Helping Every Student Reach Her or His STEM Potential

Cathy Seeley (cseeley@utexas.edu)Senior Fellow Emeritus, Charles A. Dana Center

March 11, 2017

DISCUSSION

•How well are we (in DE; in your community) preparing students to use STEM knowledge and skills in their future?

• Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics for the nation’s future economic success

• STEM knowledge and skills for an individual’s future

• The place of M in STEM

• Overcoming barriers to unlock students’ potential

• How to get from here to there

In this session . . .

Three STEM Recommendations

I: The STEM workforce is critical to innovation and competitiveness.

II: STEM knowledge and skills enable multiple, dynamic pathways to STEM and non-STEM occupations.

III: Strengthening workforce pathways is essential to individual and national prosperity and competitiveness.

Revisiting the STEM Workforce National Science Board— National Science Foundation, 2015

STEM for the Nation’s Future

Three STEM Recommendations

I: The STEM workforce is critical to innovation and competitiveness.

Revisiting the STEM Workforce National Science Board— National Science Foundation, 2015

Today’s World

•Business Roundtable, 2005: “The goal should be to double the number of science, technology, and mathematics graduates by 2015.”

STEM Job Needs• STEM crisis or STEM surplus? Yes and yes

(Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015)• The “STEM Workforce” is comprised of

many sub-workforces (National Science Board)

STEM for Every Human

Three STEM Recommendations

I: The STEM workforce is critical to innovation and competitiveness.

II: STEM knowledge and skills enable multiple, dynamic pathways to STEM and non-STEM occupations.

Revisiting the STEM Workforce National Science Board— National Science Foundation, 2015

STEM Jobs

Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017 (from 2015 data)

• In 2015, seven out of the ten largest STEM occupations were computer related.

• Ninety-three out of 100 STEM occupations had wages above the national average.

• From 2009 to 2015, growth in STEM jobs was double that of non-STEM jobs (10.5% vs. 5.2%)

Two goals

• More workers in math- and science-based fields (STEM)

• Every student quantitatively and scientifically literate to much more sophisticated levels than in the past, regardless of their field of interest

And other jobs?STEM knowledge and skills in jobs (2010):

• About 5 million U.S. workers were officially classified as having a “Science & Engineering” occupation.

• An estimated 16.5 million college-educated individuals, including many working in sales, marketing and management, reported that their job required at least a bachelor’s degree level of S&E training.

• In recent years, more jobs have come to require these capabilities.

• One-fourth to one-half of all science/engineering jobs are available with less than a 4-yr degree (NSF; Brookings Institution)

• Many factors affect the pathway a person chooses . . .

National Science Board 2014

Math Opens Doors . . . • STEM fields• Business• Other fields ???• Reasoning, Thinking,

Solving Problems, Developing Creativity

• Options and Choices

The Role of M in STEM

M

• Most important for S-T-E (Kelly’s story)

• Must-have for a full life

• Much to enjoy; Much to learn; Much to appreciate

• May be contagious

• Many-splendored thing

• Mathematics is Marvelous and Magnificent!

M

• Mathematics offers a critical language and foundation for science, engineering, and technology:

• Beyond skills• Problem-solving strategies• Reasoning• Thinking• Making sense

What math do all students need?• The Big Three:

• Understanding mathematics (concepts)• Doing mathematics (skills, facts, procedures)• Using mathematics (applying math, modeling with

mathematics, solving a range of problems)

• The New Basics: deep transferable skills for versatilizing:• Problem solving, reasoning, research, communication,

creativity • Mathematical Thinking: Habits of Mind

• Thinking, reasoning, expecting math to make sense

Premise: What all students need for their future is

as much about how they think asabout what they know . . .

and helping every student succeed is as much about how we teach as

about what we teach.

mathreasoninginventory.com

Marilyn Burns, PI Funded by Gates Foundation

https://mathreasoninginventory.com/Home/AssessmentsOverview

DISCUSSION

• What kind of teaching may have led Marisa to where she is?

• How much experience has Marisa had thinking mathematically?

The difference between...

• Learning clues, keys, and tricks vs. constructively struggling with good problems

• Learning how to do mathematical procedures vs. learning mathematical habits of mind

Al Cuoco, E. Paul Goldenberg, June Mark. “Organizing a Curriculum around Mathematical Habits of Mind.” Mathematics Teacher May 2010

• Performing thought experiments

• Finding, articulating, and explaining patterns

• Generalizing from examples; articulating generality in precise language

• Creating and using representations

• Expecting mathematics to make sense

Making Sense of Math: Mathematical Habits of Mind

Wait a minute. That doesn’t make sense. . .

. . . and math is supposed to make sense!

Making Sense of Mathematics

Answer-getting vs. learning mathematics

• USA: How can I teach my kids to get the answer to this problem?

• Japanese: How can I use this problem to teach the mathematics of this unit?

–Devised methods for slowing down, postponing answer-getting

Phil Daro, 2012

The difference between Japan and the US

• “You quit teaching too soon and go on to the next thing.”

• “We finish.”

• Finishing happens when students have learned.

• And learning is incomplete if students aren’t making sense of what they’re learning.

We need teacher-structured classrooms, not

teacher-centered classrooms

• From: “I - We - You”

• To: “You - We - I”

Upside-down teaching

Upside-down teaching• Start with a rich problem

• Engage students in dealing with the problem, constructively struggling with the problem and the mathematics

• Students discuss, compare, interact, question

• Teacher helps students connect and notice what they’ve learned

Getting from Here to There

Three STEM Recommendations

I: The STEM workforce is critical to innovation and competitiveness.

