This December, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) will feature a special strand “Tackling Scientific Problems and Pitching Engineering Solutions” at our 2016 Area Conference on Science Education, in Columbus, Ohio, December 3-5. We need this strand, because the challenges facing society are both complex and interdisciplinary. Issues like water availability/quality, climate change, renewable energies, food shortages, the need for improved transportation/city infrastructure, and issues in the biomedical realm require clearly defining problems that can be solved through design. Students address these issues by implementing the practices of scientists and engineers, including developing explanations, designing and building models, and creating solutions. Students must be able to link the domains of science and teachers must teach students in a learnable manner that reaches multiple grade levels, increasing in depth and sophistication.

The featured presentation for this strand will be “Sowing the Seeds of STEM,” on Friday, December 2, from 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, B130. Presenter Kimberly Clavin (Pillar Technology: Columbus, OH) tells us that today’s world delivers advanced technologies at lightning speeds—and with that comes an exponential growth in STEM fields. How can educators prepare middle school and high school students without a background in the emerging fields? Learn various strategies to attract and grow a diverse range of students into these in-demand career fields.

Below is a small sampling of other sessions on this topic:

• Human-Centered Engineering Design: The Key to STEM
• Developing Scientific Arguments: Claims and Stories in the Graphs
• Learning Ecosystem Management with NGSS: Developing Solutions to Invasive Species Using Science and Engineering Practices
• EiE Ohio: Building 21st-Century STEAM Learners
• Impactful Learning: Engineering to Serve Special Needs Students—The Win-Win Scenario
• Teaching Engineering in Grades K–3

Want more? Browse the program preview, or check out more sessions and other events with the Columbus Session Browser/Personal Scheduler. Follow all our conference tweets using #NSTA16, and if you tweet, please feel free to tag us @NSTA so we see it!

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

Future NSTA Conferences

• Portland, November 10–12
• Columbus, December 1–3

2017 National Conference

• Los Angeles, March 30–April 2

2017 STEM Forum & Expo

• Orlando/Kissimmee, July 12–14

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