Use of AI in education is rapidly growing along with concerns about ways it might impact learning. There is a lot of responsibility on educators to help students understand how AI technology works, how it generates information, and the ways users can analyze results for correctness and bias. In this episode, Leslie talks to us about the potential uses for AI in STEM education, approaches educators can take when discussing AI use in their disciplines, and how they can help students learn empowerment and become interested in thinking about creative ways to use this technology.

Bio:
Leslie Bondaryk is the Chief Technology Officer at the Concord Consortium in Concord, MA, and a 2024 EdSafe AI Fellow. Her career has been spent introducing new technologies to educational research and publishing projects across computer science, mathematics, engineering and sciences, including the first Web Calculus text, The Analytical Engine Online (PWS Publishing, 1998), and Schaum’s Interactive Outline Series (McGraw Hill, 1994-2000). She is the author of papers, articles and book chapters on technology adoption in classrooms, citizen science, and more recently on collaborative technologies in STEM software. Her research interests include AI to support learning, data visualization, physical experimentation in classrooms, collaborative learning technologies, and novel interfaces to communicate modeling concepts. She is also the former owner of Wackenhammer's Clockwork Arcade, a STEAM entertainment venue that tried to teach concepts in math and physics while playing games.

References:
Andy Zucker and Penny Noyce on Spotting Scientific Misinformation

Concord Consortium's course on AI and how it works (Gr 8-12 appropriate)

Article about integrating AI into a language arts curriculum

Educational technology can provide opportunities for creative problem solving where users can build projects that are meaningful to them. Using technology as a tool for expressing one’s ideas is a powerful approach for helping learners become digital creators rather than just consumers. In this conversation, Dr. Natalie Rusk shares reflections about her work on the Scratch programming language, the Computer Clubhouse, and most recently the OctoStudio mobile program.

Bio:
Natalie Rusk, PhD, is a Research Scientist at the MIT Media Lab and is one of the lead creators of the Scratch programming language and the Computer Clubhouse after-school program. She currently leads the development of OctoStudio, a new mobile app that makes creating with code more accessible for children, families, and educators around the world. Her research focuses on young people’s interests as motivate learning. She is lead author of the Scratch Coding Cards and editor of the book, Start Making! A Guide to Engaging Young People in Maker Activities. She earned a PhD in child development from Tufts University and a Master's in Technology in Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education. 

Making a positive impact on the community through project-based work provides students with valuable experience in developing conceptual knowledge in science and engineering as well as building important experience in teamwork competencies. In this conversation, Bill shares his extensive knowledge in building engaging STEAM learning environments and ways of helping students learn to identify problems and solutions relevant to their community through the engineering design process.

Bio:

Bill Church works at the intersection of creativity, education, and the STEAM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math). He is a lifelong maker and former public school physics teacher with academic training in science, engineering, and education. Bill has used computer science, engineering design challenges, inquiry, and technology toolsets in education settings for over twenty five years.  Bill has presented his work on project-based learning at many national and international conferences and co-authored a book of classroom activities entitled, Physics with Robotics.  In 2013, Bill founded White Mountain Science, a non-profit STEM outreach and curriculum development organization in Northern New Hampshire.  Currently, Bill is starting a new venture focused on connecting the public with research in Climate STEM topics. Bill and the WMSI team are regular collaborators with STEM education innovators near and far.

Engineering design is a technical as well as a social process. Developing an awareness of factors affecting groups’ dynamics during the decision-making process can help improve team-based engineering experiences. In this conversation, Drs. Robin Fowler and Trevion Henderson share their research and practical knowledge about ways of supporting equitable collaboration among students who identify with historically marginalized groups.

Bios:
Dr. Robin Fowler is a Teaching Professor in Technical Communication and an Engineering Education researcher at the University of Michigan. Her teaching is primarily in team-based engineering courses, and her research focuses on equity in communication and collaboration as well as in group design decision making (judgment) under uncertainty. She is especially interested in how power relationships and rhetorical strategies affect group judgment in engineering design; one goal of this work is to understand factors that inhibit full participation of students who identify with historically marginalized groups and investigate evidence-based strategies for mitigating these inequities. In addition, she is interested in technology and how specific affordances can change the ways we collaborate, learn, read, and write. Teaching engineering communication allows her to apply this work as she coaches students through collaboration, design thinking, and design communication. She is part of a team of faculty innovators who originated Tandem (tandem.ai.umich.edu), a tool designed to help facilitate equitable and inclusive teamwork environments.

Dr. Trevion Henderson (he/him/his) is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Tufts University. He earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Michigan, as well as his M.A. in Higher Education and Student Affairs and his B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from The Ohio State University. Dr. Henderson holds secondary appointments in the STEM Education program in the Department of Education, and he serves on Steering Committee for the Institute for Research on Learning and Instruction (IRLI) at Tufts University. Dr. Henderson’s research is broadly concerned with how students’ in- and out-of-classroom experiences affect their learning, focusing particularly on the ways that students’ socio-academic relationships shapes their learning in engineering education. Dr. Henderson uses both qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches to student the interactional dynamics that shape students’ learning, focusing particularly on teamwork 

Early exposure to science and engineering is really important for engaging in and following a career in STEM fields. Students need to see from a younger age what influence science and engineering have on society and have various opportunities to participate in STEM activities. In this conversation, Dr. Regina Ragan discusses ways of explaining complex topics from the material science discipline to K-12 students through her outreach research efforts.

