GEMS-U Program Description

Transcription

1 GEMS-U Program Description (GEMS-U) is an innovative, exclusive statewide program, spearheaded by the Alabama Department of Education. The GEMS-U program is designed to develop and disseminate high-quality materials and training resources created by a panel of elite award-winning Alabama educators and hosted by the Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX), an internationally recognized educational web portal for teachers, students, and parents. These resources are targeted to actively engage girls in STEM learning to better prepare them for the 21st Century workforce. The GEMS-U program team and partners have developed a succinct plan to impact professional practice through technologies that are innovative and transformative for Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) concepts. The GEMS-U Program was created in 2008 through a local, state, and national collaborative partnership that bridges formal and informal learning environments to produce synergistic, research-based strategies and products that strengthen STEM education for K-12 girls that are typically underrepresented in STEM areas. State, National, and International Recognition: U.S. Senate Members and Staff by special request, 2009 Presentation State Education Technology Directors Association, Defining the Future of Learning Technology Showcase, by request, 2009 Presentation Science Education Presidential Awardees, Washington, by request, 2009 Presentation National Science Teachers Association, Keynote, 2009 Presentation University of West Alabama, The Future of Education, 2010 Converge Magazine, Center for Digital Education, feature article Federal Department of Transportation Grant Recipient, STEM career advocacy for underrepresented and under-served girls International visitation of ALEX Web Portal GEMS-U Lesson Plans (August 2008-June 2012) Goals of the GEMS-U Program The GEMS-U team is committed to change confidence levels, pedagogy, and curriculum for girls and educators in the science and math disciplines by providing a vibrant, engaging, digital portal program and technologies that extend learning beyond the four walls of the traditional curriculum. This program promises to build a bridge between K-12 and informal learning environments resulting in stronger collaborations and better communications and resources to encourage girls in STEM endeavors and careers. Three goals mirror the research hypothesis and drive the precepts of the GEMS-U program: Professional Development & Technology. Develop and implement an effective professional development model that employs the use of multimedia and other 21st Century tools between/among formal and informal educators that increases girls confidence and achievement in STEM learning, including interest in STEM careers. 1

2 Curriculum Resources & Technology. Study the effects of 21st Century technology use, including multimedia creation and access to enhance STEM learning for K-12 girls. Human Resources & Technology. Identify the factors that affect successful collaborations that sustain and scale STEM innovations between/among formal and informal educational entities. GEMS-U Key Activities The three primary activities that are designed to fulfill the goals of the GEMS-U Program are: Science and Math Summits (SAMS): 3-day lesson plan activity development sessions aligned with Alabama College and Career Ready/Courses of Study standards and available worldwide through ALEX; invitees are National Board Certified Teachers, Presidential Award-Winners, and other Distinguished Educators. GEMS-U Exposition:1-day activity designed for girls and teacher attendees to convene and share hand-on projects created by the girls as a result of their teacher teaching a GEMS-U lesson (available on ALEX). GEMS-U Camp for Educators: 2-day professional development designed to impact professional practice through a formal and informal learning environment. The training addresses research-based practices to help educators create an atmosphere to actively engage girls in STEM learning utilizing Project Based Learning instructional design methods. 1.) Science and Math Summit (SAMS): To accomplish the overall GEMS-U mission, the (GEMS- U) Program Team began hosting a series of Science and Math Summits (SAMS) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). As of June 2014, one hundred and forty-eight (148) educators have been trained to incorporate strategies that increase girls interest and achievement in STEM learning. Twelve (12) reviewers (assigned as mentors) have also been trained via the GEMS-U pedagogical approach. The SAMS address each one of the program goals: (1) Professional Development and Technology; (2) Curriculum Resources and Technology; and (3) Human Resources and Technology. The curriculum consists of math and science themes based on achievement needs associated with STEM content. A panel of experts identify gap areas in STEM content, and new emerging technologies are introduced. Participants are taught research- based pedagogy, framework for 21st Century learning, and how to post to the state web portal. Each participant has posted an average of 4 GEMS- U lesson plans, for a total of 450+ GEMS- U lesson plans gleaned from these series of 3- day SAMS sessions. During the SAMS sessions, all participants participate in an online collaboration site (/moodle). This site serves as a vehicle for program sustainability. This support builds and extends the GEMS-U community beyond formal onsite training sessions, thereby enhancing the goals of the GEMS-U Program. 2

