OSLN News

Last year’s design challenge kickoff filled up fast, so don’t miss your chance to register! Join us on October 3, 2019 for a full day of professional development at COSI. The #STEMdrivesOhio Kickoff will be a free, fun opportunity for K-12 teachers  to learn about Smart Mobility and get some tips on leading a design challenge with your students. You will have the opportunity to visit the Smart Columbus Experience Center, participate in a mini-design challenge, meet experts in both […]

Preparing today’s students to join tomorrow’s high-tech workforce is the aim of STEM educators. But some teachers might not realize that they should go beyond presenting the “book smarts” of science, technology, engineering and math in their classroom. The successful STEM employees of the future also might need “workplace smarts” such as collaboration, communication and networking skills. That’s where the Battelle Center for Science, Engineering and Public Policy at Ohio State University comes in. The Battelle Center, on OSU’s Columbus […]

St. Ambrose Catholic School is a rare kind of school. Just three nonpublic Ohio schools have earned designation from the Ohio STEM Committee as a STEAM (STEM + arts) school. The pre-K through 8 school in northeastern Ohio’s Medina County has much to offer in its STEAM-based curriculum, which it launched in 2016. From coding and computer science to a planned Fine Arts STEAM Lab, the school has been able to offer its students a wide-ranging STEAM-based curriculum in just […]

The Ohio STEM Learning Network will host a statewide design challenge for K-12 students. This year, we’re partnering with DriveOhio to explore the topic of Smart Mobility through the #STEMdrivesOhio Design Challenge.  DriveOhio is a partnership of the state agencies housed in the Ohio Department of Transportation and devoted to advancing the Smart Mobility in our state. In simple terms, Smart Mobility means using emerging technologies to improve the mobility of people and goods. It’s the use of new technologies to […]

In December 2008, a young student named Clara Ma submitted a name for a project NASA then called the “Mars Science Laboratory.” With a 250 word essay, Clara suggested the name “Curiosity.” The Curiosity rover has covered over 13 miles of terrain on the Martian surface. Seven years later, the car-sized robotic explorer is the face of science on the red planet. This July, NASA’s next rover will launch. Today, NASA opened the contest for K-12 students to name the […]

Have you heard about esports? If not, you might soon. Esports is competitive videograming, and it’s a wildly popular global phenomenon with a growing professional level. Among U.S. colleges and universities, many are forming teams, hiring coaches and granting scholarships to the best players, just as they do for athletes in traditional sports. Ohio State University is developing an interdisciplinary curriculum spanning five colleges to focus on video-game studies and esports. The curriculum will include undergraduate and graduate degrees; an […]

Many STEM educators are at the forefront of teaching via problem-based curriculum: Present a real-life problem, guide students in a brainstorm to solve the problem using STEM strategies. This method is the heart of the Ohio STEM Learning Network’s annual Design Challenge. Prior Design Challenges, posed to teachers and students across Ohio in all grade levels, tackled the opioid epidemic, heart disease and food insecurity. During each year-long challenge, students research, build and test a solution to the designated problem and then present their ideas at Battelle. This time, the challenge centers on improving transportation via “smart mobility.” So, what is smart […]