II: STEM knowledge and skills enable multiple, dynamic pathways to STEM and non-STEM occupations.

III: Strengthening workforce pathways is essential to individual and national prosperity and competitiveness.

Revisiting the STEM Workforce National Science Board— National Science Foundation, 2015

What Employers Want in Future Workers

• a well-rounded education:- Science, Technology, Engineering, Math- non-STEM subjects (social sciences, the arts)

• ability to work independently and in teams• willingness to persist in solving hard

problems• understanding of workplace expectations

NSB 2015

What to Look For

• Organizing lessons around carefully selected worthwhile mathematical tasks

• Facilitated mathematical discussion among students

• Well-designed questions that elicit student thinking

• A commitment to building fluency on conceptual understanding

• Explicit connections between the activities of a lesson and the intended mathematical learning

From Building a Math-Positive Culture, Seeley 2016, p. 18

Key Questions for Policy MakersIn order to assess, enable and strengthen STEM pathways for the long-term: • What kinds of policies would be necessary to ensure that all students,

regardless of race/ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, locale, and other demographic characteristics, have the opportunity to embark on these workforce paths?

• Once on these paths, what types of roadblocks and obstacles do workers encounter? What policies could help mitigate or remove them?

• How can we assess and strengthen the state of career pathways that we believe are especially important to national competitiveness?

• What are the roles of governments, educational institutions, and businesses in enabling pathways and strengthening the workforce for the long-term?

NSB 2015

What to Look For

• Organizing lessons around carefully selected worthwhile mathematical tasks

• Facilitated mathematical discussion among students

• Well-designed questions that elicit student thinking

• A commitment to building fluency on conceptual understanding

• Explicit connections between the activities of a lesson and the intended mathematical learning

From Building a Math-Positive Culture, Seeley 2016, p. 18

Unlocking Every Student’s Potential

DISCUSSION

•How smart do you think Marisa is?

•Why don’t some students succeed in math and other STEM fields; why don’t some reach their “STEM potential”?

Factors to consider

• Student factors: Motivation, intelligence, beliefs

• Teacher factors: Beliefs, knowledge, and expectations

• Instructional factors

• Nature of the task

• Opportunities to struggle, think, figure things out

• An environment of trust, collaboration, and respect

The hottest topic in learning and teaching today . . .

• The importance of adopting a growth mindset about intelligence:

• Understanding that a person can grow smarter

• Recognizing the impact of believing a person can grow smarter

• Acting to help both students (and ourselves) adopt a growth mindset—believe in their untapped potential

• Mindset, Dweck, 2006 & Mathematical Mindsets, Boaler, 2015

Compassion vs. Challenge• “American teachers are soft.”• To avoid frustrating students, we’ve too

often told them everything they needed to know before we let them solve a problem.

• Japanese teachers design tasks slightly beyond the ‘capabilities’ of their students--just outside their reach. They see struggling as an element of emotional strength.

What We Now Know

• Struggling—and persevering—through challenging problems and ideas can help students make sense of mathematics and can even lead to getting smarter.

DISCUSSION

•How can we help students who struggle?

•How can we help students who don’t struggle enough?

What We Now Know

• Struggling—and persevering—through challenging problems and ideas can help students make sense of mathematics and can even lead to getting smarter.

• Mistakes are a critical part of learning— and of making sense of what we do in mathematics.

On Making Mistakes . . . Sign at YouCubed Summer Math Camp:

In this class, mistakes are:Expected

Inspected

Respected

youcubed.org (Jo Boaler’s great website)

How do we open the door for all students?• Policies: What kinds of policies could ensure that all

students, regardless of demographic characteristics, have the opportunity to embark on these workforce paths?

• Programs: Strategies like Academic Youth Development (learningandtheadolescentmind.com; Dana Center):- Teach about the nature of intelligence- Talk about stereotype threats - Offer opportunities for productive struggle on

challenging, engaging problems• Teaching: Use upside-down, problem-based, student-

focused, thinking-oriented, discourse-rich strategies

Homework Assignment• Teachers:

- Make two signs:• Math is supposed to make sense!• In this class, mistakes are expected, inspected, and

respected.• Policy makers and influencers:

- Examine your policies in terms of barriers/support for every student to succeed in STEM and progress on a pathway to a successful future

• Everyone: See the movie “Hidden Figures”; talk openly about the issues the film raises, including what has changed since then (STEM and society) and what issues remain as challenges.

Wise words . . . • Jamila Riser: “Mathematics is the equalizer.”

• Teri Quinn Gray:“Be fearless!”

...and ours is in theirs

Their future is in our hands

For a pdf of the slides: cseeley@utexas.edu

Two little books published April 2016 from ASCD/NCSM/NCTM

Making Sense of Math (for teachers)Building a Math-Positive Culture (for leaders)

Faster Isn’t Smarter--Messages About Math, Teaching, and Learning in the 21st Century

Second (Expanded/Updated) Edition 2015 (4 new messages)http://mathsolutions.com/fasterisntsmarter

Smarter Than We Think: More Messages About Math, Teaching, and Learning in the 21st Century

Published 2014 http://mathsolutions.com/smarterthanwethink

Cathy’s websites: http://cathyseeley.com http://csinburkinafaso.com

@cathyseeley