Our EDP process and STEM practices provide students with words (to develop thinking, promote planning, etc.). We support our students with an equitable, safe, and developmentally appropriate environment to foster a place for students to learn, experience failed ideas, and move toward success.

TAKEAWAYS:
The way STEM and the EDP are embedded into Pre-K environments in our school meets the needs of early intervention and provides equitable access to education for children prior to beginning kindergarten.

SPEAKERS:
Brittany Clark (McKissick Academy: Easley, SC)

Stoichiometry is a topic in foundational chemistry that is often difficult for students to grasp. In this lesson, students learn about stoichiometry from the perspective of making paint. The lesson plan brings together many chemistry topics that are often taught in siloed chapters: types of chemical reactions, balanced chemical equations, net ionic equations, limiting reactants, molarity, and solution stoichiometry. This lesson brings these topics together and students make sense of how the different topics are conceptually bound. The art component of painting a personal tile gives each student the opportunity for self-expression and the inclusion of each tile into a class quilt makes for a unique perspective of the collective.

TAKEAWAYS:
Student engagement in learning and understanding a difficult concept like stoichiometry is buoyed by inclusion of an art component and a descriptive narrative that allows for open expression of a student's interests or culture.

SPEAKERS:
Caroline Gochoco-Tsuyuki (Archbishop Riordan High School: San Francisco, CA)

In this presentation, I will describe how an action research study with a phenomenological qualitative design can be used to examine reasons that reluctant Black students use to not register with advanced science classes. My session will describe how to employ a community of inquiry to identify and remove barriers for underrepresented students. Qualitative data from focus group interviews with student participants will be presented, and I will show how a community of inquiry can analyze data. Attendees will learn about school changes proposed by a community of inquiry to reduce or mitigate barriers that underrepresented students encounter. I will also explain the benefits of iteratively revised proposals based on student participant feedback. Additionally, the implementation of proposed school changes will be discussed.

TAKEAWAYS:
Qualitative research provides educators with direct knowledge from reluctant participants. This session provides attendees with tools to assist in problem-solving and removing barriers for underrepresented students in advanced science classes.

SPEAKERS:
Diane Vrobel (Archbishop Hoban High School: Akron, OH)

The population of Latinx students is rapidly growing in the United States, yet Latinas are underrepresented in STEM careers compared to their peers of other identities. This could be in part due to the deficit-based ideology that has historically been utilized when describing this group's success in academic disciplines. This presentation will highlight the findings of a recent qualitative study that asked Latina STEM undergraduate students to reflect on their sources of persistence in high school STEM coursework. The study participants’ responses were correlated with Yosso's (2005) “Community Cultural Wealth Model" to identify their unique sources of strength and persistence in STEM. The study findings will serve as the foundation for recommendations to be made for the implementation of equitable and asset-based shifts to promote Latinas’ persistence and success in STEM at the secondary levels.

TAKEAWAYS:
Using an asset-based approach, participants will engage in social justice-themed conversations to equitably encourage Latina high school students’ persistence in STEM coursework. Ready-to-use strategies will be featured to promote greater perseverance in STEM for Latinas.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole Vitello Lowell (Charles H. Barrows STEM Academy: North Windham, CT)

Hands-on lab experiments are crucial for students to develop proficiency with the science and engineering practices in the Next Generation Science Standards, but traditional labs often require hazardous materials, expensive equipment, long lab times, and dedicated facilities, leaving them out of reach for many schools. Paper microfluidics provides a safe, low-cost, and easy-to-use platform to do hands-on chemistry experiments without specialized equipment or lab spaces. MICRO Project experiments use paper microfluidics to teach inquiry-based chemistry labs. Each MICRO lab is designed to engage students in science and engineering practices and includes instructor notes, customizable pre- and post-lab questions, student procedures, and background on a relevant issue of equity and justice. These labs have been used by thousands of students at universities, community colleges, and middle and high schools. Participants at the Share-a-Thon will perform a MICRO titration lab.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to integrate authentic scientific practices into safe, hands-on, low-cost lab experiments.

SPEAKERS:
Rachel Roller (PhD Candidate: Mishawaka, IN)

Female student engagement in the STEM fields does not currently match the level at which male students are engaged. Whether it is in high school course enrollment, college, or careers, males outnumber females in terms of enrollment and study of advanced STEM fields, particularly physics, and engineering. Incorporating Advanced Placement Potential as a measure of demonstrated aptitude, this program will review the current research findings and intervention strategies, including action steps to reverse this trend and promote a more proportional, and equitable, enrollment of males and females in advanced STEM courses.

TAKEAWAYS:
Awareness of current enrollment trends, the phenomenology inherent in gender disproportionality, and the sharing of action steps to take to reduce gender disproportionality that are designed to increase enrollment for female students with documented individual Advanced Placement Potential.

SPEAKERS:
Richard Stec (West Windsor-Plainsboro High School: Hamilton, NJ)

Countless studies have found that teachers are struggling to support students in maintaining focus, finding self-worth and being intrinsically creative learners. Gamification provides the building blocks for engagement, community, healthy competition, and self motivation and works with any grade level and any subject. With gamification, students can use their creativity in learning choices and earn incentives based around curricular and extracurricular themes. Student examples from a sixth grade science classroom include review challenges that emphasize content and game elements. Participants in this session will gain the initial building blocks to create their own game for their classrooms that is manageable and can be enhanced over time. Activities will include defining gamification and creating their own game theme. During the session the participant will participate in a game challenge by using a choice board to explore and expand the strategies and methods of gamification.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will begin the journey, learning strategies of engagement in science class using gamification.

SPEAKERS:
Michelle Simmons (Klahowya Secondary School: Silverdale, WA)

How to organize and plan a school-wide STEAM event that provides opportunities for all students to engage richly with STEAM.

TAKEAWAYS:
Identify the components to include in your own STEAM event in order to provide all students with an equitable learning experience.

SPEAKERS:
Susan Bartol (Hillside Elementary School: Montclair, NJ)