STEM Research Center

This study was commissioned by the Rita Allen Foundation to support a national scale initiative to support scientists in their public engagement efforts.  Scientists and engineers wishing to conduct public engagement do so in the context of established disciplinary norms and complex institutional systems that may support or limit their success. This study resulted in a report that conveys the known complexity and unique challenges for universities trying to support scientists in their public engagement work. It also summarizes the potential levers of change to improve this system.

Under the leadership of Drs. Kelly Riedinger and Martin Storksdieck with assistance from Victoria Bonebrake, the Center collaborated with Iridescent Learning to study the impact of project-based learning using their Curiosity Machine program on students and their families in STEM (science-technology-engineering-mathematics).

Led by Martin Storksdieck and Louise Woodley, the STEM Research Center and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) have partnered to develop a research program that examines the processes by which scientific teams organize, communicate, and collaborate through