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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2003

KSC Education Technology Research and Development Plan

Educational technology is facilitating new approaches to teaching and learning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Cognitive research is beginning to inform educators about how students learn providing a basis for design of more effective learning environments incorporating technology. At the same time, access to computers, the Internet and other technology tools are becoming common features in K-20 classrooms. Encouraged by these developments, STEM educators are transforming traditional STEM education into active learning environments that hold the promise of enhancing learning. This document illustrates the use of technology in STEM education today, identifies possible areas of development, links this development to the NASA Strategic Plan, and makes recommendations for the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Education Office for consideration in the research, development, and design of new educational technologies and applications.

Odell, Michael R. L.↗
DOE OSTI2024

FEW questions, many answers: using machine learning to assess how students connect food–energy–water (FEW) concepts

There is growing support and interest in postsecondary interdisciplinary environmental education which integrate concepts and disciplines in addition to providing varied perspectives. There is a need to assess student learning in these programs as well as rigorous evaluation of educational practices, especially of complex synthesis concepts. This work tests a text classification machine learning model as a tool to assess student systems thinking capabilities using two questions anchored by the Food-Energy-Water (FEW) Nexus phenomena by answering two questions (1) Can machine learning models be used to identify instructor-determined important concepts in student responses? (2) What do college students know about the interconnections between food, energy and water, and how have students assimilated systems thinking into their constructed responses about FEW? Reported here are a broad range of model performances across 26 text classification models associated with two different assessment items, with model accuracy ranging from 0.755 to 0.992. Expert-like responses were infrequent in our dataset compared to responses providing simpler, incomplete explanations of the systems presented in the question. For those students moving from describing individual effects to multiple effects, their reasoning about the mechanism behind the system indicates advanced systems thinking ability. Specifically, students exhibit higher expertise for explaining changing water usage than discussing tradeoffs for such changing usage. This research represents one of the first attempts to assess the links between foundational, discipline-specific concepts and systems thinking ability. These text classification approaches to scoring student FEW Nexus Constructed Responses (CR) indicate how these approaches can be used, in addition to several future research priorities for interdisciplinary, practice-based education research. Development of further complex question items using machine learning would allow evaluation of the relationship between foundational concept understanding and integration of those concepts as well as more nuanced understanding of student comprehension of complex interdisciplinary concepts.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Bioinformatic Teaching Resources – For Educators, by Educators – Using KBase, a Free, User-Friendly, Open Source Platform

Over the past year, biology educators and staff at the U.S. Department of Energy Systems Biology Knowledgebase (KBase) initiated a collaborative effort to develop a curriculum for bioinformatics education. KBase is a free web-based platform where anyone can conduct sophisticated and reproducible bioinformatic analyses via a graphical user interface. Here, we demonstrate the utility of KBase as a platform for bioinformatics education, and present a set of modular, adaptable, and customizable instructional units for teaching concepts in Genomics, Metagenomics, Pangenomics, and Phylogenetics. Each module contains teaching resources, publicly available data, analysis tools, and Markdown capability, enabling instructors to modify the lesson as appropriate for their specific course. We present initial student survey data on the effectiveness of using KBase for teaching bioinformatic concepts, provide an example case study, and detail the utility of the platform from an instructor’s perspective. Even as in-person teaching returns, KBase will continue to work with instructors, supporting the development of new active learning curriculum modules. For anyone utilizing the platform, the growing KBase Educators Organization provides an educators network, accompanied by community-sourced guidelines, instructional templates, and peer support, for instructors wishing to use KBase within a classroom at any educational level–whether virtual or in-person.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

KBase Educators Handbook

The KBase Educators Handbook is a community resource for educators teaching biology, computational biology, and bioinformatics using KBase. The Handbook includes supporting documentation on how to join and access community-developed resources for teaching with KBase, best practices, and guidelines on how to contribute to the KBase Educators Community.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2010

A National Partnership-Based Summer Learning Initiative to Engage Underrepresented Students with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

In response to the White House Educate to Innovate campaign, NASA developed a new science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education program for non-traditional audiences that also focused on public-private partnerships and nationwide participation. NASA recognized that summer break is an often overlooked but opportune time to engage youth in STEM experiences, and elevated its ongoing commitment to the cultivation of diversity. The Summer of Innovation (SoI) is the resulting initiative that uses NASA's unique missions and resources to boost summer learning, particularly for students who are underrepresented, underserved and underperforming in STEM. The SoI pilot, launched in June 2010, is a multi-faceted effort designed to improve STEM teaching and learning through partnership, multi-week summer learning programs, special events, a national concluding event, and teacher development. The SoI pilot features strategic infusion of NASA content and educational resource materials, sustainability through STEM Learning Communities, and assessments of effectiveness of SoI interventions with other pilot efforts. This paper examines the inception and development of the Summer of Innovation pilot project, including achievements and effectiveness, as well as lessons learned for future efforts.

