Episode # 62

Influencing STEM Education in Ohio with Sam Crews

November 25, 2024

About This Episode

On this week’s episode, we are joined by Sam Crews, director of the Akron hub of the Ohio STEM Learning Network, to discuss the ways that his organization is focused on integrating STEM concepts and programs into classrooms around Ohio.

Guests

Sam Crews

Sam has spent twenty years as a science and math educator in the Akron Public Schools and became a founding faculty member of the National Inventors Hall of Fame STEM Middle School, the first middle school in Ohio to receive a STEM designation from the state in 2009. He moved out of the classroom in 2016 to manage the Akron Hub of the Ohio STEM Learning Network.

Transcript

Kara 00:00
Today’s episode is sponsored by Learning Blade. Middle school is the ideal time for career exploration. With Learning Blade, you can easily integrate STEM and career awareness concepts into your classroom. Find out if this resource is free in your state at learningblade.com. Thanks, Learning Blade. Hey. Is this thing on? Are we recording? Can I get a tech person?

Caryn 00:28
Oh, for the love of Ed Tech,

Kara 00:33
Joining us today is Sam Crews, director of the Akron hub of the Ohio STEM Learning Network. Hey, Sam, how are you?

Sam 00:43
I’m well, it’s great to be here.

Kara 00:45
Yeah, thanks for joining us. We are going to kick off our episode like we do all of them, and just have you share with us your journey into education and how you decided to become a teacher and what landed you where you are now.

Sam 01:05
So my journey to education was very circuitous. I didn’t start teaching until I was 37 and this marks 28 years, and actually my last year.

Kara 01:20
Congratulations.

Sam 01:21
Yeah, I’m excited.

Kara 01:22
Yeah.

Sam 01:24
The and the odd thing about it all is that both my parents were educators. I have a sister. One of my sisters is a you know, Principal of the Year for Washington State. So it was all hovering all around me my entire life, but for some reason, I just couldn’t pull that trigger when I was younger, I started out as a wilderness instructor for juvenile diversion programs. I moved in, took that work into inpatient mental health and chemical dependency programs, working still working with kids. I’ve always worked with kids,

Kara 02:04
yeah, interesting and and educating, really,

Sam 02:07
Yeah, and then when we moved back from California, I was telling my friends, I think I want to go back and get my teaching certificate, because at least some of those kids want to be there.

Kara 02:18
Yeah,

Sam 02:19
all the programs that I’ve worked with,

Kara 02:22
They didn’t want to be there,

Sam 02:25
So that was interesting. But I was thinking about this because I I listened to several of your episodes, and I knew thiswas coming. And it was funny, because I have a moment in time, one of those moments of time in my in my educational career as a student, and I was in second grade. I grew up in on the west side of Cleveland. I was in second grade, and Mrs. Cunningham, in retrospect, she must have been working on her master’s degree or something, but she asked me to come with her to Cleveland State for an afternoon. And back in those days, you just climbed in your car with your second grade teacher and went to Cleveland State and and she I had to read a book in front of a panel there was like seven or eight people in the room, and the book was called Joe the Snake and and at I got done reading as a pretty good reader, and one of the people in the room said, So Joe was 10 feet long. And they said, Sam, can you draw a line on the chalkboard that’s 10 feet long? And I took my little chalk and gave it my best shot, and it ended up being, like, three inches short of 10 feet. And I was truly like, they were all like,

Kara 03:49
yeah,

Sam 03:51
So. And it just made me think about how, I mean, I’m old, and I can remember that from when I was seven, right? And that was a marked experience for me in my career, that somebody thought enough me to or my ability to share what I had with somebody else. And that was really cool. And I think that was the first seed probably,

Kara 04:15
yeah, like the impact of an educator,

Sam 04:18
yeah,

Kara 04:19
Talking about the Ohio STEM Learning Network, can you just explain what that is and kind of what the mission or the point of your work is?

Sam 04:32
Sure. So the Ohio STEM Learning Network is a public, private partnership between the Ohio Department of Education, workforce and the Battelle Corporation, that partnership, which, wow, it’s been many years, I think, around two since around 2007 2008 when legislation was written around what had to be true. To be a designated STEM school in the state, and out of that, spraying this whole process of STEM education and designation around STEM education, and so there have been kind of this thought provider of what that work should look like and how it should function for kids, honestly, the vision for the network is that all Ohio communities have access to quality STEM education in an effort to drive the economic future of the state, because there’s tremendous workforce alignment around the work that we do.

