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STEMconnector
100 CEO/CIO/CTO Leaders in STEM: Nominations Start Today! (LinkedIn)
STEMconnector� will release its 100 CIO/CTO Leaders in STEM on July 22nd and the second edition of 100 CEO Leaders in STEM on November 10th. Each of the leadership publications will showcase the commitment, initiatives and values of 100 senior Fortune executives actively working towards a strong talent pipeline, and their companies. Honorees and their companies will be featured in a two-page spread that will include: picture, bio, company background and an essay around the future of STEM careers, the need for a skilled workforce and how companies are innovating to secure the best STEM talent. There will be a year of promotion after each publication is released. Companies will have the option of having their honorees in different panels and online events. We appreciate the early support of Cisco, Deloitte, TATA Consultancy Services and Walmart. 
Math Education
Joe Robertson: Think your kids don�t like math? Try this (Kansas City Star)
It�s NCAA basketball tournament time, so let�s just blow the whistle and tip this column off. Quick side note: We�ll be talking about revolutionary math education, but let the kids get dribbling first. Get those sneakers squeaking on the wood floor. Gather around our KU coaches. Not those coaches, but Steven Obenhaus and Carrie La Voy, math specialists serving the KU Center for STEM Learning. Obenhaus wants to know: What is the sharpest angle a basketball can travel entering the rim and still hit nothing but net?
Slow down: Math prof says timed testing can harm skills (Seattle Times)
Memorizing multiplication tables may be a seminal school experience, among the few that kids today share with their grandparents. But a Stanford University professor says rapid-fire math drills are also the reason so many children fear and despise the subject. Moreover, the traditional approach to math instruction � memorization, timed testing and the pressure to speedily arrive at answers � may actually damage advanced-level skills by undermining the development of a deeper understanding about the ways numbers work. "There is a common and damaging misconception in mathematics � the idea that strong math students are fast math students," says Jo Boaler, who teaches math education at the California university and has authored the paper "Fluency Without Fear."
BrainQuake wants to shake up how we learn math (Silicon Valley Business Journal)
BrainQuake develops mobile and Web apps to make learning math more natural and less repetitious. It teaches the concepts of math through games � without symbols and equations. Its first game, Wuzzit Trouble, is available for iOS, Android and Windows. BrainQuake was founded by Keith Devlin, Randy Weiner, Pamela Briskman, Adrienne Allen and Steve Mays. Weiner is CEO and the co-founder and former chairman of the Urban Montessori Charter School in Oakland. Devlin, the chief scientist, is a math professor at Stanford and has appeared on NPR as the Math Guy.
Higher Education
STEM scholarships offered by UH Hilo program (University of Hawaii)
The National Science Foundation has awarded the University of Hawai?i at Hilo a $622,175 grant to support the Scholarships for STEM Program (S-STEM), which provides scholarships for academically talented, economically disadvantaged high school seniors who major in one of the following STEM disciplines�astronomy, biology, chemistry, computer science, environmental science, geology, marine science, mathematics and physics. The application deadline is April 15, 2015.
EdTech
PocketLab Is Simplified Wireless Sensing For Science Class (TechCrunch)
Here�s a neat crowdfunding project that�s aiming to repackage wireless sensor technology as a multi-faceted educational tool that plugs into existing mobile devices and services to encourage kids to engage with science experiments � and even devise and conduct their own experiments. Just add curiosity. Called PocketLab, it�s a ruggedized wireless sensor that streams real-time data � it�s capable of measuring acceleration, force, angular velocity, magnetic field, pressure, altitude, and temperature � to an Android or iOS smartphone or tablet (via Bluetooth 4.0). From there it�s uploaded to PocketLab�s cloud platform where it can be stored, visualized and analyzed.
MIT's DragonBot Evolving to Better Teach Kids (IEEE Spectrum)
MIT introduced Kombusto, their dragon robot designed to teach stuff to preschoolers, back in 2011. Since then, the Personal Robots Group has been doing a substantial amount of research and experimentation to figure out how best to utilize the robot to productively interact with children. We have some updates on how it�s been going, along with a look at the brand new robot that MIT is developing to work with kids for months at a time. The overall goal for DragonBot (which, as far as I can tell, is a common platform used for many different projects) is to develop �personalized learning companions� for children.
Diversity in STEM
Want to Get More Girls Into STEM? Give Them Real-World Work (Mind/Shift)
In an effort to encourage girls� interest in STEM, a high school in Massachusetts is giving students a chance to apply their skills at the school�s help desk. Students can join, regardless of their tech savviness, and learn on the job. The program�s combination of strong, fun, female role models and hands-on learning has helped boost girls� confidence and excitement about tech. The all-student run Help Desk is part of Burlington High School�s Student Technology Innovation and Integration course. If any student or teacher at Burlington has a tech issue, it�s a student who solves it for them. (In a nod to Apple�s support services, the Help Desk�s tagline is �A Student Run Genius Bar.�) Last year the program had only one girl.
