When it comes to American education, most educators agree that the “sage on stage” is dead.
Gone are the days when teachers stood in front of students and took notes only to have them recite information on a test. Teaching methods are shifting towards group work, experiential learning, and computational exploration. Nowhere is hands-on learning more important than in STEM and STEAM education.
At iLEAD California, this takes many forms, including flight simulators, glider flights, building models to explain physical principles, and designing experiments that will be delivered to the International Space Station and tested upon return.
“At iLead, we truly believe in a hands-on, experiential approach to learning because it's what we experience that we remember, not what we memorize, so we developed a project-based learning curriculum that allows for this type of experience, and in Aerospace Valley where we're based, STEM education is very important to us,” said Matthew Watson, executive director of development at iLEAD's California regional office in Castaic, California.
The glider program was conceived by Kathleen Fredette, who served on four missions with NASA's SOFIA project and said “that mission is what got me fully into aerospace.” She has a master's degree in STEM education, curriculum and design, and has both single and multi-subject teaching certifications.
They teach Common Core eighth-grade physics in a “fun, in-depth way” through “why things fly” and “how they fly,” ultimately leading to an opportunity to fly in a glider, Fredette said.
“Each location has a different demographic, but some kids in Lancaster have never been to the beach, but they've been to Las Vegas. A lot of them don't even know what aerospace stuff is in our valley,” Fredette said.
It shows students a world they've never known before, she said.
Fredette also oversees Dream up to Space, which has sent 18 experiments to the International Space Station. Students build experiments, fly them into space, and bring them back for analysis. One such project sought to answer the question: Do oyster mycelium grow in microgravity?
Students are taught how to find subject matter experts and “incorporate them into our work,” Fredette said. “That's where the magic happens: You bring kids together with experts, and they learn to articulate, listen, and ask questions.” The students must write experimental proposals and pitch them to real scientists.
“It teaches you soft skills like communication and interpersonal skills, and being able to work next to people who you might find a little intimidating,” she said.
Taking off from Skylark North in Tehachapi, California, the students meet “jet test pilots and astronaut pilots,” and Fredette puts them in conversations that they then have to write about. Fredette says some of his students have been published and have spoken at space conferences.
The “A” in STEAM stands for Art, and iLEAD students had the opportunity to participate in an art competition to design a mission patch to fly alongside their science project.
All iLEAD students must create a visual presentation to demonstrate their learning. “Our students become able to give presentations.”
Another program, “Introduction to Flying,” is designed to help students who want to learn how to fly planes themselves. “We connect students with pilots and give them more time in the air so they can learn what it takes to become a pilot,” Fredette said.
Fredette is a pilot himself, and his experience with SOFIA led him to that path.
The impact of these projects, Fredette said, is “to let students know that they don't have to wait until they're in college to do something realistic or to think, 'I want to fly a plane,' they can do it now. There are scholarships available, and we help them apply for them.”
iLEAD California is the service provider for many of the Antelope Valley’s iLEAD Charter Schools, including iLEAD Lancaster, iLEAD AV, iLEAD Agua Dulce, iLEAD Exploration, and iLEAD Empower Generations. We create programs that can be adopted by a variety of school models, including in-person, online, and homeschool.
“We feel very fortunate to have a variety of community partners who make it possible for projects like Dream Up to Space and the Glider Project to be developed.
“And it gets kids excited about learning and doing real things, because the reason we learn is to do real things.” So we are excited to be able to provide these opportunities for our learners,” Watson said.