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Industry
BASF grants $100K to local schools for science education (Daily Record)
The BASF Corp. donated $100,000 to support science education programs in 20 New Jersey schools, including six in Morris County. The BASF Science Education Grants, each totaling $5,000, will enhance [STEM] related learning for students. Morris schools receiving funding are Black River Middle School in Chester, Dover Middle School, Millington School, Morristown High School, Mountain Lakes High School, and West Morris Central High School. Each year, BASF invites New Jersey schools to submit proposals summarizing their specific science education needs and how a grant would help them meet those needs.
Beavercreek schools receives donated 727 (Xenia Gazette)
FedEx�s last remaining revenue fleet Boeing 727 touched down for the final time in the Dayton area Thursday morning, and it didn�t do so unheralded. A large crowd of students, local officials and businesspeople braved the chilly morning air and cheered as they watched the cargo plane fly over twice and eventually land as part of a ceremony in which FedEx completed its donation of the plane to Beavercreek City Schools. Now that the plane has completed its last flight, it will rest at the Dayton International Airport while it is readied for its second life: a STEM classroom for area students. The project is a partnership which includes the Dayton airport, Wright State University and Clark State Community College. 
Diversity in STEM
Black Girls Stand a Better Chance in STEM (The Atlantic)
For years researchers have assessed how gender stereotypes discourage girls in science. Lots of institutions, both academic and cultural, have taken steps to show girls that not all scientists are men, publishing historical biographies on women in science and adding female scientist Legos to instill the idea that women can be scientists from a young age. But new research indicates that girls exposed to stereotypes about women in STEM elicit different responses from girls of different races. "I feel like we�ve been studying [all] women in STEM, but what we�ve been really studying is white women," said Laurie O�Brien, a philosophy professor at Tulane University in New Orleans and the lead author of the new study.
#WomenInSTEM: Stepping Stones From One Career to Another [VIDEO] (Dept. of Energy)
Meet Cheryl Martin, Acting Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E) and the latest profile in the Energy Department�s #WomenInSTEM video series. Her work focuses on catalyzing the advancement of transformational energy technologies that will allow the United States to stay at the cutting edge of technological innovation. Cheryl�s love for STEM began in high school, where she wrote up lessons from her chemistry class in the school newspaper, creating cost-benefit ratios of experiments from class. This interdisciplinary love of communicating about the business of science carried over as she pursued higher education.
UMD launches center to boost women involvement in computer science (The Diamondback)
While national statistics show women are underrepresented in computer science employment and education, university officials said they hope to help women become more involved in the field with the resources of a new center. University officials formally launched the Maryland Center for Women in Computing, which aims to foster a community of women who study computer science at this university, while also conducting outreach to bring a computing appreciation to more young women, at an even Friday afternoon. At this university, less than 15 percent of undergraduates who declared a computer science major were women as of the fall 2014 semester, according to university data.
Hands-On Learning and Mentorship Are Encouraging More Women in the STEM Pipeline (The Atlantic)
It�s just after 3:30 p.m. on Monday at Oakland Tech. Many of the large public high school�s 2,100 students, eager to be done with the first school day of the week early in the year, have already streamed out into a perfect 74-degree Northern California afternoon. Inside, 25 girls are now seated around tables in pairs or clusters of four. A few strip and cut wires. Others tinker with tiny Light bulbs, coin cell batteries and conductive tape. Slowly, the LED-equipped wind chimes that the teams designed themselves are taking shape, some working a bit better than others at lighting up when the breeze blows. By the end of the year, the girls who graduate from the Techbridge after-school program will have experimented with Arduino electronics platforms, breadboards, 3-D printers, soldering irons and other tools that any electrical engineer or maker would know.
Higher Education
Teachers try new approach by Iowa professor (AP)
When University of Iowa education professor Brian Hand talks about the basic components of the Science Writing Heuristic approach he developed and has been teaching for the past 16 years � asking questions, gathering data, making claims � it doesn't sound like a paradigm-shattering learning tool. It just sounds like good science. Yet for thousands of science teachers around the world � along with more than 20,000 students � SWH training has meant throwing away old, tried-and-true lesson plans and adapting to an approach in which they won't know for sure what tomorrow's lesson plan will be until they've finished today's science class, the Iowa City Press-Citizen reported.
Lakeland receives $840,000 gift from manufacturing exec (Sheboygan Press)
More than 45 years after graduating with a bachelor�s degree from Lakeland College, Cliff Feldmann, president of Sheboygan Falls-based Feldmann Engineering and Manufacturing Co. and a resident of Florida, recently donated $840,000 to Lakeland�s natural sciences division, the college announced last week. According to a news release from the college, the money will set in motion significant expansion of the Lakeland Undergraduate Research Experience, fund cutting-edge equipment that will provide new student research opportunities and create new scholarships designed to attract top-tier, high-achieving students from throughout the Midwest.
