generate effective lessons because of their own lack of background
in science. Worse, teachers are increasingly lacking the time or tools
to do the job as school districts face greater financing challenges and
mandated initiatives.
Recent developments, such as President Obama's push to prepare
100,000 new STEM educators over the next 10 years, the effort by the National Science Teachers
Association (NSTA) to have science standards included in the Common
Core State Standards, and the adoption of STEM initiatives in nearly a
dozen states, have added to the pressure. But with a little digging,
educators can find resources to engage their students in STEM topics
without breaking the budget.
Teaching Science: Lacking the Time and Resources
In the July 2011 report "Successful
K-12 STEM Education: Identifying Effective Approaches in Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics," the National
Research Council called for a new framework for K-12 science
curriculum. The council suggested educators rethink their approach of
simple memorization of facts and instead focus on concepts that cut
across disciplines, such as teaching cause and effect and the process
of gathering and analyzing data.
A new report released in October 2011 by the University of California,
Berkeley--"High Hopes--Few Opportunities: The Status of
Elementary Science Education in California"--revealed the results
of a survey of educators in California, as well as an analysis of case
studies in selected school districts. The researchers found that
teachers had little time to teach science owing to intense pressure to
meet mathematics and English accountability goals. Commissioned by the Center for the Future of
Teaching and Learning and conducted by UC Berkeley and SRI International as
part of their Strengthening Science Education in California
Initiative, the study also found that teachers and schools did not
have the support and tools needed to provide quality science teaching
opportunities.
According to the report, 40 percent of elementary teachers who
responded said they spend 60 minutes or less teaching science each
week,
and 85 percent said they had not received any professional development
in science teaching during the last three years. While nine out of 10
principals who responded said science education was "very important,"
only 44 percent said it was likely that a student would receive
high-quality science education at their school.
Researchers also found that support and resources needed for quality
science education were scarce at school districts, with only 20 percent
providing professional development for elementary teachers and more
than 60 percent lacking any staff dedicated to science. Teachers cited
limited funds for equipment and supplies as a challenge to teaching
science with more than half saying they lacked access to necessary
facilities.
"California's elementary schools have very little of the
infrastructure support needed to provide and strengthen science
education," said Patrick Shields, director of SRI's Center for
Education Policy.
But the outlook for STEM education may not be so bleak. Today,
students can use computers to practice what is normally found in
workbooks while teachers have access to a variety of multimedia
technology such as CD-ROMs and DVDs to present colorful and stimulating
lectures.
Other digital learning tools, such as lightweight mobile computers,
touch-screen technology, digital cameras, and microscopes that connect
to computer screens, 3D animation, robotics, and interactive Web sites
have added new ways to engage students in science.
Seattle's IslandWood
Outdoor Learning Center, for example, has found ways to infuse some
of the simpler computer technology into teaching the center's
environmental programs. One is the use of inexpensive digital Web
cameras to allow students to capture and manipulate a variety of
digital images from microscopes and telescopes hooked up to computer
video screens. This allows students to see what they should be looking
for before they look into their own microscope or telescope. Students
also use technology to slow down or speed up video images, creating
time-lapse movies of such things as a caterpillar metamorphosing into a
butterfly.
Pocket STEM Devices
Multifunctional handheld devices such as smartphones and tablet
computers can be used as multimedia reference tools on field trips, in
classroom assignments (for accessing STEM challenges, for example), or
on activities like scavenger hunts, where students have a chance to get
outside the classroom to gather data.
Pasco
produces the Spark Science Learning System, a sensor-based
handheld computer that includes more than 60 pre-installed Sparklabs. The labs integrate all the necessary
background material, data collection, and analysis and cover topics in
biology, chemistry, Earth science, and physics.
CyberTracker
makes it possible for students to design their own electronic field
guides with custom species identification filters specific to their
location. The guides show pictures and text and can also play the
vocalizations of local birds to help students identify what species
they've seen on field trips. CyberTracker is available for a variety
of operating systems including Windows 2000, XP, 2003, Vista,
Windows 7, Windows Mobile, and Pocket PC. The non-profit
organization that makes CyberTracker is also currently seeking
donations to help create an Android version.
The SpaceMath@NASA
Web site has had more than 3 million visitors since it was launched in
2004. This free NASA education resource has offered hundreds of unique
math problems, often developed to coincide with breaking NASA news, for
teachers to interest students in mathematics. The program was developed
by astronomer Sten Odenwald at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "The math problems
cover everything from black holes and space weather to the search for
life on other planets," said Odenwald.
Another free NASA resource follows the current Swift
Explorer Mission, giving real-time details of all the latest
discoveries from the Swift observatory. The Swift app, for iOS devices, features an
interactive map of the Earth showing Swift's current orbit, a map
showing recently discovered gamma-ray bursts with optical images and
data, and a gallery of images obtained by the Swift with full
descriptions.
Teacher Associations' Resource Recommendations
For educators who don't have the time to track down and
evaluate resources on their own, some teachers associations regularly
review and recommend multimedia science teaching materials. According
to the NSTA's Web
site, some of the current top-rated resources include DVD and CD-ROMs.
