- University News Archive - 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock /news-archive/tag/kristy-kidd/ 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Thu, 17 Oct 2019 13:14:34 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Jodie Mahony Center receives nearly $2.5 million STEM grant /news-archive/2019/10/17/jodie-mahony-center-stem-grant/ Thu, 17 Oct 2019 13:14:34 +0000 /news/?p=75465 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Jodie Mahony Center receives nearly $2.5 million STEM grant]]> The Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock has received nearly $2.5 million to develop and implement a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) program that identifies and serves academically promising second- and third-grade students in Arkansas.听听 Funded by a five-year $2,449,587 grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the STEM+C2 program is designed to identify promising students through universal screening and provide services to gifted and talented second- and third-grade students, including students from underrepresented populations.听 鈥淭he STEM+C2 team assembled across three universities is a thrilling powerhouse of women devoted to developing academic and creative STEM talents in young children,鈥 said Dr. Ann Robinson, director of the Jodie Mahony Center and principal investigator of the grant. 鈥淭he current grant is the third in a series and builds on both STEM Starters and STEM Starters+. We published several research studies documenting the effectiveness of this intervention. In fact, one study, 鈥,鈥 received two awards for research excellence. When we complete STEM+C2, we will have been funded for 15 years to develop, research, and disseminate an effective STEM intervention in elementary schools.鈥 STEM+C2 is the third five-year grant Jodie Mahony Center researchers have received through the, which emphasizes serving traditionally underrepresented students in gifted and talented services to reduce the听 gap in achievement among groups of students at the highest levels of performance. The Jodie Mahony Center will provide elementary students with the tools and resources they need to succeed in computer science, engineering, and science with creativity and innovation. Through professional development, STEM+C2 will prepare second- and third-grade teachers in gifted, creative, and talented education with summer institutes and academic year support.听 Fellow researchers on the grant include Dr. Jill Adelson, research scientist with Duke University鈥檚 Talent Identification Program; Dr. Christine Cunningham, professor of education and engineering at Penn State University; Kristy Kidd, project director in the Jodie Mahony Center, and Dr. Christine Deitz, associate director of the Jodie Mahony Center. 鈥淭he STEM+C2 project will empower over 100 teachers to engage students in creative and innovative curriculum connected to STEM and computer science education,鈥 Deitz said. 鈥淭his exciting intervention is designed to develop learning talent in the primary grades and help teachers spot potential in young learners; especially children from low-income families and in populations who are traditionally underrepresented in gifted programs.鈥澨 The program鈥檚 professional development component will equip teachers with content related to STEM disciplines, strategies to identify promising students from underrepresented groups, a STEM+C2 toolkit with engineering design challenges and computer science explorations, and support for National Board Teacher Certification. The program will also prepare teachers to implement 鈥淏lueprints for Biography: Computer Science Series,鈥 developed by researchers at the Jodie Mahony Center. The series features STEM innovators Grace Hopper, a pioneer of computer programming; Ada King, an English mathematician and Countess of Lovelace; and Raye Montague, the 2019 recipient of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 Fribourgh Award who created the first computer-generated rough draft of a U.S. naval ship. Over the course of the grant, the program will serve nearly 1,400 second- and third-grade students, 60 classroom teachers, 30 gifted education teachers, and 30 elementary school principals across two cohorts at 30 elementary schools in the state.]]> Innovative Collaboration equals success for Award-winning STEM Starters+ Program /news-archive/2018/12/13/innovative-collaboration-stem-starters-program/ Thu, 13 Dec 2018 19:30:31 +0000 /news/?p=72960 ... Innovative Collaboration equals success for Award-winning STEM Starters+ Program]]> Researchers at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the Museum of Science, Boston, are being recognized for the success of their collaborative project to bring engineering curricula coupled with biographies of famous scientists and engineers to elementary school students in Arkansas.听 STEM Starters+ is a five-year, $2.5 million research and demonstration funded by the U.S. Department of Education. It began with researchers introducing talent spotting, engineering curricula, and engaging biographies into four Arkansas school districts with high rates of culturally diverse and low-income children. Those school districts included Cabot, El Dorado, Little Rock, and the Pulaski County Special School District. Dr. Ann Robinson, director of the Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, led the project as principal investigator in collaboration with Dr. Christine Cunningham of the Museum of Science, Boston. She was joined by project director Kristy Kidd of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock and external evaluator Dr. Jill Adelson of the Talent Identification Program (TIP) at Duke University. Studies conducted by the collaborators have shown that students who participate in the STEM Starters+ not only develop a greater understanding of engineering, but they also learn more science and are more highly engaged in learning. Teachers learn to spot academic talents in increased numbers of primary-grade students. 鈥淚n K-12 education, we often measure success by achievement, but we should also measure our effectiveness by how engaged children are,鈥 Robinson said. 鈥淭his project has engaged children and teachers profoundly. That is how you know you have hit the sweet spot, when learning is fun, collaborative, and creative and improves science scores and engineering knowledge. It is wonderful when classroom experiences increase engagement for teachers and students.鈥 Robinson, Adelson, and Cunningham recently learned they received the Senior Investigator Research Paper Award from the Mensa Foundation. The foundation鈥檚 Awards for Excellence in Research are given internationally for outstanding research on intelligence, intellectual giftedness, and related fields. In April, the researchers received the Michael Pyryt Collaboration Award at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association in New York City for their paper, 鈥淎 Talent for Tinkering: Developing Talents in Children From Low-Income Households Through Engineering Curriculum.鈥 The award recognizes the work of a scholar who researches giftedness and an influential collaborator who has no previously published scholarship associated with giftedness, creativity, or talent.
