|
Higher Education
Oak Ridge report shows nuclear engineering grads on the rise (Knoxville News Sentinel)
The number of nuclear engineering graduates increased at U.S. universities in 2015, resuming a growth trend that was interrupted by a one-year dip in 2014. That was among the findings of an annual study conducted by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education. The institute surveyed 35 universities with nuclear engineering programs, including the University of Tennessee. UT has one of the largest programs and last year awarded 40 bachelor's degrees in nuclear engineering, 28 master's degrees, and nine doctorates.
Building Californias initial college, career readiness metric could prove challenging (EdSource)
A new metric to evaluate how well California high schools prepare students for college and careers could include everything from Advanced Placement scores and career technical education enrollment figures to the number of bilingual graduates. State education officials are considering at least a dozen elements as they create Californias first tool to gauge college and career readiness at high schools, a component that would meet new guidelines set by both the federal Every Student Succeeds Act and the states Local Control Funding Formula. The state Board of Education earlier this month voted to direct Department of Education staff to develop a college and career readiness metric that could be adopted in September and implemented in the 2017-18 school year.
K-12
Next Generation or not, science standards coming to WV schools (West Virginia Gazette)
For all the controversy involving the West Virginia Board of Education and the Legislature over the states adoption of Next Generation Science Standards, which will take effect statewide next school year, the National Science Teachers Association doesnt recognize that West Virginia actually adopted them. National Science Teachers Association Executive Director David Evans, whose organization helped develop the standards, said thats because of West Virginias change to just one performance expectation in the standards. Performance expectations such as ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century are the leading portions of the standards that tell teachers what students must learn to do.
Texas Math Standards Look Suspiciously Familiar (Slate)
Karen Demore booms. She stomps. She makes a mess. Shes one of those teachers kids cant get enough of. On a recent Tuesday, she stood at the back of her cluttered third-grade math classroom, presiding over a set of scales weighed down on one side with two textbooks1 kilogram total. The kids ran around the room, eagerly looking for objects that would balance the other side. They jostled into a line and then took turns gingerly placing their chosen objects on the scale. A bottle of water? NO! Demore bellowed. A pile of notebooks? NO! A jug of orange juice? NO! The third-graders giggled as, one after another, they failed. As Demore moved on to the next part of the lesson, the textbooks stayed closed. Instead, she directed two students to flip a desk and balance it upside down on a step scale. Giovanni Avila, 8, grinned. Miss, this is fun! he said.
Teaching Our Youth About STEM (LinkedIn)
Growing up, I was incredibly fortunate to be mentored in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in an interdisciplinary and applied approach). My earliest memories are of my father, Robert Williamson, drawing either an equation or an image on a napkin. In fact, many of my friends through High School got to experience the magic of my dad's napkin lessons while at the dinner table. Well today, Thursday May 26 2016, my father upgraded his lesson medium to PowerPoint. A session, over 8 months in the planning which had the full support of NASA and The Space Telescope Science Institute (Thank You!), was flawless as my father (who celebrates his 90th birthday this August!) delivered a presentation to the 5th Grade Class of the Sherman Elementary School. What some students have described as "the most amazing presentation ever" would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of Science Teacher Mr. Stephen Rianhard and the School Administration.
Makerspace
Yakama Nation students find success with prosthetics (Chron)
In a building just outside the main Yakama Nation Tribal School, its MESA prosthetics team has turned a classroom into a workshop. A 3-D printer hides behind a poster board. A clay oven is covered just outside the room. And there are tools everywhere. Here, one can tell students have been at work on something in this case, prosthetic arms. The school's STEM teacher and team supervisor, Bill Razey, takes pride in what they've accomplished, calling the four students a "dream team" determined to make something of note, the Yakima Herald-Republic reported. "I think all kids want to get their hands on projects, don't you?" he said. "They just don't want to be sitting down and reading." Team members Temina Holt, Isiah Strom, Noah Pastrana and Justin Strom, all sophomores, put their hands-on learning to good use by developing from scratch four prosthetic arms along with mastering lessons in science, technology, engineering and math.
Students' creativity shines through in LEGO challenge (This Week)
Waiting for students from Duxberry Parks Arts IMPACT Elementary School to arrive for the very first Million LEGOs for Kids Challenge, Mozart's Bakery and Piano Cafe owner Anand Saha was simply beaming. "This is a dream come true," he said. That dream, which culminated in students from the East Maynard Avenue school assembling at the North High Street restaurant Saha owns with his wife, Doris, began in April 2012. That was when Anand Saha began to realize not only how much fun his then-9-year-old son, Colin, derived from playing with the interlocking plastic bricks but also how much they inspired his imagination. Saha formed Million LEGOs for Kids, which eventually became a nonprofit organization, in order to help distribute the Danish toys in schools in the neighborhood as well as at the Clintonville-Beechwold Community Resources Center.
