STEM Education Research Guide

Use the STEM Education Reource to discover the answers to important questions on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and careers using the information from the National Science Board’s Science and Engineering Indicators report.

Explore these questions through interactive charts and maps that focus on different topics across all levels of education and the STEM workforce.

The STEM Education Resource allows the user to connect to data, trends, and analyses from the National Science Board’s Science and Engineering Indicators report. Science and Engineering Indicators (Indicators) is the “gold standard” of high-quality quantitative data on U.S. and international science, engineering, and technology. Indicators is factual, unbiased, and is widely used by state and federal policymakers, businesses, universities, and many others to inform their decisions. By law, the report, with the latest high quality data on the state of U.S. science and engineering, is delivered to the President and Congress every two years on or before January 15.

National Research Council. 2014. Exploring opportunities for STEM teacher leadership: Summary of a convocation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/18984/exploring-opportunities-for-stem-teacher-leadership-summary-of-a-convocation

In response to the lack of classroom teachers' direct involvement in STEM education policy, the National Research Council held a convocation that brought together representatives, including classroom teachers, from a wide-range of both public- and private-sector organizations. This report summarizes the themes that emerged in the presentations and break-out discussions at the event, which included the benefits of incorporating teachers' voices in policy, models for engaging teachers in decision-making, professional development for STEM teacher leaders, and fostering teacher researchers. Rather than being prescriptive, this report provides food for thought for STEM teachers, educational administrators, and policy makers.

 

National Research Council. 2013. Educating engineers: Preparing 21st century leaders in the context of new modes of learning. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/18254/educating-engineers-preparing-21st-century-leaders-in-the-context-of-new-modes-of-learning

This report summarizes a forum held at the National Academy of Engineering's 2012 meeting. The first half focuses on highlights from presentations given by the six speakers at the forum -- leaders in academia, industry, and online learning. Taken together they present a vision for the future of engineering education, stressing the importance of hands-on, interdisciplinary, technology-enhanced, project-based, and creativity-driven education. The second-half of the report focuses on specific ways to implement this new vision.

 

National Research Council. 2013. Preparing the next generation of earth scientists: An examination of federal education and training programs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/18369/preparing-the-next-generation-of-earth-scientists-an-examination-of

With continued pressure on our mineral and water resources, as well as the fact that many people live in areas strongly affected by natural disasters, the need for earth science professionals continues to grow. To meet these challenges, it becomes imperative to have a workforce that draws on the creativity and knowledge of all citizens, including women and minorities. This study of 25 federally-funded earth science educational programs (excluding ocean, atmospheric, and space sciences) led to the development of a framework that can be used to systematically assess these types of programs, identify potential collaborations and gaps, and ultimately leverage the findings from this work to diversify the earth sciences field.

 

National Research Council. 2012. Rising above the gathering storm: Developing regional innovation environments: A workshop summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/13391/rising-above-the-gathering-storm-developing-regional-innovation-environments-a

Dire warnings about the U.S. losing its global edge as a leader in scientific and technological innovation first appeared in a 2005 National Research Council report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future. It outlined key recommendations that need to be implemented to turn the tide. A follow-up report five years later painted a picture of further decline, rather than improvement. The federal government, however, is not the only entity that can make a difference. This report provides a summary of a workshop in 2012 that brought together leaders from the education, business, and local government sectors to examine the role states and regional centers can play in STEM education. They focused on four main approaches to reassert the U.S.'s leadership in science, technology and innovation, which are highlighted in chapters 2-5 of the report. The final chapter outlines overall observations from the workshop and recommendations for future steps.

 

Science & Engineering Indicators, National Science Foundation
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind/#tabs-1

This biennial report, last published in 2014, contains a wide range of quantitative data on the science and engineering environment in the U.S. in areas such as formal education, academic research, and public understanding of science. Data is available going back to 1993 and is presented in a variety of formats, including tables, graphs, and presentation slides. More recent reports include tools that allow readers to analyze the data and create their own customized maps, graphs and tables. The publication is policy neutral, but each report includes narrative chapters that summarize the data and provide contextual background related to the data.

 

STEMconnector
http://www.stemconnector.org/

STEMconnector is a coalition of industry, non-profit organizations, professional societies, and governmental agencies that work in the area of STEM education. The web site contains a STEM directory of over 3,700 organizations, state STEM profiles that highlight key initiatives and possible partner organizations in each state, and STEMdaily, a newsletter that aggregates STEM-related news. The web site also highlights STEMconnector's various projects and ways to get involved. These include Town Hall Conference Calls, the STEM Higher Education Council, the STEM Food & Ag Council, and the STEM Innovation Task Force.

 

STEM Education Coalition
http://www.stemedcoalition.org/

The STEM Education Coalition brings together more than 500 professional societies, businesses, and educational organizations that work "to raise awareness in Congress, the Administration, and other organizations about the critical role that STEM education plays in enabling the U.S. to remain the economic and technological leader of the global marketplace of the 21st century." Their web site includes an outline of their policy principles and recommendations, an overview of their advocacy work in the U.S. Congress, fact sheets on STEM education, and reports on the work of STEM education panels and commissions.

 

STEMx
http://www.stemx.us/

STEMx is a grass-roots network that connects state-level STEM networks. STEMx provides a platform to share best practices, scale-up local projects, evaluate programs, and drive policy. In addition to links to specific resources, the web site includes a "News" section focused on new research, emerging trends, and events related to STEM education.

Produced by Eileen G. Harrington. Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, Summer 2015. http://www.istl.org/15-summer/internet.html