STEM
“Mystery Device” Makes Math Fun
Proving that learning math can be fun, Dor Abrahamson, assistant professor of cognition and development at UC Berkeley, demonstrates Kinemathics from the Mathematic Imagery Trainer at the recent Cyberlearning Tools for STEM Education conference. The premise is to teach kids in grades 4-6 how to remote-manipulate virtual objects on a computer screen in order to [...]
Can a Smart Phone Program Really Close the Achievement Gap?
Students from different geographic regions communicate socially, but also to help each other achieve the common goal of succeeding at Algebra 1. When asked what tech tools students would like to use in learning science and math, their reply was no surprise: “They said they wanted something that would utilize social networking technology — something [...]
Virtual Worlds in the Hands of Student Scientists
Can video games really work as a learning tool? If so, what happens to the role of the teacher in this realm? Chris Dede and his colleagues at Harvard Graduate School of Education have been working on testing these theories and have come up with fascinating results. I spoke with Dede at the Cyberlearning Tools [...]
Video Games and Simulations Bring Science to Life
Science textbooks might be gathering dust in some classrooms across the country, but that doesn’t mean students aren’t learning. Whether it’s determining if cell phone radiation is harmful or it’s using the premise of Space Invaders to calculate probabilities, some lucky students are using the latest high tech to learn science and theories. As the [...]
Scientists Recruit Students for Research
By Sara Bernard Scientists have figured out a way to leverage student enthusiasm in the sciences: conduct research that can be used for data collection. So when ornithologists at Cornell University study breeding and nesting behavior, when NASA researchers need an extra few thousand pairs of eyes on a telescope, and when biologists and gardeners [...]
Can Corporate Funding Boost STEM Education?
By Sara Bernard Last fall, the Obama Administration launched Change the Equation, a nonprofit that matches funds from corporations to programs that promote science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Through Change the Equation, corporations like ExxonMobil, Dell Computers and Lockheed Martin, for example, have invested in a program that funds advanced placement classes in math [...]
Dismal Science Scores in U.S. Public Schools
The latest news from the National Assessment of Educational Program (NAEP) scores released yesterday: Major achievement gaps between racial and ethnic groups, dismal science aptitude, and failure to “reach a basic level of achievement” among the fourth- and eighth-graders tested, according to the Washington Post. From the Post article by Nick Anderson: About two-thirds of [...]
A Call Out for Bright Ideas at STEMposium
Students, teachers, and educational innovators are invited to share their ideas online on how to teach, learn and engage in science, technology, engineering, and math by uploading their videos through STEMposium. Creators of the most compelling 60-second videos be invited to speak at the STEMposium Event on April 1 at the California Academy of Sciences [...]
Innovation, Education, and Makers
A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of working for O’Reilly Media as the editor-in-chief of Craft Magazine. Even before I’d started working there, I attended the first two Maker Faire events, and was amazed by what I saw: part county fair, part science fair, part craft fair, a huge gathering of folks [...]
Bringing Girls to Engineering, a Teacher’s Quest
By Katie Stansberry With one phone call, Amir Abo-Shaeer’s life changed drastically. Amir has worked as a physics teacher at Dos Pueblos High School in Santa Barbara, California for the last nine years. Two weeks ago he got a phone call from a representative at the MacArthur Foundation informing the public educator that he was [...]
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