For years, the United States has lagged behind other developed countries when our students are tested on math and science concepts. This lackluster performance by our students has resulted in an increased focus on education in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) at both federal and state levels. As Dr. Rita Peterson of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Sensors Directorate pointed out, "In order to be a productive citizen, you need to understand science and math." To improve STEM education, Ohio established the Dayton Regional STEM Center, using initial funding from a 2007 National Governors Association grant and the Montgomery County Educational Service Center. The Dayton Regional STEM Center's mission is to coordinate regional institutions and professionals to provide STEM educational experiences for everyone from preschoolers to adults in established careers. The Center will accomplish its mission by developing an interdisciplinary, project-based, inquiry-based STEM curriculum and by providing training and support to educators. During its first year, the STEM Center developed more than 70 lessons focused on teaching concepts relevant to four workplace sectors of particular importance to the Dayton area: power and propulsion, sensors, advanced manufacturing and materials, and medicine/human effectiveness. The lessons follow National Science Foundation quality expectations, as well as Ohio P-12 academic content standards and real industry practices. Field testing of the completed lessons began in September 2008 through use in Dayton schools. Once completed, the curriculum will be made available to anyone in the country via the STEM Center, the Montgomery County Educational Resource Center, and the National Governors Association. The lessons were developed by 58 STEM Fellows-teachers, higher education professors, and private- or government-sector scientists who were competitively selected to participate in the program. The first year's STEM Fellows included 14 scientists from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Dr. Peterson and Dr. Michael Eismann, also of AFRL's Sensors Directorate, were two of this year's STEM Fellows. Both Drs. Eismann and Peterson have participated in past educational outreach events and were interested in participating in the STEM Center's curriculum development activities because of concern about what the lack of STEM education means for future technical and scientific competitiveness for the nation, in general, and the defense of our nation, in particular. Dr. Peterson said, "You can go out by ones or twos and do the presentations to schools or, by working with the STEM Center, you can write lessons that can be used by teachers over and over again to impact a wider range of students. I like the STEM Center's motto of 'All means all.' I've tried to be an ambassador for science to kids and, especially if the kid isn't going to go into science or engineering for their career, this may be the last opportunity to teach them about the topics that everybody needs to understand." Dr. Eismann initially thought that "getting science and math into lessons seems like an easy thing to do, but people who aren't involved in how a school operates on a day-to-day basis don't necessarily understand the stresses that middle and high school teachers face with the need to meet educational standards and get 30 kids through a lesson." "The teachers brought up issues like how long a lesson takes or how do you write a quiz based on this lesson," added Dr. Peterson. "Scientists and people in industry spend more time with the technology. It's easy to come in and visit a classroom with a flashy piece of it; but how you tie that back to science, learning the principles of STEM, and show that the students have learned something lasting can be a challenge." The learning went both ways. Dr. Eismann noted that "day to day applications of science and math are apparent to someone working in the field, but in talking to some of the teachers, especially those at the lower grade levels, I found that those applications aren't necessarily obvious. There were 'eureka moments' where the teachers saw how to apply math to real-world problems. Math is a tool that's used throughout all of the scientific disciplines and relating the application back to the math standards was an interesting exercise." Drs. Peterson and Eismann agreed that it's important to develop the lessons in concert between teachers and technical professionals. In addition, both agreed that in order to be successful, there needs to be a long-term interaction between schools and the local industrial base. Dr. Eismann pointed out that "It can really pique a student's interest to have somebody from outside-not the teacher—come in and discuss a real-world problem or application of science and math." Margy Stevens, STEM Center Executive Director, indicated that the amount of work accomplished during the first year far exceeded anything they had hoped for. "We could not have done it without the AFRL," she added. "The people were phenomenal in providing inspiration, in creating ideas for lessons that could be targeted to K through 12 students, and in making other participants' creations connect to the real world." Next year, 37 AFRL scientists are expected to participate in the development of lessons through the STEM Center program. In addition to developing specific lesson plans, the STEM Center is developing the STEM Curriculum Quality Rubric. This tool will allow consistent, objective assessment of any STEM curriculum based on ratings for 15 learning quality components of the curriculum being evaluated. As it is refined, the rubric will be used to assess the work done by the STEM Fellows and will be made available for use by other organizations. In support of educators, the STEM Center has established a partnership with the education outreach arm of Oak Ridge National Laboratory to cooperatively identify the qualities, skills, and characteristics necessary for adequate STEM education. These metrics will be used to establish a national credentialing system for teachers, school buildings, and school districts. In addition, the STEM Center established a Leadership Academy to provide training to principals, superintendents and other central office staff to promote understanding and support of STEM education concepts and teachers. For additional information about AFRL's involvement with STEM education, please contact Ricardo Negron at (937) 255-6793. For more information about the STEM Center, please visit the STEM Center website or call Margy Stevens at (937) 225-4598.
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