Bio:
Professor Regina Ragan’s interdisciplinary research activities involve self-assembly of nanomaterials with control on molecular length scales and integration of nanomaterials in compact devices.  She has produced optical sensors with record performance and developed machine learning algorithms for automated data analysis for ease of use. This has led to the demonstration of rapid antibiotic susceptibility tests to provide new technology for prescribing appropriate antibiotic therapy to combat the emergence of antimicrobial resistant bacteria. She has also demonstrated sensors to detect and quantify concentration of metal contaminants in water below the U.S Environmental Protection agency limits.  This is promising to longitudinally monitor water quality as water is the main source of exposure of toxicants to people and animals.  

She promoted inclusive excellence in diversity in the Samueli School of Engineering (SSoE) at all levels. As a first generation, Mexican-American UCLA undergraduate alumna and UC faculty member, she understands how foreign the academic environment can feel for non-traditional students and faculty. Thus, her efforts have included establishing mentoring programs from the undergraduate to faculty level in order to make UC Irvine an environment where diverse students and faculty can excel. Prof. Ragan works closely with the Schools’ Stacey Nicholas Office of Access & Inclusion where she assists in developing educational modules for K-12 students, mentors undergraduate and graduate students, and developing partnerships between UC Irvine and the community.  

Reflecting on ways to support underrepresented engineering undergraduate students participating in the NSF S-STEM grant highlights the value of human connection and appropriate mentorship. In this episode, Dr. Aidsa Santiago talks to us about the importance of designing effective educational experiences that directly relate to students needs, making learning more meaningful, and helping students increase their identity with engineering profession.

Bio:
Dr. Aidsa I. Santiago Roman currently holds a Full Professor position and is the Chair at the Department of Engineering Sciences and Materials, University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. Her research interests are in Outreach Initiatives, Curriculum and Course Development, Educational Assessment and Cognitive Learning, specifically with Hispanic students. She’s also the advisor of the UPRM’s ASEE Student Chapter. She has been recognized for her excellence in teaching and her leadership locally and nationally.

Supporting active engagement in STEM disciplines is a challenging task that relies on thoughtful educational programming to build environments where students can become leaders of their learning. In this episode, Jake Foster shares with us his knowledge and expertise in the areas of project-based, collaborative, and technology-supported learning, and discusses ways that his company, STEM Learning Design, LLC, is helping educators and school administrators to develop a comprehensive approach to facilitate active learning.

Reference(s) mentioned in this episode:
STEM Learning Design resources https://stemlearningdesign.com/resources/ 

NGSS Phenomena: https://www.ngssphenomena.com/

National Academies Elementary Science Report: https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/enhancing-science-in-prekindergarten-through-fifth-grade 

Citizen Science: https://www.citizenscience.gov/#

Technology-based modeling, simulation, and visualization tools, such as provided by:

          Concord Consortium: https://learn.concord.org/ 

          Open Space: https://www.openspaceproject.com/ 

Remote labs: https://circlcenter.org/remote-labs/ 

WADE Institute: https://www.wadeinstitutema.org/

Beyond Benign: https://www.beyondbenign.org/ 

“Cultural Responsiveness and Mathematical Practices” by Jen Munson, Geetha Lakshminarayanan, and Thomas Rodney in Mathematics Teacher: Learning & Teaching PK-12, October 2022 (Vol. 115, #10, pp. 698-706)

Bio:
Jake founded STEM Learning Design to support innovative program design and powerful student learning experiences. He partners with districts and organizations to redesign school programming and learning space design, with a particular focus on STEM education. 

Jake began his 25-year career in STEM education teaching high school science, then supporting others as a middle school coach and teacher educator. As past STEM leader for the Massachusetts Department of Education, Jake engaged for more than a decade in education policy, STEM programming, curriculum development, professional development, school support, and strategies for systemic change. He was a lead facilitator of the Massachusetts standards for Science and Technology/Engineering, Mathematics, and Digital Literacy and Computer Science. Jake was a member of the Next Generation Science Standards writing team, and Massachusetts’ representative for the NGSS development process collaborating with 22 other states. 

Understanding ways of integrating equity and inclusion into learning and working environments is important for successful collaboration where participants feel valued for their contributions. In this episode Dr. talks about inclusive teamwork, an Inclusive Leadership Development Model, and building climates where every person feels like they belong.

Reference(s) mentioned in this episode:
https://engineerinclusion.com/meagan-pollock/
https://engineerinclusion.com/inclusive-leadership-development/

Bio:
Dr. Meagan Pollock began her career playing with light projection on tiny microscopic mirrors as an engineer for Texas Instruments. Through her company, Engineer Inclusion, she now utilizes metaphorical projectors and mirrors to shine a light on micro and macro social systems that, when adjusted, improve student and employee success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. A TEDx speaker, author, and a past recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, Meagan holds a PhD in engineering education from Purdue University, an MS in electrical engineering from Texas Tech University, and a BS in computer science from Texas Woman’s University. As an engineer turned educator, Meagan focuses on helping others intentionally engineer inclusion™ in education and the workforce.