CAST and Partners to Develop Science Content for Use in Google Environments

Date:
Monday, May 13, 2019

Four-year, $1.5-million effort extends earlier work to enhance STEM learning.

CAST has been awarded a four-year, $1.5 million grant by the National Science Foundation to enhance science content learning and higher-order thinking using Google’s cloud-based applications. The project will produce integrated units for use in middle-school science classes, with special emphasis on Google’s collaboration and commenting features.

The University of Kansas and SRI International will play significant roles as partners in the work. This project extends a prior CAST/SRI effort to build a Google App-based curriculum and technology innovation called CORGI (Co-Constructing Learning using the Google Interface) to improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning. CORGI is a Google App that operates within the Google GSuite environment.

“This emphasis in the Next Generation Science Standards and the Every Student Succeeds Act on higher-order thinking gives special urgency to this work,” says CAST Senior Innovation Scientist Bob Dolan, who is Co-Principal Investigator on the project. “All students, including those with disabilities, need access to more robust and meaningful science learning. We will work with teachers and students to infuse these units with appropriate scaffolds and supports using the principles of Universal Design for Learning. Doing so will raise the bar—but also lower barriers—for all students.”

Learn more about the CORGI-2 project

About CAST
Founded in 1984, CAST is a nonprofit whose mission is to transform education design and practice until learning has no limits. Winner of the Smithsonian Innovation in Education award and many other honors, CAST conducts research and development, provides technical assistance and professional development, and publishes exceptional media for the education market. CAST authored the renowned Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework and UDL Guidelines.

About SRI International
SRI is an independent, nonprofit research center that works with clients to take the most advanced R&D from the laboratory to the marketplace. Find out more at sri.com.

About the University of Kansas
The University of Kansas, that state’s flagship institution of higher education, is a major research and teaching university. Find out more at ku.edu.