STEM Education is at the forefront of thinking by the public, academic institutions, workplace organizations and government bodies. With the adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards and a push to inspire K-12 student interest in STEM careers, organizations view this as an opportunity to incorporate STEM outreach into their missions. With the help of Motorola Solutions Foundation’s Innovation Generation Partners, students joining this IPRO cluster have the opportunity to work closely with these organizations to learn how to manage an effective client relationship while creating innovative solutions to meet each organization’s unique mission.

As members of discrete IPRO teams within this cluster, students will learn and apply a variety of tools for information gathering, data evaluation, ideation, implementation and testing. Students will develop an appreciation for the multiple moving parts in a client-based project through engagement with an organization that has a STEM-based mission. This course is relevant for those (1) who are interested in STEM outreach, (2) interested in learning how to manage client relationships, and (3) whose careers will involve direct interaction with clients and community partners.

Each semester brings a new set of projects. Previous projects and activities in this cluster have included:

1. Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana (developing teaching modules for Journey World; developing STEM-in-a-Box Activities for Young Scouts);
2. Shedd Aquarium (developing teaching modules on ecological separation; designing teaching modules on aquatic microbiomes);
3. Erikson Institute (developing K-3 teaching modules on human-made world);
4. Adler Planetarium (creating and prototyping concepts for a meteor strike exhibit; ideating STEM activities for millennial visitors);
5. Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum (enhancing and teaching field data collection for high school students); and
6. Southland Metropolitan Higher Education Consortium (developing workshops to incorporate maker labs into the K-12 curriculum).

For fall 2016, we are planning a new collaboration with the Chicago Public Library (focusing on STEM-related teen services activities at 25 branches). This will be in addition to continuing collaborations with several of the above institutions in support of their STEM missions.

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