Research: Does family encouragement motivate students to take an interest in STEM?
A project led by an Indiana University School of Education researcher will help families incorporate engineering and "making" activities in their homes -- potentially a step toward promoting interest in STEM and awareness of science and technology careers.
"The hope with this project is to engage families in engineering and making to empower them to design and build solutions to challenges they face in their homes and communities," said Adam Maltese, principal investigator for the project and associate professor of science education. "Through this, we hope they are exposed to the diverse opportunities that they might pursue with STEM."
The project, supported with a $1.2 million, three-year grant from the National Science Foundation, will be co-led by Amber Simpson, assistant professor of mathematics education in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Educational Leadership at Binghamton University.
About the Author
Alexis GajewskiAlexis Gajewski
Senior Content Strategist
Alexis Gajewski is a manufacturing writer and editor with nearly 20 years of experience covering the people, practices, and technologies that keep industrial facilities running. For more than a decade, she served as Senior Content Strategist for Plant Services, creating content for plant managers, engineers, and maintenance professionals on a variety of industrial topics.
During her tenure, Alexis worked to develop the brand’s digital strategy and helped launch and produce Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast. She also created The Lighter Side of Manufacturing, a weekly blog that explored the inventive and sometimes humorous side of the industry.
Alexis co-founded Influential Women in Manufacturing, a recognition program that honored 49 women in its first two years, earned an industry award for Best Product Launch, and received a proclamation from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and a commendation from U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth.
She also led newsroom operations and development at a large media company where she set editorial standards, developed training curriculum, and helped support AI adoption for more than 150 editors across 80+ brands spanning manufacturing, industrial processing, automation, and more.
Additionally, Alexis works as a freelance writer and editor, and her areas of interest include continuous improvement, the skilled workforce, and the role of emerging technology on the plant floor.
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