Author Archives: Francis Eberle

Are we in the midst of a STEM movement?

By Francis Eberle | Published: March 9, 2012

Each day there seems to be more focus and discussion about STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education. The volume of comments in the various social media forums seems to have really taken off:  in the first few hours the other morning I was reading the discussion on one of our blogs about starting a [...]

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The science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) pipeline: how are we doing?

By Francis Eberle | Published: November 8, 2011

The pressure has been intense on increasing STEM literacy for K–12 students. What this actually means is not entirely clear since for many STEM literacy is not well defined. When we speak about STEM literacy, does it include all students, or just for some students?  And what part of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics are [...]

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Instructional time

By Francis Eberle | Published: October 11, 2011

Now that the school year is into full swing and students are settling into the routines of the school day, I was thinking about the concept of time. During a recent meeting about exemplary schools this question was asked: Are the models of exemplary schools where educators are willing to put in 60–80 hours a [...]

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The American Jobs Act and science labs

By Francis Eberle | Published: September 12, 2011

Last week President Obama introduced his new American Jobs Act, which included provisions that will impact schools, teachers and, specifically, science labs. A press release on the American Jobs Act claims that “as many as 280,000 education jobs are on the chopping block in the upcoming school year. These cuts could have a significant impact [...]

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Welcome back for the 2011–2012 school year!

By Francis Eberle | Published: September 6, 2011

I know this is a really busy time for teachers, but before we slide further into the fall, I wanted to focus on an exciting new competition we announced earlier this summer. NSTA has partnered with the Department of Energy and is challenging students in grades 3–8, together with their teachers and parents, to compete [...]

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No good news from the Nation’s Report Card on Science

By Francis Eberle | Published: January 31, 2011

The 2009 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) Science scores were released last week, and NSTA was fortunate to have a number of journalists calling and asking our thoughts about the results. We sent a statement that began: The National Science Teachers Association is concerned with the low student scores in science reflected in the [...]

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Getting to the root of STEM

By Francis Eberle | Published: January 11, 2011

For the last few years I have been conducting my own investigation into the increased interest and expansion of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) in rhetoric, legislation, institutional structures, programs, and materials. What has intrigued me is the way STEM is used as an acronym for the separate subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), [...]

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A not-so-simple question

By Francis Eberle | Published: November 23, 2010

With the NSTA delegation to the Sino–US Science and Education Forum back in the U.S., I am sure each member will be asked what I have been asked several times since returning home. “How was China?” This may seem to be a simple question. China is a place of contrasts: the new and the old [...]

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Exploring Shanghai

By Francis Eberle | Published: November 22, 2010

The final day in Shanghai was busy and we all had to be, as our guide put it, “sticky rice and not loose noodles.” After breakfast we left for the Jade Buddhist Temple, then went on to a silk factory, ate lunch before heading to do some quick shopping in old Shanghai, then off to [...]

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A visit to Zhouzhuang

By Francis Eberle | Published: November 19, 2010

Today the focus was on history, culture, and some shopping. The delegation went to Zhouzhuang, described in the guide book as an ancient town known for its Venetian-like waterways. Leaving Shanghai took about 50 minutes before the landscape had regular trees with some open space. We traveled 20 more minutes before the landscape became rural. [...]

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