STEM Education Initiatives Announced

On February 8, 2012, In Computing Education, Diversity in Computing, Funding, Policy, By MelissaNorr

Yesterday was STEM education day for the Administration. In the morning at a White House Science Fair, President Obama announced he will seek $80 million in the FY13 budget of the Department of Education to help train 100,000 more STEM teachers along with policies to recruit, retain, and reward STEM teachers. The full announcement can be found here.

In the afternoon, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) released “Engage to Excel: Producing One Million Additional College Graduates with Degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics”, a report focusing on ways to increase the attraction and retention of undergraduates majoring in the STEM fields. During the release, members of PCAST spoke to the difficulties of keeping interested students in the STEM fields particularly when they are not prepared for college level math and when they find the introductory level courses to be “uninspiring”. Additionally, many underrepresented groups leave STEM courses because the atmosphere is unwelcoming.

“PCAST found that economic forecasts point to a need for producing, over the next decade, approximately 1 million more college graduates in STEM fields than expected under current assumptions. Fewer than 40% of students who enter college intending to major in a STEM field complete a STEM degree. Merely increasing the retention of STEM majors from 40% to 50% would generate three-quarters of the targeted 1 million additional STEM degrees over the next decade,” according to the introductory letter to the President.

The report listed five recommendations for improving the attraction and retention of undergraduates.

  • Catalyze widespread adoption of empirically validated teaching practices
  • Advocate and provide support for replacing standard laboratory classes with discovery based research courses
  • Launch a national experiment in postsecondary mathematics education to address the math preparation gap
  • Encourage partnerships among stakeholders to diversify pathways to STEM careers
  • Create a Presidential Council on STEM Education with leadership from the academic and business communities to provide strategic leadership for transformative and sustainable change in STEM undergraduate education

A fact sheet, executive summary, and the full report are all available as PDFs at the PCAST website.

 
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Competitiveness and Innovative Capacity of the United States Report Released

On January 6, 2012, In American Competitiveness Initiative, Computing Education, Events, People, Policy, Uncategorized, By MelissaNorr

The Department of Commerce and National Economic Council today released a new report on “The Competitiveness and Innovation Capacity of the United States” at an event featuring Secretary of Commerce John Bryson followed by a panel of speakers and small group breakout sessions. The report was a Congressional mandate in the COMPETES reauthorization last year.

Secretary Bryson opened the event with a keynote address saying that the report contains three areas of focus: federal funding of basic research, STEM education, and infrastructure investment. He discussed that these are areas of investment that payoff in the future and that they need to be encouraged even during difficult economic times.

The Secretary’s brief remarks were followed by a panel discussion with Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Under Secretary for Economic Affairs Rebecca Blank, US Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra, and McKinsey Global Institute Director James Manyika.

Deputy Secretary Blank began the discussion by talking about the need for competitiveness and job growth to be part of the same conversation. She spoke to the fact that many people don’t see college education, particularly in STEM fields, to be pertinent to their lives and that we need to change the overall picture so they can make the connection.

Manyika pointed out that the concern over jobs was not just because of the recession and that wage growth matters because consumer spending is such a heavy driver of economic growth in the US. He answered a question regarding the US competitiveness standing by saying that the US economy is still the most innovative and attractive in the world, as it has been since World War II, but that change is starting to happen around the globe with other countries trying to rise to the same level of innovation. Manyika also noted that there are market failures in research and development because of the long-term nature of basic research and the private sector cannot fund that kind of research without the government.

Chopra gave examples of the payoff of federally funded R&D. He specifically called out the list of billion dollar sectors within IT that can trace their starts back to federally funded research. He also discussed the success of commercializing a great deal of research that originally started at DARPA and the need to emulate that kind of model and the need to have public-private partnerships.

There was little time for audience questions but one question that did get asked was if all the jobs of the future require computing knowledge and skills, why isn’t computer science being taught at the K – 12 level. Chopra answered by saying that the engineering and technology (the E&T in STEM) need more investment and more emphasis because the science and math portions are already well established.

The full report is available online at the Department of Commerce website. The video of the event will be posted to the Center for American Progress website in the near future.

 
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Join Computer Science Education Week!

On November 21, 2011, In Computing Education, Events, By MelissaNorr

As noted over at the CCC blog as well as in CRN, the third annual Computer Science Education Week is December 4 -10, 2011 and you can join with the more than 1800 people who have pledged to participate!

CSEdWeek 2011 is a call to action to raise awareness about computer science education and computing careers. Held annually the week of Admiral Grace Hopper’s birthday (December 9, 1906), CSEdWeek brings together parents, students, teachers and others in celebrating the endless opportunities a computer science education offers students in K-12, higher education, and in their careers.

The week will also feature activities designed to provide information and activities for students, educators, parents, and corporations to advocate for computer science education at all levels and eliminate misperceptions about computer science and computing careers

Join In! Everyone can participate!

Take the CSEdWeek pledge! Register your support and share your plans to celebrate by selecting the Red Ribbon at the CS Ed Week website.

‘Like’ CSEdWeek on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CSEdWeek and join the conversation.

Blog, tweet, and post to spread the word and raise awareness. Use the #CSEdWeek hashtag.

Celebrate CSEdWeek in your school, club, or workplace.

Visit the CS Ed Week website for other suggested activities and resources.

Why Computer Science Education?
Computer science education is essential to: expose students to critical thinking and problem solving; instill understanding of computational thinking for success in the digital age; train students for computing careers that are exciting, plentiful and financially rewarding; and prepare students to tackle the world’s most challenging problems.

Yet as the role and significance of computing has grown, the teaching of computer science in our K-12 education system has dramatically declined. There is insufficient innovative computing curricula for students at all levels; few students have the opportunity to study computer science in an engaging and rigorous way; there is a lack of ethnic and gender diversity among those who do take computer science courses; and teachers have few opportunities for professional development and certification in computer science education.

 
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