Youth Development Insight

By Michael Compton Image by Wes Agresta/ Argonne National Laboratory Have you ever thought of mathematics as poetry? Albert Einstein once said, “Pure mathematics is, in its own way, the poetry of logical ideas.” Unfortunately, most young people have not been introduced to math in this way. For most of them, their math experiences have been the repetitive practice of calculation exercises, using and applying formulas and taking tests. But relying solely on these methods can lead youth to see math as confusing, unimportant, uninteresting or just plain boring. For educators who lead experiences in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in non-formal and after-school settings, I ask this question: Is it important to help youth overcome the negative attitudes they have about math? Should we? The answer of course is "Yes, we should!" But why? A common response could be “Because math is important”. But I believe the answer is much deeper. Leading positive STE...

By Rebecca Meyer  Thinking of science as fun may bring youth to an activity, but they'll like it even more when they get to know more about the scientific process, challenges, and even the failures. Effective science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education demands balancing fun, interest-building activities and attention to the authentic aptitudes and dispositions that prepare youth for professional careers. All too often we emphasize the fun-factor and minimize the notion that "science is hard." My colleague, Margo Bowerman, blogged about this recently: "I’m no good at science!"

By Anne Stevenson Imagine an after-school program in which second graders learn about chemical change by making pancakes. Or a club in which kids in fourth through sixth grades build a  Rube Goldberg machine for a county competition. Or a group of teens re-engineering an underwater robot. How do you, as the adult guiding the learning experience, facilitate inquiry to best engage them and challenge deeper thinking? Adults  may feel successful in creating a “space” where questions are encouraged, yet they feel challenged with how to further facilitate group learning, guide youth but not give them all the answers, and help deepen the learning experience with content or higher level thinking skills. These are strategies that will work in any learning setting, even if you don’t work specifically with STEM programming. Inquiry-based learning is as an approach that includes exploring the natural or material world through questioning, discoveries, and testing the questions ...

By Rebecca Meyer Isis Wenger, creator of the #ILookLikeAnEngineer  campaign How do we engage women in productive science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers when stereotypes run so deep?  A recent ad campaign by a company recruiting engineers ignited a social media dialogue about sexism in the tech industry and what people believe engineers should look like.  One of the ads featured a female engineer, which elicited sexist comments in social media.

By Hui-Hui Wang When you think about engineering, do you first think of machines and buildings? People rarely associate engineering with the natural world. You may think it’s hard to design a youth program that combines engineering design and environmental or nature components. It is a challenge but it’s worth doing because of the thinking skills that youth can get from these activities. I am leading a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) youth program that focuses on native pollinators. Recently we asked a group of middle school youth to examine different flowers and write down their observations, such as the shape, smell, size and color of the flowers. Then, we introduced the concept of pollinators and different type of pollinators -- bees, bats, mice, flies, butterflies, birds and so on.  We asked them to design a flower that attracts the most pollinators. Next, they designed a pollinator that is attracted to that flower. We asked them to consider why the pollina...

By Betsy Olson Searching through childhood pictures of a clowning workshop I attended as an eight-year-old, I have strong, happy memories of our tumbling presentation, with my parents laughing in the audience. These memories resonate with me as I prepare for an upcoming youth leadership presentation, and have me thinking about how to evaluate brief programs. Measuring impressions from them can be tricky. However, keeping a few considerations in mind can simplify the process of evaluating brief programs – defined as those lasting fewer than eight hours.

By Joshua Rice “When am I ever going to use this in real life?” If you're an educator working with youth, you've probably heard this question, usually when they're faced with a complex equation, a problem-solving scenario, or are asked to read, remember, and recall information. Agriculture educators have an advantage answering this question. They can simply reply, "Every day."

By Hui-Hui Wang What did young people on the Engineering Design Challenge teams this past year learn from the experience? Notably, one main takeaway for youth was that building a team can be as challenging as building a Rube Goldberg design. At the end of the first season of our engineering design challenge recently, we asked each member of the 22 teams about the experience. What did they learn? What obstacles did they overcome as they built their Rube Goldberg Machine together? Here are some quotes from the youth participants in this year's challenge: "Some challenges we faced as a team was at first we all came with our one idea, and a lot of us weren't willing to compromise ... but we did overcame that challenge by learning to compromise, and everybody had a voice in this machine, so it was lot of fun." "I was also like that there were ideas, like you would think in a totally different way for some of them. But then, their idea would work much better...

