The Billion Oyster Project and Curriculum and Community Enterprise for Restoration Science Curriculum: STEM+C Summer Institute Experiential Learning

Funding text 1: The Billion Oyster Project and Curriculum and Community Enterprise for the Restoration of New York Harbor with New York City Public Schools (BOP-CCERS) program is a National Science Foundation (NSF) supported initiative and collaboration led by Pace University. One of Pace University’s NSF projects is STEM+C (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics plus Computing designed to work with teachers and students in New York City public schools. This article presents results of a study conducted on the STEM Summer Institute at Pace University in Summer 2022. The purpose of the Summer Institute was to engage both teachers and students in environmental restoration and experiential learning in New York City including learning about vital ecology projects related to New York Harbor such as oyster restoration, which is critical to cleaning pollutants. The purpose of the study was to determine the efficacy of the Summer Institute in regard to the impact on student STEM content and experiential leaning and teacher content and pedagogical knowledge. The STEM Institute is held at Pace University in New York City, and is a two-week program for high school students, which is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the STEM+ Computing grant (STEM Institute, 2023).; Funding text 2: The Billion Oyster Project and Curriculum and Community Enterprise for the Restoration of New York Harbor with New York City Public Schools (BOP-CCERS) program is a National Science Foundation (NSF) supported initiative and collaboration led by Pace University. One of Pace University’s NSF projects is STEM+C (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics plus Computing) designed to work with teachers and students in New York City public schools. This article presents results of a study conducted on the STEM Summer Institute at Pace University in Summer 2022. The purpose was to engage both teachers and students in harbor restoration and experiential learning in New York City including learning about vital ecology projects related to New York’s harbor such as oyster restoration, which is critical to cleaning pollutants in the New York Harbor. Findings revealed that students indicated improved oyster knowledge and restoration skills, scientific skills, collecting and analyzing data, and knowledge about STEM careers. Participating teachers indicated a positive impact on their knowledge of content and harbor restoration, pedagogical knowledge used to engage students in hands-on scientific learning, and methods of engaging and motivating their own students. Moreover, teachers indicated a positive outcome for exposing their students to STEM career options.; Funding text 3: Measurement of outcomes from the Summer Institute in 2022 was conducted through survey research by Gaylen Moore Program Evaluation Services, which served as a consultant for the STEM+C National Science Foundation (NSF) grant project. Teachers and students engaged in hands-on experiential learning activities with focus on learning science through ecology and harbor restoration in the New York City Harbor. In particular, oyster restoration was a theme and focus for this work since oysters have an important role through cleaning pollutants in the New York Harbor. It should be noted that the Summer Institute in 2022 was able to be conducted in-person unlike the previous year due to the COVID-19 pandemic which were both online and hybrid.