Project-based STEM Education Tools for Distance Learning and Workforce Development in Rural Communities

Summary/AbstractNine out of ten of the fastest-growing occupations require skills in mathematics andscience. Yet in 2016 the U.S. had 3 million more STEM jobs available than skilled workers tofill them. This STEM workforce gap is longstanding and projected to increase. At the same time66% of incoming high schoolers scored below the proficient level in mathematics on the 2017National Assessment of Educational Progress. Many challenges and barriers exist for qualitySTEM at the high school level including access to curricular content mentors and hands-onexperiences—especially in rural areas.Research has shown that Project Based Learning (PBL)greatly improves the quality of STEM education and addresses key factors in STEM recruitmentretention and STEM workforce participation.Known issues with implementing integratedSTEM the NGSS and PBL (i.e. budgets professional development resources lack of STEMcareer mentorship) are magnified in rural communities.New approaches are needed to addressengineering and integrate STEM at the secondary level and for connecting engineering projects21st-century workforce skills and team-based activities into high school STEM classrooms.Parametric Studio Inc proposes to develop and commercialize MARCONI a game-basedengineering advanced manufacturing and PBL environment for rural high schools and distance- learning STEM education. Using MARCONI students could use real engineering and simulationtools to design analyze and solve design project problems relevant to their communities. Theywill design and then physically construct their designs work in teams and learn to use skills andtools that are commonplace in today's STEM innovation economy (CAD programming CNCmachining 3D Printing data collection and entrepreneurship). In developing MARCONI weseek to address issues of rural access to high-quality STEM programming difficulties withprofessional development for rural teachers costs associated with STEM opportunities andchallenges associated with rural STEM "brain drain" and workforce development. Projectobjectives are to: 1) Build a gamified STEM software/curricula solution focused on the needs ofrural school districts; 2) Integrate STEM workforce development and advanced manufacturingtools and skills for the innovation economy; 3) Demonstrate the early-stage usability feasibilityand educational outcomes for the project by testing the MARCONI solution in rural high schoolclassrooms; and 4) Determine the potential impacts of the MARCONI on the socio-economicdevelopment of rural areas.Anticipated Results and Potential Commercial ApplicationsHigh school students who participate in design and STEM workforce-oriented PBLexperiences are likely to have increased STEM knowledge understanding and test scores.These experiences also significantly increase the likelihood of pursuing a STEM degree andcareer and high-paying STEM jobs and industries represent a key opportunity for ruraleconomic development. MARCONI is designed to foster high school student engagement andinquiry in PBL STEM in rural communities by leveraging gamification team collaboration andadvanced-manufacturing tools for tomorrow's STEM workforce. MARCONI supports enrichingengineering product design projects that are connected to math and science standards and to real- world STEM applications in rural areas—e.g. renewable energy manufacturing and agriculturalsciences. When successfully developed and commercialized the proposed features ofMARCONI should promote more widespread integration of engineering PBL in rural highschools improve student outcomes and prepare more students for STEM careers. Because of itsrelevance to rural communities and rural economic-development stakeholders MARCONIrepresents an initial $8-10M/yr product opportunity with the potential for expansion to othercommercial applications as we