University of Redlands Receives Major Grant, Launches New Program

Researchers at the University of Redlands have received a grant of almost $700,000 to fund a new science, technology, engineering and math education (STEM) program. The $695,151 grant, awarded by the National Science Foundation, will support a two-year pilot project to develop and test spatial STEM activities in K-5 classrooms.

According to the university website, the project is designed to improve spatial thinking and computational skills at the elementary level, and will address the visuospatial and computational skills needed for success in higher education STEM courses later in life.

“Spatial thinking has been identified as a contributor to success entering into STEM careers,” said researcher Dr. Steven Moore, director of the Center for Spatial Studies at the University of Redlands. “This Spatial STEM+C project builds on the unique emphasis of educational justice for underrepresented children in our School of Education, and frames spatial thinking as an educational justice issue. That creates a possibility to give young students support and helps level the playing field for students seeking STEM careers.”

The program will be spearheaded by Moore, alongside Professor Gary Scott from University of Redlands School of Education. Along with selected doctoral candidates, the researchers will design games and challenges that promote development of thinking abilities such as decomposition, pattern recognition and algorithm design. The program will partner with AAA Academy in Redlands to test the activities in the first year; once data is collected and researched, the materials will be refined and then field tested at a second school site, Inland Leaders Charter School in Yucaipa. Experts from Esri in Redlands will act as advisors throughout the duration of the program.

Ultimately, the university hopes to see the program playing a role in developing new teaching certifications for science and technology. “The larger goals are to create a structure for integrating spatial thinking and computation as key competencies in the K-12 curriculum and to develop a teacher education certificate or program in spatial STEM through the School of Education,” Moore says. “In…phase one of the project, the idea is to test the feasibility and efficacy of this strategy.” The official project title is “The Evaluation of a Model Spatial Thinking Curriculum for Building Computational Skills in Elementary Grades K-5.” It begins Nov. 1, 2015 and ends in October 2017.

The program has been endorsed by Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands), a University of Redlands alumnus. “With the rising generation facing the most competitive workforce in history, these types of studies can help us understand how to better prepare our students to succeed and thrive in a 21st-century economy,” he said. “As a proud Bulldog, I’m happy to see that my alma mater has the opportunity to increase investments in STEM research programs.”