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A new and expanded edition of one of the decade's most influential education books. In this practical guide, Sylvia Martinez and Gary Stager provide K-12 educators with the how, why, and cool stuff that supports making in the classroom, library, makerspace, or anywhere learners learn.
The Invent to Learn Guide to Making in the K-3 Classroom: Why, How, and Wow! is a practical guide for primary school educators who want to inspire their students to embrace a tinkering mindset so they can invent fantastic contraptions. Veteran teacher Alice Baggett shares her expertise in how to create hands-on learning experiences for young inventors so students experience the thrilling process of making-complete with epic fails and spectacular discoveries. In this full color book loaded with photos, Alice provides ideas, resources, and practical advice about learning space design, plus gathering materials and doing more with less. STEM curriculum objectives and connections combine with inventive open-ended challenges for grades K-3 with programming, electronics, and 3D design. The rapid changes in technology coupled with Alice's desire to help her young students create and not just consume led her to incorporate as many building challenges within the curriculum as possible. Before long, she had a closet full of motors, LEDs, pom-poms, and googly eyes. Her students consistently wow with their wacky inventions and technological fluency. This book is aimed at educators of primary school students who want to teach STEM and other subjects in a hands-on, minds-on way that engages and delights. The maker movement is sweeping through schools and the nation, and this book is an essential guidebook for joining in the fun!
Design, Make, Play: Growing the Next Generation of STEM Innovators is a resource for practitioners, policymakers, researchers and program developers that illuminates creative, cutting edge ways to inspire and motivate young people about science and technology learning. The book is aligned with the National Research Council’s new Framework for Science Education, which includes an explicit focus on engineering and design content, as well as integration across disciplines. Extensive case studies explore real world examples of innovative programs that take place in a variety of settings, including schools, museums, community centers, and virtual spaces. Design, Make, and Play are presented as learning methodologies that have the power to rekindle children’s intrinsic motivation and innate curiosity about STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields. A digital companion app showcases rich multimedia that brings the stories and successes of each program—and the students who learn there—to life.
Makerspaces: Your questions answered here! Get the nuts and bolts on imagining, planning, creating, and managing a cutting-edge Makerspace for your school community. Nationally recognized expert Laura Fleming provides all the answers in this breakthrough guide. From inception through implementation, you’ll find invaluable guidance for creating a vibrant Makerspace on any budget. Practical strategies and anecdotal examples help you: Create an action plan for your own personalized Makerspace Align activities to standards Showcase student creations Use this must-have guide to painlessly build a robust, unique learning environment that puts learning back in the hands of your students!
Meet Maxine, an inspiring young maker who knows that with enough effort and imagination (and mistakes), it's possible to invent anything. Maxine loves making new things from old things. She loves tinkering until she has solved a problem. She also loves her pet goldfish, Milton. So when it's time for her school's pet parade, she's determined to create something that will allow Milton to march with the other animals. Finally, after trying, trying, and trying again, she discovers just the right combination of recycled odds and ends to create a fun, functional--and absolutely fabulous--solution to her predicament.
"3D printing will be bigger than the Web." Chris Anderson, former editor-in-chief of Wired magazine This book is an essential guide for educators interested in bringing the amazing world of 3D printing to their classrooms. Learn about the technology, exciting powerful new design software, and even advice for purchasing your first 3D printer. The real power of the book comes from a variety of teacher-tested step-by-step classroom projects. Eighteen fun and challenging projects explore science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, along with forays into the visual arts and design. The Invent To Learn Guide to 3D Printing in the Classroom is written in an engaging style by authors with decades of educational technology experience.
The widely used STEM education book, updated Teaching and Learning STEM: A Practical Guide covers teaching and learning issues unique to teaching in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines. Secondary and postsecondary instructors in STEM areas need to master specific skills, such as teaching problem-solving, which are not regularly addressed in other teaching and learning books. This book fills the gap, addressing, topics like learning objectives, course design, choosing a text, effective instruction, active learning, teaching with technology, and assessment—all from a STEM perspective. You’ll also gain the knowledge to implement learner-centered instruction, which has been shown to improve learning outcomes across disciplines. For this edition, chapters have been updated to reflect recent cognitive science and empirical educational research findings that inform STEM pedagogy. You’ll also find a new section on actively engaging students in synchronous and asynchronous online courses, and content has been substantially revised to reflect recent developments in instructional technology and online course development and delivery. Plan and deliver lessons that actively engage students—in person or online Assess students’ progress and help ensure retention of all concepts learned Help students develop skills in problem-solving, self-directed learning, critical thinking, teamwork, and communication Meet the learning needs of STEM students with diverse backgrounds and identities The strategies presented in Teaching and Learning STEM don’t require revolutionary time-intensive changes in your teaching, but rather a gradual integration of traditional and new methods. The result will be a marked improvement in your teaching and your students’ learning.
Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.
Created by an international team of architects and designers concerned about our failing education system, The Third Teacher explores the critical link between the school environment and how children learn, and offers 79 practical design ideas, both great and small, to guide reader’s efforts to improve our schools. Written for anyone who has school-age children in their life, from educators and education decision-makers to parents and community activists, this book is intended to ignite a blaze of discussion and initiative about environment as an essential element of learning. Including a wealth of interviews, facts, statistics, and stories from experts in a wide range of fields, this book is a how-to guide to be used to connect with the many organizations, individuals, and ideas dedicated to innovating and improving teaching and learning. Contributors include children’s singer and advocate Raffi, author and creativity consultant Sir Ken Robinson, scientist and environmentalist David Suzuki, inventor James Dyson, and other experts who are working to create fresh solutions to problems and create a new blueprint for the future of education.
