Event Summary: The Next Generation of Earth System Education

On Earth Day 2013, Monday, April 22^nd, a panel of Geo-science, technology, engineering and mathematics Master Teachers convened at the Wilson Center to discuss several innovative endeavors to engage teachers and students in Earth science studies using state-of-the art technologies and education resources.  The event was co-hosted by the Program on America and the Global Economy (PAGE) and the Global Sustainability and Resilience Program.  The event was moderated by Kent Hughes, Director of PAGE.

John Moore, Director of Geo-science STEM Education at Palmyra Cove Nature Park and Environmental Discovery Center in New Jersey, former Albert Einstein Distinguished Education Fellow, and Executive Director for the American Council of STEM Teachers opened the panel discussion by pointing out two very important and influential opportunities for reform in STEM education: the PCAST Report to the President on plans for improvements in K-12 STEM education released on September 15, 2010 and the recently released Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) report which outlines the new voluntary, rigorous, and internationally benchmarked standards for K-12 science education.  Moore emphasized the importance of, “developing the teachers’ voice,” providing several examples of projects for leadership and professional development of teachers such as the DataStreme Project, a distance learning course designed by the American Meteorological Society,  and Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE), a worldwide network for sharing resources for primary and secondary earth science education.

Marcia Barton spoke next about the opportunities and challenges for STEM educators.  She agreed that the NGSS report provided an opportunity to transform science in the United States by integrating the sciences instead of using current standards of teaching the sciences separately.  The NGSS report also elevated earth and space science, including them more in the proposed curriculum.  The challenges for geo-science, according to Barton, were taking advantage of this increased focus and engaging the students in this material, and training the next generation of teachers.  She proposed starting an academy for innovation and sustainability to engage students in geo-science and engineering, especially with the increase in job opportunities for geoscientists.  Based on President Obama’s initiative to prepare 100,000 new STEM teachers in the next decade, Barton suggested making 30,000 of those earth and space system science teachers.

Vicky Gorman discussed efforts to promote geo-science education in her community with the Citizen Science Education Program (CSEP).  CSEP was designed by middle school students and tailored for their own community.  The program seeks to increase scientific literacy within the community and is part of the Weather Ready Nation network, a NOAA initiative.  Gorman stressed the importance of communication and leadership skills within students to prepare them for the workforce, with development of those skills starting in middle school.  She stated, “Unless students are marketable, all their education goes to waste.”  Gorman emphasized the importance of geo-science education as it encompasses chemistry, physics, and biology and applies to real-life situations and the global economy and where our workforce needs to be.

Peter Dorofy commented on the technology challenges of teaching earth science.  Traditionally, earth science is a non-lab course but with increasing technological advances such as GPS, GIS, remote sensing, and real-time data, that is changing.  He spoke of the challenges at his technical college in New Jersey, such as budget cuts and shifting programs, and how to make earth science relevant to students who have already chosen a career.  Dorofy stated it was key to identify real-life situations in which earth science can be applied and to take advantage of all the technology in the field to excite students.

John Moore recapped the first part of the panel and reiterated that teachers have a unique opportunity to push earth science.   The problem is in implementation.  Moore stated that in many schools the 1996 NGS Standards are barely implemented today, therefore, the responsibility will lie with the next generation of teachers to ensure that these new standards are realized.

Kevin Simmons and Jin Kang explained new technology in the geoSTEM field: cubesats, microsatellites, which are powerful, interactive tools that can be used by schools to provide data from space.  Cubesats introduce children to systems engineering and allow them to put the engineering method, which Simmons distinguished from the scientific method, into practice.  Kang emphasized the two essential factors of effective education: motivation and hands-on education which are key to encouraging creativity and innovation.

The panel responded to audience questions about the integrity of the geoSTEM programs, differences between the U.S. and Korean education systems, and the new common core standards and standardized testing.

Drafted by Elizabeth White

Click here to view the video recording of this event.

The Challenge of a Changing China

Lower than expected growth numbers from China on Monday have raised worries that China’s economy may be losing momentum.  Forecasted to have a growth rate around 8%, China’s actual growth came in at a lesser 7.7% for the January to March quarter, compared with 7.9% in the previous three months. This slower growth is in part due to lagging recoveries in the US and Europe causing China’s exports to decline. However, it is important to note that major, if understated, structural changes within China’s own economy have also contributed to these unexpectedly low growth numbers.

