Community-Engaged Scholarship in STEM

Nashman Top Picks: Resources for Community-Engaged Scholarship in STEM

National Center for Science and Civic Engagement (NCSCE)

Supports and disseminates campus-based science education reform strategies that strengthen and learning and build civic accountability in college students. Hosts a lengthy list of initiatives, national and regional symposia, distributes online publications and assessment tools.

Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities (SENCER)

SENCER “Applies the science of learning to the learning of science, all to expand civic capacity. SENCER courses and programs connect science, technology, engineering, and mathematics content to critical local, national, and global challenges.” The organization is committed to developing faculty expertise, through symposia and summer institutes and the distribution of resources such as course models, assessment tools, and funding for research that supports their mission.

International Journal for Service-Learning in Engineering

Publishes original work by students and researchers with a specific focus on implication for service learning in engineering, engineering entrepreneurship in service, or related service learning pedagogy.

Coalition for Reform of Undergraduate STEM Education

A coalition of leaders from several organizations working toward a shift in STEM education away from lecturing to engaging learning activities and activities inside and outside the classroom that engage students directly, and toward attracting a greater diversity of students to STEM fields. Resource: A sourcebook of white papers is available online.

EPICS University Program

EPICS is a program in which teams of undergraduates from a variety of majors design, build, and deploy real systems to solve engineering-based problems for local community service and education organizations.  Each team has a multi-year partnership with a community service or education organization. Projects are in four broad areas: human services, access and abilities, education and outreach, and the environment. Regional workshops on integrating service-learning within the curriculum occur annually.  Resources available on the EPICS website.

Math

Engaging Mathematics: Creating a National Community of Practice

Math educators at six institutions are implementing and sharing the results of their collaborative efforts, "to use civic issues to make math more relevant to students." The results of this 3-year effort are distributed on this site.

MathAware

An initiative to inspire students to an interest in STEM and math in particular, by making clear links to issues of sustainability, "a topic which many students care deeply about." This paper describes the projects implemented by students at Bryn Mawr College.

Examples of SL courses in Math and Computer Sciences (link)

This list was compiled by the service-learning center of Denison College and draws from institutions across the country.  

Talks and Other Resources Related to SL and Math

In January 2011 at at a meeting on service-learning in college math, a series of presentations described successful SL projects. These talks are shared here, as well as a few additional resources.

Engineering

Essay criticizes proposed changes in engineering accreditation standards (July, 2015)