Connecting K-12 Teachers to STEM Careers through Industry Collaboration
Daphene Koch, Mary E. Johnson · 2013
Classroom to Careers - Applied Computational Thinking in Middle Schools, or C2C, is an NSF grant that was submitted in April 2012 to connect STEM teachers to careers. The belief of the researchers is that kids would be more engaged and excited about Math or Science if they understood careers that aligned with the problems they are solving. The proposal developed a team comprised of researchers, industry and 7 th – 9 th grade educators; and included technologists and career specialists who recognized the need to tackle these challenges and committed to working together to advance computational competencies in middle school students. C2C was developed to address the issue of teaching computational literacy by a focused effort to expand those skills. The model used was to educate a team of 7 th -9 th grade teachers and their students in a tri-state area. The teams would increase the understanding and use of several modules— including applications, tools, technologies, career information, visualizations, curriculum, lesson plans, and objectives for lesson plans--that would be carefully researched and selected for their relevance and usefulness. This paper outlines the C2C concept and demonstrates the alignment with industry to expand STEM education and careers.