We welcome faculty to engage with us to connect with PreK-12 educators/schools/programs, consult on Broader Impacts statements for proposals, and collaborate in STEM education research. Please complete our interest form.
Our work is informed by current research and by the lived experiences of educators, learners, and community members. We contribute to the advancement of STEM education as researchers and practitioners in order to continuously improve.
True to WPI’s philosophy, the STEM Education Center pairs education research to the practice of STEM teaching and learning in a reinforcing cycle. In our efforts to transform STEM education to be integrated, relevant, and inclusive, we amplify the leadership of WPI in project-based learning and STEM education to the PreK-12 levels.
The work of the STEM Education Center has been recognized on state and national levels through research grants. We also contribute to the existing body of knowledge about STEM education through scholarly presentations and publications of our work.
RESEARCH PROJECTS & GRANTS
NSF CSforAll: Increasing Massachusetts Partnerships for Advancing Computational Thinking in Pre-K-5 Classrooms, M. Dubosarsky, G. Smith, and S. Kayumova
NSF Noyce Capacity Building: Building the Capacity to Address the Urban STEM Teacher Shortage in Massachusetts, K. Chen, S. Weaver, and D. Petkie
NSF STEM+C: Building Educational Bridges Between Computer Science and Biology Through Transdisciplinary Teamwork and Modular Curriculum Design, E. Ryder, C. Ruiz, R. Gegear, and S. Weaver
NSF S-STEM: Connecting Mentor Partners for Academic Success of Undergraduates in Science, Engineering, and Mathematics, T. Butler, K. Chen, and A. Heinricher
PhysTEC Site: PhysTEC Comprehensive Site, D. Petkie, R. Kafle, I. Stroe, and S. Weaver
IES: Seeds of STEM integrated STEM curriculum for preschool and pre-K classrooms, M. Dubosarsky
SCHOLARLY WORK
K.C. Chen, S. Sontgerath, T. Butler, and R. Meadows, "Building and Evaluating a Multi-tiered Mentor Program to Introduce Research to High School Women (Evaluation)," ASEE 2020 (*Awarded Best Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Paper in Pre-College Division).
J. Rosewitz and K.C. Chen, “Work-in-Progress: Investigating student growth through a multidisciplinary qualifying project of an interactive ball wall display to support Pre-K STEAM learning at a community early education and care center," ASEE 2020.
S. Weaver and O. Pavlov, “Using the Service Science Canvas to Understand Institutional Change in a Public School System,” Advances in Service Science Proceedings (2019).
M.S. John, B. Sibuma, S. Wunnava, F. Anggoro, and M. Dubosarsky, “An Iterative Participatory Approach to Developing an Early Childhood Problem-based STEM Curriculum,” European Journal of STEM Education, 3(3), 07, 2018.
B. Choate, M. Dubosarsky, and K.C. Chen, "An Innovative Professional Development Model for Teaching Robotics to Novice Educators," Frontiers in Education, October 2018.
SoS Curriculum Recognized by IES as "Ready Now" for in-class, hybrid, & remote teaching & learning
Seeds of STEM (SoS) is an integrated STEM curriculum for grades PK-K. It was developed by a team of teachers and researchers from WPI, Holy Cross, and Worcester Head Start. SoS is included in two of the 2020 Institute of Education Sciences (IES) five guides of learning innovations that are ready for classroom use:
Questions about SoS should be directed to Mia at mdubosarsky@wpi.edu.