STEM, CTE, and WY: Now and the Possible

STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering and MathematicsCTE = Career Technical Education

Overall Message

• Science and technology provide economic opportunity for the nation, Wyoming, and individuals

• Capitalizing on those opportunities requires an new approach to science and technology education

The way we do and use science is changing, and STEM and CTE education must keep pace

A History of Innovation

• More than half of our economic growth since World War II can be traced to science-driven technological innovation

• Much of that innovation was possible because of research on university campuses

Source: the Science Coalition

• EMPLOYEES:11080• HEADQUARTES: Cary,

NC• FOUNDED: 1976• REVENUE: $2.26

billion FY08 “SAS was originally created to analyze crop data through a grant from the Department of Agriculture to North Carolina State University… federal funding for university research is vitally important to keeping America at the forefront of technology innovation.”

Happy Jack Software

• Founded by Jeff Van Baalen (Professor, UW Department of Computer Science) and Mona Gamboa (MS eBusiness from UW)

• 30 employees, 12 from UW, only 4 with PhDs

• Grew out of the Wyoming Business Technology Center

• Originally founded to do shared calendar, now software for medical records, faculty searches, and custom design

“The state has the people and resources available to build its own high-tech industry”

An Opportunity for the US

An Opportunity for Wyoming

• Wyoming will demand a total of 14,200 STEM jobs by 2018

• This represents a 24% increase in STEM jobs, 7% above the national average

• 34% of those jobs will be in engineering and technical operations.

• Most, will require a college degree, including 2-year degrees.

An opportunity for students

Source: American Community Survey, 2009

An opportunity for students, even if they don’t

work in STEM

Science 1.0

“The centers of basic research are the wellsprings of knowledge and understanding… there will be a flow of new scientific knowledge to those that can apply it to practical problems in government, industry, or elsewhere” –Vannevar Bush, Science, The Endless Frontier

ACWhere A = basic researchC = innovation, improved lives, and economic growth

Science 1.0 was…

• Blue-sky• Federally-funded• Discipline-based• Focused on an elite

workforce• Emphasized theory and

observations

A loading dock is no longer enough

• Declining research budgets• Growing demand for return on investment• A growing disconnect with society, shown by

– Declining science literacy– Declining public esteem for science– Students, especially from diverse backgrounds, are

choosing other careers and majors– Science isn’t being applied to pressing problems,

including natural disasters

14

In this test, Science Literacy includes understanding uncertainty and how science generates, evaluates, and revises information – not just content knowledge

And Wyoming?

Wyoming ranks 28th in science scores, according to the Science and Engineering Readiness Index (SERI) ranking system , which preferentially focuses on upper-high-school level math and science courses associated with college STEM majors.

Seventy percent of Americans cannot read and understand the science section of the New York Times.

Jon Miller, Hannah Professor of Integrative studies at Michigan State University, Division of Mathematics and Science Education and the Department of Political Science

Where do you get your news…

Our trust in science may be eroding

• Trust is especially important in critical civic issues like revitalizing forests, managing water, and preparing for hazards, but

– Only 17% of the public thinks that U.S. scientific achievements rate as the best in the world

– Only 27% of Americans offer scientific achievements as one of the country's most important achievements (47% did so a decade ago)

– The percentage of people holding scientists in very great prestige has declined from 66% to 57% from 1977 to 2009

[1] Chart made from data at National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics. 2010 Science and Engineering Degrees, by Race/Ethnicity of Recipients: 1997–2006. Detailed Statistical Tables NSF 10-300. Arlington, VA. Available at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf10300/.

Students (especially from diverse backgrounds) aren’t entering science

US citizens - majority

Temporary Residents

US citizens from under-Represented groups

And the demographics of the field reflect that

Why worry about diversity?

Given that:• The US will be a majority-free nation by 2050 • Wyoming’s Latino population will double by 2025• Wyoming has a large percentage of first-generation college students

Ignoring diversity means:• Ignoring half your talent pool• Being unable to sell to a market you don’t know• Denying the best jobs to large group

Also:• Encouraging Diversity helps innovation by discouraging group-think and promoting

creativity• Finally, knowledge is power, and power-sharing is the hallmark of democracy

Drought in the Sahel

Held et al, 2005.

