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National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity Education Foundation
P.O. Box 369, Cochranville, PA 19330
Phone: 610-593-8038 Fax: 610-593-7283
Email: NAPE@napequity.org
Funded by the National Science
Foundation HRD-0734056

February 2011

STEM EQUITY PIPELINE NEWS

NAPE 2011 Professional Development Institute "Equity Matters in College and Careers"

April 11-14, 2011
Doubletree Crystal City, Arlington, VA

NAPE recognizes that everyone is experiencing budget constraints. Therefore, we are eliminating advanced registration. The registration fees for members and nonmembers will remain at $425 and $525, respectively, until 5:00 pm EST, April 8, 2011. An additional fee of $50 will be applied to on-site registrations.

STEM-related Highlights
  1. Preconference Workshop: "Pink Brain, Blue Brain? Females and Males in Math and Science" with Lise Eliot, Ph.D.
  2. Tuesday Luncheon Speaker: Patricia Elizondo, Senior Vice President, Global Sales Integration, Affiliated Computer Services/Acquisitions Operations Office, Xerox Corporation
  3. Tuesday and Thursday Workshops:
    • Increasing the Number of Persons with Disabilities in STEM Fields
    • The NAF Career Academy as an Effective STEM Strategy
    • The Importance of Partnerships in Regional STEM Education Initiatives
    • GUESS What? This Experiment is Sick
    • The National Girls Collaborative Project: Using Collaborative Tools to Increase Gender Equity in STEM
    • Two State Models for Supporting NTO Careers Choices in STEM
    • High-Tech High Heels
    • Inspiring Students to Explore STEM Education and Careers

Learn more about the PDI at the NAPE website.

March Webinar

Subject: Cognitive Beliefs and Cultural Variables Matter in STEM Career Development
Date: March 22, 2011
Presenter: Angela M. Byars-Winston

This webinar focuses on the relevance of cognitive beliefs and cultural variables on academic and career commitment in science and engineering. Data from studies of underrepresented STEM populations at the undergraduate level will be presented. Examples of strategies for increasing STEM career interests, commitment to research, reinforcing STEM students' academic self-efficacy beliefs, and reducing perceived academic barriers at the individual, department, and institutional levels will be discussed.
Register

Please note that you can access all past STEM Equity Pipeline webinars on our Archived Webinars webpage.

Iowa

The Iowa Department of Education in partnership with the Community Colleges of Iowa and Iowa Regent Universities will host the first Diversity in STEM conference addressing barriers to success in STEM career pathways for underrepresented students. The goal of the conference is to create a forum for an exchange of ideas, promising practices, and proven strategies to address the low representation of diverse students in STEM fields in Iowa's secondary and postsecondary programs.
Learn More

New Hampshire

Middle and high school students are invited to attend the UNH Tech Camp to learn from professionals in the STEM fields. At Tech Camp participants can choose to spend one, two, or even three weeks working with people from industry, NH schools and the university in each of the STEM areas.
Learn More

ARTICLES

Engineering Prizes Awarded at D.C. Gala

(Dan Vergano, USA TODAY)
Engineering's top prizes were recently awarded for advances in chemistry, DNA sequencing, and education to Frances Arnold, Willem Stemmer, Leroy Hood and Edward Crawley.
Read More

Nissan Names Woman Exec to Lead R&D

(Joseph Szczesny, Journal Register Newspapers)
For the first time, Nissan has appointed a woman to head its product development and engineering organization in North America. Carla Bailo will move from Japan to Farmingon Hills as senior vice president, Research & Development-Nissan Americas.
Read More

Visions of Science Go Viral

(Alan Boyle, Cosmic Log on msnbc)
The honorees in one of the world's most respected competitions for scientific visualization include views of some nasty-looking viruses, plus a host of videos that deserve to get some viral distribution. Take a look at the top of the crop in the 2010 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge, jointly sponsored by the journal Science and the National Science Foundation.
Read More

Schools Should Teach Kids More About How Science Is Done

(Anna Kuchment, Scientific American)
At an AAAS symposium experts agreed that teachers at the high school and undergraduate university level aren't giving students a broad enough understanding of how scientists go about their research.
Read More

Program Prepares Women Faculty in STEM

(STEM Laurie D. Willis, The Charlotte Post)
Livingstone College, Salisbury, NC, is participating in a national initiative to support minority women faculty in science, technology, engineering and math. Preparing Critical Faculty for the Future is sponsored by the Association of American Colleges and Universities and is funded by the National Science Foundation's Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program.
Read More