Rapidly rising wages have led to a systemic shift in the way China’s economy currently operates and have caused the country to move away from its traditional reliance on low cost manufacturing. China is looking towards a transition to a more sustainable economic growth model and these numbers might be indicative of the growing pains that China is currently facing. In fact, according to Ms Yao of Societe Generale,”Given Beijing’s goal of restructuring the economy, a relatively moderate economic growth is not a bad thing in the longer term.” While China will likely remain a manufacturing hub thanks to its relatively mature investment environment, superior infrastructure, and skilled workforce, it is the higher-knowledge industry sector and domestic consumption that will be the future drivers of Chinese growth.

Improving wages and job opportunities have created an optimistic and vibrant consumer class that has demanded both a higher standard of living and higher quality goods and services. Metaphorically speaking, Chinese citizens are emerging from the factories and entering the malls. Rather than being a mere base of production, China has become a prime market to sell into as consumption continues to increase. This massive and complex market holds huge commercial potential for those businesses that can successfully adapt and gain a foothold. Meanwhile, China itself can benefit greatly from increased foreign direct investment as its economy continues to mature.

Despite China’s economic dynamism, it is still a place that is plagued with many dilemmas that limit its potential. Some of the most infamous issues revolve around corruption, which is especially rampant at the local level leading to staggering pollution, serious quality control issues, and enormous levels of inequality. In addition, China’s educational system is stunted by its singular focus on testing and needs to be reworked to foster creativity and innovation, skills that are vital in an increasingly connected global marketplace. These concerns may limit China’s global economic potential, especially when major policy efforts are still needed to address these critical domestic problems.

Overall, China is still dealing with the disorder commonly found during major economic transition. Its switch from a primarily manufacturing economy to a consumer economy may take time as growth rates begin to rebalance. In fact, it is likely that  these declining numbers indicate not economic problems in China, but an economic changing-of-the-guard that will result in less dramatic, healthier, and more reliable economic growth.

Posted by: Matthew Goldberg

Sources: The Economist, BBC News, Bloomberg, CME Group

Photo Credit: China Pavilion courtesy of flickr user Wojtek Gurak

You are invited: The Next Generation of Earth System Education

The Program on America and the Global Economy and the Global Sustainability and Resilience Program Present:

The Next Generation of Earth System Education

Monday, April 22, 2013

3:00 – 5:00 p.m.

5^th Floor Conference Room, Woodrow Wilson Center

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Panelists: 

John D. Moore, Albert Einstein Distinguished Education Fellow Emeritus, Director for Geoscience STEM Education, Palmyra Cove Nature Park and Environmental Discovery Center

Marcia Barton, Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow, NSF, Directorate for Geosciences

Peter Dorofy, NESTA Eastern Regional Director, American Meteorological Society K-12 Distinguished Educator

Vicky Gorman, AMS DataStreme Atmosphere Resource Teacher, GLOBE Program

Kevin Simmons, Albert Einstein Distinguished Education Fellow Emeritus, Senior Policy Analyst, EDJ Associates Inc., Industrial Innovation and Partnerships Division Engineering Directorate, NSF

Jin Kang, Assistant Professor, Aerospace Engineering, U.S. Naval Academy

Moderator: 

Kent Hughes, Director, Program on America and the Global Economy

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Celebrate Earth Day as a select panel of GeoSTEM Master Teachers discuss how teacher-leaders have come together to put policy into practice.  GeoSTEM is an ongoing educational endeavor to engage teachers and students in an innovative study of Planet Earth using state-of-the-art technologies and educational resources. Through programs such as the American Meteorological Society’s DataStreme Project, the GLOBE Program, and others, teachers are enhancing content knowledge, developing projects, and collaborating in projects that utilize real time and remote sensing data, promote 21st Century Workforce Development Skills, involve the local community and contribute to building the next generation of geoscientists.

