Technology
Tools for STEM
Education
Schuylkill STEP
April 2014
Evelyn Wassel, Ed.D.
PLEASE DO NOW…
 Look at the lesson plans on the table. Write 5 lines in response to the following
questions:
 At what grade level(s) do you think students should be expected to participate in this
lesson?
 How are science, technology, engineering and math addressed in this lesson?
 Share with a partner
 Lesson in Action
What is STEM Education?
 STEM Education is an intentional, integrative approach
to teaching and learning in science, technology,
engineering and mathematics.
 Students become adept problem solvers, innovators
and inventors who are self-reliant by asking questions,
investigating, making informed decisions about how
they live their daily lives and engage in their vocations
and communities.
Source: Joey Rider-Bertrand, IU13
STEM
Science
Technology
Engineering
Math
Source: Joey Rider-Bertrand, IU13
What is included?
 Students from all cultural backgrounds
 Students from any gender or gender identity
 Native English speakers and ELLs
 Students with disabilities
 Students of any achievement level
…STEM IS FOR ALL
Source: Joey Rider-Bertrand, IU13
ALL means ALL!
 You cannot do “school as usual”
 Grouping and leveling courses is not the answer. Look at your
data. Has it worked?
 Curriculum must be deliberately designed to meet the needs of
ALL learners.
 Teachers must expand repertoire of instructional practices,
strategies and techniques.
Source: Joey Rider-Bertrand, IU13
Goals of the Session
 Why teach STEM?
 Free Tools to Enhance Science
 Free Tools to Enhance Math
 STEM Tools
Why Teach STEM?
 Projected job growth in STEM related
jobs over next 10 years will be 17%.
 Projected job growth in non-STEM
related jobs over next 10 years will be
9.8%.
 Educational/Societal: STEM Literacy for
all students, inclusion of STEM as part
of a typical liberal arts education,
develop educated consumers of
information and products.
Source: Joey Rider-Bertrand, IU13
United States Department of Labor
 “Our nation needs to increase the supply and quality of “knowledge
workers” whose specialized skills enable them to work within STEM
industries and occupations. Our nation’s economic future depends
upon improving the pipeline into STEM fields (2007).”
United States Military Academy:
Intellectual Domain
• Think and act creatively
• Demonstrate the capability and desire to
pursue progressive and continued
intellectual development
• Listen, read, speak and write effectively
• Be scientifically literate and capable of
applying scientific, mathematical, and
computational modes of thought to the
solution of complex problems.
• Understand and apply information
technology concepts to acquire, manage,
communicate and defend information, solve
problems, and adapt to technology.
• Apply mathematics, science, technology,
and the engineering design process to devise
technological problem solutions that are
effective and adaptable.
STEM, Literacy and PA Core
3.5 Reading Informational
Text
8.6 Writing
• Students read, understand, and
respond to informational text-with
emphasis on comprehension making
connections among
• Ideas and between texts with focus on
textual evidence
• Students write for different purposes
and audiences.
• Students write clear and focused text to
convey a well-defined perspective and
appropriate content
STEM, Literacy and PA Core
Math Practice
#1
Make sense of
problems and
persevere in solving
them
#2
Reason abstractly and
quantitatively
PA Core Standard
Check their answers to problems using different methods and continually ask themselves,
“Does this make sense?”
Explain correspondences between equations, verbal descriptions, tables, and graphs or
draw diagrams of important features and relationships, graph data, and search for
regularity or trends.
Reason inductively about data, making plausible arguments that take into account the
context from which the data arose.
STEM, Literacy and PA Core
Math Practice
#3
Construct viable
arguments and
critique the
reasoning of others
PA Core Standard
Justify their conclusions, communicate them to others, and respond to the arguments of
others.
Compare the effectiveness of two plausible arguments, distinguish correct logic or
reasoning from that which is flawed, and—if there is a flaw in an argument—explain what
it is.
Determine domains, to which an argument applies, listen or read the arguments of
others, decide whether they make sense, and ask useful questions to clarify or improve
the arguments.
Reason inductively about data, making plausible arguments that take into account the
context from which the data arose.
What’s in Your Toolbox??
Share with a partner tools that you have used to
promote literacy in STEM classes.
Be prepared to share out…
Vocabulary
Students should be able to:
“interpret words and phrases within a text”
“write informative/explanatory texts to
examine and convey complex ideas and
information clearly and accurately”
Write “discipline specific content”
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3sXseN80gSM/RzuENHFgVVI/AAAAAAAAAFw/cS92DeIbjr4/s320/standards+comic.jpg
How to Promote Vocabulary
 Have students use words in sentences rather than copy
definitions.
 Essential vocabulary sheet
Term
What does it mean Picture
to you?
Where can I find a
definition?
 Have students demonstrate mastery in short or
extended writing pieces.
What Could Students Read?
News sources
Nonfiction books
Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs
Cheryl Strayed’s Wild
Malcom Gladwell’s Outliers
Mary Roach’s Stiff
Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers
 Do you believe outliers are
important for research? Give
examples from the book to
support your position.
 Do you think Asians are
prewired to do better in math
than Americans because of
their language? Cite examples
from the book to support your
position.
What Could Students Read?/ Write?
 http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/lessonplans/?page_id=474?&passid=83
 http://pbs39.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/echo07.lan.storie
s.lpeveryday/storytelling-tales-of-everyday-life/
 http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/epo/educators/ThinkScientifically_1.p
df
What Could Students Read? Write?
 LDC Tasks
 Topics
 “What to do about climate change?”
 “Is genetic science moral?”
 “Has the Internet changed society for better or worse?”
 Products





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Brochure
Poster
Short story
Rap
Monologue
Letter to editor
Reading in Math
 Math textbooks contain
more concepts per word,
per sentence, and per
paragraph
 Writing style is compact,
little redundancy
 Textbooks are written
above grade level
Reading in Math
 Proficient at decoding,
comprehending, words,
numbers, and symbols
 Examples, graphics or
exercises take first priority
over words
 Overlap between math and
everyday English vocabulary
McREL
Teachers struggle with…
What are the specific skills or knowledge that
students need in order to read content material
effectively?
What learning environments promote effective
reading and learning?
What strategies can be used with students to help
them become more effective readers and
independent learners?
McREL
Draft
Students struggle with…
 Organizing ideas as they read.
 Making meaningful connections.
 Persevering through reading material
 Mathematics
 Tackling vocabulary
 Decoding symbols
 Reading at the text level
 Understanding text organization
Communication Standard
Students will acquire
the ability to read,
write, listen to, and
speak mathematics.
Page 5, Crossroads in Mathematics
This is why we need to talk about math.
Actual student answer to a math problem
26
Tying It All Together…
 How can the opening lesson on Iditarod be extended to a STEM lesson?
 http://padlet.com/wall/STEMIditarod
References
 Information for slides 3,4,5,6,7,10 from 2013 SAS Institute – created by Joey
Rider-Bertrand, IU13
 STEM, Literacy and the Common Core Standards by Shannon Reed, 8/21/12
CASH In
 Cognitive-Intellectual
 Affect
 Strengthen/Share
 Helpful