Simulating (understanding) drought in the Plains

Great Plains Drought in Simulations of the Twentieth Century McCrary and Randall

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AC

Where A = basic researchC = innovation, improved lives, and growth

A + B C

A = basic researchB = the effort to connect to societyC = innovation, improved lives, and growth

“A+B = C” is borrowed from Michael Crow

Science 2.0

• Science is tied to problems, not disciplines• Communities participate in all stages, from setting

priorities to applying results• Computers & networks enable investigation and

communication• Needs a variety of skills and capabilities

“linear conception of the relationship between science and innovation . . . needs to be replaced by an inter-active, dynamic, networked . . . understanding that emphasizes learning”

(Hansson, Husted, and Vestergaard 2005, 1041).

Participatory Research

Participatory Research

Science2.0 Science Education 2.0

• Integrate disciplines• Prepare for multiple career

paths (not just PhD)– Emphasize process over

content– Include computational thinking– T-shaped students

• Reach diverse students• Connect to problems

(especially local /regional problems)

STEM isn’t just for PhD’s anymore

Employers want process, not content

A new framework for science standards

T-shaped Students

• Disciplinary expertise must be connected to a broad set of skills that enable interaction, collaboration and integration

• This is equally true for both science and non-science majors.

Reaching Diverse Students

GEAR UP increases the number of students who are prepared to enter and succeed in college with academic support, family services, college prep, and teacher training.

Science Posse builds link across the educational spectrum, by bringing science graduate students into K-12 classrooms.

Computational Thinking

• abstraction to understand and solve problems

• algorithms and application of mathematical concepts to develop more efficient, fair, and secure solutions.

• understanding the consequences of scale

Thunderstorms

Problem and Place-based Education

• Pointe aux Chene, LA: Two summer interns will work with the community on issues associated with salt water intrusion and plant ecology.

NCAR Wyoming Supercomputing Center (NWSC)

A partner in integrating computational thinking into Wyoming’s Science Education 2.0

Integrate Research & Education Build cyberinfrastructure and computational

science in the region

Train the next generation of computer scientists

NWSC STEM CTE GOALS

Enhance programs at community colleges

Improve K-12 Computational Thinking

Enhance diversity

Broaden participation

Engage the public

Main Points

• Science will continue to offer growth, innovation, and jobs.• Science is becoming more participatory, inclusive, and

computational• Preparing students for science 2.0 requires rethinking

science education and its goals– Process over content– Preparing multiple career paths– Emphasizing solutions, not disciplines– Inclusion

• Wyoming can be at the leading edge, and NCAR can be a partner

“It’s wonderful to have the opportunity given us by society to do basic research, but in return, we have a very important moral responsibility to apply that research to benefiting humanity.” Walter Orr Roberts

Thank Youpandya@ucar.edu

NCAR/UCAR UW

High School High School Internship & Research Opportunities

High School Summer Institute, Coding Camps, GEAR Up Science Camp

Community College Technical Internship Program EPSCoR Summer Internships

Undergraduate Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research, Summer internships in Parallel Computational Science, Undergraduate Leadership Conference

REUs in Math, Chemistry, Ecology, EPSCoR Summer Internships

SUMMER 2012 Internship Opportunities

NCAR/UCAR UW

Graduate Summer internships in Parallel Computational Science, Theme of the Year (Turbulence) Conferences

Independent study awards, SER fellowships, conferences

Post-doc & Faculty Graduate Visitor Program, Advanced Studies Program

SUMMER 2012 Internship Opportunities

December 2012•Rocky Mountain Celebration of Women in Computing

Some Activities to build on…

• UCAR/NCAR participation in Wyoming Science Fair

• Work with Laramie County Community College on curricula

• Student Internships for high school and college

• A new visitor center and traveling exhibits