Who is the target audience?
Ideal for clubs, libraries, camps, community groups and other out of school time groups:
- The core target is middle school aged youth in out of school time programs
- Successful with Adult Education – from young adults to senior citizens
- Parents and younger children work together to complete the projects
Free Activity to Sample our Offering
About Us
STEMgineering Academy is a fully integrated technology platform with 22 engaging activities where learners move between digital learning and hands-on engineering design. Facilitation is straight forward with easy to read/watch guides provided online. No STEM experience is required.
Leverage your subscription for additional funding
Your investment in a STEMgineering Academy can act as a platform to secure additional funds from foundations, grants or personal asks. Participation records and the design wall provide you the information you need to create a compelling proposal.
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Faq's
In the facilitator portal you will find a write up of the program that you can cut and paste into grant proposals. Subscribers in the pilot have had success securing funding from $1000 to $100,000.
If you are looking for arts and crafts activities there are a number of websites to consult. STEMgineering Academy builds skills, knowledge and abilities by grounding the activity in the real world with STEM background material. The Engineering Design Process is the scaffolding for each activity and requires learners to apply problem solving and critical thinking skills.
We recommend four or more activities in order for learners to experience and embed the Engineering Design Process. The Boys & Girls Clubs, our research partners, did fifteen activities over two semesters
Several activities have minimal material cost. For example, Dance Party is an online coding activity with no materials required. Need Some Support is a building activity only requiring one pack of index cards. Secret Agent only requires hidden treats which learners find when they decode a cypher.
Activities are generally done in teams of 2-3 people. A group of 15 would have 5-6 teams and is sufficiently intimate to promote exchanges between teams. Depending on your group and space the group size will vary but if more than 15 learners, additional facilitators are recommended.
Alternatively, a parent/grandparent/caregiver may team up with a child.
A key element of the program is self-guided learning and pacing which is done online individually. Teams can work together to make their design solution but each learner is challenged to think and contribute independently. Certificates at the completion of the activity are tied to individual log-ins.
If learners need to share tablets encourage them to collaborate as they progress through the activity. Certificates can be created manually, (see facilitator portal).
Activities are set up to encourage collaboration by working in teams of 2-3. For example, teams might consist of peers or might consist of a caregiver working with a child. Each participant records their own responses in STEMgineering Academy and receives their own certificate.