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Visit The Program on America and the Global Economy website for more information and to RSVP or send an email (acceptances only) to page@wilsoncenter.org

The Wilson Center is located in the Ronald Reagan Building at 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW. (Federal Triangle Metro stop on the Blue/ Orange Line) For a map and directions see: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/directions.  Please bring a photo ID and arrive 15 minutes ahead to allow time for the security checkpoint. 

How Important is Government to Innovation?

The US government must soon begin to make tough decisions about how to most effectively balance the budget. The key to resolving this issue is to figure out how to cut spending responsibly without hindering the government’s capacity to promote growth. A significant question that arises from this debate is whether national expenditures on research and development are useful for fostering innovation.

The conventional belief is that innovation is born through competition in the private sector. However, this may overlook the crucial role that government plays in the development of key technologies. The government provides something that the private sector cannot: cost-is-no-object engineering. With their singular aims and large purse, government programs are not restrained by profit-making like the industries in the private sector. It often takes patient, determined, or plain foolish capital, and a lot of it, to turn high-concept ideas into functional prototypes and a body of knowledge capable of driving private innovation and production. Government support for innovation obviously turns up its share of duds, representing a waste of real resources that could have gone toward some other end. Yet, as history has shown, amazing things happen when government investment succeeds. Take the initiative shown during the formative years of the computing era; the government was an enormous source of demand for all the intermediaries of computing power production and computing power itself. America’s military machine brought brilliant people together, demanded they do work requiring extraordinary computational power, and plied them with the funds to develop and build early computers. That work created expertise, component supply, and even private demand that fueled subsequent private investments.

This of course does not diminish the private sector’s vital role in innovation development. In fact, government investment and free-market improvement are almost symbiotic. Forbes lays out two key points that explains the co-dependent nature of the government and the private sector in innovation advancement.

1.)     Reliance on the government to invest in early innovative research because free-market actors cannot do so profitably by themselves;

2.)     Reliance on the free-market to competitively finish the later part of the innovation process because the government cannot realize its return on research investment otherwise

Therefore, it is vital that Congress adopts a budget plan that does not hamper the government’s ability to invest in innovation. US economic success is firmly rooted in technological innovation and this budget debate is a key moment in determining the future of the US economy.

Posted by: Matthew Goldberg

Sources: The Economist, Forbes

Photo Credit: Army scientists energize battery research courtesy of flickr user RDECOM

Innovation Is What Drives Us: The Impact of Technology on Employment

The inexorable march of progress continues as Google carries on with its plan to bring driverless cars to a highway near you. This form of transportation—previously found only in the annals of science fiction—could prove a boon to the auto-industry and has many other profound implications for both business and society at large.

Among other things, Google’s self-driving car has reignited the larger debate over the role of technology in our lives, especially in the jobs market—a sector that is quite important to millions of working class Americans worried about employment prospects. This concern lies in the prevalent view that advanced technology is usurping jobs that would have otherwise gone to humans. An Associated Press analysis of employment data from 20 countries found that millions of mid-skill, mid-pay jobs already have disappeared over the past five years. With this data in mind, coupled with slow economic recovery, should the American people be worried? Not as much as you might think. It is helpful to realize that this sort of technological innovation has happened throughout history and, while jobs were indeed replaced, new ones arose that more than compensated for the original loss. For example, the combustion engine decimated makers of horse-drawn carriages, saddles, buggy whips and other occupations that depended on the horse trade. But it also resulted in huge auto plants that employed hundreds of thousands of workers, who were paid enough to help create a prosperous middle class. As Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz states, “What has always been true is that technology has destroyed jobs but also always created jobs.” The invention of the iPhone, for instance, has put more than 290,000 people to work on related iPhone apps since 2007, according to Apple. This suggests that innovative technology continues to create new types of jobs that require higher skills and creativity.

Like an employment phoenix rising from the ashes of a bygone industry, the American worker will undoubtedly be able to take advantage of new opportunities. For its part, the United States must continue to invest in the educational system so its students are able to take on the challenge of these new and exciting industries.

Posted by: Matthew Goldberg

Sources: Washington Post, Forbes, Associated Press, New York Times

Photo Credit: Google self-driving car in Mountain View courtesy of flickr user MarkDoliner

Wilson Center Policy Brief Series: Manufacturing Matters, Strengthening America: Inventing the Future

The Wilson Center recently released two essays by Kent Hughes, Director of the Program on America and the Global Economy, in its series of policy briefs on critical issues which will run from now until Inauguration Day.