Kara 05:46
Okay out of curiosity, because I feel like most educators know the acronyms of like STEM and STEAM as science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or you throw in the A with art,

Sam 06:04
or the “R” for stream, which is

Kara 06:07
oh yes, the

Sam 06:09
diocese, you know, yes, so.

Kara 06:14
But everybody, I guess, thinks of those individual topics differently. So if you were explaining to someone what genuine like STEM education looked like. How would you describe it?

Sam 06:33
So you’ve kind of clarified the distinction there, and that is, and I do this in workshops, I’ll ask the question, what do you think of when you’re STEM right? And they’ll put those topics in those silos that you you mentioned, but when I put on the screen, so what is STEM education, everything shifts to well, it’s hands on learning. It’s, you know, being collaborative and communicative and and, you know, Problem Based Learning. And all of a sudden there’s a shift. And so people struggle sometimes to to understand STEM by itself. But when you put STEM education out there, there’s a much more responsive tone to what it is that we’re trying to do, and that’s basically it there. When we look at STEM education in Ohio, the rubric is is separated into three distinct buckets, culture, the culture of your building, you know, and that should represent, you know, inquiry learning. It should represent an entrepreneurial spirit, those kinds of things. And STEM schools do it really well. That second bucket is kind of geared around teaching and learning, which has a clear focus on problem or project based learning and and then that third bucket is built around partnerships and career readiness. So there’s a couple of non negotiables to be a STEM school, probably those partnerships is the biggest piece. In order to be reviewed for designation, you have to demonstrate that you have a formal partnership with a business and industry partner as well as an institution of higher learning. So University, whatever. So those are the kind of things that have to be first in line to think about designation. And it also reveals the importance of partnerships in this work, because you really in order to do this work really well, you have to have a community around you to make it work.

Kara 09:02
Okay, so how does the Ohio STEM learning network help or support educators?

Sam 09:08
So there’s so many pathways of support that the Network offers, region by region. I, for example, I, like many other hub directors, offer professional development around some of the core themes, around the rubric, like problem based learning, digital literacy, all those kinds of professional learnings. But the network from Battelle offers some amazing professional learning opportunities that support teachers. There are two programs for building leadership and lead teachers, called the innovative leaders Institute. One. Is bridge to stem which is geared more towards individuals and districts and leaders who are aspiring towards STEM education. And then there is the innovative leaders Institute reimagined, which is basically a cohort of existing STEM schools, and also those in in the process of redesignation, because there’s now a five year re application process to maintain your designation. So and from from a leadership standpoint, those cohorts are really powerful. They’re a year long. I actually my second year facilitating the reimagined ili, and I also went through it as a practitioner when I was still teaching with my building leader here at the National Inventors Hall of Fame school. So it was great for me as a as an educator, but it was also I’ve seen it empower leaders as a facilitator now for the last couple of years, to really have a clear focus on what it is they need to do as leaders, to be, yeah, in that work and then. But there are just so many other great problems, like geared more toward the practitioner. You will find a program called Fostering STEM Institute, and it’s just like it sounds again, it’s a year long program, and teachers have the opportunity to go on site to visit STEM schools. They get to into the nuts and bolts of what STEM looks like in the classroom, lots of different strategies, not just PBL, but all I mean, when we think about inquiry learning, PBL is just one of those strategies. There’s many, right? So they get immersed in in that work. So fostering is great for teachers and teacher leaders. There’s a Teacher Academy, which is a really cool program that aligns teachers in the school to a business partner, giving them the opportunity of one of my schools, the STEAM Academy at Hartford and Canton, has been participating in that program last couple years, and last year, they hooked him up With a navy contractor that builds subs. And so the empowerment is Teacher externship, right? So, yeah, to your point, understanding stem in in what that looks like as a career. So they get to go to that industry or partner and hang out and visit and see what they do on site, and then it gives them a much clearer picture when they come back to the classroom. Of, okay, that’s what that means, right? And this, yeah, and this is how this applies. So that’s a super great program. They offer integrated teaching and learning, because a lot of the work that we see in really high quality STEM schools is the integration of content areas, which is super important for kids to understand that, you know, when you go to work, you don’t go to math from nine to 10, and then after lunch, you know, with your community, go to you know, ela, That’s not, yeah, not how it works. So that integrated Teaching Learning is a great program, really helpful for a lot of folks.

