Our top 10 blog posts from the last 18 months reveal a rich variety of reading interests and behaviors among our much-appreciated subscribers. From toys to engineering outreach programs to cybersecurity to TED talks, STEM education writ large offers up topics and approaches to catch many different kinds of eyes.
Read MoreIs K-12 Engineering Doomed?
Engineering is riding a long wave of growing popularity in K-12 education, much to the satisfaction of students, colleges, and employers. But finding and training teachers could be the rock on which the wave crashes. Are we entering the make-or-break phase for the “E” in STEM? Read more to find out.
Read MoreSummertime, and the (Teacher Learning) Is Easy
Educators know that summer is prime time for growing content knowledge and honing teaching techniques. Including video, audio, and plain old text, here’s a collection of great STEM resources to help teachers build their classroom chops for the school year to come.
Read MoreThe Secret to Success in Elementary STEM Education
Elementary teachers are great all-around educators. There just aren’t enough of them prepared to teach STEM fields. Integrating STEM into their training and support plays to their strengths. Here are some successful approaches for doing so, at all stages of their learning and development.
Read MoreIs This the Best Way to Increase Diversity in STEM?
Moving the needle on STEM diversity is hard work. Change has come, but only slowly. Can “culturally relevant education” help speed up the increase in minorities and women finding their way into STEM fields?
Read MoreGirls Flip the Script (Again) on National STEM Test
The achievement gap between girls and boys widened with the 2018 NAEP Technology and Engineering Literacy test. Girls averaged five points higher than boys on the test this time. The innovative test rewards “soft” skills and content knowledge alike, an example that schools might do well to emulate.
Read More8 Great Videos to Teach the Engineering Design Process
Videos about the engineering design process can make an abstract, seemingly vague topic into something interesting and fun for students to learn about and apply. These 8 videos run the gamut of approach and emphasis, but all deliver a useful, engaging treatment of the issue. There’s something here for all ages, from elementary to high school.
Read MoreEngineering a Growth Area in Education and Beyond
More and more students are crowding into engineering classrooms every year. The new, 3rd edition of our Engineering Career Guide shows why the field is an exciting, accessible career option for students of all kinds. Engineering educators and advocates can use it to show middle and high school students how engineering is a driving force behind green technologies and a bounty of other innovations that make our lives better, safer, and even just more fun.
Read MoreHow to Season Lessons in Engineering with Infusions of Story
Engineering design has become a cornerstone of STEM education, but it’s a foreign concept to teachers and students. Seasoning it with lessons already familiar from English class can jump-start learning activities and lead to unpredictable, exciting classroom experiences.
Read MoreShoring Up the Foundation of STEM Education
One of the slenderest reeds in the STEM education field is the capacity of elementary educators to prepare students for STEM success. No fault of theirs, to be sure – elementary educators are always being asked to do more and more. Here are some tips and resources for helping early learners start a rewarding, enriching STEM journey.
Read MoreSummer Mixed the Future of STEM with Blasts from the Past
Snoopy and friends made a long-awaited return to their old NASA home this summer, among other interesting developments in STEM education, some retro and others very now, indeed.
Read MoreHelping Tomorrow’s Workforce through Tough Times
Automation, artificial intelligence, and innovation in general promise to shape the “workforce of tomorrow” in unpredictable ways. It won’t necessarily be pretty, but STEM Solutions attendees saw both reasons for optimism and opportunities ahead for rewarding, plentiful work.
Read MoreEngineering a Start-Up to Train Teachers
Engineering is spreading through schools in all parts of the country. The main obstacle remains the lack of teachers with adequate training and support. We have launched a new non-profit, Engineers On Deck, to help solve this problem. And we are psyched.
Read MoreOpening Up the Black Box of "Career Readiness"
“Career readiness” means many different things to many different people. From career and technical education to 21st-century skills, a framework that fits for all students is hard to find. Could engineering in K-12 be a linchpin to the solution?
Read MoreHip Hop Opens a Door to STEM Learning
Can Hip Hop really work as a pathway into STEM learning? GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan and Columbia University professor Chris Emdin say yes. And they've got Science Genius in place, the program to prove it.
Read MoreAccess and Diversity Occupy Attention at STEM Solutions Meeting
Questions about access to STEM education and how to connect it to students’ existing interests dominated discussions at this year’s always-interesting U.S. News STEM Solutions meeting.
Read MoreAs Engineering Grows in K-12, Who Will Teach It?
All the complicated questions about K-12 engineering can boil down this: Who will be there to teach it? Find out how current and future teachers get trained in engineering and who’s doing it.
Read MoreEngineering as a Stealth Language Art, Part 2
Putting engineering and literacy learning efforts together in the classroom can be a challenge. Here are a several ways people have done it with success and imagination.
Read MoreEngineering as a Stealth Language Art, Part 1
How many bars are in this picture? What we see often depends on how we see it. From one angle, engineering is all about math and science. From another, it's a great tool for, yes, literacy.
Read More3 Reasons for K-12 Engineering You Just Can’t Argue With
Liz Parry's K-12 engineering story has gone all the way to the Oval Office. In her vision of things, yes, engineering promotes students' learning and achievement. It can also help them become more engaged, informed citizens.
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