Industry
Detroits Grand Plan to Lead the Self-Driving Revolution (Wired)
The cradle of American automotive innovation has in the past decade migrated 2,000 miles from Detroit to Silicon Valley, where autonomous vehicles and other advanced technology is coming to life. In a bid to reclaim the mantle for Motown, Michigan lawmakers have introduced legislation that could make their state the best place in the country, if not the world, to develop self-driving vehicles and put them on the road. But this being Michigan, its no surprise the proposals favor industry players and could inadvertently (or intentionally) criminalize some research. Michigans dominance in auto research and development is under attack from several states and countries who desire to supplant our leadership in transportation. We cant let that happen, says senator Mike Kowall, the lead sponsor of four bills introduced Wednesday.
Tynker raises $7.1M to expand its code-teaching programs to new schools and regions (Tech Crunch)
Tynker, a startup that creates apps and curricula that teach kids the basics of coding using games and real-world gadgets, is looking to grow and has raised $7.1 million in a Series A funding round to do so. Not that its having any trouble reaching students: in the three years since it was founded, the company has not only reached millions of them at tens of thousands of schools, but it has expanded from the classroom and found a place on home computers and tablets. And over the last year, the company has benefited from partnerships with Mattel, Parrot, and other makers of toys and devices that can tie directly into the Tynker apps. Coding doesnt mean anything by itself its just a language. Kids need to see it working with the real world, Tynker founder and CEO Krishna Vedati told TechCrunch. And it means different things to different topics in astronomy, science, even language arts.
VetTechTrek is creating an e-learning platform to help veterans build careers in the tech industry (Tech Crunch)
VetTechTrek is a nonprofit founded last year with the goal of helping military veterans network with the technology industry. Over the last 12 months they have worked toward this goal by hosting multiple treks that brought more than 180 veterans and spouses to meet with veterans who work at more than 60 technology startups in New York, Silicon Valley and Washington, DC. Some companies have included Dropbox, Twitter, Facebook and Y Combinator. While feedback was great, the nonprofit became overwhelmed with requests from both veterans and companies wanting to participate. So today VetTechTrek is launching Project Standard, an e-learning platform that will house a library of resources to help veterans build great post-military careers. Essentially, the nonprofit plans to help veterans with anything that can help translate their military experiences to stories and skills that make sense for hiring managers and founding teams.
|
 |
Stay Connected       
 STEMconnector®
Global STEM Talent Summit Highlight Reel and Video Series!
 The Global STEM Talent Summit was the worlds' first employer led and largest in its history. More than 30 speakers shared their perspectives on bridging the STEM talent shortfall. This year marked a turning point called the STEM Praxis Moment with a focus on transitioning from theory into action. With more than 430 million STEM jobs to fill by 2030, companies should discuss collective strategies to drive scale and speed that future proof the STEM pipeline rather than individually compete for the diminishing talent pool. With 25 strategic partners and growing with combined revenues of more than $1.3 trillion and 4.5 million employees, GSTS unique sequence of strategically connected summits supported by a large coalition of strong and impactful partners with exemplary leadership capabilities to define the future of STEM talent development.
100 CEOs in STEM Spotlight: Philip Blake, Senior Representative, Bayer
 In my role as President of Bayer in the U.S., Ive become quite accustomed to public speaking in many settingsit comes with the territory. However, eighteen months ago, I stood on a stage between a popular U.S. Senator and a NASA astronaut attempting to speak to about 50 local New Jersey students on the import role of STEM-education in our schools, jobs and society. I say attempting because it was clear that these 8 tales of space exploration and political theatre from my fellow speakers than they were in hearing from some corporate executive with a funny British accent. Didnt they understand I was explaining how vital STEM-careers will be to their generation? Didnt they understand the importance of corporations like Bayer investing in STEM education nationwide? Didnt they care? In shortnot really.
Turbo-Charge Your STEM Brainstorming Sessions
 Pepper Bullock, Founder of Safe Harbor Consulting in Atlanta, and Tara Carcillo, CEO of The Clearing in Washington D.C., are collaborating on a series of facilitation aids for new leaders to be release later this year. This series will give leaders in STEM and elsewhere, insights into the trade secrets used by professional consultants when hosting ideation or leading groups. As a prequel to the app, scheduled to be release this fall, they have posted a 5 minute YouTube video (embedded below) that shares how to Turbo-Charge your brainstorming with ideation concepts inspired by Design Thinking. |
