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Celebrating Diversity in STEM |
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Please join us for the second GRITS Forum on
November 6, 2009. The GRITS Collaborative Project brings together
organizations and individuals, such as the Tennessee Science Teacher
Association, Tennessee Scholars, and the Nashville section of the
American Chemical Society, that are committed to informing and
motivating girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics, to encourage collaboration, and improve inter-program
communication. Our goal is to strengthen capacity, increase
continuation of girl-serving STEM programs and create a wider audience
for gender-related STEM issues. This forum will be held during
the annual meeting of TSTA.
Date:
November 6, 2009
8:15 AM-3:15 PM
Location:
Franklin Marriott Cool Springs
700 Cool Springs Boulevard
Franklin, TN 37067
Forum Agenda:
Celebrating Diversity in STEM
8:15 AM - 9:15 Informal Science
9:45 - 10:45 - Design Women
11:00-12:30 - Lunch with Dr. Tom Lane, president of the ACS, keynote
12:45 - 1:45 - GRITS Collaborative Project Information Panel
2:15 - 3:15 - It's Elemental
Registration cost for the meeting is $55, but we will be
offering limited reimbursement scholarships to teachers who attend
all four sessions of Celebrating Diversity in STEM. These
scholarships are on a first come, first serve basis. Please
forward a copy of your TSTA registration to Judith Iriarte-Gross ( jiriarte@mtsu.edu). Please contact me or Judith for additional information.
Cacy DeSheles
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What is Informal Science? by Leigh Gostowski |
Formal science is what we do in school, or
in the lab. We see pictures of people engaged in formal science
all the time...on TV shows, in books, in the newspaper, almost
everywhere. It's directed and dedicated to solving a problem or
answering a question. But, that only accounts for a small
fraction of the total time we are awake. This is where informal
science comes in...this is the science that we do every day, after
school or work, on weekends. These are the "I wonder" moments we
have when we see something interesting on our way to school, and then
we stop back afterwards, and observe the phenomenon. It's
visiting a museum on a Saturday, and exploring a new world. It's
staying after school to investigate a question that there just wasn't
time during the school day to ask. It's going for walk in your
neighborhood, or a hike at a park, and watching the population of
insects on a cluster of plants over the course of the season, and
learning about how they live, eat, and reproduce. It's spending
your summer vacation digging in the dirt and flying rockets.
Science is everywhere - it involves everything inside us, and
everything around us. It can't be contained by a book or a
building!
Informal science is often the inspiration for formal
science - how many careers have been launched by these "I wonder"
moments in childhood and adolescence? How many prize-winning
projects started with an accidental discovery? For those of us
who work with kids in informal environments, we always remember that
every child has the potential to make great contributions to our
collective understanding of our world. So, we look for ways to
provide children in all circumstances - in the country and the city,
the well-off and the could-use-more, from all backgrounds - with the
opportunities to ask questions and figure out how to find the
answers. Please join us at this year's Annual Meeting of the
Tennessee Science Teachers Association and learn more about the
informal science community here in Tennessee! |
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Designing Women!
Mary Groff and Mary Thomas |
Considering that 19.5 % of engineering degrees (B.S.) were to
females in 2004, we are delighted to offer a new workshop at the
Tennessee Sciences Teachers Association Annual Meeting presented by
women engineers of Schneider Electric in Smyrna, TN.
The
"Designing Women" workshop will focus on the critical thinking and
physics skills necessary for the future engineering workforce by using
a hands-on workshop to demonstrate easy and inexpensive ways to help
their students build critical thinking skills while using physics and
engineering. Critical thinking results of the EYH Workshop and
surveys will be shared to present the interest and abilities of young
girls in sciences along with insights on how to encourage your female
students to succeed in and prepare for majoring in those traditionally
"male" fields such as physics and engineering. |
| GRITS Informmational Panel |
A
new southern tradition is being started at Middle Tennessee State
University and we are not talking about a southern breakfast favorite.
We are talking about the math and science future of teen women across
the state of Tennessee.
The
major goal of GRITS is to disseminate information about science,
technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and careers to young
women in middle and high school, parents, teachers and guidance
counselors.