To what extent does skill development matter for youth and their futures? What else do they need to follow their dreams in education? In a past blog entry , I used the  capabilities approach as a framework to understand the various conditions that may influence whether or not a youth may translate his or her STEM knowledge into a STEM career. I offered that scenario as an example, but this doesn't mean we expect all youth in STEM clubs to pursue STEM professions. If we measured the effectiveness of STEM programs by the number of engineers we produced, we'd be painting an incomplete picture. When I talk about capabilities, I'm referring to the freedom young people have to make choices to achieve their goals and accomplish something that's important to them. I think it's more important for them to be able to address and overcome obstacles than it is to learn marketable job skills. This is particularly so for youth who face additional constraints on their freed...

Creativity is on the decline in the U.S. I am learning that creativity takes practice--actually, it takes a LOT of practice--and that sharing ideas is a far better strategy than holding ideas close. In a prior blog post, Mark Haugen challenged us to improve our programs by changing a habit. I'm taking a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) called Creative Problem Solving . It's a way to learn more about sparking creativity in our youth, ( a 21st century skill ) and maybe to become more creative myself. The notion of change is inherent in the course syllabus. Each week, an assignment calls on us to do something different -- in other words change a habit. These Do Something Different (DSDs) assignments (e.g., talk to someone different, or eat something different) tug at something inside, a deep exploration of my core habits and values. Although relatively simple in design, they push me outside of my comfort zone. While in certain moments it can be very uncomfortable, the exper...

By Hui-Hui Wang This summer, we are very excited to have 16 teams of young people from across the state competing in our engineering design challenge , "Build a Rube Goldberg Machine." These third to eighth graders work together and learn the principles of physics to build a working machine that they can take to their county fairs. When planning this challenge, I really wanted to know, "What role can an out-of-school, project-based contest play in building and transferring STEM knowledge and skills? To address this, our science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) team has integrated a number of strategies. These teams of 3-10 youth in 10 counties have formed, adopted team names, and each has one or two adult volunteer leaders. Along with building the machine at face-to-face club meetings, the teams use online learning spaces -- team journals, a portfolio, and an "ask an expert" chat -- to support their learning. From these online records, we can al...

By Anne Stevenson If Rube read the Next Generation Science Standards' 8 Practices for Science and Engineering, he might first let out a quiet cheer, then get back to designing the next step in a complicated machine that would zip a zipper or hammer a nail. A Rube Goldberg Machine (RGM), is an overly complicated machine that performs a simple task, usually through a chain reaction. Building an RGM is a great activity for young people who want to learn the principles of physics. Named after a Pulitzer-Prize winning 20th century cartoonist, (who was also an engineer), RGMs are a whimsical mix of engineering principles and creative design. They are made of common materials you'd find around your home or garage. You can spend hours watching them on Youtube , from a simple machine to pour milk on your cereal , to more complex contraptions, to commercials for toys that inspire girls to be engineers. Beyond being great entertainment, creating a RGM takes engineering design...

The Minnesota 4-H program is increasing efforts to enhance science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) program opportunities, specifically focusing on the E -- engineering and the engineering process. What is the engineering process? This is National Engineers Week , and it seems important to explain how the engineering process is different from, but related to, inquiry. Inquiry is about asking questions in depth. It has these phases: sparking curiosity, articulating curiosity into questions, systematically investigating questions, interpreting the meaning of results, and improving ideas and explanations. Engineering, in the simplest terms, is about solving problems. It is the application of science, mathematics, economics, and experience to design products, processes, or services. The engineering design process is used to fulfill these goals, through a systematic and iterative approach that involves asking questions, imagining solutions, planning things out, creating, opt...

By Hui-Hui Wang Two years ago, I taught a science and engineering after-school program to a group of fifth and sixth grade girls. I asked them what engineering is. No surprise, their answers were all associated with fixing things and building a building. This echoes some research findings that these are common misconceptions about engineering. After completing the program, the girls could identify what engineering is. But they still did not want to pursue engineering as a career choice. What went wrong? I think it is the way that we present engineering to them. Next Generation Science Standards 2013 defines engineering in a very broad sense to mean "any engagement in a systematic practice of design to achieve solutions to a particular human problem." In short, the essence of engineering is a goal-directed problem-solving activity to find the best solution for a human-made problem. This is really important work that will benefit large numbers of people. Now, how can we co...