3 SAMS Desired Outcomes: (a.) Improved STEM girl students, knowledge; (b.) Increased student (girls) efficacy and engagement in learning in math and science through technology- mediated learning objects; (c.) Increased awareness by public and professional audiences through 21st Century Skills professional development and dissemination of GEMS- U materials to informal educators, selected math and science pre- service and K- 12 faculty, after- school programs, and parents; (d.) Successful professional development models; (e.) 21st Century skills training and materials for STEM educators; (f.) Cadre of trainers skilled in integrating 21st Century technologies to support science and math content and process skills acquisition and building efficacy for formal and informal educators and girls; (g.) Increased number of learning objects, incorporating innovative learning activities posted to the Alabama Learning Exchange and itunes U, and use of those objects by professional and public audiences. Evaluation Summary: The SAMS session participants were surveyed with a pre- and post- test set of questions. A summary of the survey indicated that 95% of participants left with a better understanding of how to develop and access GEMS- U quality lesson plans. Secondly, 85% of participants responded that they planned to incorporate the GEMS- U teaching strategies into their curriculum, and 95% reported that they will advocate in their school/district to increase girls involvement in STEM education. To date, the teachers participating in the GEMS-U lesson plan development program (SAMS) have submitted over 450 lesson plans aligned to the Alabama math and science courses of study. Feedback from teachers using the lesson plans in the classroom has been very overwhelmingly positive. Records of anecdotal comments are accessible through the ALEX database, and available by request. Examples include: I think that I have learned a lot. I have also made some great new friends that I hope to be able to contact through the GEM-U website that the ALEX team is creating. Please remember that the only thing harder than teaching a room full of men is teaching a room full of FEMALE teachers (with a few men added in) during the summer! I think this is a wonderful mission that will help all students, male and female. I also think it will help experienced teachers who are intimidated or unaware of how to engage the 21st C. Learner as well as the inexperienced teacher. Thank you for affording me the opportunity to participate in this very valuable experience. I am taking back a TON of information that I will implement in the upcoming school year. The GEMS-U staff has done a phenomenal job organizing this workshop. The staff was friendly and encouraging to the very end! Thanks for everything!! 2.) Girls Math & Science Exposition: (December, beginning 2008; Exposition, yearly since 2010) The exposition is a one-day conference where one hundred fifty (150) K-12 girls (ages 5 18) taught by twenty-five teacher sponsors demonstrate STEM-based projects. These projects are developed after participating in instructional activities using web-hosted curriculum products developed during summer Science and Math Summits (SAMS) and hosted on the Alabama Learning Exchange. 3

4 Increased Interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Careers #1 MEDICAL FIELD #4 BIOLOGIST #2 ENGINEERING #3 ASTRONOMY GEMS-U Exposition Desired Outcomes: a.) Girls report increased self-efficacy (confidence) after preparing projects and participating in a lesson taught by a SAMS educator; b.) Girls pre- and post-tests (those whose teachers participated in SAMS) will show a significant increase in content/process knowledge; c.) STEM career awareness levels will increase as a result of participation in this project. #5 SCIENTIST Evaluation Summary: Girls who are actively engaged in learning experiences in the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) have a greater likelihood of becoming innovative leaders in these fields. Girls Engaged in Math and Science University (GEMS-U) offers free 21st Century online resources teachers can use to create these motivating learning experiences. Examples of girls team responses to an evaluation question following the Exposition are below: Question: How has your attitude/interest changed toward math and science since you participated in the GEMS-U Exposition? Our interest in math and science has strengthened as a result of this project. We have had the opportunity to read, observe, and apply the information we have obtained first hand. We did not realize this was science. In the past, science has been just a lot of reading. During our meetings we have been talking about how girls can do anything boys can do. That includes becoming something that involves math and science. We have decided that girls are as smart as boys. Every day at our GEMS meetings we talk about how we can grow up to be someone that uses science or math. I enjoy math and science even more than I did before this project. I have learned many new techniques and methods thanks to ALEX. The great aspect concerning this lesson plan is no student, regardless to achievement ability, will be excluded from learning about the cell. Labs and other hands-on activities always increase the interest in science and other subjects. It shows science is just not memorization and book work, but can be fun and interesting. I have realized that without math and science life as we know it would crumble. [one student] 3.) GEMS-U Camp for Educators: 2-day professional development designed to impact professional practice through a formal and informal learning environment. The training addresses research-based practices to help educators create an atmosphere to actively engage girls in STEM learning utilizing Project Based Learning instructional design methods. 4

5 GEMS-U Camp for Educators Desired Outcomes: To impact professional practice through innovative digital learning while promoting eight important teaching strategies to encourage selfconfidence and elevate interest in the areas of math and science in the classroom. GEMS-U teacher practices focus on strategies that teachers can use to strengthen girls beliefs regarding their abilities in math and science. GEMS-U Strategies include: (1) Provide opportunities for girls to collaborate and communicate with one another; (2) Provide plenty of hands-on, minds-on activities so that girls' natural curiosity can be nurtured; (3) Organize your classroom and activities so that girls can innovate and approach problems in their own way to create personally relevant, meaningful products or projects; (4) Build confidence and performance by asking girls' perspectives through higher order questions; (5) Respond to girls' participation in the STEM activities through prescriptive and informational feedback; (6) Capitalize upon girls' natural interest in the life sciences this can serve as a gateway to other sciences, using math as a basis for understanding and communicating science processes; (7) help them build the spatial skills that are crucial to success in many math- and science-related fields, such as physics, engineering, architecture, geometry, topology, chemistry, and biology; and (8) expose girls to female role models who have succeeded in math and science. Postscript The GEMS-U statewide project was initiated through the ALEX Program, and is based upon the initial work of Dr. Kay Emfinger, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Professor, School of Education. ALEX is the award-winning state education Web portal created by the office of Technology Initiatives, Alabama Department of Education, hosted by the Alabama Supercomputer Authority to provide a free, one-stop, standards-based web resource for educators, parents, leaders, and students. Receiving the esteemed national web award for three years in a row from the Center for Digital Education s Best of the Web award program, ALEX s fun, engaging interactive activities and podcasts attract 100,000 + teachers, students, school leaders, and parents from Alabama and around the world each month. The GEMS-U Program is an extension of the ALEX mission. 5