Kara 13:27
Teachers, you can now earn contact hours toward grad credit for listening to the podcast.

Caryn 13:34
Visit fortheloveofedtech.org, for more information.

Sam 13:38
So and there’s more they offer every year an annual computer science cohort, which is really important work that needs done in terms of getting teachers certified and competent and confident in teaching computer science from K 12 Right, or pre K 12 even. So that’s another great program. But those classroom grants are an opportunity for any teacher in any public school, not any, not just STEM schools across the state, to apply for 2500 or a $5,000 classroom grant. They have a vision of something they want to implement in their room. It’s a really easy application. We look for ways to not say no when we read those applications. So a lot of people have benefited over that. I think this is the end of the third cycle of those grants. So and and over a million dollars has been issued to classrooms around state. Yeah, it can be transformative for a teacher to have access to super powerful and empowering. I think that’s actually the key. Is that teachers have the opportunity to you. Lead themselves, which is, I think, part of it. And then the last one that I would mention is, every year we do a statewide design challenge. Yeah, this year’s theme is Ohio, sustained space with a partnership with star lab. And I’ve, I’ve judged these for years now. I took my kids when I was still a teacher, and it’s, it’s just amazing when you let kids be creative around problem solving, because unlike you and me, they don’t have baggage to think like, well, I can’t do that because of this, right? They don’t have that. So I love reading those and watching those videos of those kids, you know, explaining how they were going to approach the solution to their problem. And it’s, you know, even from, even from the littles. I mean, watching littles, you know, I think, yeah, Jessica short on reason, and she talked about, you know, the the chicken without a leg, and they built prosthetics, right? So, and I’m sure that was part of the Ohio statewide design challenge. So, I mean, it just, it’s a great, empowering tool. Since last year, they finally brought back the culmination, which is held at Battelle in the in their big kind of entry portion of the building, and they bring in 21 of the best teams, and hundreds of teams apply or do this every year. Then somehow they we whittle it down to 21 teams that they bring in to Battelle, and they get to showcase their work and and you hear people, yeah, and it’s amazing for kids, because they’re like, given an adult audience to to brag about the work they’ve done and and it’s it’s great for kids, but I honestly think it’s just as great for teachers, because problem based learning or project based learning can be very intimidating. I think, for for teachers to think about that, because it requires them to think differently about their practice, that notion of teaching the way we were taught, right and and it’s hard, it’s hard to escape that. And yeah, when I became a founding faculty member here at the National dinners Hall of Fame school, I had been teaching for 12 years, and I was asked to completely transform my practice, I didn’t understand at the time that productive struggle was a thing and and the value, because I just wanted to rescue my kids all the time, and I had a mentor in my room For a year whose main job was just to say, Sam, shut up and just let the learning happen. You know, you don’t you can coach them, but try doing that,

Kara 18:11
yeah, yeah, and let them figure it out.

Sam 18:15
Yeah, yeah. And so all those programs just create supports for students and teachers and building leaders and district leaders to really think about STEM best practice and how to overcome barriers to that work and and how to enhance it, because

Kara 18:37
You mentioned all those things. Where can people find out about them, like, where do you go to find more information?

Sam 18:44
So the Battelle group has, we have our own website at osln.org

Kara 18:53
Okay,

Sam 18:54
and you can see how many schools are designated. You can see all the programs, and not even necessarily to become designated. They just want to know more about how to do STEM well. Because, I mean, I think that’s something that people don’t always think about. They hear oslm, they think they have to be thinking like they want to be designated. And yeah, and that’s not really the mission. I mean, it’s great when it happens. We’d love to have models of of quality stem that we can showcase. But it’s really about getting quality STEM Ed into as many classrooms as we can, regardless of what that looks like for a building.

Kara 19:38
Okay, and is there. So for example, like the computer science piece that you were talking about to get certification, that’s like the year long program. Like, for those type of pieces, do you have to apply?

