Educators to Share Strategies that Increase Student Success in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM)

STEM education partnerships involving school districts, community colleges, four-year institutions, and business and industry are emphasized.

Educators, information technology leaders, and others will gather at the League for Innovation in the Community College’s 2012 STEMtech conference, October 28-31, 2012 in Kansas City, Missouri, to discuss how to increase student success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics at all levels, and to explore technology’s role in the teaching and learning processes. Faculty members, administrators, government officials, community and business/industry representatives, and others involved in STEM education and information technology will explore research, best practices, and other ideas with their colleagues from around the world.

“In addition to bringing participants from around the world to explore STEM education, the 2012 STEMtech conference provides a special opportunity to showcase Kansas City-area partnerships that support STEM education,” said Laura Loyacono, Executive Director of the Kansas City STEM Alliance. “We are proud and excited to be part of an event that brings together such a wide variety of community representatives to explore STEM experiences that prepare students for 21st century careers.”

According to Gerardo E. de losSantos, President and CEO of the League, the number of presentation proposals received for this year’s conference increased more than 150 percent over last year. “This demonstrates profound interest in sharing and learning strategies for getting more students into STEM-related programs and careers,” said de losSantos. “At the same time, campus technology leaders will have the opportunity to demonstrate and discover best practices in educational technology systems and applications, and e-learning resources.”

New for the 2012 STEMtech conference is a track titled The Integration of STEM and the Liberal Arts. The new track focuses on effective methods and techniques for integrating STEM education into humanities and liberal, fine, language, and physical arts coursework, as well as research into the impact of interdisciplinary approaches to STEM education. “The key question of the 21st century is how do we connect the arts, humanities, and STEM to produce contemporary classical education . . . preserving the best of the past, yet embracing the technological processes of the future?” said IDEAS Orlando’s Jim Brazell, keynote speaker this fall for the newly added track. “If critical thinking, technological literacy, applied career skills, and educated citizens are the goals of common core standards, then alignment and integration of STEM concepts and strategies to general education curriculum is fundamental.”

The League for Innovation in the Community College is an international organization dedicated to providing support for professional and organizational development at community colleges. The organization hosts conferences and institutes, develops web resources, conducts research, produces publications, provides services, and leads projects and initiatives with its member colleges, corporate partners, and other agencies in its continuing effort to make a positive difference for students and communities.

Learn more about the STEMtech conference at http://www.league.org/stemtech/.