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Ford, 2016

Over half of the school facilities in America are in poor condition. Unsatisfactory school facilities have a negative impact on teaching and learning. The purpose of this correlational study was to identify the relationship between high school science teachers’ perceptions of the school science environment (instructional equipment, demonstration equipment, and physical facilities) and ninth grade students’ attitudes about science through their expressed enjoyment of science, importance of time spent on science, and boredom with science. A sample of 11,523 cases was extracted, after a process of data mining, from a databank of over 24,000 nationally representative ninth graders located throughout the United States. The instrument used to survey these students was part of the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:2009). The research design was multiple linear regression. The results showed a significant relationship between the science classroom conditions and students’ attitudes. Demonstration equipment and physical facilities were the best predictors of effects on students’ attitudes. Conclusions based on this study and recommendations for future research are made.

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School Planning and Management, 2016

Whether your school district offers a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program or incorporates Art (STEAM), both programs have a similar goal: Deliver a robust interdisciplinary curriculum in a space that accommodates a wide variety of activities, tools and materials. This “makerspace” is a hub for hands-on, project-based learning, creation and invention. The key to designing a flexible makerspace is to ask the right questions during the planning phase.

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Integrated STEM Education Conference, 2012

We present an informal learning experience for youth ages four through eleven and their families utilizing the integration of art, design, and technology to deliver STEM concepts. The workshop, titled Scrapyard Challenge Jr. 1.0 (SCJ 1.0), was developed from modifications made to an interaction design workshop oriented towards adults, in which participants build novel and expressive electronic objects using found materials and junk. Tapping into the momentum surrounding the maker and tinkerer movements, the learning experience introduces basic principles of electricity and systems thinking using hands-on activities that encourage personal and creative self-expression. Through detailing our experience we suggest that current trends in art, design, and technology practice can provide fertile ground for developing STEM learning. Indeed we argue that this triangulated space is the logical starting ground for the development of a wide variety of STEAMD initiatives.

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Ghanbari, S., 2015

There has been some debate and research that suggests the arts are well-suited to be combined with science, technology, engineering, and math disciplines making the STEM acronym STEAM. STEM education is an educational and political priority in the United States and is valued as a means of strengthening national security and ensuring global competitiveness. The STEAM paradigm also emphasizes the importance of STEM education, but argues that the arts have the ability to open up new ways of seeing, thinking, and learning. This study aims to share student learning experiences in two established university programs that integrate an arts discipline with a STEM discipline. Student and alumni interviews are compared within a collective case study methodology. Framed by principles of sociocultural theory and experiential learning theory, this inquiry explores the role of arts integration, collaboration, and experience centered learning in knowledge creation.

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Florida Department of Education, 2015

The use of laboratory investigations has played a vital role in distinguishing science from most other disciplines encountered in the classroom. Just as scientists acquire knowledge through a process of experimentation, students learn to appreciate how this wealth of knowledge was accumulated by simulating this same investigative process.

Without the laboratory experience as an integral part of the scientific process, only facts can be memorized. A true feeling for the process is lost. It is of vital importance that a laboratory component be incorporated into the science curriculum.

Once the laboratory component has been added to a curriculum, it becomes necessary for a teacher to understand that additional safety requirements and procedures must be implemented. These additions will provide for a more safe and meaningful experience for students

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By Angel Ford.

I remember high school biology vividly. I remember that it smelled funny and at times I was grossed out by the displays—some in pictures and some in jars. I recall hands-on activities, such as fermenting cabbage to create sauerkraut and then putting it on pizza, and dissecting small animals—thankfully not while eating pizza. I didn’t pursue any area of life science after high school; in fact, I avoided those types of careers because they didn’t fit my personality or interests. However, I did learn a great deal from my lab experiences. Understanding cardiac reports and understanding why certain plants live or die while in my less-than-expert care are just a couple of priceless gems from the biology lab.

Even though there were many benefits in the biology lab, my experiences in the physics lab at that same high school had a significant impact on my future. The physics curriculum seemed beyond challenging, yet the atmosphere, equipment, and experiences piqued my interest. I remember being engaged by my teacher’s excitement and desire for us to learn. The class was furnished with a variety of resources and plenty of room to move around.