Melvin, Leland↗
DOE OSTI2024

WIP: Collaborating to Introduce Second-Life Battery Technology Research in an Informal STEM Learning Environment

This work in progress, innovative practice, paper outlines an interdisciplinary collaborative model utilized by a team of educational researchers, and engineers to design a series of community-centered, place-based learning activities suitable for a middle or high school informal STEM learning environment. Based on the potential applications and benefits of Second-Life Electric Vehicle Batteries, the activities connect cutting-edge STEM research with multidimensional real-world challenges within their communities related to climate change, renewable energy integration and storage, intelligent transportation systems, and optimized energy management, that empowers students to think critically about the role they can play in shaping a more resilient, environmentally sustainable community.

Whiteside, Hope↗
NASA NTRS2016

[STEM on Station Education]

The STEM on Station team is part of Education which is part of the External Relations organization (ERO). ERO has traditional goals based around BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal). The BHAG model is simplified to a saying: Everything we do stimulates actions by others to advance human space exploration. The STEM on Station education initiate is a project focused on bringing off the earth research and learning into classrooms. Educational resources such as lesson plans, activities to connect with the space station and STEM related contests are available and hosted by the STEM on Station team along with their partners such as Texas Instruments. These educational activities engage teachers and students in the current happenings aboard the international space station, inspiring the next generation of space explorers.

Lundebjerg, Kristen↗
NASA NTRS2010

STEM Education Efforts in the Ares Projects

According to the National Science Foundation, of the more than 4 million first university degrees awarded in science and engineering in 2006, students in China earned about 21%, those in the European Union earned about 19%, and those in the United States earned about 11%. Statistics like these are of great interest to NASA's Ares Projects, which are responsible for building the rockets for the U.S. Constellation Program to send humans beyond low-Earth orbit. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics students are essential for the long-term sustainability of any space program. Since the Projects creation, the Ares Outreach Team has used a variety of STEM-related media, methods, and materials to engage students, educators, and the general public in Constellation's mission. Like Project Apollo, the nation s exploration destinations and the vehicles used to get there can inspire students to learn more about STEM. Ares has been particularly active in public outreach to schools in Northern Alabama; on the Internet via outreach and grade-specific educational materials; and in more informal social media settings such as YouTube and Facebook. These combined efforts remain integral to America s space program, regardless of its future direction.

Doreswamy, Rajiv↗
NASA NTRS2012

Mission to Mars: Connecting Diverse Student Groups with NASA Experts

The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago has formulated an innovative approach to inspiring the next generation to pursue STEM education. Middle school students in Chicago and at nearby Challenger Learning Centers work in teams to design a mission to Mars. Each mission includes real time access to NASA experts through partnerships with Marshall Space Flight Center, Johnson Space Center, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Interactive videoconferencing connects students at the museum with students at a Challenger Learning Center and with NASA experts. This paper describes the approach, the results from the program s first year, and future opportunities for nationwide expansion.

