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Diversity in STEM
Coding Camp for Minority Boys Where Mentors Make a Big Difference (Mind/Shift)
On the second floor of Morgan State Universitys engineering building, Jacob Walker, 12, is putting the finishing touches on a ruler hes just created. Not yet an actual ruler. One hes designing on the computer. He just needs to add his initials then its time to produce it on a 3-D printer. Jacob starts seventh grade in the fall and has big dreams. Building this ruler is all part of the plan. When I was a child, he says, I loved to play with Legos, and it inspired me to be an engineer when I get older. Jacob is one of some 50 boys in this free, four-week camp at Morgan State. Its called the Minority Male Makers Program paid for by Verizon. Students learn to code, design apps, create products even build a business plan.
Recessions Nudge More Women Into Science Jobs (TIME)
Encouraging more women to pursue careers in [STEM] is a worthy goal, given the potential payoff for our economy and for women who get jobs in these higher-paying fields. One surprising way to make it happen: Suffer through a recession. New research has found that increased unemployment leads both genders to move toward fields associated with better earnings and job prospects, and that women are more likely to shift their majors in that direction than men. The switch to more math-intensive majors suggests that there is a large pool of students who are capable of succeeding in these fields even if they might choose other areas of study in better economic times, according to a paper published by Institute for the Study of Labor, a German research center. 
Government
NSF invests in science and engineering infrastructure across the nation (NSF)
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded four jurisdictions with grants ranging from $6 million to $20 million through its Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program for the production of world-class research and scientific resources. The Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) Track-1 cooperative agreements will bolster science and engineering academic research infrastructure on the Island of Guam and in three states: Arkansas, Louisiana and West Virginia. Each award will support fundamental research, education in [STEM] fields, as well as workforce development in areas relevant to the jurisdictions' economic and other vital interests.
Higher Education
UNO to launch first STEM training program for freshman class (The Times-Picayune)
The University of New Orleans is holding its first five-day training program for 45 students in its incoming freshman class who plan to pursue [STEM]. The STEM Scholars program, which runs Aug. 5-10, is intended to encourage participating students to stick with STEM disciplines through the rest of their college career. "We are launching this program to give STEM freshmen that extra push they need to do well academically, feel comfortable in their new college life and establish relationships that will carry through their time at UNO," said Wendy Schluchter, professor and chair of biological sciences at UNO. The program will teach biology, algebra and calculus, allowing students to attend lectures from faculty in these fields and receive guidance from peer mentors.
VVC celebrates year of STEM success (Victorville Daily Press)
Victor Valley College continues to reap the benefits of the $120,000 grant they received for their [STEM] departments that transformed their year of STEM fundraiser overnight last January. After preparing a full campaign proposal targeted toward advancing the math department, the VVC foundation completely shifted within hours from m to STEM after an urgent need was brought forth from math department chair Steve Toner. Foundation Director Ginger Ontiveros said that Toner said he felt guilty for his department to receive all of foundations help after he attended a staff meeting in which he found out about the biology departments failing autoclave.
STEM Jobs
The Top-Paying STEM Jobs For Recent College Graduates (Forbes)
[STEM jobs] not only account for 6.2% of jobs in the United States as of 2014, many of them pay wages well above the U.S. all-occupations average, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. What can newly-minted professionals embarking on STEM careers expect to earn? To determine the top paying STEM jobs for recent graduates, Forbes worked with compensation information site Payscale.com to obtain salary data for STEM jobs, as defined by the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Information Network (O*NET). The data provided applies to candidates with three years of experience in their job or field or less and a Bachelors degree. "
Is the skills gap real? (Boston Globe)
KENNETH MANDILE STROLLS across his factory floor, a converted mattress warehouse churning out precision parts for everything from endoscopes to guns. The factory in the central Massachusetts town of Oxford is purring loudly this afternoon, but Mandile, who is the president and owner of Swissturn/USA, has his concerns. His father founded the company, and the younger Mandile began pitching in at age 11, cleaning floors and sorting parts. And for as long as he can remember, hes fretted about finding workers to operate the machinery responsible for the satisfying hum. Ever since Ive been in the business, he says, weve complained about skilled labor.
K-12 Education
Yakima, Wash., Youngsters Mix Legos, Science Education (AP)
Most K-2 students wouldn't dare go into a school library in an empty school on a sunny summer morning much less to learn about Isaac Newton. But that is what happened recently at Roosevelt Elementary, when 20 of the brightest young minds in Yakima committed a few hours a day to learn about the mathematician-physicist's three laws of motion. The concepts of moving or stationary objects inertia, force and equal but opposite reactions were not lost on the students, part of the Yakima School District's Highly Capable program. The weeklong program was run by Bricks 4 Kidz, a national business with a franchise in Yakima.