Dr. Christine Cunningham

Dr. Christine Cunningham

Additionally, the Jodie Mahony Center and the STEM Starters+ program were featured in a produced last year by the National Science Teachers Association. The Cabot School District, one of four districts in Arkansas to collaborate with 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, has seen tremendous success with the STEM Starters+ program. First-grade and gifted and talented education specialists at Westside Elementary, Southside Elementary, Magness Creek Elementary, and Cabot Middle School South were trained to implement the STEM Starters+ Project. 鈥淭he level of engagement from our students while using these units has been remarkable,鈥 said Aaron Randolph, director of Gifted and Advanced Placement Programs at Cabot Public Schools. 鈥淒ue to the success we鈥檝e had implementing this curricula into our five targeted schools, our G/T program will be implementing one EiE unit per grade level for the 2018-19 school year.鈥 STEM Starters+ teachers receive a biography of an engineer, inventor, or scientist whose ideas are linked to the EiE units. Additionally, teachers receive a curriculum guide, 鈥淏lueprints for Biography,鈥 which includes complex discussion questions, enrichment activities, and a science investigation or engineering design challenge. 鈥淚f young children can 鈥榮ee鈥 the scientist or engineer, they respond so much better to the research behind the life,鈥 Robinson said. 鈥淲e took interesting trade biographies and then created teacher curriculum guides. 鈥楤lueprints for Biography鈥 shows kids the life behind the invention or the life behind the discovery and makes engineering and science very personal for children.鈥 Some examples of the Engineering is Elementary units included in the STEM Starters+ project are 鈥淪ounds Like Fun: Seeing Animal Sounds,鈥 which focuses on the design of a visual representation for various bird sounds, as well as 鈥淟ighten Up: Designing Lighting Systems,鈥 which culminates with the design and creation of a lighting system for a tomb of hieroglyphs. 鈥淚 love the structure and flow of the lessons,鈥 said Joyce Dalton, a gifted and talented education specialist at Southside Elementary. 鈥淢y students love the content and hands-on experiences. From discovering how real scientists look, to learning about what engineers do and don鈥檛 do, to meeting a real engineer, I see my students making progress in so many ways. They come to think of themselves as engineers because they are thinking like engineers. I see excitement as they build the projects and test them, and I see impressive science scores on the state test.鈥
Aaron Randolph

Aaron Randolph

Kristy Kidd, Dr. Christine Deitz, and other staff members from the Jodie Mahony Center hosted trainings and workshops for Cabot educators focusing on the curricular components of STEM Starters+ as well as the use of the components to identify and develop talent in young students. The Museum of Science, Boston developed the engineering units used in the STEM Starters+ project. The EiE units use a cross disciplinary and hands-on approach to introduce the engineering design process to elementary students. Robinson attributes the success of STEM Starters+ to the development of an effective collaboration among teachers, researchers, educational specialists, school districts, and agencies to establish effective STEM opportunities in schools. 鈥淭his collaboration was a perfect match of enthusiasm, expertise, and commitment. It just shows how powerful collaboration can be when it works,鈥 Robinson said. 鈥淒r. Cunningham brought her wealth of knowledge in engineering education. The Mahony Center brought its developed curriculum and teacher training knowledge. Our research methodologist, Dr. Jill Adelson, brought an understanding of early childhood education and a really powerful skill set for the analysis of classroom data in rigorously designed field studies. The final collaborators are our very effective school administrators who go above and beyond what a research and demonstration project requires. Leadership is what makes this collaboration work.鈥 The program is currently in the fifth year of its research and development cycle, but two of the participating school districts have already expanded the program to additional schools. 鈥淎t this phase of the project, we have worked with four school districts, and two school districts took the project district wide rather than in experimental schools only,鈥 Robinson said. 鈥淵ou want projects like this to have a life beyond federal funding. Collaboration with school partners allows STEM Starters+ to be sustainable. I have no doubt that our partnership will continue to collaborate long beyond the life of the current grant. With universities, schools, and a museum working together, kids and teachers benefit from educational innovation.鈥]]> 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock professors to present research at renowned educational conference in New York /news-archive/2018/04/02/ua-little-rock-professors-present-research-educational-conference-new-york/ Mon, 02 Apr 2018 16:29:25 +0000 /news/?p=70006 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock professors to present research at renowned educational conference in New York]]> Sixteen professors from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock will present research at the 2018 American Educational Research Association (AERA) annual conference in New York, April 13-17. AERA is a national research society that seeks to improve the educational process by encouraging scholarly studies rooted in education and evaluation, and promoting the distribution and practical application of research results. There are more than 25,000 members associated with the renowned society, including university faculty, researchers, graduate students, and other distinguished professionals with rich and diverse expertise in education research. 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock presenters and their research topics include:
