NSF Awards: 1139689
How do we integrate engineering into opportunities for middle and high school students and their teachers? In San Diego County, an ambitious plan has significant results in motivating students and preparing teachers while diving into engineering challenges. Reaching 52 schools across 11 districts Exploring STEM Careers Initiative is researching student motivation in STEM and change in practice among 100 teachers and 1400 students. Through professional learning and working with students in extended learning time Botball robotics, SeaPerch ROV and KidWind turbine teams formed and experienced the trials and errors of the engineering design cycle. STEM mentors visit afterschool team practices, participate with teachers in professional learning and support student exhibitions and competitions. Informal learning centers in the community provide real-world context and the excitement of purposeful learning during an engineering challenge.
In San Diego County we are paving the way for the next generation of innovators and engineers by doing our part to bring innovation and collaboration to positively impact STEM education. Technology is becoming an essential component of more careers than ever before, and students need to be exposed to it early on, and attain some level of proficiency with technology—because it truly is a foundational 21st century skill.
Vivian Guilfoy
Senior Advisor
These hands-on engineering explorations give teachers and students a great opportunity to experience the design cycle. With so many schools and students involved, do you have data that highlights the different ways that schools have responded to the program. Are there gender or other differences in the selection of which engineering challenge to pursue. Are you collecting data or “stories” about student interest, engagement, and pursuit of STEM classes following their participation? Any results? How did you achieve such widespread participation?
N. Newsome
What a cool curriculum, and an amazing outlet to STEM exploration you have in San Diego! In what courses are you curricula taking place? Are they special electives, or core classes? Or, are all these experience occurring in informal learning environments?
Nancy Taylor
Principal Investigator
One motivational part of the teacher led, after school program is a visit to an informal setting for several opportunities – deploy SeaPerch, practice or compete with Botball robotics, and demonstrate maximum efficiency with KidWind. Interacting with STEM mentors benefits everyone in the pipeline.
Debra Bernstein
Senior Researcher
This sounds like such a great opportunity for students in San Diego! Following up on Vivian’s question, I also wondered about the choice of engineering challenge. Do the teams get to choose which challenge to engage in? If so, how do they choose?
Vivian Guilfoy
Senior Advisor
As a followup question, I wonder about the cost of supporting the program. Does each school purchase the materials for each engineering challenge? What is the approximate cost for a typical group of students? Are any of the materials reusable?
Nancy Taylor
Principal Investigator
Yes of course the cost of supporting the program is significantly supported by the NSF grant. Teachers receive PD on one of the 3 engineering challenges, receive kits of materials for their challenges and are compensated for implementing after school. Some materials are reusable and all materials are inexpensive. Stay tuned for a better analysis of costs, we’re on it!
Vivian Guilfoy
Senior Advisor
Have you reached out to business partners who might help to support this over the long term? Maybe a wide variety of business partners (e.g. those who supply each of the parts that make up the kits such as plumbing or instrumentation firms—as well as technology and more likely supporters). Just a thought.
Nancy Taylor
Principal Investigator
Great idea for sustainability. Our work across multiple districts has demonstrated suitability in multiple settings and this kind of collaboration with public and private partners is essential
Nevin Katz
Technical Associate
This really looks like a groundbreaking project. I’m curious about what some of the aquatic challenges are. Do any of them involve interactions with the sea life in the tanks?
Nancy Taylor
Principal Investigator
Nevin, the SeaPerch deployment in the aquarium’s tank is a careful interaction. We mount a Camera to record their navigation through the tank, including sitting on the bottom observing what swims by.
Nancy Taylor
Principal Investigator
Thanks to all for your encouraging remarks. We are working in out-of-school time, so coursework is not impacted at this time. The goal for teachers is to transfer the engineering experiences to the classroom. Teachers are reporting that some new coursework is in development. Teachers select 1 of the 3 engineering challenges and then recruit students (any on their campus) to participate. We are in Year 3 and compiling data – trends indicate changes in teacher practice and enthusiasm for engineering among students
Nancy Taylor
Principal Investigator
Across the engineering challenges – Botball, SeaPerch and Kidwind we found a mix of student team configurations Boys and Girls, All Boys, All Girls. Students involved in Botball all indicated a plan to attend college, whereas in SeaPerch and KidWind students indicated interest in college
Debra Bernstein
Senior Researcher
It’s interesting to see that there were some single gender and some mixed gender teams among the challenge groups. Do you think that will wind up being significant in terms of student experiences, or in terms of your outcome variables?