What real opportunities do youth have to pursue STEM-related professions? Learning engineering skills is one thing, but knowing how to become an engineer is something else. Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) has emerged has an educational buzzword over the last few years. K-12 schools, higher education and non-formal educational programs alike have all increased their efforts to improve STEM learning and outcomes. This effort comes in direct response to President Obama's " Educate to Innovate " campaign, launched in 2009. The national problem this campaign addresses is twofold: American students are lagging behind other countries in achievement measures in these subjects. Further, U.S. Department of Labor data show that of the 20 fastest growing occupations projected for 2014, 15 of them require significant mathematics or science preparation, but our young people lack the skills and training to fill these jobs. Most STEM educational initiatives take a ...

When it comes to program goals, what is the relationship between inventiveness and engineering content? I am working on strategies to engage youth audiences in engineering education. While searching for effective curricula to facilitate inquiry learning through hands-on activities, I reviewed the Design Squad Invent It, Build It curriculum. It suggests that invention is about "making the world a better place." Struck by this definition, I started to wonder if or how "invention" is different from or related to the engineering process. Digging a little, I find that engineering is the systematic process of solving problems (using science and math skills). Invention, on the other hand, is the creative act of making something new - the critical step that actually solves problems. The "necessity," that is often cited as the "mother of invention" sparks the engineering process. Likewise, the engineering process feeds creative invention. After mullin...

By Carrie Ann Olson What youth program activity combines math, chemistry and decision-making skills? Cooking! Healthy living is one of the national 4-H mission mandates, and here in Minnesota we are using the Chef for a Day program to get youth involved in eating more healthfully and gaining science and decision-making skills at the same time. We know that eating habits are established early in life. Studies tell us that kids who are involved in meal preparation and cooking are better at making healthy food choices. Beyond healthy diets, we also know that cooking programs can teach youth about doing science, by learning how to: follow directions understand food terminology predict the chemical reactions from mixing ingredients They can also take learning a step further and encourage youth to make their own science experiment . Research has shown that youth can be sufficiently motivated and empowered to come up with their own research questions and design proper experi...

By Pamela Larson Nippolt What are the best ways to engage youth and adults in authentic scientific inquiry? We are exploring this question with our Driven to Discover: Citizen Science project. Public participation in science, known as citizen science, is when citizens collect and report data, using specified methods, to contribute to scientific research. In our Driven to Discover project, research teams made up of youth and adult citizen scientists are monitoring Monarch butterfly larvae, birds, and water quality, then conducting investigations. This five-year project is now entering its fourth summer. Through it, we are designing a model and curriculum to prepare and support adults - content experts, youth leaders, parents. Their reasons for participation vary -- to volunteer, to extend their teaching, to deepen youth programs in nature settings, to learn through inquiry with youth. Spring is a busy time for this project. A new group of adults has just completed a three-d...

By Rebecca Meyer Through play, children are natural scientists, but few adults carry that playful curiosity and investigation into adulthood. This is pretty well documented. The scientist Carl Sagan said , "Every kid starts out a natural-born scientist, and then we beat it out of them. A few trickle through the system with their wonder and enthusiasm for science intact." I've long had a vague feeling that a connection exists between my seemingly disparate work on nature play, environmental education, science and engineering. My struggle has been to make a cohesive theory from them. I had a moment of clarity as I stumbled into the idea that "messing about in the outdoors" is in essence a foundation for motivating interest and skill in engineering design and science inquiry. I realized that childhood play involves self-made, intrinsically motivated activities that sow the seeds for science inquiry. Wolfe, Cummins, & Myers point out the importance of you...

By Hui-Hui Wang If you asked a science educator to describe the essence of science education, the answer very likely would be "inquiry" -- how a scientist (or anyone) goes about finding the answer to a question. So it is surprising that the word "inquiry" does not appear at all in a new policy document that will set standards for science education in the US for years to come. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) is now under review nationally , and you are invited to read and comment through January 29. It is being developed by the National Research Council , the National Science Teachers Association , the American Association for the Advancement of Science , and Achieve , the facilitator. Inquiry was a central element of science education as defined by the predecessor to NGSS, the National Science Education Standards , published in 1996. But now, the hottest topic among science educators is the NGSS. One of the biggest questions is where inquiry i...