Building a STEM Education Ecosystem for Future DoD Engineers
Abstract
The long-term need for a pipeline of STEM talent to meet the challenges of the DoD workforce is engrained in the Defense Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education Consortium (DSEC) and the National Science and Technology Council’s strategic plan for STEM education. This DoD STEM workforce is readily evident at the Air Force Materiel Command Air Logistics Center at Tinker Air Force Base, where our nation’s aircraft and defense systems are modernized to keep our nation and warfighters safe. The approach described herein engages elementary and middle school students to question how and why everything works and to see “Engineering is Everywhere”. While this starts with the inquiry of how everything around us is connected to science, technology, math and engineering, it also implements a strategy to discuss STEM in the social sciences, music, literature, and sports. Understanding the underlying engineering and scientific principles that support the world that young people experience every day is key to engaging the next generation in STEM. OSU will dedicate the resources of its new DISCOVERY center in the heart of the Oklahoma City Innovation District to scale-up its 1st-5th grade STEM summer and afterschool programs and 6th-8th teacher training to focus on three school districts adjacent to Tinker AFB. The OSU pedagogy developed with NASA, Boys & Girls Clubs, and national research results will be joined with OSU’s Educational Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Tinker AFB to create a foundation to expand the STEM performance of highly underrepresented school districts near the state’s largest military base. This foundation of trained middle school teachers, after school programs, partnered DoD mentors, and community partners will prepare military-connected and underrepresented students for DoD STEM career pathways. Specifically, the proposed work will a) build strong foundations for STEM literacy using DoD platforms to apply basic STEM principles; b) increase diversity and equity in DoD STEM by elevating middle school STEM education in three school districts with more than 6000 military-connected families and schools with more than 78 percent minority population; c) scale-up existing successful 6th-8th grade teacher training platforms and on-line/social media resources for DoD STEM topics; and d) prepare students to consider a career pathway that strengthens our national capabilities and the DoD STEM innovation pipeline. Of the students attending the targeted schools, only 10% meet the state’s 8th grade math proficiency standard, and only 0.2% of graduates from these school districts pursue engineering degrees. The school districts and Tinker AFB have agreed to partner with Oklahoma State University (OSU) to change the existing paradigm. OSU will work with the schools to use the NRC-based Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for middle school to transform the knowledge of teachers, excite 1st-8th grade students and use engineering systems to introduce and reinforce math and science principles in contexts that introduce students to STEM careers. This grant will advance the STEM knowledge of middle school teachers through multi-week training workshops using engineering project-based learning with three NGSS crosscutting concepts. This professional education will use DoD’s systems to strengthen middle school teachers’ understanding of STEM operations and assign them a team of DoD engineering mentors from Tinker AFB to be resources on STEM questions. To support the effectiveness of 6th-8th grade STEM education, 1st-5th grade STEM summer and afterschool programs with coding, cyber physical systems, robotics and predictive math will be delivered to prepare students for STEM learning across the curriculum. This transdisciplinary approach will build a sustainable STEM workforce for our nation’s military and strengthen the communities around Tinker AFB.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Nov 10, 2021
- Source ID
- HQ00342110005
Entities
People
- Paul Tikalsky
Organizations
- Office of the Secretary of Defense
- Oklahoma State University–Stillwater
- Washington Headquarters Services