Using Service-Learning to Develop a K-12 STEM Service and Experiential Learning Site

This paper discusses a National Science Foundation grant project that has been designed to provide a mechanism to inform a significant group of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) educators of the strategies available to incorporate service-learning and experiential learning into their curriculum. The goal of the project is to identify, evaluate, classify and distribute resources (via a web site) for STEM educators (grades K-12) wishing to incorporate community service or hands-on learning into their curriculum in order to encourage students to pursue careers in these fields. By helping students to "make the connections" between STEM subjects and real-world issues, these strategies are expected to increase student interest in STEM disciplines, enrich learning experiences for students, and enhance the skills of STEM educators on the content and application of STEM subjects. In addition, the experiential learning that has taken place during the development phase of the website will be discussed. During this phase, a cross functional student team selected the web project as a result of taking a project course. (authors)