Reports
You Can't Educate People Into Believing in Evolution (The Atlantic)
According to a new report by Calvin College assistant professor Jonathan Hill, many Americans do not think it's that important to have the "correct beliefs" on the origins of human life. His research was funded by the BioLogos Foundation, a pro-evolution, Christian organization founded by National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins. "It�s important to know that a large portion of the population is unsure about their beliefs, and there is a large portion of the population that doesn�t care," Hill said in an interview.
New Jersey
Dwight-Englewood marks progress on $20M STEM building (NorthJersey)
"We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us," said Winston Churchill, the British prime minister during World War II. And that quote was the starting point for the concept behind the new $20 million Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics building rising on the campus of The Dwight-Englewood School on Palisade Avenue, the school�s head, Rodney De Jarnett, said Sunday. With the steel skeleton of the two-story building rising in the background under a beautiful blue autumn sky, De Jarnett met with donors to the project to give them the chance to put their signatures on two white-painted I-beams that will be hoisted into position as the last two girders in the structure�s roof.
Delsea Regional named state finalist in Samsung STEM competition (South Jersey Times)
Delsea Regional High School recently announced it was one of five schools in the state to be a finalist in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow contest. The nationwide competition challenges teachers and students to increase interest in [STEM] and bring it to local communities. "I'm proud of it," Delsea STEM teacher David Doyle said about the school being a finalist in the competition. "I'm looking forward to how our students respond to the design challenge." This is the first year Delsea has had a STEM program and the first time they were a state finalist in the contest.
Texas
State Board of Education increases math standards (KXXV)
The State Board of Education met Thursday afternoon to discuss the recent changes in math standards for students up to the 8th grade. This year, the State Board of Education increased math standards for students from kindergarten to 8th grade. The new TEK standards include several years of advanced math put into one, and will include more finance, probability, and statistics. Those new standards will specifically students from the 3rd to 8th grade who will see these levels on the STAAR tests they take every year. Association of Texas Professional Educators lobbyists say that although the new standards were written with help from Texas math teachers, they have received negative feedback from teachers and parents. Some teachers are worried that the advanced math will be too much for students to learn at one time. |
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STEM Higher Education Council December 3rd Town Hall
 Please register now for our upcoming Town Hall Google+ Hangout! The December 3rd Town Hall will allow members to highlight how they are driving meaningful change in higher education. We will also showcase our upcoming book, Advancing a Jobs-Driven Economy: Higher Education and Business Partnerships Lead The Way. Confirmed speakers include Rob Denson (President, DMACC), Martha Kanter (Former Under Secretary, Dept. of Education), Dr. Mitzi Montoya (VP & Dean for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, ASU), Dr. Chad Womack (Director of Science Education Initiatives, UNCF), Dr. Andrew Grosovsky (Dean of College of Science and Mathematics, UMASS-Boston), and many more!
100 Diverse Corporate Leaders in STEM - Kimberly Foster Price of 3M
 Kimberly Foster Price serves as Vice President of 3Mgives. In this role, Price leads the development and implementation of 3M�s global strategic philanthropy and community engagement, including oversight of the 3M Foundation. "I am a firm believer in mentoring. I have reaped the benefits of having great mentors throughout my career and I have had the privilege of being a mentor. I have found mentoring to be extremely rewarding. At 3M, mentoring has proven to be one of the most effective ways to encourage women and students of color to pursue math and science careers. Mentoring gives students a connection to someone in the field who can help with career-related questions, provide personal support and guidance and expose students to the life-long benefits of a STEM career."
FACT SHEET: ConnectED to the Future
 President Obama hosts school leaders and educators from across the country at the White House for �ConnectED to the Future,� a day-long convening to explore the potential of education technology and the innovations needed to bring America�s schools into the digital age. At the event, the President will launch his Administration�s effort to assist school leaders in their transition to digital learning, following his plan to connect 99 percent of America�s students high-speed broadband internet in their schools and libraries. The President will applaud superintendents across the country that will collaborate with students, educators, and parents to become �Future Ready.�
Number of High School Graduates Who Plan to Teach STEM Low, Unlikely to Meet Expected Demand
 Despite high interest in STEM overall, the number of 2014 high school graduates who plan to teach STEM subject areas is small and unlikely to meet future demand, according to The Condition of STEM 2014, a new report released today by ACT. |
