Technology

Private Enterprise Boosts STEM Learning

By Amelia Apfel October 20, 2014

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Many of the jobs available in America require basic literacy in science, technology, engineering and math the STEM disciplines. This is particularly true in Seattle where, according to a Brookings Institution study, more than a quarter of all jobs require STEM knowledge.

Yet most American schools do an abysmal job providing students with the STEM education they need to pursue such careers. Complaining that the subjects are too hard or too boring, some 80 to 90 percent of students lose interest in STEM subjects by junior high. While some schools are requiring students to pass tougher tests, they arent offering the tools students need to stay engaged. So more and more companies and nonprofits are taking on the challenge. Heres a look at some Seattle area endeavors.

Enlearn
(enlearn.org)
among the most promising STEM-related efforts is Enlearn, a nonprofit cofounded by John Mullin and Zoran Popovic to create a learning ecosystem that allows course work to be customized to the skill levels of individual students. Popovic is best known as one of the creators of Foldit, an online game that entices users to advance science by solving protein-folding puzzles. Developed as an experiment through the University of Washington Center for Game Science, it quickly became an important resource. In three short weeks, for example, gamers found the structure of an enzyme related to AIDS that scientists had been working on for a decade.

One of the biggest outcomes of Foldit was that we figured out a completely different pathway from novice to expert, Popovic explains. It was clear theres a different channel of education that has nothing to do with the standard way of doing things.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation offered Popovic a grant to apply his ideas to develop a more effective curriculum for STEM students. The Gates Foundation coerced me into doing this, laughs Popovic.

Enlearn takes standard curriculum, digitizes it, then produces greatly enriched content guided by algorithms that allow the program to adapt to the needs of each student. By the time the Enlearn team is finished, a six-month curriculum contains 5,000 additional exercises. The standard curriculum becomes incredibly varied, such that just the right thing can be presented to every individual, says Popovic.

The program is designed to learn from its users, evolving and improving based on student performance and building a library of best practices and strategies. To prevent students from becoming discouraged or feeling theyve failed, the system will present a concept in a different way or pull apart a complex skill into many small building blocks that may be easier for a student to understand. Teachers receive real-time feedback from the software, allowing them to assess which students need the most help.

Popovic based Enlearns technology platform partially on a game previously developed at the UW Center for Game Science called DragonBox Adaptive. The center tested DragonBox Adaptive at the Washington State Algebra Challenge, a weeklong online teaching event involving schools from all over the state. The challenge set a goal for total number of equations solved and the highest-performing teams in each grade received prizes.

In Washington, 93 percent of the more than 4,000 K-12 student participants achieved mastery of complex linear equations after using DragonBox Adaptive for only 90 minutes. In normal coursework, it usually takes a month for seventh-graders to learn the same skills. When the Center for Game Science repeated the challenge in Minnesota after using the Washington results to refine the game, it saw even more impressive results. It is planning an Algebra Challenge in Brazil this fall.

In the spring, Popovic and Mullin compared the Enlearn platform to a standard curriculum in a one-week trial. They found Enlearn tools made teachers more efficient, allowing them to help three times more students in the same class period. They are now working on a 10-week trial to help them assess whether students are successfully retaining the information.

Theres such an enormous opportunity to become drastically better, says Popovic, who thinks the Enlearn curriculum will do a much better job of keeping students of varying abilities engaged in STEM subjects. For many famous scientists and researchers, Popovic points out, Their education didnt even introduce them to the things they turned out to be fantastically good at.

Popovic wants Enlearn to help students discover their individual strengths.

Exo Labs Inc.
(exolabs.com)
while enlearn works to change the entire ecosystem, engineer Michael Baum has a narrower focus. His company, Exo Labs Inc., connects microscopes and iPads with specialized cameras and software to enable a group of students to see on a tablet or other device whatever is seen through the microscope. Baum says his goal was to make classroom science easier and more interactive.

After founding Exo Labs in 2011, Baum bootstrapped the company for about a year and then received almost $2 million from angel investors. So far, he has sold more than 2,000 cameras around the world and has a partnership with the University of Washingtons Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, which uses his technology for displays and educational outreach.

Under an agreement, Apple supplies some of the proprietary parts used in Exo Labs cameras, making the design harder to counterfeit. The agreement doesnt prevent Baum from designing cameras that work with Android or Windows devices, but the iPad market is the largest opportunity. Apple sold 15 million iPads to educational institutions in the past three years.

The strength of Exo Labs products lies in a software platform that makes the cameras easier to use than microscope cameras designed for a professional environment. It includes an app that allows users to take measurements, capture video and still images, and even do time-lapse photography. The latest versions can also connect to a telescope.

BioQuest Academy
(bioquestacademy.org)
seattles bioquest academy is a two-week-long summer program that uses immersive hands-on lab training, educational resources and ongoing mentorship to show high school students what its like to be a professional and get them excited about careers in health research. The program operates in the facilities of Seattle BioMed, the largest independent research institute in the country.

Participants dissect mosquitoes and analyze HIV antibodies. They have the opportunity to meet and discuss science with some of the best researchers in the world. They tour working labs and see how real researchers use the skills the students have learned at the academy. Its important for kids to know how to think and learn, not just memorize, says Program Director Vasudha Sundaravaradan.

Focused on eradicating infectious diseases, Seattle BioMed has had success recruiting talent through BioQuest Academy. Of the 300-plus students who have attended the academy in the past 10 years, 53 returned to take jobs at the institute. The program is funded by private foundations and a Science Education Partnership Award from the National Institutes of Health. It is offered to students at no cost. Program organizers make an effort to recruit from schools in underprivileged and underfunded areas.

StudentRND
(studentrnd.org)
studentrnd is a seattle nonprofit educating students in middle school through college about programming and engineering. It began when high school students Edward Jiang and Tyler Menezes reached out to friends interested in computer science and began hosting small events where participants collaborated on coding projects. As the gatherings grew bigger, they moved into larger spaces.

StudentRNDs year-round program offers interested participants a space to experiment and refine their skills. Its annual Code Day event, a 24-hour programming marathon, occurred in 23 cities, including New York and San Francisco.
StudentRND also sponsors a $2,249, three-week summer program that allows students time to work on personal projects. Participants have produced successful commercial products, including plasma speakers, a video-streaming platform and a browser extension that drew attention from Amazon and Best Buy.

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