Institute for Interdisciplinary STEM Education
The Institute mission is to promote authentic interdisciplinary STEM that promotes 21st century reasoning and broadens engagement for underrepresented groups.
Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, Georgia Southern University
Established: 2012
http://research.georgiasouthern.edu/stem/
Profile submitted by Robert Mayes
Vision and Goals
The Institute for Interdisciplinary STEM Education (i2STEMe) will establish collaborative interdisciplinary programs committed to excellence in K-20 STEM teaching and learning, with a focus on rural, diverse, low SES under-represented populations. Given Georgia Southern Universities excellent track record for graduating minority students in STEM areas, we want to capitalize and expand on this strength. The i2STEMe will strive to create broadly inclusive partnerships across academia, business, education, and research centers in Southeast Georgia, support professional development, outreach, curricular development, innovative courses, and research in STEM education through grant funded projects, and establish interdisciplinary STEM education master's and Ph.D. programs. The Institute will address problems indigenous to the rural environments of the region, including issues of cultural diversity and cultural relevance within our diverse population, matters of equitable access to STEM for low SES students, and concerns about relevance of STEM for rural students. Long-term goals of the Institute are to establish partnerships across Georgia, the southeastern region of the United States, nationally, and even internationally to address issues of STEM education in rural areas.
Center/Program Structure
The Institute for Interdisciplinary STEM Education is housed in the Office of Research and Sponsored programs, establishing it as a university wide initative. It is an independent unit. The Institute promotes both internal and external collaboration, working to establish partnerships among school districts, informal science education organizations, businesses, research institutes, and universities. The Institute has a full time Director who is a faculty member in the College of Education, a full time project development specialist, an accountant/administrative asssitant, two graduate students, and we are searching for a full time Research Professor position. We also have 1/2 time released Faculty Fellows from six of our academic colleges.
Description of Programming
The i2STEMe engages in activities in the areas of scholarship, outreach and teaching. Scholarship includes both research and grants supporting professional development and outreach. The Institute is currently engaged in nine funded projects that partner us with multiple school districts, businesses and research institutes across the lower coastal plain of Georgia. For example, the Real STEM project has engaged the Institute in a collaborative partnership with 21 middle schools and high schools to implement authentic real-world interdisciplinary STEM modules and courses that broaden the participation of students in STEM. STEM experts from regional research institutes and businesses interact with teachers and students around place-based problems. The Institute hosted a STEM Education Research Summit in Savannah, bringing in national experts in interdisciplinary STEM education, authentic learning and teaching (place-based education and problem-based learning), 21st century reasoning modalities (such as quantitative reasoning and model-based reasoning), and practice-based education. The work on 21st century reasoning modalities and focus on quantitative reasoning has produced multiple published articles and presentations at state, regional, and national conferences. The Institute has hosted two major outreach events and numerous other activities. STEM Fest provided hands-on STEM experiences for K-12 students and their parents, which drew over 3,000 people in September 2014 and is now cosponsored by Gulf Stream and Georgia Power. In Spring 2015 the Institute offered its first course, a freshmen year experience interdisciplinary STEM course exploring epidemics through the lens of a zombie apocalypse.
Successes and Impacts
The biggest successes are securing state funding to support multiple professional development projects for K-12 teachers in Georgia, with a focus on promoting authentic teaching and learning of STEM. We have also been successful in outreach to the public through our STEM Festival, which drew 3,000 participants last year and engaged over 50 faculty in providing hands-on STEM experiences for children and their parents.
Elements Contributing to Success
Strong support from the Vice-president of Research and College Deans who value the outreach and professional development programs offered by the Institute.