CATALYST Programs
Indiana STEM Education Conference
The goal of the Indiana STEM Education Conference is to support K-12 STEM learning opportunities by sharing effective practices on teaching and learning. It is an annual conference held in January. Each year the conference includes a theme to address a critical area of STEM education. Conference presentations are in one of four strands: STEM Instructional Strategies, STEM Curriculum and Activities, STEM Career Exposure, and STEM Education Research. Since 2021 the conference has included research proceedings.
Design STEM Kids Conferences
With funding from the General Motors Foundation, we partnered with Wabash Valley Education Center to provide opportunities for 5th-grade students to learn, explore, and engage in inquiry-/project-based STEM activities. The Design STEM Kids Conference takes place two times each academic year, one session in the fall and one session in the spring. In the past year students participated in four activities: Robot Artist, Meet Your Meats, Gumdrop Atoms, and Wildlife Rehabilitation.
GEMS (Girls Excelling in Math and Science)
The DesignSTEM Jr. program is an opportunity for undeserved middle school populations GEMS clubs were started in 1994 to encourage students, especially girls, to pursue education and careers in STEM fields, particularly technology, engineering, and related high-paying, entrepreneurial enterprises. GEMS clubs strive to ensure that a child sees themselves as a change agent or a problem-solver, a possible technology entrepreneur, engineer or scientist, and person who makes a difference.
The Math Recovery Project
The Math Recovery Project provides workshops and materials to help teachers address the learning loss in mathematics due to COVID. The workshops will provide activities and problems that address Indiana Content and Process Standards and social emotional learning. There are six, one-week Math Recovery workshops and one, two-week workshop on Conceptual Algebra Readiness for Everyone, CARE.
K-12 Integrated STEM Education Graduate Certificate
The K-12 Integrated STEM Education Grad Certificate allows students to advance their understanding of integrated STEM education approaches, learn how to design curriculum materials, and teach their disciplines using integrated STEM approaches. During this 15 credit program students will be provided with a conceptual understanding of integrated K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education and the philosophical underpinnings/nature of the disciplines of STEM.