Promoting Passion in the Pipeline

Developing and Implementing a Successful K-12

Science Program for Girls

Eric A. Walters, Margaret Siciliano, Maggie Hardgrave

and Pat Bauer
Marymount School of New York
 Girls and Learning
 Carol Gilligan, 1982
 The way girls think, interact, display
leadership and make decisions is
psychologically and developmentally
different.
 Girls need their own learning model
 Girls and STEM
 UCLA Study, 2009
 Girls’ school graduates have more
confidence in mathematics and computer
abilities
 More likely to pursue careers in engineering
 Girls and STEM
 AAUW Report, 2010
 Increase in the number of women in STEM
careers
 Girls and boys take science and math courses in
equal numbers
 Girls leave high school prepared to study STEM
 Fewer women than men pursue STEM careers
 Girls and STEM
 Girls thrive in an environment of
interconnectedness
 Connectedness is important in relationship with
technology
 Need to connect to others, through technology and
interdisciplinary learning
 Wide range of instructional strategies and
techniques
 Traditional science pedagogy is objective and
content-laden
 Recommendations
 Academic abilities are expandable and improvable
 Provide prescriptive, informational feedback
 Expose girls and young women to female role
models who have succeeded in math and science
 Create a classroom environment that sparks initial
curiosity and fosters long-term interest
 Provide spatial skills reasoning
The New Bloom’s Taxonomy
 The Marymount Model
 K-12 Science Education Team
 Based on research on girls’ ways of learning
 Social Justice and Technology Components
 Real World Context
 Career Paths
 Inquiry-based, project-based
 The Marymount Model
 Scientifically-Literate Citizens
 Curriculum Review
 Administrative Support
 Working with Parents, Alumnae
 Deliberate and Seamless Integration
 The Big Questions
 How do we develop problem-solving
strategies and persistence?
 How do we develop visual and spatial
reasoning skills?
 How do we use girls’ natural curiosity and
imagination?
 How do we give young students ownership
over their own learning?
 Engineering in Lower School
 Problem or challenge-based learning
 More than one possible solution
 Collaborative atmosphere
 Plan or map out a strategy
 Use materials provided to develop a
solution
 Engineering in Lower School
 Evaluate and assess
 Does the solution work?
 What works well?
 What could work better?
 How can we improve the design?
 Real World Connections
 Engineering projects allow for rich
discussions that tie in with current events
 Google’s self-driving cars
 Ethics of using robots in war
 Renewable resources
 Gulf Oil Spill
Ramps and Pathways
Invention Convention
Space Robotics
Wind Energy and Power
 Expanding Horizons
 Middle School: key time to sustain girls
interest in science
 Connecting students to researchers and
scientists
 Using the “real-world” as the classroom and
laboratory.
 iPhones and Bird Tracking

 Pilot program for iPhone application,

“Wildlab”
 Field study identifying birds and bird
habitats in Central Park.
 Students analyze data and report sightings to
Cornell Ornithology Lab database, eBird
WildLab App
eBird Data
Clearwater Expedition
 Environmental education,
watershed dynamics

 Hudson River ecology, stewardship

 Water quality testing, creature

sampling

 Navigation, charts, sail physics

 History of the Hudson, geology

FLEXE - GLOBE
 NSF Funded Project

 Students explore energy transfer

processes in local environment

 Correspond with research scientists

at East Lau Spreading Center
between Tonga and Fiji

 Analyze similarities and differences

between their local environment,
extreme environment of the deep
sea
 Sources
 Local colleges and universities
 NSTA/Science Matters
 Globe Program (globe.gov)
 NAIS Global Education Listserv
 NASA
 ESIP
 Develop your own!
 Focus on Inquiry
 POGIL
 Originally developed for college chemistry
courses
 HSPI: High School Pogil Initiative
 Expanding into Biology
 POGIL Activities
 AP Chemistry: Coulomb’s Law, Lattice
Energy and Bond Strength, Intermolecular
Forces and Boiling Point Trends
 Class X Chemistry: Designing Experiments,
Kinetic Molecular Theory, Introduction to
Atomic Structure
 Using Phet with POGIL: Gas Laws
What Is POGIL?
Student View of POGIL
 Connecting and Creating
 Physics & Social Justice Videos
 Weekend Weather/Two-Day Weather
Forecasts
 Climate Change Podcasts and Action Plan
 Cell eBooks
Physics & Social Justice
 Weekend Weather
 Atmospheric Science
 Student-Produced Video
 New York City and Los Angeles
 Posted on YouTube
Two-Day Forecast
 Plus
 Robotics Showcase for Lower School
Parents
 Light Up Your Mind Event for Middle
School Parents and Students
 Women in Science Luncheon
 STEM Internship and Research Programs
 Evidence of Success
 “Science is cool”
 90% of students take 4 years of science
 20% of students take 5 years of science
 Alumnae study and followup
 Materials
scribd.com/marymountnyc