Polsgrove, Tara↗
DOE OSTI2023

2023 SAGE-Camp Report

The 7 th Summer Physics Camp for Young Women was successfully held in person in 2023 from June 5 th to 16 th at the New Mexico School for the Arts in Santa Fe, NM at Hilo Intermediate School in Hawaii. This year’s camp was dedicated to the topic of Energy Security and was made possible thanks to the strong collaboration of Los Alamos, Sandia and Hawaii teams and the logistical and financial support of Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico Consortium, SAGE- Moore Foundation, LANL Foundation, ACS, IEE, APS four corners, N3B, Hawaii Museum of Science and Technology, New Mexico School for the Arts (NMSA) and Tech Source. The camp mobilized more than 120 volunteers who made the camp a success. The camp is free of charge to the students and included free lunch and snacks for the busy brains to have plenty of energy, also included all materials needed for the hands-on activities (like drone building, crystal structure, solar panels, wind turbine fabrication, soldering, coding etc) and also a stipend for students who attended for the full two weeks and for two educators and two student mentors in NM. The camp offered 32 high school students from New Mexico and 8 from Hawaii a unique opportunity to explore science topics and meet a broad range of role model professionals across STEM fields including astrophysics, cybersecurity, Energy fields, space science, engineering, biophysics, environmental science, robotics, computer science, nuclear engineering, radiological science, physics and chemistry. With nearly 120 volunteers who came mainly from Los Alamos National Laboratory (66%) and Sandia national laboratories (18%), two funded educators from NM, Dr. Weldon Beauchamp and Dr. Ellee Cook, and two educators from Hilo, Dr. Pascale Creek Pinner and LeAnn Ragasa, the camp was educationally sound and extremely varied. The collaboration with school educators is critical for the goal of this camp to not only impact students' lives but also improve STEM education in NM and Hawaii. The ultimate goal of the camp is to increase higher education aspirations of students, empower them to consider careers in STEM and learn more about the opportunities available to them in our local colleges and DOE National Laboratories. In addition, the camp also hired 2 past students as student mentors, Megan Odom and Elisea Jackson, who currently attend NMSA and were students at the camp in 2022 when it was virtual. The in-person camp which aims at empowering under-represented minorities in STEM in our community received more than 52 applications this year from all over NM and 8 applications from Hawaii. Our selection criteria are based on diversity, equity and inclusion, and students for whom the camp can be a life-changing opportunity are given a chance to attend the camp. During COVID, the camp was held virtually and gave the opportunity to students from remote areas in NM and Hawaii to attend from their homes. This year, fantastic families supported students everyday even when home was in remote areas in NM like Lea county, Sandoval county, Bernalillo or Mora county. The organizers hope next year they can offer a residential option for students from remote areas.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Experiments and Project-Based Enhancements for STEM Learning

Motivating K-12 students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is an effort that requires consistent engagement. Throughout the K-12 student timeline, STEM educators need to continuously pivot their teaching and update their educational materials to motivate the next generation of students. Once students begin their undergraduate education, university professors need to encourage them to consider pursuing graduate studies to ensure that a qualified future workforce can be developed for research and teaching. In this paper, we present our work on developing STEM materials for K-12 student engagement. Our K-12 materials target the grid integration of hydrogen assets that are suitable to engage students in the classroom. Our undergraduate materials target hands-on projects and collaboration with industry to connect classroom learning with real-world applications and needs in renewable energy. Our work leverages available open-source models and tools to create projects for undergraduate students and motivate their interest in pursuing research topics in graduate-level education.

ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
NASA NTRS2019

NASA KSC Intern Final Report - Virtual Reality in STEM Engagement

For this internship, I was a part of the multi-center NextGen STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) pilot. Specifically, I worked with the Developing Commercial Crew Program (CCP) Capabilities team that focuses on human spaceflight to the space station with NASA’s commercial partners. Composed of NASA employees and contractors (who are connected to KSC, JSC, and LaRC), they work to ensure that students will experience traditional classroom content and be immersed in emerging technologies in order to explore Commercial Crew missions and launch facilities. This group is in the process of creating educational products and resources to inspire the next generation to pursue STEM and to allow educators to have access to unique and enticing STEM activities. These products include: age-appropriate classroom lessons (including activity sheets and challenges) for kindergarten through twelfth grade; a CCP app and corresponding guide; learning experiences for students as well as educators; and virtual field trips and tours using NASA-created Virtual Reality (VR) videos and a custom VR app. My particular assignment was managing the VR equipment, developing an understanding of how to maximize the use of the equipment, creating documents that explain and convey the operations and procedures concerning the equipment (including lessons learned from equipment use), and training others to utilize the equipment effectively and correctly for conference events and group demonstrations. Over the course of this internship, I helped my team outline and learn essential procedures of operation for the VR equipment, solved technology problems that arose (due to the nature of creating unique products), and encouraged audiences at KSC and various conferences to consider using the CCP VR videos in their classrooms as an opportunity to engage and challenge the next generation to pursue STEM careers.

STEM↗
NASA NTRS2011

Virginia Demonstration Project Encouraging Middle School Students in Pursuing STEM Careers

Encouraging students at all grade levels to consider pursuing a career in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields i s a national focus. In 2005, the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD), a Department of Defense laboratory located in Da hlgren, Virginia, began work on the Virginia Demonstration Project (VDP) with the goal of increasing more student interest in STEM educatio n and pursuing STEM careers. This goal continues as the program enters its sixth year. This project has been successful through the partici pation of NSWCDD's scientists and engineers who are trained as mentor s to work in local middle school classrooms throughout the school year, As an extension of the in-class activities, several STEM summer aca demies have been conducted at NSWCDD, These academies are supported by the Navy through the VDP and the STEM Learning Module Project. These projects are part of more extensive outreach efforts offered by the National Defense Education Program (NDEP), sponsored by the Director, Defense Research and Engineering. The focus of this paper is on the types of activities conducted at the summer academy, an overview of the academy planning process, and recommendations to help support a nati onal plan of integrating modeling and simulation-based engineering and science into all grade levels. based upon the lessons learned

