Tag Archives: stem

In April, the White House hosted an Early STEM Learning Symposium with the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services and Invest in US to discuss the importance of active science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning for our youngest children. Just a few months later, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center and New America convened leaders from research, policy, philanthropy, and practice to follow up on the White House symposium and create a national action agenda for early…

The STEM Challenge team recently co-hosted a workshop at the The Tech Museum of Innovation with Cogswell College.  John Duhring, Director, Strategic Alliances and Alumni Relations, provides some insight into some career paths for students interested in exploring a future in game design and development.   There is an urgent call across U.S. universities to better prepare students for careers. Current research reveals that students decide to go to college primarily to improve their employment opportunities. They look to colleges to…

On May 31-June 1, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center and New America co-hosted Fostering STEM Trajectories: at a two-day event in Washington, DC. Vivien Stewart, Senior Advisor for Education and former Vice President of Asia Society, delivered these remarks on how an international perspective on STEM education for young children may benefit our research and practices.   FIRST: Why thinking internationally ought to be part of our national research agenda in STEM and early learning. Most American educators know that on…

Steve Isaacs teaches video game design and development to middle school students in New Jersey, and has been recognized as an ISTE Outstanding Teacher this year. Here he shares his experience in developing a curriculum in game design at his school, and offers tips for educators interested in doing so at their own schools.   When I started teaching at William Annin Middle School (WAMS) in 1998, I offered an after school computer club that focused on Game Design and…

As a member of the Support Team for the National STEM Video Game Challenge, I often receive many emails from students looking for guidance, such as a recent request from Yoel in Dallas who was looking for tips for young game designers thinking about entering a game for the 2016 cycle. Based upon my experience as a professional game designer and a screener for many of the STEM Challenge game submissions, I thought I’d share my personal recommendations with all…

Picture this: You enter a preschool classroom and hear the splashes and giggles of children around a water table. You approach an elementary school and see a small group of children on a guided nature walk, investigating the blossoms on a flowering tree, while another group is measuring the dimensions of a jungle gym and creating drawings of how it is constructed. All around you, early learners are engaged in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) — subjects that were…

Since releasing their first Nancy Drew adventure game, Secrets Can Kill, back in 1998, Her Interactive has inspired thousands to pick up a virtual magnifying glass and take on the role of amateur detective—including 2015 STEM Challenge winner Olivia Thomas. Based out of Bellevue, Washington, the Her Interactive team has produced over 30 first-person mystery games in the last 18 years. This month, they launched Nancy Drew: Codes & Clues, aimed at introducing early learners to coding and STEM skills. To…

Last week, Sandhya Nankani wrote about the White House Conference on gender and diversity in toys. Here she describes the toy industry’s efforts to break down existing stereotypes and create new narratives that empower girls.   The toy world is abuzz with the recent launch of the newest Barbie doll, modeled after Misty Copeland, the first black female principal dancer at the American Ballet Theater. The doll is a part of Barbie’s Sheroes collection, which celebrates female heroes who “like…

It’s not every day you get an invitation to The White House. (I’ll admit it: I’m definitely going to put my invitation in an acid-free, archival album for my children and grandchildren to see.) So it was an absolute honor to be able to attend last week’s Early STEM Learning Symposium at The White House (STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). But this experience had particular personal significance for me. I attended graduate school at Georgetown University’s Department of Psychology,…

In many ways, the audience for PEEP and the Big Wide World is what you might expect. Every day, thousands of preschoolers, parents, and educators log on to this award-winning public media project to explore math and science—by watching videos, playing games, and finding hands-on activities they can explore in their own homes and neighborhoods. But PEEP’s audience is unique in one important way: more than 20% of PEEP’s users are Spanish-speaking. This wasn’t always the case. The growth of…