Partnering with Users to Develop STEM Education Materials: Insights from Discovery Research K-12 Projects
This brief suggests practical ways of engaging teachers and other “end-users” in projects that develop materials for education in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Projects described in this brief have benefited from school, district, and state users serving as Co-PIs, advisory board members, co-developers, implementation managers, data collectors, professional developers, and project emissaries to the broader field.
This brief suggests practical ways of engaging teachers and other “end-users” in projects that develop materials for education in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Projects described in this brief have benefited from school, district, and state users serving as Co-PIs, advisory board members, co-developers, implementation managers, data collectors, professional developers, and project emissaries to the broader field. The brief describes how K-12 end-users and decision-makers are instrumental for developing materials that will be adopted, implemented with essential fidelity, sustained at classroom and organizational levels, and scaled within and to new organizations.