FEATURE
labs because students don’t see the connection between modern
tools, such as cell phones and gaming platforms, and the science
and math they take in high school,” he said.
“We wanted to excite K-12 students by making science more
‘techy’ and we used sensors, similar to those used by engineers, to
inspire K-12 students about science. After finishing our first project,
funded by the National Science Foundation and a number of
philanthropic organizations, we realized that by the time students
reach high school, they will have already formed a self-image with
respect to their STEM abilities. We went down two steps and
started as early as the second grade to spark their interest in STEM
early on. For example, we did authentic geotechnical engineering in
a second-grade classroom.”
Iskander explained that the program seeks out schools where
kids don’t necessarily have a lot of opportunities.
“We find that their self-image changes quite a bit over the year.
When we measure their improvement in terms of participation in
and grades on standardized exams, we do see a perceptible increase
in performance.”
Teachers are now being trained to incorporate these lessons in
their classrooms. “If we train 25 teachers a year and each is working
with a minimum of 50 kids per year, that’s a very large impact.”
The program also takes in highly recommended high school
students and puts them in labs, where they work as apprentices
under doctoral students.
“Some of the work is breadth, where we reach a large number
of students, and some of the work is depth with really talented
students.”
Iskander has been an active member of the American Society
of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Geo-Institute Deep Foundations
Second graders conducting a permeability experiment.
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