Sam 19:56
There is, yeah, there is an application process for all. All those programs really okay, because they are, most of them are year long cohorts. Back when I went through as a teacher, we had to pay, I think, like 1000 bucks for each of us to go. There are no charges for any of these programs now, so it’s a simple application, yeah, I think, you know, you’re going to want a building leader to sign off, or, yeah, Superintendent, maybe, but just so that the intent is clear, because the spots go and and we, you know, we really want people to show up so because they’re taking a seat from somebody else if they’re not so, right?

Kara 20:42
Yeah. So that’s a commitment.

Sam 20:44
It is, it is, and that’s good. I think it creates a program with higher fidelity in the long run.

Kara 20:53
Yeah, for sure, what would you say, like from your experience, are, maybe, like the coolest things you’ve seen being involved with this or outcomes?

Sam 21:11
So many things.

Kara 21:13
Okay,

Sam 21:14
So let me. Let me start from my own perspective. The Training Center here in the Akron hub has had the opportunity to the our our training team has been involved since like, 2013 Okay, and we’ve managed to, I was just looking at my registration. That goes back, and we’ve literally had the opportunity to interface with over 1000 teachers in the last 10 years and and getting them to think about being a lead learner in the classroom and a learning coach, as opposed to being an expert lecture all the time, and people, I think, freak out when I talk like that sometimes, because I think they get the Unders or the impression that there’s no place for direct instruction, and I want to be really clear that that’s not the case. But I also think there needs to be more time in a classroom for kids to research when we think about the basic tenets of inquiry, I think about four things. I think about a big problem or driving question, I think about a sustained investigation for learners. And then I think about some sort ofpresentation of discovered learning, preferably a public one. And then the last piece of that would be Reflection THE the cognition work in in in STEM pedagogy is a big part of it. So understanding the right questions to ask as a coach, for example, on all those different levels of cognition is super helpful for kids. And so I guess for me, it was transformation in my practice, getting away from teaching the way I was taught. You know, I see how much partnerships can play a role in education. I got to work with a post doc from MIT, dr, Anthony Perry, who was working on developing models for industry in education partnerships and developing and I was able to, you know, connect him with, you know, a couple dozen people around the state who were doing that work really well. And he we ended up, he let me know that he got published in the last chapter of a book that features STEM education, and particularly in his chapter how industry partners, partnerships, make that happen for us. We’re in Act downtown Akron, and two miles away, Goodyear Tire and Rubber sits their world headquarters. Yeah, and that is one of the most impactful partnerships I’ve ever seen in any school anywhere. They actually, when we opened in 2009 we were the first designated middle school in the state in 2009 and when we opened they gave us retired associate for in as an engineer in residence for two years to help us guide our engineering program. And wow, and have somebody who knew what they were talking about help us and on that. Learning Path for us teachers and, you know, and then I think, you know, 1516, years later, I’ve got a team from Goodyear coming in this afternoon, and they built us a several years ago now. They built us a math themed escape room. And, oh, cool. And we’re, and that kind of ran its course, and now we’re rebranding that same space as our aviation studio that will house a couple of flight simulators and our drone program. So, I mean, it’s those kinds of impacts, but then the other, the other half of that is, having authentic partnerships, right, not necessarily for the school, but for the students. When we talk about problem based learning in particular, a big part of the role of of those industry partnerships in in the rubric are to be the individuals who are posing authentic problems to our kids. So they play a really big role that way too, right? So, so if you’re my sixth grader, Kara, and I ask you to do some research for me and present it to me. You know on Wednesday, that means one thing. If I tell you that, then you know, some tweaking and iteration, you’re going to then present it to the entire class. That means another thing. And why tell you that? Okay, it’s finally good enough. I think if you do couple more iterations that we you’re now going to present that to the whole school at morning meeting, in front of 400 of your peers and all the staff. That means something else. It means something entirely different than when I’ve got somebody from downtown Akron partnership, or Goodyear Tire and Rubber, or any number of our dozen or more partners that would come in and pose like the Akron Zoo. You know, they come to our fifth graders every year and say, Hey, we really would like your help on designing enrichments for different animals for their enclosures. Fun, one of my favorite ones. It’s one of my favorite ones. Because, just to give you a glimpse, I don’t know a lot of grad assistants that get this opportunity, because our kids then will go and design thinking is all part of this work, right? So our kids go through that process with all all of the problems that we issue them, and that problem in particular is so cool because the zoo will roll it out. They’ll either come to the building or they’ll sit in front of a enclosure and and beam in virtually, and they’ll say, this is what we want you to do. And then there’s so many great examples of this being a great PBL, because, you know, it’s usually five or six different animals, and the kids will get then kind of get to have the opportunity to glom on to the animal that they want. Because, yeah, when you’re nine, animals are cool, really cool. So, and if it ties so well into that fifth grade, particularly science curriculum, but across all contents, it’s, there’s great fits, you know, standards wise. And then they so they do the research on their animal they work collaboratively in small groups and, and I’m not talking about, this is me doing air quotes, because I know it’s a podcast. Yeah, group work. It’s actual work that’s being done in a group, yes. So, and then they get to a stage where they’re starting to prototype. We’re a big fan of rap prototyping. We’ve got a whole area in our building that is just all upcycled materials. So as they begin to kind of initiate their thought process around what this thing should be, that’s where they go, because it costs nothing. They can run through as many iterations of that prototype that they want, and nobody cares, because it doesn’t cost anything. Again, yeah, and then the zoo will come in and give feedback on those prototypes, and then they’ll go back to work, and then, and then they will, in this particular case, and doesn’t this isn’t true most often, but then the zoo will come in for their final presentation of learning, which is a public exhibition, and and they will jury out the best ones for each animal. Now, that’s really cool, right? Yeah, that’s not the coolest part. The coolest part, and we thought a lot about this around PBL as we were interviewing and doing focus groups with matriculating eighth graders, was the feedback we got around PBL was, it’s really cool, but we oftentimes. Don’t think people take it seriously in our solution making So ever since then, that’s part of our design process, to think about, how could we fulfill right? How could their solutions be embodied in real life? So in this case, the zoo will, as I said, They’ll jury out the ones they think are the best fit, and then they go and manufacture them. And then you ready. This is the best part. This gives me chills. We take those kids back to the zoo. They take the animal out of the enclosure, they put the enrichment in and bring the animal back in, and our kids get to witness the very first interaction with their design. Oh, cool, right?

