(WBNG) — A Binghamton University professor has been awarded a $1.5 million dollar grant from the National Science Foundation.
Amber Simpson, an assistant professor of Mathematics in the Teaching, Learning and Educational Leadership Department at Binghamton University, says that the three-year grant focuses on youth and their interactions in “makerspaces.”
Simpson explains that a makerspace can be anywhere that inter-generational people can come together and make things, which are usually grounded in STEM principles.
“I can observe, when I watch the kids, that they are engaging in what we would consider STEM practices without them knowing they’re engaging in STEM practices. So that, to me, is the beauty of informal learning spaces,” said Simpson.
Simpson says her research will also look at how children handle failure and examine the professional development…
