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1. Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Trajectories Among Children After Disaster Exposure: A Review

   https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22242  

   Lai, Betty S.; Lewis, Rayleen; Livings, Michelle S.; La Greca, Annette M.; Esnard, Ann‐Margaret (November 2017, Journal of Traumatic Stress)

   Abstract Natural disasters, such as hurricanes and floods, are increasing in frequency and scope. Youth exposed to disasters are at risk for developing posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). However, not all youth who report initially elevated PTSS report persistent PTSS that last beyond the first three to six months postdisaster. Thus, it is crucial to understand how and why youth differ in their patterns of PTSS. This study reviewed the literature on children's postdisaster PTSS, evaluating the typical number and types of patterns for children's PTSS trajectories, as well as risk and protective factors predicting trajectory membership. This review identified eight empirical studies on youth PTSS trajectories following natural disasters; these studies included 8,306 children aged 3 to 18 years. All studies identified resilience, recovery, and chronic trajectories. Evidence for a delayed trajectory was mixed. Proportions of children falling into each trajectory varied widely across studies, but overall, resilience was the most prevalent trajectory. These findings were consistent across study factors (i.e., analytic strategy, assessment timing, and study selection criteria). Female gender, disaster exposure, negative coping, and lack of social support were significant risk factors for chronic trajectories across several studies. Future research should combine individual level participant data across studies of children's responses to disasters to better understand PTSS trajectories. 

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2. Board 313: Implementing Computational Thinking Strategies across the Middle/High Science Curriculum

   Tretter, T. R. (June 2023, 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition)

   This NSF Research Experience for Teachers (RET)“Research Experience for Teachers in Big Data and Data Science”(award number: 1801513) engaged four middle/high school science teachers in summer 2022 with research related to big data and data science, with follow-up school year implementation of related curriculum. These teachers developed curriculum related to their summer research experience in big data and data science that spanned a range of student ages and topics: middle school science, 9th grade biology, 9th grade health, and 11th grade chemistry. Despite the wide range of student ages, curricular content, and instructional goals, all teachers found rich and varied curriculum applications that fit within their existing curriculum constraints. 

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3. Makers by Design: Helping Teachers Integrate Design Thinking Into Instruction Through a Sustained Professional Learning Fellowship

   https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10994151  

   Russell, Christopher; Gonzi, Amanda (January 2024, Journal of advanced technological education)

   This paper investigates the extent to which participants in a professional learning (PL) program learned and implemented design thinking principles within their instruction. In 2022, 17 educators from the northern Virginia region were recruited to an NSF-funded PL fellowship, including K-12 teachers, post-secondary faculty, and public librarians. During the project, fellows completed 20 hours of design thinking PL, practiced teaching at digital fabrication summer camps for elementary and middle school youth and developed and implemented a lesson plan that integrated design thinking into their subject area. Data sources included surveys, teacher-generated lesson plans, and lesson reflections. A mixed methods approach was used for data analysis. 

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4. Trajectories of School Recovery After a Natural Disaster: Risk and Protective Factors: School Recovery After a Natural Disaster

   https://doi.org/10.1002/rhc3.12158  

   Lai, Betty S.; Esnard, Ann-Margaret; Wyczalkowski, Chris; Savage, Ryan; Shah, Hazel (January 2019, Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy)

   Disasters may have significant and lasting impacts on educational programs and academic achievement, yet the examination of differing patterns of school recovery after disasters is understudied. This paper focused on two aims: (i) identification of school academic recovery trajectories; and (ii) examination of potential risk factors associated with these trajectories. We used latent class growth analysis to identify school academic recovery trajectories for a cohort of 462 Texas public schools that were in the path of Hurricane Ike in 2008. Using Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) data from 2005 to 2011, we found that attendance and percent of economically disadvantaged youth emerged as significant risk factors for two identified academic recovery trajectories (High-Stable and Low-Interrupted). Higher levels of economically disadvantaged youth were associated with lower likelihood of falling in the High-Stable trajectory, relative to the Low-Interrupted trajectory. Higher levels of attendance were associated with higher likelihood of membership in the High-Stable trajectory, relative to the Low-Interrupted trajectory. These findings are consistent with the notion that disasters do not affect all people or communities equally. Findings highlight the need for policy initiatives that focus on low performing schools, as these schools are at highest risk for adverse outcomes post-disaster. 

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5. Integrating Professional Mentorship with a 3D-Printing Curriculum to Help Rural Youth Forge STEM Career Connections.

   Bhaduri, S. (July 2021, 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference.)

   Economically disadvantaged youth residing in mountain tourist communities represent an important and understudied rural population. These communities typically include a large percentage of children that are English language learners. Our NSF STEM Career Connections project, A Model for Preparing Economically-Disadvantaged Rural Youth for the Future STEM Workplace, investigates strategies that help middle school youth in these communities to envision a broader range of workforce opportunities, especially in STEM and computing careers. This poster highlights the initial findings of an innovative model that involves working with local schools and community partners to support the integration of local career contexts, engineering phenomena, 3D printing technologies, career connections, and mentorship into formal educational experiences to motivate and prepare rural youth for future STEM careers. We focus on select classrooms at two middle schools and describe the implementation of a novel 3D printing curriculum during the 2020-2021 school-year. Two STEM teachers implemented the five-week curriculum with approximately 300 students per quarter. To create a rich inquiry-driven learning environment, the curriculum uses an instructional design approach called storylining. This approach is intended to promote coherence, relevance, and meaning from the students’ perspectives by using students’ questions to drive investigations and lessons. Students worked towards answering the question: “How can we support animals with physical disabilities so they can perform daily activities independently?” Students engaged in the engineering design process by defining, developing, and optimizing solutions to develop and print prosthetic limbs for animals with disabilities using 3D modeling, a unique augmented reality application, and 3D printing. In order to embed connections to STEM careers and career pathways, some students received mentorship and guidance from local STEM professionals who work in related fields. This poster will describe the curriculum and its implementation across two quarters at two middle schools in the US rural mountain west, as well as the impact on students’ interest in STEM and computing careers. During the first quarter students engaged in the 3D printing curriculum, but did not have access to the STEM career and career pathway connections mentorship piece. During the second quarter, the project established a partnership with a local STEM business -- a medical research institute that utilizes 3D printing and scanning for creating human surgical devices and procedures -- to provide mentorship to the students. Volunteers from this institute served as ongoing mentors for the students in each classroom during the second quarter. The STEM mentors guided students through the process of designing, testing, and optimizing their 3D models and 3D printed prosthetics, providing insights into how students’ learning directly applies to the medical industry. Different forms of student data such as cognitive interviews and pre/post STEM interest and spatial thinking surveys were collected and analyzed to understand the benefits of the career connections mentorship component. Preliminary findings suggest the relationship between local STEM businesses and students is important to motivate youth from rural areas to see themselves being successful in STEM careers and helping them to realize the benefits of engaging with emerging engineering technologies. 

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