Dr. Martin Storksdieck will speak at the STEM Education Research Forum on Monday, April 1, at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. The forum takes place from 1-4:30 p.m. and focuses on models, challenges and opportunities for creative solutions in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. The event is designed to encourage networking and collaboration among area researchers, non-profits and other STEM education advocates.
Storksdieck will deliver the keynote address at 1 p.m. in the Mississippi/Illinois Room in the Morris University Center. He will present “Current Science Education Reform-Tsunami or Tempest in a Teapot?”
Storksdieck is the director of the Board of Science Education (BOSE) at the National Research Council in The National Academies, Washington, D.C. The Board has produced several influential national science education reports, including “Taking Science to School” and “Learning Science in Informal Environments.”
He oversees studies that address issues related to science education and learning across the educational lifespan. These include the recent “Framework for K‐12 Science Education”that forms the blueprint for the development of the Next Generation Science Standards, and the “Successful K‐12 STEM Schools”and subsequent “Monitoring Progress Toward Successful K‐12 Education”reports.
Following Storksdieck’s address, three other presentations will begin at 2:30 p.m.:
- Dr. Sue Thomas, SIUE associate provost and professor of Psychology, and Dr. Jerry Weinberg, SIUE associate provost for research and dean of the Graduate School: “Self-Efficacy – A STEM Holy Grail? Robots in middle school as a model for increasing self-efficacy.”
- Dr. Troy Sadler, director of the University of Missouri-Columbia Science Education Center: “Socio-scientific Issues as Contexts for STEM Education.”
- Storksdieck, who has a vast background in informal science education, also will serve as a panelist.
A networking reception will follow at 3:30 p.m. For more information, visit the STEM Forum website.
While admission is free, attendees are requested to register online.
The event is sponsored by the SIUE Graduate School and the SIUE Center for STEM Research, Education, and Outreach.