Conceptualized at the White House Science Fair by a nine-year-old boy, the White House’s Kid Science Advisors are meeting for the first time today.

Jacob Leggette, the nine-year-old brains behind the project, and ten others will meet with top scientists to give their feedback on improving STEM in schools.

The White House began looking for kid scientist candidates in May, and The Washington Post says over 2,500 applied for the positions before ten picks were announced.

Read more here. 

Is Over-Reliance on Memorization the Reason Why Americans Lag in Math Skills?

For years, U.S. students have been struggling to keep up with their international peers in math performance, causing experts and scholars alike to figure out why.

Many experts believe that math education that focuses too much on memorization sets students up for a lifetime of underachievement in the field.

"In no country [are] memorizers in the highest-achieving group, and in some high-achieving economies, the differences between memorizers and other students [are] substantial,” says the Scientific American.

According to the Scientific American, research indicates that U.S. math needs to undergo several changes in order to improve student performance.

Such changes include ending the practice of administering timed math exams, more frequently encouraging “the growth mindset,” and providing the foundation for number sense by guiding students to visualize math concepts versus simply memorizing them.

Read more here.

Marvel Superheroes Can Inspire Students in STEM

An increasing number of STEM organizations are using STEM superheroes to draw young minds into STEM learning, says Inverse.com.

Superheroes like Spider-Man and Iron Man, for example, use their scientific abilities to generate their powers, a great way inspire children into thinking that STEM can help them become their own superhero.

Read more here.

Minorities are Interested in Computer Science but Lack Access

New research on underrepresented groups in computer science has found that despite a growing interest and confidence in ability to succeed, minority students lack access to computer science instruction both in schools and at home when compared to their peers.

While 58 percent of white students have computer science in their schools, only 47 percent of black students do, for example.

The report urges educators, parents and communities to better understand the barriers that minority and disadvantaged students face in order to help them overcome these barriers and succeed at comparable rates to their white peers.

Read more here.

Amazon Gives Students Resources to Pursue Cloud-Related Pathways

Through AWS Educate, Amazon.com is providing students around the world opportunities to learn information on cloud-related services to ultimately pursue cloud-related career pathways such as Cloud Architect, Software Developer, Operations-Support Engineer and Analytics and Big Data Specialist.

The free service has identified the need for cloud employees and is filling that need with its 25 self-paced content modules and corresponding job board.

Read more here. 

Nicole Gorman, Senior Education World Contributor

10/21/2016