Speaker: Dr. Lynn Bryan, PhD from Purdue University
Today’s Presentation
Program: E-STEM: Meeting New Indiana Academic Standards in Science
Speakers: Dr. Lynn Bryan, PhD from Purdue University
Introduced By: Bob Yee
Attendance: NESC: 92, Zoom: 28
Guest(s): Mike Newberry, Ron Priest, Craig Spaid
Scribe: Bennie Ko
Editor: Bill Elliott
View a recording of today’s Zoom presentation at:
Today's Program 042924
Background: CATALYST (Purdue Univ.) and Grand Universe have launched an initiative to develop research-based instructional materials for middle school classrooms to meet new Indiana academic standards in science. E-STEM uses the rich data-based resources of NASA's Earth Systems Observatory. It is contextualized in real-world phenomena and uses learning science by integrating community-engaged engineering design.
Speaker: Professor Lynn A. Bryan, Ph.D.
Purdue University
Director, Center for Advancing the Teaching and Learning of STEM (CATALYST)
In 2013, the National Research Council set up new academic standards for K-12 science education. This came to be known as The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States) and Indiana is one of the states that has adopted it.
NGSS is based on integrating the 3 dimensions of 1) Science and Engineering Practices, 2) Cross-Cutting Concepts, and 3) Disciplinary Core Ideas, and from such integration into student performance expectations.
Dimension 1: Science and Engineering Practices defines the range of cognitive, social, and physical practices involved.
Dimension 2: Cross-cutting Concepts provide an organizational schema for interrelating knowledge from various science fields into a coherent and scientifically-based view of the world.
Dimension 3. Disciplinary Core Ideas are the key organizing concepts of a single discipline in science or engineering.
The Purdue University Center for Advancing the Teaching and Learning of STEM (CATALYST) and the Grand Universe are collaborators in launching an initiative to develop research-based instructional materials for middle/high school classrooms to meet the new Indiana academic standards in science and engineering. This endeavor also aims to stimulate the student's interest in science and encourage their engagement in initiative-taking learning.
The project emphasizes the human impact on the earth. Grand Universe provides the rich data-based resources of NASA's Earth Systems Observatory. From this, students can see the impact of human activities on various environmental systems leading them to develop evidence-based reasoning. They are encouraged to create engineering designs that have a community-integrated purpose. Current curriculum units in development include urban heat islands, water quality, air quality, chemistry of haircare, and hydroponic gardening.
Science teachers who seek help with teaching these new standards can obtain aid and resources from CATALYST.
Vol. 105 No. 16 April 29, 2024 Page 2
Pre- and post-assessments of student learning and teachers' feedback are evaluated regularly.
The goals of Grand Universe and Catalyst are:
* Develop research-based, standard-aligned curriculum units.
* Provide access to freely-available units for K-12 teachers.
* Offer "Pre-K to Gray" Stem programming.
Professor Bryan can be reached at
laybryan@purdue.edu
Dr. Lynn Bryan, PhD, Speaker; Greg
McCauley, Member; Mike Newberg, guest
