|
#STEMSolve
The 2014 STEM Solutions Conference: Join the Conversation (U.S. News & World Report)
 You can't talk about STEM without talking about technology and social media. Follow the hashtag #STEMSolve for live Tweets of the entire U.S. News STEM Solutions conference, or use the hashtags for the break-out sessions and the handles for speakers, moderators and their organizations (below) to continue the conversation online.
AIR Experts to Provide Insights into STEM Education Issues at U.S. News STEM Solutions National Leadership Conference (PRWEB)
American Institutes for Research (AIR) experts Tracy Gray and Courtney Tanenbaum will present on the Common Career Technical Core career clusters and advancing STEM education for underserved youth during the U.S. News STEM Solutions National Leadership Conference April 23-25, 2014 in Washington, D.C., at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The conference, created by U.S. News & World Report and sponsored by more than 30 organizations, including AIR, brings together a network of national leaders and experts who are proactively working to develop student STEM skills and advance the future of the STEM workforce. Dr. Gray will present on a panel Wednesday, April 23 from 4:15 � 5:15 p.m., �Inside the New CTE Career Clusters (Session 2B).� It will explore the emerging Common Career Technical Core (CCTC) and related 16 �career clusters� effort.
2014 Best High Schools for STEM Rankings Methodology (U.S. News & World Report)
U.S. News & World Report's fourth annual Best High Schools for STEM rankings methodology was developed by U.S. News and is based on the key principle that students at the Best High Schools for STEM must participate in and pass a robust curriculum of college-level math and science courses. To be included in the U.S. News Best High Schools for STEM rankings, a public high school first had to be listed as a gold medal winner in the 2014 U.S. News Best High Schools rankings. That meant that the top 500 ranked high schools were eligible for the STEM rankings using data about their 2012 graduates. Those eligible schools were next judged nationally on their level of math and science participation and success, using Advanced Placement STEM test data for 2012 graduates as the benchmark to conduct the analysis. 
Industry
Student Network Day @ Cisco Live (Cisco)
College students in the Bay Area are invited to Cisco Live for a special day of mentorship. Simply put, each of us relies on networks everyday of our lives, both human and technological. As we mature our networks grow larger becoming more complex, more complete and more essential. This is what Cisco knows best and it�s why our largest corporate social responsibility program, Networking Academy, is hosting a day specifically for your with valuable education sessions and networking opportunities. Come and learn from industry leaders how the Internet of Everything is changing how the world works, lives, plays and learns. Understand how this is influencing jobs, how we give back to society, and how you can be best prepared as the future innovators of the world. Over 20,000 IT professionals from around the world come to Cisco Live to learn and train and you can be among them. By registering you will be able to visit the World of Solutions May 21 to discover technology solutions from over 200 exhibitors.
ATK to Exhibit STEM Capabilities at USA Science & Engineering Festival (SpaceRef)
ATK will exhibit at the 3rd USA Science & Engineering Festival April 25-27, 2014 in Washington, D.C. ATK will be located at Booth 1959 in Hall B of the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Visitors to the ATK booth will have an opportunity to interact with ATK scientists and engineers at various displays that demonstrate the company's capabilities in [STEM] fields. Additionally, ATK employee and retired NASA astronaut Brian Duffy will speak to attendees about his adventures in space at the NASA Stage on Saturday, April 26, at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. and on Sunday, April 27, at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Viewpoints
Glenn Hampson (Exec. Director, National Science Communication Institute): What do you mean by �STEM�? (Seattle Times)
IT�S been about 20 years since the term STEM was first introduced by the National Science Foundation. The original goal was to consolidate and promote the concerns of various interest groups all seeking better technical education and literacy. Today, STEM programs are everywhere, but their definitions and goals have morphed and their impacts have been difficult to assess. For one, STEM is defined differently by different groups across a wide gamut. Does it include blue-collar manufacturing work, just science research work or somewhere in between? Has there been growth in STEM employment over time? It depends what�s being measured.
