The document discusses plans to build an integrated STEM community in Michiana by creating engagement opportunities between university faculty, K-12 educators, and students. It aims to develop this into a set of regional professional development pathways defined and pursued collaboratively. Opportunities mentioned include building on the successful BioEYES model in other disciplines like nanotechnology and astronomy. Sessions at an upcoming forum will focus on sharing models like BioEYES, addressing new state science standards, exploring university involvement in K-12, and using online tools to collaborate more efficiently. The goal is to establish a research-centric, computationally literate, collaborative community that invites broad participation in advancing STEM.

1. Michiana STEM Community
Why we're doing what we're doing
at Forum (III)

2. In 11 years of QuarkNet experience, we've experienced the value of integrating
the STEM community, teachers with researchers. We want to make that kind of
experience available much more widely in Michiana, building intentionally the
kind of STEM community we want, rather than accepting the status quo. So
we're creating a broad spectrum of engagement opportunities for university
faculty, K-12 educators and students to interact. We'd like those opportunities to
grow into a set of regional professional development pathways which the
Michiana STEM community articulates, adopts and pursues together.
These professional development efforts will be defined by the kind of community
we want. The community we build will need to be shaped by all of us, but our
experience together gives us some preliminary grasp of the kind of STEM
community we want to build. It will be research-centric, erroding the divide
between those who do research and those who don't or never have. It will be
computationally literate. It will be collaborative, using web 2.0 technologies to
work together more efficiently. It will be community based, where new members
see, admire, and desire to join the efforts of community leaders who advance
STEM disciplines and employ them effectively to solve problems, build
businesses, and employ people. It will be inclusive, diverse, effective in issuing
invitations. That's where we're proposing to go.

3. To get there, we have to build on what we have. We want to explore building
on the BioEYES model, which brings together many teachers in substantial
contact with tools researchers use, and has sufficient face-time with students
to inspire them but enough surface area to still reach many of them. (We'll
have a BioEYES session to introduce this program to those who don't know it,
and to discuss new developments.) At the forum we want to describe at the
forum new collaborations to build similar approaches in nanotechnology,
astronomy, and environmental science (hence our NANO, ASTRO, ENVIRO
sessions.) We want to be aware of the emergence of new science standards in
Indiana and the need to develop these new programs in a way guided by those
standards and the best pedagogical practices, especially student-centered,
inquiry-based teaching. (NISMEC will lead a session on these topics.) We also
want to use web 2.0 technologies to make it easier to interact efficiently,
introducing a variety of new online communities that forum participants can join
and help to build. (We have hands-on Collaboration and Funding sessions to
get started using these tools.) We want to discuss how these programs and
these collaboration tools might be used to improve education at various grade
and subject levels. (Our small group session will facilitate this discussion and
move it online.) We also want to listen to one another. (We'll close with a
plenary discussion.) We need the participants at this forum to lead the way in
developing and employing these tools to build a much more inspiring and
inviting STEM community for our children.

4. NDeRC is fruit of the 11-year
experience of the Notre Dame
QuarkNet Center, teachers and
researchers meeting weekly yearround and full time each summer.
When teachers become part of the
research community, they can invite
students into a community to which
they know they belong.
When researchers become part of
the teaching community, it becomes
clearer who their research is for.
As an Integrated STEM Community,
we're a powerful combination.

5. WHAT IF WE TRIED TO
BUILD ON PURPOSE THE
KIND OF STEM COMMUNITY
WE WANT?

6. K-12 students K-12 teachers UG and
Graduate
students
University
researchers
Community
leaders
Parents
K-12 students
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
K-12 teachers
UG and
Graduate
students
?
X
University
researchers
?
Community
leaders
X
X
Parents
X
X

7. To integrate the STEM community,
we need a broad spectrum of engagement opportunties
...for university faculty, grad students: a wide range of
opportunities to get involved in K-12 outreach
...for K-12 teachers: a rich set of professional development
opportunities varied in discipline, level of difficulty and duration

8. A distant goal: to build a set of regional professional
development pathways that we define, pursue and
achieve together
Pathways that lead to the kind of community we want
(populated with professional development resources)
*Collaborative (Web 2.0 collaborative literacy training)
*Research-centric (Research Experiences for Teachers...)
*Frontier-aware (research-enhanced WSs like BioEYES)
*Computationally enhanced (NCSI's Interactivate WS)
*Observant of best practices (NISMEC, AP, Modeling WSs)
*Community-based (HEC's Our Place WS)
*Inclusive, diverse, effective in issuing invitations (?)
***

9. Forum sessions: moving forward by building on what
we already have.
A presentation of the BioEYES model:
*Many teachers (25/year)
*classroom activity and research exposure in week-long PD
*substantial contact with students (1 week)
*scaleable (3300 students this year)
A discussion of moving NANO, ASTRO in similar directions:
*consolidating K-12/University experience
*addressing coming round of Indiana Science Standards
*consulting, developing this summer, piloting next fall
A session for Indiana educators (NISMEC) to consider
changes to IN science standards and an upcoming state-wide
initiative toward inquiry-based education

10. Forum sessions, continued...
A discussion among university faculty to explore new avenues
of involvement with K-12, and consider the College of
Engineering's partnership with Riley High School
ENVIRO featuring a community-based well-head protection
project and a partnership with HEC's Our Place Workshop
Communication and Funding sessions to take two crucial steps
to get started using a range of new online collaboration venues
Grade- and subject-level small group discussion of how and
where to begin collaborating; then a "project fair" over lunch to
get more specific information about these many opportunities
Plenary discussion to continue listening

11. WHAT DO WE WANT FROM YOU?
1. YOUR SURVEYS :)
2. YOUR IDEAS
3. YOUR LEADERSHIP
4. YOUR PARTICIPATION ONLINE

12. Gordon Berry with Tim Hardt
at last year's forum