Bachman, Jane T.↗
NASA NTRS2012

NASA Missions Inspire Online Video Games

Fast forward to 2035. Imagine being part of a community of astronauts living and working on the Moon. Suddenly, in the middle of just another day in space, a meteorite crashes into the surface of the Moon, threatening life as you know it. The support equipment that provides oxygen for the entire community has been compromised. What would you do? While this situation is one that most people will never encounter, NASA hopes to place students in such situations - virtually - to inspire, engage, and educate about NASA technologies, job opportunities, and the future of space exploration. Specifically, NASA s Learning Technologies program, part of the Agency s Office of Education, aims to inspire and motivate students to pursue careers in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines through interactive technologies. The ultimate goal of these educational programs is to support the growth of a pool of qualified scientific and technical candidates for future careers at places like NASA. STEM education has been an area of concern in the United States; according to the results of the 2009 Program for International Student Assessment, 23 countries had higher average scores in mathematics literacy than the United States. On the science literacy scale, 18 countries had higher average scores. "This is part of a much bigger picture of trying to grow skilled graduates for places like NASA that will want that technical expertise," says Daniel Laughlin, the Learning Technologies project manager at Goddard Space Flight Center. "NASA is trying to increase the number of students going into those fields, and so are other government agencies."

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2012

Bridging the Gap Between Scientists and Classrooms: Scientist Engagement in the Expedition Earth and Beyond Program

Teachers in today s classrooms need to find creative ways to connect students with science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) experts. These STEM experts can serve as role models and help students think about potential future STEM careers. They can also help reinforce academic knowledge and skills. The cost of transportation restricts teachers ability to take students on field trips exposing them to outside experts and unique learning environments. Additionally, arranging to bring in guest speakers to the classroom seems to happen infrequently, especially in schools in rural areas. The Expedition Earth and Beyond (EEAB) Program [1], facilitated by the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Directorate Education Program at the NASA Johnson Space Center has created a way to enable teachers to connect their students with STEM experts virtually. These virtual connections not only help engage students with role models, but are also designed to help teachers address concepts and content standards they are required to teach. Through EEAB, scientists are able to actively engage with students across the nation in multiple ways. They can work with student teams as mentors, participate in virtual student team science presentations, or connect with students through Classroom Connection Distance Learning (DL) Events.

Graff, P. V.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Experiments and Project-Based Enhancements for STEM Learning: Preprint

Motivating k-12 students to pick a career in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is an effort that requires consistent attention. At different points in time, STEM educators need to pivot themselves and update educational materials to consistently motivate the next generation of k-12 students to enter into STEM careers. Once they enter undergraduate education, universities need to motivate their undergraduates students to consider graduate studies to ensure qualified human resources can be developed for research, and teaching. We present in this paper, our work on developing STEM materials for k-12 students targeting grid integration of hydrogen assets. This paper also presents our work on leveraging open source distribution system model, digital real time simulation tool to create projects for undergraduate students and motivate their interest in research topics, and enter into graduate level education.

electro-magnetic transients↗
DOE OSTI2024

Board 160: Empowerment in STEM Day: Introducing High School Girls to Careers at National Laboratories (Work in Progress)

In the US, women are still vastly underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) careers, and various studies have shown that girls' interest in STEM careers wane as high school progresses. With this challenge in mind, Empowerment in STEM Day was organized by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), hosting 47 high school students from 6 public high schools in the area. This one-day event was designed and executed through a collaboration between the Women's Support and Empowerment Council (WSEC) and the K-12 STEM Education and Outreach Program at LBNL. The main goal of this program was to provide high school girls, who have little access to STEM career role-models in their immediate surroundings with insights into how a career in STEM looks like. Invitations to participate in the program were sent out to six local high schools in the Bay area asking educators to identify female students that were interested in STEM. Each high school participant was provided with an opportunity to experience a national laboratory environment, learn more about summer workshops and paid summer research internship opportunities at LBNL for high school students, and engage directly with LBNL's employees through job shadow, career mapping and speed networking sessions. In this paper, we will present an overview of the event organization, challenges faced during planning and execution of the event, discuss the lessons learned from the first Empowerment in STEM Day and suggest strategies for incorporating such events at other national laboratories and academic institutions as part of a vital effort into recruiting and retaining more high school girls in STEM-based careers. Additionally, since this was the first in-person event hosted by LBNL's K-12 Program after the pandemic, we will also share the strategies implemented at the event so as to engage both remote and on-site employees as volunteers.

Bose, Baishakhi↗