8th Annual STEM Forum & Expo, hosted by NSTA...SAVE THE DATE
We’re pleased to announce next summer’s STEM Forum & Expo:
8th Annual STEM Forum & Expo, hosted by NSTA
San Francisco, California: July 24–26, 2019
The 8th Annual STEM Forum & Expo, hosted by NSTA, is a unique, focused event that brings together (informal and formal) educators and representatives from exhibiting companies who are interested in, and who have tools and resources to share that will ensure successful implementation of STEM education into our schools and communities. It is intended to provide resources for educators and organizations seeking to learn more about STEM education, associated outreach programs, partnerships, schools, and curricula.
Please check back in the fall for housing and registration information.
Don't forget to submit a proposal for the STEM Forum! We will begin accepting proposals on September 12…so stay tuned. For more details on submitting proposals, please visit Presenting at Conferences. Special consideration will be given to proposals whose sessions are interactive and engage conference participants in hands-on activities. It is also recommended that you advise potential attendees of whether your proposal is intended for a novice or more advanced level practitioner.
Lower Elementary/Early Childhood
Students in the lower elementary grades are beginning to understand the world around them and the role they play in it. They are instinctively curious and want to make sense of their surroundings. By providing students with inquiry-based experiences in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, we can unlock each student’s natural curiosity and help them understand the world in an engaging way. The foundational skills learned and mastered through the integration of STEM during the early years, if done right, will help students become critical thinkers and makers who can innovate the future they will be a part of. Sessions in this strand will emphasize open-ended and active exploration, learning through play, and hands-on investigations of the real world through the lens of NGSS.
Upper Elementary
How do we respond to research that indicates that by the time our students reach the fourth grade, a third of them will lose interest in science? To reverse this trend and ignite their interest in future STEM careers, elementary students need quality learning activities and experiences that spark curiosity, promote confidence, support the rigor of current standards, and develop a solid foundation in the STEM areas so that they are prepared to both work and live in the 21st century. The sessions in this strand showcase hands-on, interactive programs and instructional strategies that support STEM and have been successfully integrated into the elementary core curriculum.
Middle Level
Engaging students through opportunities to explore STEM fields of study that support the NRC Framework and the Next Generation Science Standards is a top priority at the middle school level. A successful middle school STEM program allows students to create, innovate, communicate, collaborate, and iterate projects that are driven by their own interests. The sessions in this strand showcase learning environments where Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics interconnect to serve as a vehicle for discovery, innovation, and independent problem solving while also meeting rigorous content standards.
High School
In preparation for entry to college and industry, students must be able to apply their understanding in the context of real-world problem solving. In STEM for grades 9–12, educators help students succeed and progress through the pipeline, as they gain access to pathways for rewarding and productive careers. Here, STEM is integrated in classroom-based practices that highlight innovative, hands-on, student-centered approaches that seek to nurture curiosity, motivation, and achievement in these fields. See how educators are impacting student interest and teacher instruction and hear what is required to scale this across subject areas, schools, and districts. Workshops in this strand showcase the creative ways educators are addressing the challenges of engaging students in STEM while meeting the NGSS and Common Core Math standards.
Building STEM Ecosystems: Community Partnerships
Successful STEM programs incorporate hands-on and real-life applications where students develop the skills and mind-sets needed to answer complex questions, investigate global issues, and develop solutions to real-world challenges. School and district leaders cannot create these opportunities on their own. They need to leverage the resources and expertise of experts by building partnerships to create STEM ecosystems to assist educators and to provide students with these prospects. Building partnerships with community organizations—including: business/industry, informal educators, home school educators, after-school programming, and education-focused entities—help to provide STEM experiences and connect preK–16 schools and universities to valuable resources needed to support the development of these skills. Leveraging those partnerships can be the key to preparing students and supporting teachers to meet the needs of a dynamic workforce that is constantly changing. The sessions in this strand highlight select preK–16 partnership initiatives that have been successfully implemented and have demonstrated positive outcomes. In addition, school administrators will learn ways to assess the effectiveness of these partnerships on student and teacher performance.
Post-Secondary
Description to come soon.
Want to know what a STEM Forum & Expo looks like? Check out this attendee’s experience:
Special thanks to Valeria Rodriguez for this video recap of her experience at the 6th Annual STEM Forum & Expo in Kissimmee.
