Conference Strands
To help you make the most of the professional development opportunities available at the Phoenix conference, the Conference Committee has planned the conference around three strands that explore topics of current significance, enabling you to focus on a specific area of interest or need.
There are many pieces of the preK–20 STEM puzzle, including integration of the disciplines, policy, partnerships, college and career readiness, workforce pathways, classroom implementation, and real-world application. This strand will explore the different facets of STEM education, focusing on the practice and practicality within the classroom.
Increased pollution, habitat destruction, energy utilization, competition for limited resources, and decreased ecological diversity are a few of our current global challenges. Today's students will be responsible for designing and innovating new solutions for these and future global challenges. Students need knowledge and the ability to think creatively to have a positive impact on the quality of the planet. This strand will focus on how to expose students to the wonder of nature, provide opportunities for students to analyze environmental degradation occurring around the globe, discover current research on sustainability, model the scientific and engineering practices behind the solutions, and explore career options within the discipline of environmental science.
Communication is critical in a global society. Students need to acquire and practice skills necessary to effectively communicate. Literacy tools (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) empower students to make sense of science content and concepts, and to deepen conceptual understanding about the world. This strand will improve participants' skills to plan opportunities for students to process their learning through literacy tools and will focus on learning protocols for accountable exchanges, citing claims and evidence, argumentation and scientific discourse, and critical thinking/questioning.
For a list of sessions for each strand, click on the links above.