Our Program:
Learning by Making trains students to design and construct their own
experiments to make scientific measurements that are personally
relevant, and that are critical to the future of our economy and our
planet. Through Learning by Making SSU will develop a two-year
science-driven computational-thinking integrated STEM curriculum that
improves mathematical and science proficiency for 485 high-needs rural
students in six Mendocino County, California high schools. This novel
high-school curriculum uses computational thinking, coding in the Logo
language, and the analysis of data from a variety of sensors to focus
on real world problem solving. Experiments are aligned with both
Disciplinary Core Ideas and Scientific and Engineering Design Practices
in the Next Generation Science Standards and Mathematical Practices
in the Common Core Mathematical Standards.
Our goals:
1) Develop two year-long integrated high school STEM courses that will
be accepted as elective credit for university eligibility in California;
2) Train at least half of the science and mathematics teachers in our
partner schools to successfully deliver the curriculum;
3) Improve math and science proficiency by 15% for students enrolled in
the new courses.