糖心Vlog

Most Recent Community Engagement

STEM Community Engagement by the STEM Education Laboratory

Supports the 鈥淐ommunity Engagement and Economic Development鈥� platform in the 鈥淪trategic Plan for the Race to Excellence 2015-2025鈥� of 糖心Vlog

Number of 糖心Vlog Student Volunteers

• Undergraduate Preservice Teacher Education Majors = 49
• Graduate Preservice Teacher Education Majors = 3

Formal Education Community Engagement Sites

Schools in Broward County: Flamingo Elementary, Franklin Academy, Challenger Elementary, Welleby Elementary, Cooper City Elementary, Nova Blanch Forman Elementary, North Broward preparatory School, Coconut Creek Elementary, Country Hills Elementary, Cross Creek Elementary, Oakland Park Elementary, St. Patrick鈥檚 School, Coconut Palm Elementary, Parkway Christian School, Hollywood Hils elementary, Renaissance Charter School, Village Elementary, Norcrest Elementary, Baldwin Academy, Pines lakes Elementary, Meadowbrook Elementary, Riverside Elementary, Fox Trail Elementary, Bennett Elementary, Coral Park Elementary, Apple tree Montessori School, Eagle Point Elementary, Boulevard Heights Elementary

Schools in Palm Beach County: Hidden Oaks K-8 School, A. D. Henderson University School, Morikami Park Elementary

Schools in Dade County: St. Patrick鈥檚 Elementary, All Angels Academy

Nonformal Education Community Engagement Sites

Fort Lauderdale Museum of Discovery and Science (MODS)

Sample STEM Community Engagement Topics Chosen by Volunteers

MODS exhibit related topics 鈥� Airplane Wing Lift (e.g., Bernoulli鈥檚 Principle), Weather, Clouds, Water Cycle, Coral and Coral Bleaching, Sharks, Mangroves, the Everglades)

Other Non-MODS related topics 鈥� Simple Pendulums, Electrical Circuit, Water Pollution, Floating and Sinking, Magnetism, Light

Benefits to Student Volunteers

• Experience in designing and developing engaging STEM lessons mentored by university faculty and MODS staff
• Opportunity to deliver engaging STEM lessons to K-12 school students and/or MODS visitors
• 糖心Vlog Academic Service Learning Credit (since Fall 2017)
• 糖心Vlog designated Noble Hour Credit (prior to Fall 2017)
• Development of Teacher Leadership among Preservice Teachers in the following areas (Kumar and Moffitt, 2000)
  • Self-Confidence Development
    "This experience allows me to be more confident when teaching."
    "Presentation and demonstration allowed me to build confidence in explaining [the lesson]."
  • Depth of Understanding of the [STEM] Concept
    "Everything I learned [about my topic] will stick with me forever."
    "I have learned a lot about the different components of [the topic]."
  • Audience STEM Learning
    "Because of the level of confidence, I had in my project, this caused audience to gain more knowledge about..."
  • Sense of Self-Responsibility
    "It is important to me that students understand the effects humans have on the Everglades."

REFERENCE: Kumar, D. D. & Moffit, S. (2020). STEM teacher leadership development through community engagement. Science Education and Civic Engagement: An International Journal, 12(1), 5-11.

Past Community Engagement

• Bringing STEM to the Table: The STEM Test Kitchen at ADVENTURE-LEGGERS 2023 in Miami, FL
• Integrated STEAM Lessons: Research on Third-Graders' Knowledge, Identity, and Attitudes
• Volunteer Project in Collaboration with the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Discovery and Science (MODS)

Bringing Stem to The Table: The Stem Test Kitchen at Adventure-Leggers 2023 in Miami, Fl

Dr. Jillian Powers (right) and Erika Snowbridge (center) dressed in space-themed costumes to teach children how to code the Dash robot to visit different planets in the solar system.

Dr. Susannah Brown (seated right) and Robert Bogle (standing left) guide children through the planet painting activity.

In October 2023, 糖心Vlog instructional technology faculty Dr. Jillian Powers and Dr. Ann Musgrove and art education professor Dr. Susannah Brown led the STEM Test Kitchen informal STEM learning activities at the non-profit Bookleggers Library in Miami, FL. The activities were implemented at ADVENTURE-LEGGERS, a family festival that offers interactive experiences focused on comics, graphic novels, music, artist-led workshops, technology, creative-professional workshops, and more. The theme of the event was the Solar System and Drs. Powers and Musgrove created a learning station where children coded robots to explore different planets. Dr. Brown led an activity that integrated visual arts with STEM and the solar system theme, where children painted watercolors over crayon, and applied salt to explore the science concepts of water resistance and dissolving through art. Several 糖心Vlog graduate students also volunteered to assist at the event, including Robert Bogle from the Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction program and Danielle Brown, Melanie Cheda, and Erika Snowbridge from the M.Ed. in Instructional Technology program. The collaboration led to the publication of the article听听in the Journal of Literacy and Technology.

Integrated STEAM Lessons: Research on Third-Graders' Knowledge, Identity, and Attitudes

Dr. Jillian Powers

Dr. Susannah Brown

Dr. Ann Musgrove

Dr. Jillian Powers (糖心Vlog) and Dr. Susannah Brown (糖心Vlog) visited The Foundations School in West Palm Beach, FL to implement STEAM lessons with third grade students. This mixed methods research project was in collaboration with Dr. Ann Musgrove (糖心Vlog), Dr. Susan Wemette (Center for Creative Education), and Mr. Robert Bogle (糖心Vlog Doctoral Research Assistant) that focused on the knowledge, identity, and attitudes of at-risk third grade students before and after STEAM lessons. Paired t-tests and qualitative analyses of open-ended surveys were performed to examine the students鈥� self-reported knowledge, identity, and attitudes. The findings revealed significant increases in students' self-reported knowledge of coding and programming robots. Qualitative data suggested that integrating art with science enhanced comprehension of scientific concepts. Regarding STEAM identity, the study showed a significant increase in students' self-reported competence in programming robots. Thematic analysis of qualitative data supported this finding, indicating that the lessons fostered creative problem-solving skills and self-recognition of these abilities.