I believe the instruction and hands-on experiments in that lab equipped me to become an electro-environmental technician in the Air Force. High school physics helped prepare me to fix billion dollar airplanes with engaging lessons in foundational electrical and mechanical concepts. These same experiences helped me fix my car, other electrical items around my house, and even helped me diagnose a generator in a small village in Mozambique. I’m thankful for the opportunities that I had in science labs because of passionate teachers and the facilities and resources available to enhance their lessons.

Had my experiences in those labs—specifically the physics lab—been different, my life path may have been altered. Had my science classes been held in regular classrooms that restricted those teachers’ methods of instruction, I may not have absorbed as readily, and later been able to apply concepts from physics. I am not an anomaly here. Many people certainly learn more from creating electrical circuits than merely studying schematics and memorizing facts. Many could grasp how to ferment veggies better if they too had the opportunity to taste their own sauerkraut. I’m not against either studying textbooks or memorization; however, I am suggesting that one learns more through hands-on laboratory experiences when these teaching methods are part of the curriculum.

Concerns about students’ achievement of science in our nation are increasing. These anxieties are based on many factors, one of which is the low test scores of students. In 2011, 35 percent of 8th grade students in America tested below the basic level in science (NCES, 2012). In 2010 the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (2010) emphasized the importance of increasing science performance. This report suggested that this goal could, at least in part, be met by aiding in the formation of strong science identities (how students see themselves in relation to science), and increasing the science motivation and self-efficacy of students.

Interestingly enough studies have demonstrated that the school buildings/classrooms affect teaching and learning (Earthman & Lemasters, 2011). Research also supports the idea that students who engage in active learning, such as hands-on projects and group science projects are prone to score higher on science achievement tests (NCES, 2012), and tend to have an increase in their enjoyment of science (Gilmore, 2013). How many of the students in our nation are in science classrooms that are not optimally constructed for such learning?

Classrooms are not the only factor to consider when looking at increasing science interest, motivation, or achievement. Could it be, however, that by improving the learning environment and providing students and teachers access to appropriately designed and adaptable science labs, that improvements would also occur?

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References

Earthman, G. I., & Lemasters, L. K. (2011). The influence of school building conditions on students and teachers: A theory-based research program (1993-2011). The ACEF Journal, 1(1), 15-36.

Gilmore, M. (2013). Improvement of STEM education: Experiential learning is the key. Mod. Chem. Appl, 1, e109.

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), (2012). Science 2011: National Assessment of Educational Progress at Grade 8. U. S. Department of Education.

President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. (2010). (Executive Summary) REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT Prepare and Inspire: K-12 Education in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) for America’s Future. Retrieved March 19, 2015 http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/pcast-stemed-execsum.pdf

National Science Teachers Association

Note to science teachers and supervisors/ administrators: The following safety acknowledgment form is for your use in the classroom and should be given to students at the beginning of the school year to help them understand their role in ensuring a safer and productive science experience.

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Jong, 2013

The world needs young people who are skillful in and enthusiastic about science and who view
science as their future career field. Ensuring that we will have such young people requires
initiatives that engage students in interesting and motivating science experiences. Today, students can investigate scientific phenomena using the tools, data collection techniques, models, and theories of science in physical laboratories that support interactions with the material world or in virtual laboratories that take advantage of simulations. Here, we review a selection of the literature to contrast the value of physical and virtual investigations and to offer recommendations for combining the two to strengthen science learning.

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NSTA Safety Advisory Board, 2014

Better professional practices and academic research support hands-on, process and inquiry-based laboratory and field investigations as well as hands-on activities to promote deep conceptual understanding of science by students. To ensure a safer and effective science teaching/learning environment, the following recommendations are derived from recognized reliable sources, legal safety standards, and best professional safety practices. The recommendations represent the best professional standards and practices on safety as it relates to overcrowding. However, it cannot be assumed that all hazards in science classrooms are ameliorated by simply reducing overcrowding. Other factors affecting safety, may include facilities design, engineering controls, appropriate personal protective equipment, standard operating procedures, and/or safety training of students and teachers. These additional factors, which can be linked with science accidents, must also be attended to as well as meeting the requirements of any legal safety code or regulation or law of any state, municipality or other jurisdiction.

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