Kara Kennedy, in the “Women 2.0” section for Forbes (8/6, Kennedy), lists five ways businesses can encourage female students to enter STEM fields: host a visit to a facility; speak in classrooms; engage students in ways to solve “real-world problems;” provide summer internships; and offer incentives to employees to mentor students. Kennedy believes these measures will “engage and inspire students.”
Verizon Campaign For Girls In STEM Goes Viral
NBC News (6/26) reports on its website that Verizon has launched a campaign called “Inspire Her Mind” that is designed to make the case for women in STEM, and a commercial from the campaign has “gone viral.” The video shows how a girl’s interest in science gets overlooked by her parents and ends with a message from “Reshma Saujani, founder of Girls Who Code: ‘Isn’t it time we told her she’s pretty brilliant, too?.’” The video points out that “66 percent of fourth grade girls say they like science and math, but only 18 percent of all college engineering majors are female.”
Education Execs Urge Teachers To Become “Makers” Of Innovation
Dr. Joseph Wilson, managing director of Teach For America’s math and science initiative, and Dr. Anne Jones, senior vice president and chief programs officer of Project Lead The Way, write in an op-ed for US News & World Report (6/19) about how “the classroom is often the nucleus for innovation.” They point out that teachers and students were among those at the “first-ever Maker Faire” at the White House this week, and they say a group of education-minded organizations are urging teachers “to pledge to be Maker Teachers” who will “share ideas, resources, and opportunities” and use “tools such as the Innovation Portal, a free online platform” to “allow students to create and share design portfolios.” The groups behind the pledge request are Teach For America, the Digital Harbor Foundation, Project Lead The Way, and STEMConnector.
Teacher Lists Six Characteristics Of Great STEM Lessons.
Former Teacher of The Year Anne Jolly writes in Education Week (6/17, Jolly) on the basic components of STEM education and gives a list of “six characteristics of a great STEM lesson.” The six characteristics are: lessons focus on real-world issues and problems, lessons are guided by the engineering and design process, lessons immerse student in hands-on inquiry and open-ended exploration, lessons involve students in productive teamwork, lessons apply rigorous math and science content your students are learning.
Call For Greater Focus On Computers In STEM Education
Evan Charles, the founder of Launch Academy, writes in an op-ed in US News & World Report, “Focusing on STEM is a smart investment based on pretty solid evidence,” but adds that the thrust of the focus may be misplaced. Charles cites research predicting most future STEM jobs will be in computing and suggests we should invest in computer education, noting that computer skills are becoming “essential” even in non-STEM areas. He argues that computer literacy should be a core component of middle and high school education, but focuses on coding camps as a solution because they “address the problem more quickly and directly than changes to our overall education can or will.”
Panel Discusses Common Core Backlash
US News & World Report (4/24) reports that Massachusetts Commissioner Mitchell Chester and Council of Chief State School Officers Executive Director Chris Minnich took part in a US News “STEM Solutions Conference” this week “to discuss the political backlash growing in many states, and how the implementation of Common Core will play out moving forward.” Both participants “acknowledged there have been challenges stemming from the growing opposition,” but expressed confidence that “the standards will move forward and prove beneficial to students and teachers.”
Editorial: STEM Topics Important For Students
An editorial in the Rocky Mount (NC) Telegram (4/14) notes that students at Englewood Elementary School participated in various activities “to expose them to science, technology, engineering, art and math in a fun way.” The paper argues that students exposed to STEM fields at a young age “will be more likely to develop an appreciation for those” subjects. The editorial also notes that Nash Community College will also host several science and technology themed events over the summer for middle school and high school students. The Telegram concludes that it is important for students to have “knowledge and appreciation of STEM topics” in order to participate in the global economy.
New America Media On Technology’s Impact On Education
The New America Media (4/2, Florez) reports that technology is already having a huge impact on education in the United States in terms of the needs of the students and school curriculums. The New American Media reports technology has created a gap between high and low income schools. According to the New American Media, “students in” low-income “schools typically access the Internet less often than students in wealthier areas, while nearly two-thirds of teachers working in low-income schools said they wanted more technology in the classroom.” Meanwhile, those who have the resources are demanding more Internet bandwidth, “in part because more schools are using online resources.” The New American Media also reports that “by 2022, the Federal government expects 1 million more tech jobs than workers available to fill them,” which means that schools across the country will need to place a greater emphasis on STEM subjects.
California Educators, Businesses Look To Boost STEM Programs
On its website, KPBS-TV San Diego (11/18, Adler) reported a two-day STEM conference that started yesterday is drawing education, business and philanthropy leaders to Sacramento. They are looking at how to expand STEM programs in California schools. California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said, “There are tens of thousands of jobs in engineering and science — in this state, today — that are unfilled, that employers cannot find the talent to do the inventing, to do the improvements in technology that will make for a better life and a strong economy.”
