Learning by Making: A rural 8th- to 9th-grade year-long integrated CSTEM curriculum and professional development program
Abstract
Rural schools account for 53% of all schools in the U.S. Rural schools are often located far from scientific organizations, do not have access to quality Computer, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (CSTEM) educational offerings, and about a quarter of the students in rural schools live below the poverty line. The Learning by Making (LbyM)program has developed an integrated 1-year high school program to bring quality CSTEM education to rural schools ultimately to develop solutions to local problems. A quasi-experimental evaluation study by WestEd showed students in the LbyM classes outperformed their peers in other CSTEM classes by a whole letter grade in science and a half a letter grade in mathematics.
The LbyM curriculum is currently being taught in five rural California schools: four high schools and one middle school. Teachers are supported by week-long summer institutes and five Saturday trainings during the academic year. Unit 1 of the curriculum teaches students basic computer skills using Turtle Logo. Unit 2 provides instruction on electronics using an Arduino microprocessor, LEDs, resistors, and a specially-designed version of the Logo language to communicate with the electronics. Unit 3 teaches students how to use sensors and computer coding to gather data using temperature and light sensors, and how to create experiments. Experiment Units connect to local issues and teach students interdisciplinary science topics, such as the physics of energy, heat and temperature, climate change as measured in bore holes, biology of soil moisture, air and water quality. Experiment Units begin with a starter experiments (labs) using the LbyM technology, then create a model of the science involved, make modifications to the experiments, gather data, make claims based on evidence, and share their findings. Additionally, a Career Technical Education (CTE) component supports basic workforce development skills and field-trips to local business using sensors and computers in their business. The LbyM project was funded by grant U411C130090 from the Investing in Innovation Fund, and is currently funded by grant U411C180146 from the Education Innovation and Research program, US Department of Education. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the US Department of Education.- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFMED13E0914M
- Keywords:
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- 0805 Elementary and secondary education;
- EDUCATION;
- 0810 Post-secondary education;
- EDUCATION;
- 0815 Informal education;
- EDUCATION;
- 1630 Impacts of global change;
- GLOBAL CHANGE