Best of Science, from Exemplars, is a
DVD set containing approximately 150 scientific activities for students
in grades K-5 on one disc and about 70 for grades 6-8 on another. The
activities cover topics in Earth, physical, and life sciences and are
aligned to state and national standards. The activities are indexed by
grade level, topic, and unifying concepts. The activities are designed
for teachers without a great deal of science background and "can be
easily integrated with some of the most popular science teaching kits,"
according to information released by the company.
BioBlast, from the Center for Educational Technologies, is a
multimedia software program with activities based on NASA research. As
a supplement to a high school biology curriculum, BioBlast
"incorporates basic biology with supporting sciences such as chemistry,
physics, mathematics, nutrition, astronomy, and statistics to engage
students in lunar research," according to an NSTA recommendation. Videos and virtual reality
panoramas introduce the NASA researchers and their specialties, and a
teacher's guide offers information on goals, materials, and other
resources. One space science problem students are challenged to plan
and test is a feasible life support system for a space crew of six.
The Starry
Night series of multimedia astronomy software packages has also
been recommended by the NSTA. There are separate editions designed for elementary, middle, and high school classes, including accompanying
curriculum materials. The Starry Night software offers graphs and
tools, including some activities that require high school-level math.
The centerpiece is a desktop planetarium that provides a flexible
interactive tour of the night sky that allows students to find
celestial objects--including man-made satellites--from anywhere on
Earth at any time. The package also includes DVDs containing movies
with segments that can be viewed independently or watched in their
entirety.
The National Earth Science Teachers Association's
(NESTA) recommendations include Web-based tools such as:
- Resources
for Earth Sciences and Geography Instruction, a Web site NESTA
recommends bookmarking "as a place to start your search for web-based
instructional resources." This site was created by Central Michigan
University and includes links to resources covering Earth and
environmental sciences, as well as lesson plans and teaching tips;
- The National Science
Digital Library, created by the National Science Foundation, is another site that
provides access to resources and tools that support teaching at all
levels of science, technology, and engineering; and
- The Digital Library for Earth Science Education
(DLESE) is a group effort involving educators, students, and scientists
working to "improve the quality, quantity, and efficiency of teaching
and learning about the Earth system at all levels," according to the
library's Web site. DLESE allows teachers to search educational
resources by "grade level, resource type, standard, or collection."
Simulations and Virtual Labs
Two other kinds of tools that science teachers can use to get their
students interacting with STEM concepts are computer simulations and
virtual labs that give users remote control of real-world lab equipment.
One example is Model-It, a visual modeling and simulation tool
for use on desktop computers. The program allows students to build,
test, and evaluate qualitative models that represent their own theories
about the scientific phenomena they have studied in class. They can
then run their own simulations in order to test their models and
describe what they think is taking place scientifically.
The PhET
Independent Simulations project, an initiative of the University of Colorado
at Boulder, began in 2004 and hosts more than 100 free simulations
covering physics, chemistry, biology, and calculus. Example simulations
include the ability to observe how light refracts through glass, water,
and other substances; run mock nuclear-fission reactions; manipulate
gravitational relationships between the planets and sun; or induce
genetic mutations in rabbits by disrupting their natural habitat.
Northwestern
University's iLabCentral
program is for high school students and links to scientific labs from
around the world. The program's activities, known as iLabs, can be
browsed by subject, grade level, or scientific device. In one iLab,
students remotely operate a Geiger counter to measure how the intensity
of radiation changes with distance.
e-Missions,
a distance learning program created by the Challenger Learning Center
at Wheeling Jesuit
University, offers 11 missions ranging from weather disasters to
space exploration. Each mission ends in a live videoconferenced event
where students make decisions based on changing information sent to
their classroom via satelite. eMissions include "teacher training and
support, online lesson plans and materials aligned with standards, and
technical support," according to information released by the center.
New Partnerships and Programs
Some school districts have also partnered with universities
and other research institutions to develop STEM-related curricula,
while others have launched dedicated science academies.
For example, Tennessee's Knox County Schools recently launched the Knoxville
STEM Academy where classroom learning will be supplemented with
outside expertise and internships with neighboring Oak Ridge National
Laboratory and the University of Tennessee. South Carolina's Horry County
Schools has unveiled an initiative offering concentrated coursework
in each of the individual STEM subjects, and South
Range Middle School in Ohio is implementing rotating classes,
including a robotics club, to expose students to the different STEM
fields.
Another example is the University of Arizona, Tucson (UA). This summer,
24 Arizona high school students gained hands-on experience in
scientific research during the fifth annual KEYS
(Keep Engaging Youth in Science) six-week internship program at the
university.
UA also went public October with plans to launch a new STEM center
to "promote stronger connections on and off campus, strengthening
efforts in STEM education, outreach, and research," according to
information released by the school.
"We have an incredible number of things happening across campus with
regard for STEM education, as we have for years, but sometimes we don't
know what other people are doing," said Bruce Johnson, who heads the
teaching, learning, and sociocultural studies department in UA's
College of Education and is interim co-director of the STEM Learning
Center. "It is also important because people want access, whether it be
a school, an informal education program, or a member of the public. But
people do not always know where to go. This will lead people."
The use of multimedia tools, online media repositories, and mobile
phone applications that allow students to easily record and transmit
scientific data from the field can all have an impact on the science
classroom. And while not all schools can go to the same lengths to
immerse their students in pricey high-tech virtual labs, many of these
tools are free or of minimal cost, and that may generate more STEM
curriculum and professional development opportunities for all school
districts.