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Category: STEM Education

Adding up factors of how children learn mathematics

Carrie Clark, assistant professor of educational psychology, is using functional MRI technology to capture brain activity while children learn mathematics.
Carrie Clark, assistant professor of educational psychology, is using functional MRI technology to capture brain activity while children learn mathematics.

What is 72 multiplied by 12? While fourth-graders will focus on arriving at the correct answer, Nebraska researcher Carrie Clark wants to know what happens in the brain as they learn to solve the problem.

Clark, assistant professor of educational psychology, is using functional MRI technology to capture brain activity while children learn mathematics. Funded by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Office of Research and Economic Development and housed at CYFS, she is exploring the relationship between children’s mathematics learning and executive function — the ability to maintain focus and behave in a goal-oriented way. Full Article

Hong hosts Brazilian researchers for early childhood science collaboration

Visiting scholar Gisela Wajskop discusses literacy-based play with undergraduates in the Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies. Wajskop is researching early childhood science teaching with UNL's Soo-Young Hong.
Visiting scholar Gisela Wajskop discusses literacy-based play with undergraduates in the Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies. Wajskop visited Lincoln, Nebraska, as part of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln/Brazil Early Childhood Initiative. View photo gallery.

CYFS faculty affiliate Soo-Young Hong, associate professor of child, youth and family studies, recently hosted Brazilian researchers Gisela Wajskop and Patricia Pastorello for a weeklong visit in Lincoln, Nebraska, as part of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln/Brazil Early Childhood Initiative. Full Article

Study examines strategies to enhance preschool science instruction

Soo-Young Hong
Soo-Young Hong

A preschooler sends a toy car whizzing across a track and down a ramp. With a teacher’s guidance, this four-year-old can also learn about force and motion: the science behind her play.

Soo-Young Hong, associate professor of child, youth and family studies, is exploring how a professional development program could help preschool teachers integrate science into their daily classroom activities. Full Article

Collaboration aims to study, shape children’s attitudes toward engineering

Teacher. Firefighter. Doctor. Astronaut. Many of these careers land on children’s lists of what they want to be when they grow up. CYFS research assistant professor Lorey Wheeler would like to see another profession added: engineer.

With a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation, Wheeler is joining a team from Arizona State University to study how children’s knowledge, stereotypes and achievement-related beliefs affect their interest in engineering. It’s a field in which job growth is outpacing the number of adults who pursue related degrees, especially among women and ethnic minority students. Full Article

New sessions spark research conversations

CEHS faculty at the Jan. 20 research networking session on STEM. Upcoming sessions will focus on families and schools; social-emotional and behavioral health; and early childhood.
CEHS faculty at the Jan. 20 research networking session on STEM. Upcoming sessions will focus on families and schools; social-emotional and behavioral health; and early childhood. View photo gallery.

The College of Education and Human Sciences, together with CYFS, has launched the first of four research networking sessions to connect faculty around key topic areas: science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); families and schools; social-emotional behavioral health; and early childhood.  Full Article

Study reveals benefits of UNL robotics program

Gwen Nugent and Brad Barker. View photo gallery.

Robots are inspiring the middle school students who may one day engineer them, while also benefitting those who pursue other career paths, according to a new University of Nebraska-Lincoln study.

Led by CYFS faculty affiliate Brad Barker and Gwen Nugent, CYFS research professor, the study examined findings from a student robotics project developed at UNL and implemented across the country—including one site in Cuba. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the project delivered robotics and geospatial mapping curriculum to after-school clubs and summer camps. The curriculum also supported youth robotics competitions. Full Article

Affiliate Sally Wei hosts collaborative STEM conference

CYFS affiliate Sally Wei speaks at the 2015 Project Lead the Way Nebraska State Conference. The conference, designed to encourage K-12 students' STEM education and participation, drew more than 150 participants. Photo Gallery.
CYFS affiliate Sally Wei speaks at the April 20 Project Lead the Way Nebraska State Conference. The conference, designed to encourage K-12 students’ STEM education and participation, drew more than 150 participants. View photo gallery.

Tommy Lewis always wanted to build something that can impact society. The Omaha North High School senior, and his teammates Jake Ferrin and Priamwad Pordel, are now realizing this dream through a project that began in their high school engineering class. Full Article

Coutts researching distance tech delivery of intervention to rural communities

Michael Coutts
Michael Coutts

Miles or megabytes? Speed limits or bandwidth? Country roads or fiber optics?

For years, reaching out to families and schools in rural communities has meant long hours of costly travel. This reality has made distance technology an appealing alternative – and the dissertation focus of Michael Coutts, a CYFS doctoral student affiliate. Full Article