"Making” and makerspaces have become popular ways of engaging young people and adults in hands-on, creative activities that can develop their knowledge and skills in engineering, robotics, scientific problem-solving and the arts. Much of the focus in current programs has been on developing participants’ technical skills and basic scientific knowledge, such as the ability to use simple programming languages or to understand electronic circuitry.
Many students have difficulties with the three major forms of writing: informative, persuasive and narrative. In 2011, only 27% of eighth and 12th -grade students scored at or above proficient on the writing portion of the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP); 20% of eighth-graders and 21% of 12th-graders scored “below basic,” indicating they are unable to perform at the minimum standard for their grade level. Students with disabilities and English language learners show even lower performances on the NAEP.
Arizona State University's Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College and local school partners are co-designing new staffing models and deploying teams of educators. This Next Education Workforce initiative was created to make schooling more individualized for students, and the job of teaching more sustainable for educators. These models have the potential to improve outcomes for both students and educators in the short-term and, over time, lead to a robust education workforce.
A decline in emphasis on teaching natural history in public schools means many American citizens — children and adults — know little about the part of the Earth they inhabit. To residents of Arizona’s southwest corner, the Sonoran Desert around them remains relatively unknown and unappreciated. The 16th-largest desert in the world has one of the most varied biomes of any desert on the planet. It includes the saguaro cactus (found nowhere but the Sonoran) and the only population of wild jaguars in the U.S.