Resources+2010

**Dr. Swarlis's Resources of interest:**
1. [|//Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics//]- a report published by AAUW in 2010

In an era when women are increasingly prominent in medicine, law and business, why are there so few women scientists and engineers? A new research report by AAUW presents compelling evidence that can help to explain this puzzle. //Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics// presents in-depth yet accessible profiles of eight key research findings that point to environmental and social barriers – including stereotypes, gender bias and the climate of science and engineering departments in colleges and universities – that continue to block women’s participation and progress in science, technology, engineering, and math. The report also includes up to date statistics on girls' and women's achievement and participation in these areas and offers new ideas for what each of us can do to more fully open scientific and engineering fields to girls and women. [|whysofew.pdf]

2. Newcombe, N. S. (2010). [|Picture This: Increasing Math and Science Learning by Improving Spatial Thinking]. //American Educator//, [|Summer Issue], 29-43. Excellent article on the importance of improving spatial thinking and provides practical low-cost classroom interventions that will improve spatial skills. [|NewcombePictureThis.pdf]

3. [|Preparing the Next Generation of STEM Innovators: Identifying and Developing Our Nation's Human Capital]. National Science Foundation Report. September 15, 2010. (Link to PDF of full report). "The development of the nation's human capital through our education system is an essential building block for future innovation. Currently, the abilities of far too many of America's young men and women go unrecognized and underdeveloped, and, thus, these individuals may fail to reach their full potential. This represents a loss for both the individual //and// society. There are talented students with enormous potential from every demographic and from every part of our country who, with hard work and the proper educational opportunities, will form the next generation of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) innovators."

4. [|Spatial Intelligence Learning Center Initiatives] "**Substantial improvement of spatial learning skills is possible and there is evidence that such improvement matters to STEM success.** Meta-analyses by Baenninger and Newcombe (1989) and by Uttal, Meadow, Hand and Newcombe (under review) show that spatial skills are malleable, and work by Sorby (2009) shows that intervention to increase spatial skills in low-scoring prospective engineering majors increases their chance of completing an engineering degree." Check out the initiatives tab on the web site to get an idea of the scope of the collaboration.

5. [|CogSketch] "Our vision is that, in ten years, sketch-based educational software could be as widely available to students as graphing calculators are today. Our hypothesis is that incorporating sketch understanding into educational software could provide revolutionary benefits for spatial education. **Want to help scientists help you?** Researchers at the Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center (SILC) are gathering a corpus of sketches using CogSketch. CogSketch is the sketch understanding software that we are creating, which is [|available for free from our web site]. It has two purposes. First, we are using it to explore how people reason and learn. Second, we are exploring how to incorporate sketching into education, to improve student learning. By gathering people’s sketches, scientists will be able to do analyses that will help them with both of these missions. If you want to participate, all you have to do is [|download CogSketch], and indicate your acceptance when you install the software. (If you change your mind, there is a “Phone Home” setting in the software preferences.)

6. [|Penn State VIZ Program] VIZ Visualization Assessment and Training Home Page "VIZ is a site dedicated to the understanding and improvement of spatial visualization skills. The ability to vividly imagine objects in your mind and then manipulate those objects is critical in many career fields. We are in the process of developing activities that test and train different areas of these skills. We currently have four interactive activities on this site: Mental Rotation-Rotating Blocks, Paper Folding, Spatial Working Memory and the Water Level task. These are well known tasks from research on spatial cognition. If you would like to try the modules, check out the technical needs page and then go to start. If you would like to learn more or use this site in your class please contact us using information on the Developers page."

7. [|Engineering by Design] Educators who live in one of 22 states participating in a consortium created by the STEM Center for Teaching and Learning have free access to the Engineering by Design curriculum materials. The list of participating states is available at [|Consortium of States].

8. [|Link for the purchase of blocks that aid in teaching isometric drawing (from EAIeducation)]

A. Katie Kubes -- interlocking cubes B. Linking Cubes Plus - includes multiple shapes (cubes, isosceles triangles, quarter circles, or quadrants). Ohio State University creates kits to teach engineering students isometric drawing. OSU kits contain 16 cubes, 4 male equilateral triangles, 4 female equilateral triangles, and four quadrants. These kits are distributed in ziplock bags. An example order: 1000 cubes, 200 quadrants, 400 isosceles triangles (200 of each type). 9. [|Casey, M.B. ‘Round the rug math: Adventures in problem solving]. [Dr. Casey created a spatial curriculum that uses stories from different cultures to create a framework for learning spatial skills. Beth Casey is one of the premier researchers at the preschool and early elementary math levels.] 10. Sorby, S. A., & Wysocki, A. F. (2003). [|//Introduction to 3D spatial visualization: An active approach//.] Clifton Park, NY: Thomson Delmar Learning. [Dr. Sorby found that putting pen to paper and actually creating isometric drawings maximizes student improvement.. This is a spatial visualization curriculum based on her work with students at Michigan Technological University.] 11. [|Isometric Drawing Pattern Paper available online (free).]

12. [|Chirality and the Right Hand Rule in Engineering]

13. [|Gender Similarities in Math Performance]

Dr. Swarlis is the co-author of article on Girls and Technology - [|Girls and Technology.pdf]