Howard Root (Chief Executive, Vascular Solutions): No hard sciences? Then no job offer (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
Every year Vascular Solutions hires recent college graduates for our MedDevice Associate program, which is modeled as a working apprenticeship for medical device marketing managers and salespeople. Specific coursework related to medical devices isn�t a prerequisite for our program, but a candidate must demonstrate proficiency in learning and communicating complicated subjects � a skill we expect to be developed by a college education. We just finished interviewing for the 2014 class, and it was clear from most students� transcripts that their college curriculum did not serve them well in developing these essential skills.
Higher Education
ASU expands role in international engineering education alliance (ASU)
Arizona State University continues to foster stronger international economic education and research ties through its role in the Higher Engineering Education Alliance Program (HEEAP). The alliance recently hosted its second annual Vietnam Engineering Education Conference, drawing hundreds of government, industry and academic leaders from the United States and Vietnam. Their goal is to modernize engineering education in Vietnam to produce the more highly trained workforce necessary to boost the growth of the high-tech industry in Southeast Asia. The conference spurred progress in broadening business and education partnerships between the two countries, as well as setting the stage for open exchanges of research aimed at producing technological innovations.
Reports
Poll: Big Bang a big question for most Americans (AP)
While scientists believe the universe began with a Big Bang, most Americans put a big question mark on the concept, an Associated Press-GfK poll found. Yet when it comes to smoking causing cancer or that a genetic code determines who we are, the doubts disappear. When considering concepts scientists consider truths, Americans have more skepticism than confidence in those that are farther away from our bodies in scope and time: global warming, the age of the Earth and evolution and especially the Big Bang from 13.8 billion years ago. "Science ignorance is pervasive in our society, and these attitudes are reinforced when some of our leaders are openly antagonistic to established facts," said 2013 Nobel Prize in medicine winner Randy Schekman of the University of California, Berkeley.
STEM Competitions
PilotPDX plans high school hackathon with Intel to boost computer science education (Oregonian)
A national group called Pilot plans a free, all-day hackathon at Jesuit High School this month to help boost interest in computer science education, joined by several mentors from event sponsor Intel. PilotPDX is a free, 12-hour event open to any high school student. The hackathon sorts students into teams to conjure ideas, then collaborate in bringing those ideas to fruition and showing off the result. The event begins at 9:30 a.m. on April 26 and includes lunch, a snack and dinner. It wraps up at 9 p.m. Jesuit High School junior Charvi Bhargava initiated the Portland event after learning about a Pilot program in Philadelphia
Wyoming
Valerie Strauss: Who is mucking up science education? (Washington Post)
Who is mucking up science education? Scientists or politicians? Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead�s education policy adviser, Mary Kay Hill, has sent a letter to John Friedrich, senior campaigner for Climate Parents, a group dedicated to preserving the Earth�s changing climate, saying that Mead has been concerned that scientists are mucking around with science education. The scientists, it seems to Mead (R), are making political conclusions � not observations based on overwhelming research � when they say that human activity is changing Earth�s climate. In March, Wyoming�s legislature blocked the Next Generation Science Standards..
Pennsylvania
Governor Corbett Promotes STEM (WTAJ)
Governor Tom Corbett toured the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh today to learn the benefit of educational programs that connect science and technology with everyday life. The Science Center is an essential part of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by supporting classroom instruction with hands-on learning and real-world experiences. Educators across the region make use of the Science Center to extend learning outside the classroom, thereby allowing students to connect in-school studies to STEM careers.
