In this project, approximately 600 sixth graders from seven middle schools in Louisiana, Maine, Texas and Vermont are monitoring home energy use under supervision of their (11) teachers. The data are being used to develop optimum scenarios for conserving energy and reducing production of greenhouses gases in local communities. The teachers are receiving professional development to carry out the project. Students and teachers are using online software tools to record and analyze their data and create projections of future energy use based on assumptions of policy changes. They are communicating their results within the project via information communication technology. Research is being conducted on the effects of the project on students' and teachers' changes of attitudes and interests in science, and in students' gains in science content knowledge through comparisons with matched, untreated schools.
Overview  The U.S. needs productive citizens well trained and interested in entering the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workforce, in order for the country to remain competitive in today’s global economic environment. A primary goal of the NSF Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program is to develop a better understanding of precollege experiences that encourage increased selection of STEM majors in college and eventual advancement to STEM careers. In order to study “what works†in addressing this national need, the Middle Schoolers Out to Save the World (MSOSW) Project was created to enhance STEM content knowledge, develop middle school students’ interest in STEM content areas and to increase students’ perceptions of a career in STEM. Middle school students in Louisiana, Maine, Texas, and Vermont monitored home energy consumption under the supervision of their teachers and analyzed data to develop scenarios for conserving energy while reducing the production of greenhouse gases. A two-stage process of: a) training teachers, and b) supporting classroom implementation, resulted in two instructional cycles taking place during the project.  Intellectual Merit  Pre-post assessments of STEM content knowledge and interest demonstrated that the students in MSOSW activities acquired content knowledge and modified perceptions of STEM subject areas known to lead to STEM careers. The effects were especially positive for middle school girls. Follow-up data gathered from MSOSW students and from an additional student group attending a high school academy of mathematics and science enabled examination of initial findings in a broader context. Cumulative project findings were:  1. Middle school students participating in MSOSW project activities demonstrated moderately large gains in knowledge of standby (vampire) power sources and became more positive in their holistic perceptions of STEM content and careers. 2. Middle school dispositions toward science, technology, math, and engineering collectively formed meaningful predictors of interest in being a scientist for both male and female middle school students. A positive perception of creative abilities also aligned with higher student interest in STEM as a career. 3. Eleventh and twelfth grade students attending a high school mathematics and science academy reported STEM dispositions comparable to those of STEM professionals and more positive than students who are their mainstream education middle school or high school peers. 4. Academy of mathematics and science high school students attributed their interest in STEM to (1) a parent or family member (26%); (2) a high quality/motivating teacher (17%); (3) self-motivation or natural inclination (14%); and (4) science or mathematics classes offered at school (6%).  Five journal articles, two doctoral dissertations and more than one dozen conference presentations have been prepared to detail these findings.  Broader Impact  Standby power is the electricity consumed by many appliances when they are plugged in but not performing any useful function. The Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that over the lifetime of a typical home appliance such as a television, game console, home computer or microwave, 75% of the electricity used will be when the unit is powered off. Collectively standby power is responsible for 100 billion kilowatt hours of annual U.S. electricity consumption, and 50 million tons of greenhouse gases produced through generation of wasted power – due to electronic appliances not being disconnected by unplugging or by using a power strip switch.  One broad impact of having trained more than 500 middle school students and their teachers to monitor standby power is increased awareness of wasted electricity, which will likely result in reduced power consumption, as well as a decrease by these citizens and others they educate in greenhouse gas production. The goal is that many of these students will choose to enter a STEM career.  Research conducted on data gathered across the years of the project has demonstrated that important predictors of long range interest in being a scientist include dispositions toward science and mathematics plus a student’s perceptions of his or her own creative tendencies. This knowledge can help educators and policy makers design better educational programs so that middle and high school students will more frequently seek, prepare for, and pursue the “hard path†of university level STEM coursework that is a major step along the path to STEM as a career. One portion of this project’s research has confirmed that groups of high school students do exist with high STEM dispositions comparable to STEM career professionals. As the reasons for these positive dispositions are more fully understood, programs for encouraging middle school students to be more interested in STEM careers can be developed.  The dual, desirable long-term outcomes of the MSOSW project are envisioned to be: 1) behavioral changes in local communities based upon the communication of project participant research results, and 2) greater participation in the STEM workforce of the future.
