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Eric.ed.gov – The American Competitiveness Initiative: Addressing the STEM Teacher Shortage and Improving Student Academic Readiness. BHEF Issue Brief

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: America’s leaders are increasingly concerned about U.S. competitiveness in a rapidly globalizing world. In response, during the 2006 State of the Union Address, President Bush introduced the American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI) to promote policy that bolsters student achievement in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). At the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF) summer 2006 meeting, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings discussed provisions of the ACI that address teacher shortages in mathematics and science, and corresponding student academic readiness. Specific ACI education provisions include the Adjunct Teacher Corps, the Advanced Placement-International Baccalaureate (AP/IB) Incentive Program, the National Math Panel, Math Now for Elementary Students, and Math Now for Middle School Students. (Contains 2 boxes, 2 figures and 1 table.) Link til kilde

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Eric.ed.gov – Blurring the Boundaries–STEM Education and Education for Sustainable Development

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Both the concept of sustainable development and the nature of education for sustainable development (ESD) are highly contested. ESD can be construed as a part of sustainable development policy as governments attempt to bridge the “value-action gap” between what we know we should be doing (e.g. to combat climate change) and what we actually do. Alternatively sustainability can be construed as a “frame of mind”; within this paradigm ESD is seen as a way of bringing to the surface underlying values and beliefs through the exploration of contradictions and arguments. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education is equally contested. At one end it is seen as a pre-vocational learning or even training to encourage students to pursue science and maths in particular en route to professional… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Integrating Science and Math in Vocational Education. ERIC Digest.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Although science and math are increasingly important in the workplace, many students, especially females, avoid these subjects. One route to the achievement of National Education Goal 3–increasing student competence in challenging subject matter–is through integration of vocational education with science and math, enabling students to apply academic knowledge to specific occupational tasks. Among recent integration projects in PHYS-MA-TECH, a collaborative effort of the Illinois Board of Education, Northern Illinois University, five industries, and five high schools. The project features an integrated curriculum developed and delivered by teams of math, physics, and technology teachers in a nontraditional learning environment through team teaching and innovative delivery models. The Technology/Science/Mathematics Integration Project in Virginia middle schools focuses on applying science and math principles to real-world technological problems. In Washington State,… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – STEM Education and Leadership: A Mathematics and Science Partnership Approach

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The issue of attracting more young people to choose careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has become critical for the United States. Recent studies by businesses, associations, and education have all agreed that the United States’ performance in the STEM disciplines have placed the nation in grave risk of relinquishing its competitive edge in the marketplace. A Congressional Research Service (2006) report stated that, a “large majority of secondary students fail to reach proficiency in math and science, and many are taught by teachers lacking adequate subject matter knowledge.” Students lacking in STEM skills will not have the ability or skills to enter in the professions of science and engineering or areas requiring mathematics, science, and technology literacy. To counteract these circumstances, multiple STEM-based initiatives… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – The Attitudes of the Prospective Mathematics Teachers towards Instructional Technologies and Material Development Course

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study aims to determine the attitudes of prospective teachers of Secondary Mathematics Education toward Instructional Technologies and Material Development (ITMD) Course. The participants of this descriptive research include 44 students, who take ITMD Course at Department of Secondary Mathematics at Necatibey Faculty of Education in Balikesir University. The questionnaire developed by researchers was conducted before and after the course at 2007-2008 fall semesters. The accuracy of the difference in the attitudes of the prospective math teachers before and after the course was tested by t test and it was seen to be statically significant in the level of p=0.05. Moreover, according to results of the interviews, the prospective teachers emphasized that ITMD Course aims to provide permanent learning and to prepare materials that are appropriate to… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Online Peer Observation: An Exploration of a Cross-Discipline Observation Project

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: In this article the authors compare two phases of an ongoing, annual online peer observation project at the Open University. Adopting a non-managerialist approach, the project aims to give teachers a renewed sense of collegiality, allowing them to take responsibility for aspects of their professional development and share practice points. While the first phase focused on a single discipline group in languages, the second brought together teachers in languages with teachers of Math, Computing, and Technology, all employing Elluminate Live as their online teaching platform. The authors comment on congruent and divergent gains emerging from the two phases. Link til kilde

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Eric.ed.gov – Moving beyond Cultural Barriers: Successful Strategies of Female Technology Education Teachers

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Women are underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields of study and careers with a subset of STEM–Technology Education–possibly one of the least integrated fields for women as students and as professionals. What accounts for this situation and what are potential remedies? The purpose of this study was to learn about the ways in which female technology education teachers understand sources of influence on their career choices. The findings from this study are intended to provide insights into the participants’ perspectives that might shed light on how to better encourage females to aspire to and enter technology education as a profession. The conclusions derived from this study may help to create a deeper understanding of how women move beyond cultural barriers and make “unexpected transitions”… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – STEM Education: Proceed with Caution

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) movement has developed from a non-educational rationale. Although some think it may enliven the delivery of maths and science in classrooms, the social and economic rationales are those that have initiated this movement. Spurred on by the global financial crisis, it is hoped that coordination and integration of STEM activities will better equip a workforce for dealing with the contemporary nature of business and industry, and encourage more school leavers to seek further training and employment in areas of engineering and science. The problem for educators here is that the consequent absence of a sound educational rationale for this combination of subjects inhibits its development. There needs to be a reason for integrating these subjects which relates to quality learning… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Out before the Game Begins: Hispanic Leaders Talk about What’s Needed to Bring More Hispanic Youngsters into Science, Technology and Math Professions

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Hispanics are one of the largest and fastest-growing minority groups in the United States. Projections indicate a need for an increase of 20% of practicing engineers by 2010. Despite the growing number of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) careers in the American economy, education statistics suggest that too few Hispanic students are being encouraged and equipped to take advantage of opportunities in technical disciplines. American business and industry and the nation’s Hispanic communities would both benefit from addressing this mismatch. In summer 2007, the IBM International Foundation asked Public Agenda to interview Hispanic and Latino leaders in a variety of fields, asking for their views on what will be needed to bring more Hispanic students into the technical and scientific disciplines. This report is based on… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Does a Math-Enhanced Curriculum and Instructional Approach Diminish Students’ Attainment of Technical Skills? A Year-Long Experimental Study in Agricultural Power and Technology

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The purpose of this study was to empirically test the posit that students who participated in a contextualized, mathematics-enhanced high school agricultural power and technology (APT) curriculum and aligned instructional approach would not differ significantly (p less than 0.05) in their technical competence from students who participated in the traditional APT curriculum and instruction. This study included teachers and students from 32 high schools in Oklahoma (16 experimental classrooms; 16 control classrooms). Students were enrolled in an APT course during the 2004-2005 school year. The experimental design used was a posttest only control group; unit of analysis was the classroom. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the study’s null hypothesis. The measure of students’ technical competence did not reveal results that held statistical significance… Continue Reading