It May Be a Sputnik Moment, But Science Fairs Are Lagging

(Amy Harmon, New York Times)
President Barack Obama recently said science-fair winners should be celebrated like Super Bowl champions, but participation in science fairs among high-school students is declining. Science teachers say policies that hold schools accountable for student test scores in math and reading are to blame for the lack of interest. "To say that we need engineers and 'this is our Sputnik moment' is meaningless if we have no time to teach students how to do science," the president of the Los Angeles County Science Fair said.
Read More

Encouraging the Hand-Mind Connection in the Classroom

(Margaret Honey and Eric Siegel, Education Week)
These authors argue that the best way for students to get excited about math and science is by encouraging them to create, build, and invent.
Read More

UN's Commission on the Status of Women

The priority theme of this year's Commission on the Status of Women is "Access and participation of women and girls in education, training, science and technology, including for the promotion of women's equal access to full employment and decent work."
Background Paper

Basics About Disabilities and Science and Engineering Education

(Ruta Sevo)
Einstein, Darwin, da Vinci, and Edison allegedly had disabilities. Would they survive in today's school systems? This book provides an introduction to disability issues, history, laws, and research for educators who have little or no experience with students or colleagues with disabilities. A section looks at the need for inclusion and recruitment of students with disabilities to science and engineering fields, and gives examples of resources for faculty to improve instruction.
Read More

RESOURCES

Time Warner Cable's Connect a Million Minds encourages students to take an interest in STEM learning opportunities and career ventures.

Astellas Pharma' Science Worx website instills an understanding of science's role in human health and medicine and supports science teachers' needs both in and outside the classroom.

The International Year of Chemistry 2011 celebrates the achievements of chemistry and its contributions to the well-being of humankind.

Get the Math inspires middle and high school students to solve real-world problems with Algebra.

Google launched a global Online Science Fair.

Changing the Conversation is intended to improve the effectiveness and impact of the engineering community's efforts to communicate to the public about engineering.

The Lemelson-MIT Program honors the acclaimed and unsung heroes who have helped improve our lives through invention.

The Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation will award approximately $95,000 to one prominent American scientist, three high school educators, and 3 high school students who exemplify excellence in life sciences.

The NSF REU Program at Clemson University, Interfaces and Surfaces: Exploring and Experiencing Science, helps participants have a positive research and social experience and encourages them to pursue graduate studies and research careers.

Super Hero Movies: Do They Get Science Right? talks about what makes recent movies like Iron Man so scientifically "right on" and appealing.

Pulse of the Planet: Kid's Science Challenge is a chance for students to submit an idea, question, or problem for a participating scientist to solve.

SAVE THE DATE

Cyberlearning Tools for STEM Education: Berkeley, CA, March 8-9, 2011

National Science Teachers Association National Conference: "Celebrating the Joy of Science: Imagine and Create", San Francisco, CA, March 10-13, 2011

International Technology & Engineering Educators Association (ITEA) Annual Conference: "Preparing the STEM Workforce: The Next Generation" Minneapolis, MN, March 24-26, 2011

U.S. Chamber of Commerce: The Case for Being Bold: A New Agenda for Business in Improving STEM Education, Washington, DC, April 13, 2011, 12:00-5:00 pm ET

AAUW National Convention: Breaking through Barriers--Advocating for Change, Washington, DC, June 16-19, 2011

ASEE 8th Annual K-12 Workshop on Engineering Education: Collaboration Can Improve Engineering Education, British Columbia, Canada, June 25, 2011

CTEEC National Conference: Equity Works, Tulsa, OK, November 16-17, 2011

League for Innovation in the Community College: Second Annual STEMtech Conference, Indianapolis, IN, October 2-5, 2011
Call for Proposals deadline is April 15.

DISCLAIMER

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the material published in the NAPE Update are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of NAPE. Furthermore, inclusion of a product, program, or practice in the NAPE Update does not imply its endorsement by NAPE.

MATERIALS USE POLICY

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Materials Use Policy

Disclaimer: Any opinions, findings, and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the material contained in the resources sections on this website are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NAPE Education Foundation or projects. Furthermore, inclusion of a product, program, or practice in the NAPE website does not imply its endorsement by the NAPE Education Foundation.