Herein, we present a program implemented in Python that utilizes a simple complete-search algorithm to determine the geometry of a lanthanide-substrate (LS) complex. The program serves as a practical project in a programming course for chemistry students, specifically aimed at illustrating fundamental concepts such as decision-making, repetition,…

The COVID-19 pandemic is a historic global event that has extended to all parts of society and shaken the core of what we know and how we live. During this pandemic, the work of STEM professionals has taken center stage. Through our close observations of how the events of the pandemic have been unfolding across the globe, we propose an…

The purpose of this article is to examine the level of emphasis placed on safety concepts and guidelines in "Standards for Technological and Engineering Literacy" ("STEL") (ITEEA, 2020) in comparison to other current science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) content area standards and frameworks. The authors who…

Integration of computational data science (CDS) into the university curriculum offers several advantages for students, faculty and the institution. This article discusses the benefits to students of introducing CDS into the university curriculum with a focus on developing skills in cheminformatics, data analysis, structure--activity relationships,…

Allowing high school students to fulfill a math or science high school graduation requirement via a computer science credit may encourage more student to pursue computer science coursework. This Education Trends report is an update to the original report released in April 2015 and explores state policies that allow or require districts to apply…

The Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) is a mandatory survey of all public schools and school districts in the 50 states, Washington, D.C., and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It gathers information about student access to educational programs, activities, staff, and school climate factors from public schools serving students in preschool…

The National Science Foundation's (NSF) decades-long investment in science and engineering (S&E) research helped build the backbone of the U.S. scientific enterprise and transformed universities and colleges into centers of scientific innovation, creativity, knowledge and discovery. It also brought about the benefits of scientific…

The phrase "broadening participation" is often used to describe efforts to decrease the race and gender gap in science and engineering education, and in this paper the authors describe an educational program focused on addressing the lower achievement rates and career interests of underrepresented ethnic groups (African American, Native…

There is a growing need for STEAM-based (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) knowledge and skills across a wide range of professions (Brazell 2013). Yet students often fail to see the usefulness of mathematics beyond the classroom (Kloosterman, Raymond, and Emenaker 1996), and they do not regularly make connections between…

Abstraction is a key concept in CS, one of the most fundamental ideas underlying CS and its practice. However, teaching this soft concept to novices is a very difficult task, as discussed by many CSE experts. This paper discusses this issue, and suggests a general framework for teaching abstraction in CS to novices, a framework that would fit into…

The design of computer science curricula should rely on central concepts of the discipline rather than on technical short-term developments. Several authors have proposed lists of basic concepts or fundamental ideas in the past. However, these catalogs were based on subjective decisions without any empirical support. This article describes the…

To help undergraduates make connections among disciplines so they are able to approach, evaluate, and contribute to the solutions of important global problems, our campus has been focused on interdisciplinary research and education opportunities across the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. This paper describes…

A comprehensive understanding of biological functions requires new systemic perspectives, such as those provided by systems biology. Systems biology approaches are hypothesis-driven and involve iterative rounds of model building, prediction, experimentation, model refinement, and development. Developments in computer science are allowing for ever…

Intrigued by the interviews with high school valedictorians that the Raleigh, N.C., News & Observer publishes this time each year, researcher E. Ann York decided to gather up three years' worth of its stories to look for any gender differences in the aspirations of these highest-achieving local students. Were boys more likely to strive for careers…

Local area networks are common communication conduits allowing various terminals, computers, discs, printers, and other electronic devices to intercommunicate over short distances. Discusses the vocabulary of such networks including RS-232C point-to-point and IEEE-488 multidrop protocols; error detection; message packets; multiplexing; star, ring,…