Students Pose Suggestions for Better STEM Education

"Mashable" reports [ Mashable: 5 Suggestions for Better STEM Education ] that, during a Twitter chat at the USA Science and Engineering Festival in DC, youth advisors made several suggestions about how to improve STEM education and keep students more interested:

1. Allow students to solve real-world problems rather than perform rote memorization tasks in the classroom;
2. Provide students with the opportunity to do science research early and often;
3. Encourage peer-to-peer education and collaboration during STEM projects to "satisfy human curiosity;"
4. Fear "not trying" rather than failure, as valuable lessons are often learned from the latter;
5. Engage adult mentors to work with students on STEM projects.

Teen Develops Algorithm to Diagnose Leukemia

Mashable reports that Brittany Wenger, an 18-year old recent graduate of the Out-of-Door Academy in Sarasota, FL, developed a custom, cloud-based artificial neural network "to find patterns in genetic expression profiles to diagnose patients with an aggressive form of cancer called mixed-lineage leukemia (MLL). "  Wenger's winning computer science entry was recognized in Phoenix in May at the 2013 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair; her efforts follow her previous work in non-invasive breast cancer diagnosis at Cloud4Cancer .  Brittany began her journey with science and coding after taking a futuristic-thinking course in 7th grade, fueled by her innate curiosity.  She intends to continue her studies and research as a pediatric oncologist.  http://mashable.com/2013/05/21/computer-leukemia-diagnosis/

AFRL Hosting Rocket Propulsion Research Conference at AVC

The AFRL will be hosting the Rocket Propulsion Research Conference at Antelope Valley College Health and Sciences Building Room 201 from on Tuesday, 11 December, through Thursday, 12 December 2013.  Day one will focus on Space Propulsion and Combustion topics, day two on Combustion and Propellants as well as a tour of AVC facilities, and day three on Propellants and Propulsion Materials.  Each day will run from approximately 8:00am to 4:00pm.  For more information, please contact Jamie Jones at AVC, hsistemcoop@gmail.com or 661.722.6300 x 6992.

Studies Indicate Middle School Algebra Exposure May Hamper Later Math Efforts for Some Students

Results of two separate studies recently released, one in California and one in North Carolina, tend to show that some middle school students may not benefit from taking algebra courses, and, in fact, may be less likely as a consequence to take more advanced math courses in high school.  As reported in Education Week, a California study presented by Don Taylor, a CDE consultant, Michael Kurlaender and Heather Rose of UC Davis, found that while middle school algebra course-taking nearly tripled from 1990 to 2007, for the lowest-performing students in in high-stakes testing in 7th grade in a large urban district, taking algebra in 8th grade did not help, and lowered their GPA's by an average 7%.  In the North Carolina study, Duke University researchers Charles Clotfelter, Helen Ladd, and Jacob Vigdor found that 8th grade algebra students did worse on high-stakes testing and were less likely to take more advanced math classes in high school; Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools changed its policy on early algebra as a result.  Similar to Japanese schools, there was some thought that more preparation for the courses in the early grades might assist the students to do better.  http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/04/20/29aera.h31.html?tkn=PUPFkkNmIXDw4XHXTCYuVSrcMTgViaL53lSO&cmp=clp-edweek

Scientific Research Class to Be Included in Thousand Oaks STEM Pathway

Thousand Oaks HS will feature its interdisciplinary college prep Scientific Research class as part of the new STEM Majors and Pathways program (also to be offered at other Conejo Valley Unified high schools).  AMGEN recently provided the class, currently taught by Dr. Nikki Malhotra, two $60,000 liquid chromatography machines to precisely identify chemical components of samples.  The students are preparing entries for the Ventura County Science Fair as part of their curriculum, ranging from chemistry and biology to music.  http://www.toacorn.com/news/2012-02-23/Schools/STEM_aims_to_show_students_how_science_applies_in_.html