Farmington schools awarded $137,000 grant for STEM programs (Farmington Daily Times)
The Farmington Municipal School District receive $137,000 to establish after-school [STEM] programs, thanks to a partnership between New Mexico State University and Arizona Public Service. The APS Foundation awarded the NMSU STEM Outreach Center a $137,000 grant to start two after-school STEM programs for Farmington elementary and middle school students. The grant was one of 17 awarded by the foundation on June 22 to nonprofit organizations, according to an APS Foundation press release. The total amount awarded was more than $1.4 million. The district is working on implementing the two programs at its 10 elementary schools and four middle schools, said Valerie Tulley, executive director of curriculum and instruction at Farmington schools.
Arkansas
State booting up computer-science courses (Arkansas Online)
This fall, the Natural State will be the first in which every high school and charter school offers at least one computer-science course. But for the inaugural year of Gov. Asa Hutchinson's Computer Science Initiative, much of the instruction about what goes on behind a computer screen will be delivered through one, via digital courses offered by Virtual Arkansas or by the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts in Hot Springs. Virtual Arkansas is an Arkansas-based program that provides digital instruction through a partnership between the state Department of Education and the Arkansas Education Service Cooperatives.
Iowa
Branstad touts STEM learning, defends education funding veto (KCCI)
Gov. Terry Branstad is touting Iowa's progress with STEM education as he continues to defend his veto of some one-time education spending. Branstad on Monday said he wants to provide resources to specific priorities, like programs focused on [STEM]. He said providing increases to school districts and giving more discretion to superintendents is not producing the best results. The Republican governor said he wants to provide education dollars in a "strategic and specific" way. He recently vetoed $55.7 million in one-time school funding. Educators have criticized the move, saying it will lead to larger class sizes and less money for supplies.
STEM Food & Ag
10 Lab-Made Meats, Cheeses And Other Odd Startup Foods [SLIDESHOW] (TechCrunch)
 Lab-grown hamburgers and Jarlsburg in a test tube? Several Silicon Valley scientists are producing edibles of the truly bizarre inside their labs or mixing up animal substitutes based on some interesting ingredients. Naturally (or not so much) were here to take you on a tour of some of this fascinating fare. Got milk? Muufri wants to provide the white stuff to vegans by creating it in a lab instead of inside a cow. The startup uses genetically modified yeast to produce the same biologically identical liquid as that found shooting from the udders of ruminant beasts. Muufri believes brewing the stuff using microorganisms to be a healthier and more humane alternative to feed a growing population of humans throughout the world. |
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 STEMconnector®
PSEG Grants Stevens Institute of Technology $250,000 Towards Construction of SURE HOUSE
 Further supporting its commitment to STEM, the PSEG Foundation has granted Stevens Institute of Technology $250,000 towards the completion of the University's Solar Decathlon entry, SURE HOUSE. The SURE (SUstainable and REsilient) HOUSE is Stevens' entry into the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon competition and represents the schools' vision of a sustainable and resilient home for the areas at greatest risk during extreme weather. The student-built, net-zero, solar-powered home is currently being built in Hoboken, New Jersey and will soon be shipped to Irvine, California for entry into the competition. After the Solar Decathlon, it is planned that the SURE HOUSE will be donated to Seaside Park, N.J. where it will serve as a public education facility addressing sustainable and resilient approaches to housing, especially in coastal communities and to the resources that support these communities.
STEM Innovation Task Force (SITF) Releases White Paper: Focus on Employability Skills for STEM Workers Points to Experiential Learning
 The STEM Innovation Task Force (SITF), an initiative of STEMconnector® comprised of over 30 cross-sector leaders working on collaborative approaches to address the STEM talent pipeline, released a white paper at the tri-annual STEM Councils meeting on July 22nd which details the importance of employability skills for STEM careers and identifies Career-Focused Experiential Learning (CFEL) as the best way for students to obtain these skills. The white paper, entitled Focus on Employability Skills for STEM Workers Points to Experiential Learning, builds off of the SITFs previous white paper STEM 2.0-An Imperative for Our Future Workforce, which outlined four Capability Platforms (CPs) or skill sets that the SITF identified as being critical for STEM professionals to master in order to succeed in tomorrows economy. Employability Skills 2.0 was foremost among these CPs.
STEMconnector and MIND Research Institute to Host Town Hall on Game-Based Learning
 STEMconnector®, in collaboration with MIND Research Institute, will host a STEM Town Hall on August 25th entitled "Leveraging Game-Based Learning to Increase STEM Engagement." The Town Hall will take place from 2-3:30 pm, and will be hosted via Google+ Hangouts On Air. Further details and a link to the event page are provided upon registration. For this event, we look beyond the achievement gap and into the "experience gap" where too many students are lacking the rich mathematical experiences that lead to deeper mathematical understanding and greater joy in the learning process. In a STEM-focused world, students of all backgrounds need these experiences to see themselves as capable mathematical thinkers and problem solvers. Find out about how a new MathMINDs movement is bringing hands-on mathematical experiences to families and communities, through activities including the National K-12 Game-a-thon and Math Fair. |
