KU researchers part of project to create Midwest STEM Alliance

LAWRENCE — Researchers at the University of Kansas have secured a National Science Foundation grant to create a Midwest STEM Alliance designed to elevate science education in rural elementary schools.

NSF has provided a $5 million, five-year grant to researchers at KU, Northern Iowa University, Iowa State University and the University of Minnesota to create the Midwest STEM Alliance. Researchers at each university will partner with schools and teachers in their respective states to “educate the educators” to enhance STEM education and provide resources to elevate STEM teaching.

Imogen Herrick, assistant professor of STEM education, is co-principal investigator and will lead KU’s portion of the project with co-principal investigator Douglas Huffman, associate dean of the School of Education & Human Science and professor of curriculum & teaching. The project will begin by identifying a cohort of six experienced science teachers in Kansas elementary schools.

“These teachers will be the ones who are doing awesome things in their classrooms. The intent is to grow that group’s reach by documenting what is possible in an elementary school classroom, take video of them providing great STEM lessons and share that with other educators across the state,” Herrick said.

In recent decades, science education in elementary classrooms has received less emphasis as focus has shifted increasingly to mathematics and reading. The Midwest STEM Alliance will focus on improving STEM by engaging educators in ways to teach science and improve performance in math, reading and other areas concurrently through a multiple literacies approach. The approach will help teachers integrate science, math and English language arts. Researchers will help educators use English language arts to help students read scientific and informational texts, write explanations, support arguments and better understand data and measurement in mathematics.

Further, the project will help students understand the relevance of STEM topics by focusing on topics they are familiar with in their daily lives, Herrick said. Topics including agriculture, water, drought, the Ogallala aquifer, pollution and how such issues directly affect the communities where they reside. Elementary teachers are often not provided training and education on where to find data on such local topics and how to incorporate it into their lessons.

“Students experience all sorts of scientific phenomena in their daily lives, and we want to make space for that in elementary classrooms,” Herrick said. “One way is by inviting them to capture photos of the science they notice outside of school and use those as springboards for classroom investigations. This opens up multiple ways for students to connect with scientific ideas, making learning more relevant and helping them see how they can contribute to solving local socioscientific challenges.”

As the project progresses, researchers in the alliance will increase the cohort of teachers who have received the education and evaluate approaches that are most effective. They will take video of teachers delivering effective, multiliteracy-driven STEM lessons and create a video library of examples for other educators. The goal is not only to help the teachers and students taking part, but to help connect teachers in rural areas with other educators and with national education organizations as well, according to researchers.

Herrick and Huffman, who have published books and journal articles on helping schools guide students into STEM and “STREAMS” education and guiding teachers in using local climate data to emotionally engage students in science-based discussions, said they hope to boost science education by both helping teachers and students. Educators will learn new ways to teach science, math, literacy and other concepts while keeping students engaged and helping develop a wonder of science.

“Our goal is to elevate science in the elementary classroom,” Huffman said. “This project will benefit society by elevating science teaching in rural elementary schools and by providing all students access and opportunity to engage in real-world science and engineering. Everyone needs to be literate in these real-world issues that affect us all.”