Sarah Morris and Emily Weerts Nucleus Learning Network STEM Mentor Training Sarah Morris and Emily Weerts Nucleus Learning Network

www.nucleuslearningnetwork.org/inquiry @NucleusATX smorris@nucleuslearningnetwork.org eweerts@nucleuslearningnetwork.org

Activity: Mad Tea Party - Form two even numbered groups. - Get into two circles - One of the circles inside the other circle, facing the outer circle. - The person across from you is your partner for the first question. - Spend 2 minutes answering the question on the slide. - Every 2 minutes, the outer circle will rotate one person to their right and I’ll put up a new question.

What brought you here today? Question 1 What brought you here today?

What was something you were interested in as a child? Question 2 What was something you were interested in as a child?

Question 3 Share a memory, good or bad, you have related to teaching or learning science or technology.

Today’s Agenda Strategies for working with teens - Celebrating and using your unique background - Investigable questions - Being a positive STEM role model - Growth vs. fixed mindset Everyone brings a unique background – learning how to connect your uinque background to the unique kids you’ll be working with.

Non-Investigable Questions Investigable vs. Non-Investigable Questions - In order to encourage student investigation, it’s important to distinguish between types of questions that kids and teens ask. - For our purposes, we’re going to say that there are Investigable and Non-Investigable questions. Emphasize these aren’t bad questions but the reason that investigable ones are important We’re going to look at investigable questions a lot today since these are types of questions that can really engage kids

Investigable Questions - Investigable questions are simply questions that are capable of being investigated. * You have the resources (time, tools, etc.) to answer the question * The question is discrete enough to be answered in a single investigation * It is not too dangerous to investigate the answer * You have enough prior knowledge/skills to answer the question

Non-Investigable Questions - Questions can be non-investigable or unanswerable for many reasons, including: * The question is unscientific (opinion, philosophical, etc.) * The question is too big (often How or Why questions) * It’s simply an “Ask an expert” or “yes or no” question * You don’t have enough time or resources to investigate the answer * It’s too dangerous to investigate How and why can be gateway ones (stage one of scientific method) and then helping kids turn those into more inquiry questions and investigable - using observation and experiment and data, etc.  (why does it expand into what substances you can mix to make it expand?) Talk about site differences and thinking about what you can investigate in your environment

What do you notice? - Encourage students to be inquisitive! - Answer their questions with other questions. - When in doubt, ask them What do you notice? or What do you notice when…?

It’s okay to say “I don’t know!” - Get comfortable with the things you don’t know. - Instead of making up an answer or dismissing a question, let’s students know that you don’t know! Great things to say with “I don’t know…”: - “…what do you think?” - “…how do you think we could find out?” - “…can we look at one part of the question/problem?” - “…That’s a great question!”

Co-Inquiry in Learning Environments Co-inquiry in a classroom is a way for you and your students to ask questions, experiment, explore, and discover together. It’s a collaborative process that involves a lot of communication. Great way to engage students and have more active learning environments.

Ways to Incorporate Co-Inquiry into Learning Environments Ask open-ended questions that encourage reflection and new questions. Accept student responses and ask follow-up questions. Encourage students to question each other and ask questions themselves. Adapted from Journey North and the Annenberg Foundation

Activity: What does a scientist look like? - Take a few minutes to draw a scientist. - Feel free to write words, descriptions, draw accessories, backgrounds, etc. - When you are done, turn your drawing upside down on the table in front of you.

Problem: Minority Underrepresentation in STEM - Women and ethnic minorities are highly underrepresented in STEM fields. - Girls and minorities enter school with equal interest and ability in STEM, however they are far less likely to pursue STEM degrees in college and even less likely to enter STEM careers. - Why? Girls and minorities are challenged by bias, stereotype threat, fixed mindset thinking, & lack of relatable role models.

Google Image Search for “scientist”:

Google Image Search for “engineer”:

What did you notice?

More realistic depictions of STEM:

How can you be a STEM Role Model? Emphasize that STEM is collaborative and creative STEM professionals contribute positively to society If you work hard, you can learn anything (people aren’t just “good at” math and science) We all think like scientists and engineers when we solve interesting problems STEM skills are life skills (no excuses to be STEM illiterate!) Focus on your interests/hobbies that include STEM I don’t know… let’s figure it out together!

Growth vs. Fixed Mindset Growth Mindset Intelligence is static. “I’m either good at it or I’m not.” Intelligence can be developed. “I can work on learning things.” Leads to a desire to look smart and therefore a tendency to: Leads to a desire to learn and therefore a tendency to: avoid challenges embrace challenges give up easily due to obstacles persist despite obstacles see effort as fruitless see effort as path to mastery ignore useful feedback learn from criticism be threatened by others’ success be inspired by others’ success - Encountering obstacles and challenging problems is in the nature of scientific work! - When minorities believe they have a fixed amount of intelligence, they are more likely to lose confidence and disengage from STEM.

Encourage a Growth Mindset Praise student effort: - Instead of saying “You’re so smart” recognize the work they put in, say “Wow! You really worked hard on that!” - Instead of “Good job!” highlight something specific, like “I really like how many colors you used.” Highlight the struggle: - Recognize and praise students who are tackling challenges. “I love how you tested your experiment again, even after it didn’t work the first time” or “I can tell that you are frustrated. That’s okay – that happens to scientists and engineers all the time! Can we come up with a new solution to try?” Recognize students for unique things: - Students are constantly being told that they are good at some things (and not at others); look deeper to praise students for different accomplishments: “You were so persistent solving that problem!”

Questions? Comments? Resources: www.nucleuslearningnetwork.org/stemmentor smorris@nucleuslearningnetwork.org eweerts@nucleuslearningnetwork.org @NucleusATX