Nancy Taylor
Principal Investigator
Debra, great question. While we are not studying gender participation we’re delighted to see girls only teams in the mix. We know that for girls,gender specific experiences is improving the pipeline (AAUW)
Debra Bernstein
Senior Researcher
Indeed, in robotics some girls respond very well to single-gender teams, and take on different roles than they would in mixed gender teams. l understand it’s not your research focus, but great that you’re seeing some variations in the groupings and good to make a note of it.
Thanks so much for sharing this work!
Nancy Taylor
Principal Investigator
SeaPerch engineers deploy there ROV in the Shark Tank only to take pictures and navigate. We load a Polaroid Cube onto the SeaPerch and video the dive.
Joy Wolf
I enjoyed seeing so many smiling and fully engaged students. This is the type of hands-on real world application of science that encourages students to take the next steps in science.
Nancy Taylor
Principal Investigator
Thanks for noticing the student engagement, they plan to make/present videos of their shark tank dive.
Dave Dressler
Great video. It’s good to see that Sea Perch is shark friendly. I wonder what the Great Whites would think of Sea Perch at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadalupe_Island ?
Very nice presentation Ellen.
Nancy Taylor
Principal Investigator
Thanks for your vote, tell your friends!
Bill Davis
Awesome work, Nancy! I only learned of this today via John Fry’s Colt update. Voted and passed it on. Best of luck!
Kassie Gruel
This is a really great opportunity for students to be able to build and create hands on projects to get them interested in STEM.I am a middle school student, I am moving soon and when I move if they do not have a STEM program I plan on making one of my own with my dad to help people get a better idea on what STEM can do for us and for the world. This video makes me want to do that even more now!
Nancy Taylor
Principal Investigator
Kassie, thanks for sharing your remarks and I do hope that you gather other kids and Dad’s together to build and engineer!
Catherine Prodor
Great work for kids! I support this!
Nancy Taylor
Principal Investigator
We are meeting our objective! Thanks for your vote!
Nevin Katz
Technical Associate
This sounds like it would be a transformative experience. Have you received any teacher or student feedback on what students have learned from these projects in the engineering and/or biology realm?
Nancy Taylor
Principal Investigator
I like to describe this work as transformative, the teachers report gains in disciplinary content knowledge, in Botball- increased understanding of computational science; SeaPerch- engineering design process, bouyancy, math integraion: KidWind-aerodynamicx, engineering design process, wind energy. Similar data with students!
Serigne Gningue
This is really inspiring. I will vote for this. I would like to know about this program and how it could be done in New York City.
Nancy Taylor
Principal Investigator
I encourage you to replicate this work, maybe even narrow it down to one of the three that appeals – Botball is robotics, SeaPerch- gotta have access to water, KidWind lots of extensions. Having a public exhibition ramped it up just a notch.
Vivian Guilfoy
Senior Advisor
Thanks for the rich discussion. I learned a lot.
Nancy Taylor
Principal Investigator
Last Saturday we held a SeaPerch tournament at a local swimming pool, The press showed up and crafted a nice article quoting more teachers and students, check it out
http://www.eccalifornian.com/article/seaperch-t...
It feels great to know we are changing things up for students and teachers as they approach engineering! I am also proud of the teamwork it has taken to bring the community together. Thanks NSF!
Joni Falk
Thought this video was great. How did I not see this earlier? I could definitely see how this would be very engaging and enhance any visit to an aquarium. Thanks for sharing this!
Nancy Taylor
Principal Investigator
Thank you Joni! Why not add relevance to underwater exploration!
Further posting is closed as the showcase has ended.