STEM Career SmartBrief

Reading this on a mobile device? Try our optimized mobile version here: http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/emxQCfbwocfEbelNJGrY

March 8, 2013

STEM News for Educators

Education

Steps to encourage girls to pursue STEM
Engineer Karen Purcell offers five strategies for sparking and maintaining girls' interest in science, technology, engineering and math. Strategies include introducing girls to STEM subjects as early and often as boys typically are exposed to these subjects, connecting girls with mentors in the field, community groups that support STEM education and national organizations and offering access to special STEM programs. Edutopia.org (3/7)

Minn. students earn college dollars through STEM challenges
Students in a Minnesota magnet program for engineering, mathematics and science are turning ideas into money for college, earning $1 million during the past two years. Original student projects range from developing a substance to repair sneaker soles to using magnets and pedal power to create a bicycle light. Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.) (3/5)

Strategies for teaching and assessing creativity
Creativity is an essential skill that can be taught and assessed in student projects, according to education consultant Andrew Miller. In this blog post, Miller offers four indicators of what creativity in learning looks like, and suggests a number of ways these indicators can be included in projects or lessons. "If we want our students to be creative, we must give them not only the opportunity to do so, but also the finite skills and targets to be able to do so," Miller writes. Edutopia.org/Andrew Miller's blog (3/7)

Business

Petroleum professionals bring science of oil to N.D. classroom
Eighth-graders in a North Dakota school are participating in an Adopt-A-Well program offered by Enerplus Resources USA in which students track the progression of an oil well from start to finish. The company sends representatives to the class each month with updates and hands-on experiences such as handling the gel used in hydraulic fracturing. Jamestown Sun (N.D.) (3/8)

Industrial distribution programs can offer employee pipeline
University-based industrial distribution programs may be a way for companies to reduce the difficulty of finding qualified hires, Lindsay Konzak writes. One such program works because the students are intent on securing industry-related jobs. "Many of the newest students are encouraged to stay in the program because of its high job placement rate and its practical focus on one industry," she writes. Modern Distribution Management/Human Resources blog (3/6)

Trends

U.S. News names its top 10 engineering grad schools
U.S. News & World Report has ranked the nation's graduate schools in engineering for 2014, and familiar names top the list. Among them are MIT, Carnegie Mellon and the California Institute of Technology. U.S. News & World Report (3/12)

Mass. proposal would bring STEM academies to community colleges
Massachusetts House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo has proposed a plan that he says would help students who enter community colleges needing math remediation. The STEM Starter Academy would provide intensive math instruction for such students using an immersion model in which students could spend up to three hours a day, five days a week in math class. Boston Herald (3/8)

ACTE News

Extend Your VISION of CTE
The CareerTech VISION 2013 call for presentations is now open! Take advantage of this exclusive opportunity to submit to present at the premier annual event for career and technical educators. Please read these instructions, check out the walkthrough ... and submit today!

Learn more about ACTE ->

SmartQuote

Hope never abandons you, you abandon it."

--George Weinberg,
American psychologist, writer and activist

Subscriber Tools

Print friendly format | Web version | Search past news | Archive | Privacy policy

Advertise

Sales Associate: Alex Rice (202) 618-5666