Abstract: |
Today’s technology-based global economy places a high premium on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education. Educators committed to increasing female engineering interest and achievement, and to increasing both male and female acceptance of women as engineers struggle to find resources, role models, research, curricula, and colleagues to help them in their programs and classrooms. A digital library is one innovative solution - equipped not only with high quality, digital content for use in courses, but also with virtual services that encourage equitable integration of resources into the classroom, facilitate on-line community building, and enable mentoring of its users. The Gender & Science Digital Library (GSDL, http://www.gsdl.org) from Education Development Center, Inc., (EDC) is a unique, highly interactive, online resource that has identified a vast array of exemplary engineering and science resources aimed at encouraging girls women to pursue engineering education and careers. It also provides educators at all levels valuable resources necessary to help them prepare these students, who represent a largely untapped labor source, for careers in engineering and science. Resources provided included targeted lesson plans and courseware, analysis of national and international retention strategies for women in engineering and science, on-line mentoring opportunities for students and educators to connect with each other and engineering professionals in the field, scholarship, fellowship, internship and special program information for women in engineering, and much more. Participants will receive an on-line tour of the GSDL, its many features and services, and a hands-on look at a sampling of exemplary engineering and science of resources. EDC, is also the home of the Effective Access project, an outgrowth of the GSDL, aimed specifically at enhancing educator preparation and the design of electronic resources. It is studying how high-school STEM teachers, and educator!
s in informal learning environments working with high school students, use digital resources for their own learning and professional development, and for increasing participation and interest in their students, and what types of scaffolding and support is necessary to effectively integrate digital resources into the classroom. The learnings of this important work will have far-reaching implications for learners and educators at all levels, and will be used to further refine and enhance the GSDL and other digital resources. Participants will learn much more about these two exciting EDC projects, and how you they can be of use to them in their work as engineering advocates and in achieving 50/50 by 2020! |
