Microsoft Aims to Build on Microsoft Success
Microsoft will be releasing a Minecraft installment designed specifically for education. Minecraft can foster both soft skills–collaborating with partners–and more tangible skills like spatial reasoning or item sequencing.
The educational edition comes with in-depth tutorials, lesson plans, and a classroom mode that helps students quickly engage with the software.
Why Math Education in the U.S. Doesn’t Add Up
The article discusses the PISA 2012 assessment and the upcoming release of the 2016 version. It also highlights the fact that memorizers–those students who perform math by memorizing steps–both perform worst than others and represent a high number of U.S. students.
A center at Stanford University is advocating for students to develop more number sense: a comfort level with numbers to have the flexibility to manipulate them to better answer problems. Evidence shows that students learn much more when they can represent mathematics visually.
Research Project Brings STEM Education to Rural Families
Researchers at Penn State University will be partnering with local libraries and museums to host inquiry-based workshops that will focus on different aspects of STEM learning: engineering, water quality, meteorology, botany, and astronomy.
One of the goals is to help young students understand what it means to be a scientist or an engineer. Another goal is to help students and their families understand how science affects their everyday lives.
Who’s to Blame for the Gender Gap in STEM? Start with Kindergarten Teachers
A recent study counters common thinking that the gap in math skills begins in middle school. Instead, researchers are suggesting the gender gap may begin as early as the first year of schooling. And by third grade, significant disparities begin to develop
One of the primary reasons for the early disparity may be teacher expectations. The researchers found that teachers were much more critical of girls’ scores than boys’ even when scoring the same. Other research has found that teacher expectations are a useful predictor of future performance.
THINKit Toolkits to Supplement STEM Education
The Maui Economic Development Board’s Women in Technology, a statewide initiative, has now launched THINKit as the next phase of a project designed to provide Hawaii teachers more technology.
The toolkits are designed to match Hawaii curriculum requirements and provides teachers with tools to include with their current coursework and create hands-on learning opportunities. Each kit focuses on six themes: 3D prototyping, coding, virtual reality, GIS/drones, circuits/hardware, and digital media.