STEM Innovation
The Top 10 Most Innovative Sustainable Buildings Of 2014 (Fast Co.Exist)
 By next year, as much as 48% of new non-residential building construction will be green, according to estimates. Sustainable architecture is no longer rare, and that�s something that�s happened fairly quickly--from 2005 to 2012, the number of new green building designs jumped up 39%. So when there�s an award for the best sustainable architecture, it�s no longer enough to have just a few ad hoc features, like rooftop solar panels or a rainwater collection system. A new roundup of the top 10 current examples of sustainable architecture--selected by the American Institute of Architects' Committee on the Environment--showcase projects that have a �thoroughly integrated� approach to sustainable design. At Arizona State University, a sterile and unwelcoming health clinic was transformed into a light-filled LEED-Platinum building.
STEM Food & Ag
USDA Announces $150 Million Investment Fund to Grow Small Businesses, Create Jobs in Rural America (USDA)
.jpg) As part of the Obama Administration's new "Made in Rural America" export and investment initiative, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the creation of a new investment fund that will help propel the growth of small businesses across rural America. The new Rural Business Investment Company (RBIC) will now allow USDA to facilitate private equity investments in agriculture-related businesses. Currently, USDA programs exist to help provide loans or loan guarantees to help rural businesses grow, but many small cutting-edge businesses also need equity support in addition to or instead of borrowed funds. |
 |
Stay Connected
      
 STEMconnector�
Siemens Foundation and Discovery Education Announce Winners of the 2014 Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge
 Today, the Siemens Foundation and Discovery Education announced the national winners of the sixth annual Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge, the nation�s premier national environmental sustainability challenge that provides K-12 students with the tools and inspiration to improve their schools, communities and world. As part of the 2014 Challenge, elementary, middle and high school students across the country identified environmental issues in their schools and communities and created replicable solutions using digital curriculum designed by Discovery Education. �Now, more than ever, environmental issues are at the forefront of our national discussion. These students bring fresh perspectives with new and exciting solutions that affect change,� said David Etzwiler, CEO of the Siemens Foundation. �The Siemens Foundation and Siemens� 53,000 employees are inspired by the innovation of these students.� �Participating in the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge gave my students an opportunity to put the science they learn in the classroom to work in the real world,� said Scott Bolen, teacher and mentor to the first place high school winners of the 2013 Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge. �By the end of the project my students were not only advancing their science skills, they were developing a passion for science and the environment that will serve them well as both students and citizens for years to come.� In addition to other prizes, the high school first place winning team receives $50,000 in scholarship money. Each student on the middle school first place winning team will receive a $10,000 savings bond along with a Discovery Student Adventure trip to Alaska. The first place elementary school winners in K-2 and 3-5 are each invited to a Discovery Education assembly focusing on sustainability, at which time a $5,000 grant will be given to each school.
At the USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo: Check Out the Excitement of the Women's Hackathon Awards Ceremony!
 Microsoft's International Women's Hackathon is a dynamic competition to empower university women students in computer science. Be in the audience at the Expo when the Festival connects via Skype to university campuses worldwide with participants of the Hackathon. And later, share in the excitement with other future leaders in technology by taking part in the awards ceremony for winners of the competition!
The EdTech Weekly Report: April 21, 2014
 Top stories from this week's all-new edition of the EdTech Weekly Report include Syracuse and Marist University teaming up to provide online eduation in computing operations, how some colleges are providing free e-textbooks, it's a great time to be an EdTech startup, student-assessment technology startup Naiku raises $1M from Gopher Angels, and much more!
Application Open for 2015 KSTF Teaching Fellowships
 The Knowles Science Teaching Foundation (KSTF) today announced the availability of applications for 2015 Teaching Fellowships. Valued at approximately $150,000, the prestigious five-year Fellowships are awarded to early-career teachers who are committed to teaching science, technology, engineering and/or mathematics (STEM) in high schools nationwide. The application deadline is 12 a.m. PST on October 29, 2014. �The KSTF Teaching Fellowship Program offers access to a network of professionals dedicated to a common cause�improving math and science education,� said Nicole Gillespie, KSTF�s Executive Director. �The program has been refined and improved over the past decade, and is highly effective at retaining the most promising beginning teachers, supporting them to become leaders and change agents in the profession.� |