Study Shows High Interest by Girls in STEM Careers

The recently-released "Generation STEM" report from the Girl Scout Research Institute shows that 74 percent of girls are interested in STEM subjects, and 82 percent see themselves as "smart enough" to have a career in them; conversely, only 13 percent say that they would choose to pursue such a career.  Some cite factors such as the "glass ceiling,"  requiring them to work harder than men in the profession in order to be taken seriously.  Girl Scouts has undertaken a number of initiatives to help spur STEM achievement by its members, using such things as the AT&T Imagine grant for funding.  http://blog.al.com/huntsville-times-business/2012/02/girl_scouts_help_increase_inte.html

In a related vein, Thomas Landers in NewsOK writes that recent studies show that early exposure and encouragement in STEM fields can double career interest in those areas.  http://newsok.com/early-motivation-leads-to-success-in-stem/article/3650967

New Policy to Promote Career-Life Balance for Scientists

On 26 September 2011, the White House Council on Women and Girls Executive Director Tina Tchen, joined by Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John P. Holdren and NSF Director Subra Suresh, announced the NSF ten-year "NSF Career-Life Balance" initiative to support research scientists and their families.  Included among the policy proposal for targeted flexibility is to allow grant funding to be delayed for up to a year for a new child or other family obligations.  First Lady Michelle Obama supports the initiative as a way to clear hurdles for women to enter and stay in STEM careers.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/helping-women-reach-their-economic-potential/2011/09/25/gIQA1dODxK_story.html

Watch "LAB-TV" Webisodes on NDEP Website

The National Defense Education Program (NDEP) has two seasons of short LAB-TV "webisodes" on its website.  The short videos show students how STEM-based research is used at Department of Defense labs.  To access the webisodes, go to http://www.ndep.us/LabTV

Teachers, Students Pair in CSUB STEM Project Course

The Central Valley Times reports on a summer course beginning this week at Cal State Bakersfield Central Valley campus, funded through a $400,000 grant from Chevron, where 89 students and 25 high school teachers will work together for four weeks on STEM projects.  "Some of the research includes antimalarial drug development, digital watermarking to protect images and videos, robotics design and programming, predicting valley fever outbreaks using satellite image tracking of environmental changes, and analyzing sediment cores from local groundwater sources."  It will give students the opportunity to earn college credit while learning how scientific research is conducted, and allowing professors to advance their work.   http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=18905

HR 889 Introduced to Address Gender Bias in STEM

Congress Member Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas of the House Committee on Space, Science and Technology, along with several co-sponsors, introduced HR 889 in March of 2011 "to provide for fulfilling the potential of women in academic science and engineering, and for other purposes."  Among other provisions, the bill would require workshops to be held related to methods recognizing and reducing bias and enhancing gender equity in academic science and engineering research and other projects which are federally funded, plus collection of related data.  Additionally, a report is due to the committee after five years to evaluate the effectiveness of the program plus suggestions for improvement.   http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr889ih/pdf/BILLS-112hr889ih.pdf  (NAPE Pipeline Press April 2011) 

China's Number of Scientific Papers On the Upswing

Based upon a recent study, "Knowledge, Network, and Nations," the number of scientific papers issued in China has dramatically increased over the last ten years, leading the authors to opine that China could "overtake the US in science" by as early as 2013.  However, on the "citation index" (the citation of scientific papers by other researchers), the US is still at number one, followed by the United Kingdom.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12885271

POWER Study Discusses Reasons Women Leave Engineering

According to "International Business Times," a recent study  of over 3,700 female engineers by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Project on Women Engineers' Retention) reported that while 20% of graduates of engineering programs are women, only 11% remain practicing in the field.  Approximately one-third decided not to pursue the career after graduating; of those who remained, nearly one-half reported leaving due to working conditions, too much travel, lack of advancement and low salary, and one-third because of poor workplace climate.  http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/121633/20110311/women-engineers-engineering-university-wisconsin-milwaukee-workplace-climate-culture.htm

Raytheon to Locate Public Safety Regional Technology Center in Downey

Raytheon announced that it will locate a new Public Safety Regional Technology Center in Downey, CA, which will serve as the locus of its civil communications business in the western US.  The center will also partner with the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science to form the UCLA Center for Public Safety Network Systems "to bring together academia, industry and public safety agencies to provide technical leadership and a collaborative forum for research as well as the establishment of standards for public safety networks."  http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_17557959?nclick_check=1