(32d) How to Effectively Engage the Next Generation in STEM Careers

It is becoming ever important on the world stage to produce successful scientists and engineers, but how do we make these fields more appealing to young Americans? The lessons learned from successful and unsuccessful classroom practices will help shed light on steps that need to be taken to reach a classroom of high school students. A National Science Foundation GK-12 grant at the University of Toledo titled ?Graduate Teaching Fellows in STEM High School Education: An Environmental Science Learning Community at the Land-Lake Ecosystem Interface? pairs eight graduate students in STEM disciplines with eight teachers from local high schools. Graduate Fellows exchange their STEM knowledge and research experience through high school classroom and field exercises to improve their teaching competence and develop communication, mentoring, and team-building skills. High school teachers gain professional development, enduring relationships, and experience in inquiry-based state-of-the-art science content. High School Students develop their STEM skills, gaining greater interest in and understanding of the scientific method and potential for environmental science and engineering careers. The objectives for the program are to: 1) Generate student enthusiasm for STEM careers by engaging them in hands-on research into environmental problems, 2) Exchange STEM knowledge and pedagogies between graduate students and high school teachers resulting in cutting-edge environmental science content and increased teaching and communication skills, and 3) Develop hands-on solutions to environmental problems along schoolyard stream ecosystems feeding the Great Lakes. The UT GK-12 program thus embraces the public scholarship philosophic concept of merging scientific research with civic responsibility to benefit the public and the community and part of that concept is sharing the knowledge and experiences gained with the rest of the scientific community to prepare the next generation of Americans.