  • 鈥淎nalyzing Determinants and Outcomes of Teachers鈥 Professional Identity and Organizational Identification: Does School Context Matter?鈥 by Ibrahim Duyar, assistant professor of education, Paul Crutcher, assistant professor of English, Andrew Hunt, education minor advisor, and Muhammed Bogrek, alumni听
  • 鈥淏eyond 糖心Vlog传媒: Achievement Values Among Low-Socioeconomic Status African American and Latino Students鈥 by Daryl Tate, assistant professor of education
  • 鈥淓ffects of an Engineering and Science Intervention on the Science Achievement of Talented Elementary Students鈥 by Ann Robinson, professor and director of the Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education, Kristy Kidd, program director of the Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education, and Keila Moreno Navarette, STEM Starters+ data specialist
  • 鈥淚nvestigating Wording Versus Construct Effects for a Modified Perceived Stress Scale鈥 by Dent Gitchel, associate professor of rehabilitation and counseling
  • 鈥淢asculinity, Depression, and Attitudes on Willingness to Seek Help in Male College-Aged Students鈥 by Aresh Assadi, counselor, and Jim Vander Putten, professor of education
  • 鈥淧UBLICizing Educational Research by Writing for Nonacademic Audiences: A Workshop for Justice-Oriented Scholars鈥 by Daryl Tate, assistant professor of education
  • 鈥淪potting Gaps: An Engineering Curriculum Platform for Advanced Learners From Culturally Diverse and/or Low-income Households鈥 by Robinson, Monica Meadows, collaborative faculty of gifted education, and Christine Deitz, associate director of the Jodie Mahony Center
  • 鈥淭eachers鈥 Professional Identity and Organizational identification in High-Minority and Low-Socioeconomic Status Charter Schools鈥 by Ibrahim Duyar, assistant professor of education, Carolyn Turturro, associate professor of social work, and Muhammed Bogrek, alumni
  • 鈥淲omen Representation in Educational Psychology Journals: An Analysis of Authorship and Citations by Gender鈥 by Amanda Nolen, assistant professor of education, Nancy Hamilton, associate professor of educational foundations
  • 鈥淩esponses to Item Wording on Stress and Anxiety Scales for Adults with Disabilities鈥 by Dent Gitchel, associate professor of rehabilitation and counseling
]]> National Science Teachers Association shines spotlight on Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education /news-archive/2018/03/30/jodie-mahony-center-video/ Fri, 30 Mar 2018 19:33:14 +0000 /news/?p=69980 ... National Science Teachers Association shines spotlight on Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education]]> Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock is the subject of a new short film featuring the center鈥檚 work in outreach programs to children and teachers.Each year the (NSTA) chooses a program to highlight at the conference, and this year, they chose 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education. The film debuted March 15 at the NSTA national conference in Atlanta, the largest science educators professional group in the U.S. The March conference reached 9,000 to 11,000 educators. Subsequently, the film will be distributed by NSTA-TV to the much larger membership. 鈥淲e are thrilled for this kind of recognition for our work,鈥 said Ann Robinson, professor and director of the Jodie Mahony Center and past president of the National Association for Gifted Children. 鈥淭here are only about 20 centers in the U.S., and they picked 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock.鈥 The film tells the story of developing academic talents and meeting the needs of advanced learners in classrooms in the context of the center’s activities. One program in particular that drew interest was the center鈥檚 STEM Starters+ program, which investigates the effectiveness of creative and rigorous curricula with a focus on science and engineering and companion teacher professional development on spotting talent and serving children from low-income and ethnically diverse households. The program, funded by a five-year Research and Development Jacob K. Javits Grant from the U.S. Department of Education, operates in 23 elementary schools in the El Dorado, Pulaski County Special, North Little Rock and Little Rock School Districts. Students and teachers from Terry Elementary, one of the participating Little Rock schools, were featured in the film alongside Robinson; Dr. Christine Deitz, associate director of the Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education; and Kristy Kidd, project director of STEM Starters+. In the film, Robinson shares the philosophy of the Jodie Mahony Center saying, 鈥淚f they鈥檙e not challenged, in other words, if there is not an optimal match between what a child knows now and what they need to learn next, then you don鈥檛 get the opportunity for every child to learn something new every day.鈥 This NSTA-TV film allows the center to share this vision and hope for fulfilling the academic needs of all children. STEM Starters+ is just one of the ways the Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education supports and advocates for gifted education. The other areas of service are professional development and graduate education for teachers and schools through online graduate programs and Advanced Placement Summer Institutes for teachers; programs for talented youth such as Summer Laureate University for Youth; curriculum development through the Blueprints for Biography series; and research on talent development.]]>