Through
a variety of activities and programs, GRITS offers support and guidance
to exploring and understanding the importance of STEM (science,
technology, engineering, and math) education and careers.
There are a variety of resources offered through the National Girls Collaborative Project (www.ngcproject.com)
to help girl-serving organizations collaborate to exchange successful
research based strategies in gaining the attention of young girls in
STEM. The Program Directory lists organizations and programs that
focus on motivating girls to pursue careers in science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The purpose of this Directory is to
help organizations and individuals network, share resources, and
collaborate on STEM-related projects for girls.
Also
though the NGCP, the GRITS Collaborative is offering mini-grants.
Mini-grants are awarded to girl-serving science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) focused programs to support
collaboration, address gaps and overlaps in service, and share
promising practices. Mini-grant projects must relate to either informal
learning or evaluation and assessment. Mini-grants are a small amount
of seed funding and are not intended to fully fund entire projects. The
maximum mini-grant award is $1000.
During
the GRITS Informational Panel we will discuss these resources as
well as other great opportunities for girl-serving organizations
offered in Tennessee. |
| Tennessee Scholars and National Girls Collaborative Partnership |
The Tennessee Scholars Initiative brings
business leaders into the classrooms to work with educators to motivate
students to complete a rigorous course of study in high school - one
that will give them a boost in post secondary and/or in their careers.
The objective of Tennessee Scholars is to encourage ALL high school
students to complete a defined, rigorous academic course of study that
prepares them for a successful transition to post secondary coursework
or vocational/ technical training necessary to enter today's
competitive job market.
The goals of this program are to:
ˇ Increase the percentage of students taking courses that will help prepare them for a better future
ˇ Make Tennessee Scholars available to every student in Tennessee
ˇ Engage each community in support of its own Tennessee Scholars program
ˇConvene statewide discussions that result in enhanced experience and elevated outcomes for high school students
ˇ Work
with state colleges, universities, and technology schools to recognize
Tennessee Scholars as preferred candidates for admission Tennessee
Scholars is a strategy for motivating all high school students to
complete a defined, rigorous course of study.
At the state
level, a business and education coalition pursues alignment of state
policy in support of a rigorous high school course of study. At the
community level, the State Scholars Initiative consists of three
complementary activities:
1. Explaining the impact a Scholars Course
of Study has on students' future options Local business volunteers
present a powerful futuristic message to all students just prior to
their selection of a graduation plan, typically in the 8th grade. The
presentation delivers the message that good, well-paying jobs go to
those who have completed a rigorous course of study. We also work with
individual groups of students such as GRITS.
2. Recognizing and
supporting students committed to becoming State Scholars Local business
volunteers and educators reinforce the value of the State Scholars
Course of study throughout high school via additional presentations,
academic supports, and incentives.
3. Honoring each high school
senior that completes the Scholars Course of Study Each community
celebrates the success of its graduating Scholars with an event at the
end of the school year and/or during commencement exercises during the
graduation ceremony.
Tennessee Scholars is a
complementary program to GRITS since we work with and encourage all
students to reach for their full potential. In Tennessee, girls
traditionally have not pursued STEM careers in the past, but through
programs like GRITS and scholars that tradition is changing rapidly.
The women who are in STEM careers are collaborating in creative ways to
show girls the exciting careers in STEM. Tennessee Scholars
is just one way that uses the business community to start early
education to those girls about those careers. Other partners in
this collaboration are Women in Industry and Education, the American
Chemical Society, Society of Women Engineers, and Tennessee Science
Teachers Association.
An integral part of the
Tennessee Scholars program is Teacher education and parent
education. We attend and set up information booths
collaboratively at numerous open houses and teachers professional
development conferences as well as do workshops for attendees about the
importance of encouraging girls in the STEM careers.
Communication and information to all stakeholders has been the key in
recruiting more girls into these careers.
Ruth Woodall, Director Tennessee Scholars
www.tennesseescholars.org
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Thank you for staying involved in and promoting the activities of GRITS.
Cacy DeSheles
Assistant Director
Girls Raised In Tennessee Science |
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