Kara 30:46
I mean, yes,

Sam 30:47
and that’s high quality, amazing. PBL, so I don’t know I I think I mentioned that I could talk for days. He should really tell me when to stop sometimes, because, I mean, when I mean, when I think about remarkable experiences, which I think was the original question, yeah, it’s little it’s little things. It’s things like that that get me the most excited when I see the outcomes, not just on a test, which we do really well, but that’s not, and I think, because that’s not our big focus. Achievement gaps are great, but I think in this building and a lot of my designated buildings around my region, it’s more about closing the opportunity gap and creating situations and experiences for kids that they will remember, like I remember mine in second grade, right? Exactly.

Kara 31:44
I feel like that’s what I all the things I remember looking back are all experiences throughout school, yeah, yeah. So it is very impactful, which means more learning is happening that you’re hanging on to Yeah.

Sam 32:02
And it’s not ritual engagement, it’s Yeah, real engagement, like they want to do it they can’t, you know, and, and I’ve seen the data, you know, attendance goes up. And you know, when you and, and ironically, care the kids who struggle most in PBL are your high flyers, because there’s no checklist. There’s there’s no there’s no linear way to get to an A right, yep, and they Yep, and they freak out. And a lot of the kids that perform the best are kids who don’t necessarily perform super well in other pedagogies, so

Kara 32:46
yeah, which I always find fascinating. Yeah, I think everybody should check out the Ohio Learning Network.

Sam 32:53
I do too.

Kara 32:55
Yes. Well, thank you Sam. Thank

Caryn 32:57
you so much for listening to this episode. We hope you found our discussion interesting and insightful. Don’t forget to check out the show notes on our website, where you’ll find more information about today’s guest resources we mentioned, and information on earning contact hours for listening.

Kara 33:12
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it with your network and check us out at for the love of edtech.org, this podcast is produced by SOITA, The Southwestern Ohio Instructional Technology Association in partnership with ThinkTV and CET, the local PBS stations in Dayton and Cincinnati. Until next time, keep exploring new ways to empower your students through tech, and we’ll catch you in the next episode.