K-12 Education
TUSD gets donation for STEM initiative (Arizona Daily Star)
The Tucson Unified School District received a $21,000 donation to help grow its science, technology, engineering and math initiative. The gift, from Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp., will be used to provide high school STEM clubs with resources to plan, develop, prepare and implement rigorous and relevant projects that connect academics and community service. Tucson, Pueblo and Palo Verde high schools will benefit from the donation.
Blackhawk superintendent among group pushing STEM program in D.C. (Beaver County Times)
A Beaver County superintendent will be on a national stage Wednesday, extolling the virtues of a Pittsburgh-developed plan designed to help school districts improve their STEM programs. The Carnegie Science Center�s Carnegie STEM Excellence Pathway, a tool for school officials to develop and assess their STEM programs, will be the focal point at �Rethinking STEM Education: A Bold New Pathway for America�s Future,� a congressional briefing lunch in Washington, D.C. Developed by the science enter and an advisory committee of educators -- including Blackhawk Superintendent Melanie Kerber -- business leaders and college professors, the program is in place in 119 districts across the country, said Ann Metzger, co-director of the science center.
STEM Competitions
Students' robots test the waters at Naval Station Great Lakes (Chicago Tribune)
The Navy's idea behind tens of thousands of middle and high school students getting busy with soldering irons, electrical tape and PVC pipe � to build underwater, Remotely Operated Vehicles powered by tiny electric motors � is that the brainy youths will become robotic engineers or enter other STEM fields, hopefully while in U.S. Navy uniform. The Regional SeaPerch qualifying competition at Naval Station Great Lakes Saturday, March 14, drew dozens of teams from Illinois and several Midwestern states, to put their ROV models to the test at one of several base swimming pools.
New Jersey
NJ Makers Day to celebrate creativity on March 21 (My Central Jersey)
The Garden State will be blooming with creativity on the second day of spring this week when more than 150 businesses and organizations in all 21 counties will celebrate creation and innovation in the first-ever NJ Makers Day event on Saturday. �This is the first time that we know of that a state has ever tried this,� said Doug Baldwin, Emerging Technologies Librarian, Piscataway Public Library. The event is expected to attract more than 5,000 entrepreneurs, small business owners, and young professionals, as well as children, teens and parents from across the state. Hosted by libraries, schools, museums, colleges and independent �maker spaces,� attendees will be invited to enjoy an array of exhibits and hands-on workshops and jump in to create both physical and digital creations � from art to engineering. |
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 STEMconnector�
Chevron�s Partnership with the Fab Foundation (VIDEO)
 In order to create Fab Labs in the United States, Chevron has entered into a $10 million partnership with the Fab Foundation. Fruitvale Junior High School's Project Lead the Way class was among the first visitors to get to use the first Fab Lab opened through this partnership in Bakersfield, CA. "This Fab Lab was established in partnership with California State University, Bakersfield, and it is the first of our planned Fab Labs," said Blair Blackwell, Manager, Education and Corporate Programs at Chevron. "A Fab Lab is a place where students and entrepreneurs come to imagine, to design, and to make almost anything they want," said Sherry Lassiter, Director of the Fab Foundation. "California State University is joining a global network of over 400 Fab Labs in more than 50 countries."
X-STEM Symposium Takes You Inside the Visionaries Who Are Making Math Come Alive
 Mathematics -- the bane of many a student -- is getting a facelift in the classroom these days, thanks to a growing number of visionary mathematicians who are exploring new ways to make math more exciting and relevant for learners. At the USA Science & Engineering Festival�s X-STEM Symposium in April, meet key players in this movement, including prominent physicist Robert Lang, known for using the centuries-old art of origami to reveal the mysteries of mathematics and science; and professor-author Frank Morgan whose award-winning teaching methods in math are becoming legendary. Tickets for X-STEM -- a hands-on, all-day experience -- are going fast so register today!
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State to Celebrate Women�s History Month and Pass Women in STEM Resolution
sm.jpg) Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey will join with Speaker of the House Beth Harwell on Tuesday, March 17th from 10am to 11am Central at the State Capitol Senate Chamber in Nashville to recognize and commend the hard working women of Tennessee who work and study in STEM fields. The event, sponsored by Million Women Mentors and over a dozen Tennessee businesses and organizations, will be the first of its kind to honor both women in STEM and Women�s History Month with a State Resolution. �Despite the tremendous gains that girls and women have made in education and the workforce during the past 50 years, progress has been uneven and certain scientific and engineering fields remain overwhelmingly male,� said Sheila Boyington, Senior Advisor for Million Women Mentors. |