 

Manufacturing Matters

Manufacturing plays a key role in the U.S. economy and will continue to do so. The private sector provides roughly 70 percent of total U.S. spending on research and development, and the bulk of that amount comes from manufacturing enterprises. Manufacturing generates 90 percent of U.S. patents. It also is central to the system that translates laboratory research into commercial products, thus generating jobs and creating wealth. Manufacturing also constitutes the single most important export sector of the economy and is thus critical to America’s ability to pay its way in the international economy. Finally, manufacturing generates millions of jobs, which provide pay and benefits that exceed the national average. Looking ahead, the United States needs a manufacturing strategy that can support the emergence of advanced manufacturing processes that, in conjunction with low-cost energy, can revitalize the U.S. manufacturing sector.

>> Read the Policy Brief in its Entirety

Strengthening America: Inventing the Future

The U.S. innovation system has enormous strengths, including public and private support for research and development, the world’s best university system, and an entrepreneurial risk-taking culture. But those elements of the system now face several domestic and international challenges. In the United States, cuts in federal spending could reduce support for university research. The kindergarten through 12th grade (K–12) education system struggles to keep pace with the rising demands of the 21st-century workplace. Internationally, the United States now faces competition to attract or keep advanced manufacturing firms, research facilities, and top scientific talent. The United States will need to maintain support for research and development (R&D), improve its education system, and learn from best practices around the world.

>> Read the Policy Brief in its Entirety

Bringing Veterans and their Skills to the Manufacturing Sector

Four companies- Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, Alcoa Inc., and General Electric- are taking on the issue of veteran unemployment in a creative way. On October 15^th, this group of industry mammoths unveiled an innovative program designed to train and hire veterans to work in the manufacturing sector. Building upon the substantive skills veterans have already acquired from their military training, these programs will work with local community and technical colleges to help veterans learn new skills and earn additional certifications. This training will enable veterans to begin to fulfill the industry’s need for 600,000 highly-skilled employees which companies say they cannot find in the United States.

This initiative represents a remarkable opportunity for our veterans who are currently experiencing an unemployment rate of 9.8%, two percentage points higher than the national average. According to Jess Immelt, the Chairman and CEO of GE, “we have an opportunity to help veterans with extraordinary leadership capabilities better compete for good paying jobs with a long-term future.” Together, GE, Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, and Alcoa Inc. currently employ 64,000 veterans.

The program is designed to train 15,000 veterans in 10 cities across the United States and with an endowment of $6 million it provides many soldiers with the opportunity to participate free of charge. This program compliments a national effort by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the White House to help 100,000 veterans and their spouses find employment by 2014. These efforts, coordinated by the Manufacturing Alliance trade organization, also find partnership in the non-profit sector: San Diego-based Workshops for Warriors seeks to provide veterans with similar opportunities.

With a combination of strong efforts from all sides- private, public, and governmental- the objective of increasing veteran employment in manufacturing is certain to be achieved. In the words of Bob Stevens, Lockheed Martin Chairman and CEO, “America’s veterans want and deserve the opportunity to contribute to our society and provide for their families. There is no greater way to say ‘thanks’ for all their service and sacrifice, which enable all of us to live safe and secure lives, and pursue our dreams every day [than this].”

 

Posted by Sophia Higgins

Sources: Reuters, Department of Defense, DailyFinance, Workshops for Warriors, The Manufacturing Institute

Photo source: 2010 Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans @ Mays Business Schools’s photostream courtesy of Flickr user Mays Business School

Apple: the Most Valuable Company of all Time

Steve Jobs would be proud to see where his company is today. The one year anniversary of the cofounder’s passing was greeted with remembrance and cause for celebration; Apple has recently become the most valuable company of all time. Reaching this height is not only an apt tribute to Jobs’ lifetime of innovation but also to his building of an extraordinarily successful company that has not only survived since his passing but exceeded expectations. With stock prices rising from $500 to over $700 a share earlier this year, shares up nearly 80 percent, and the much anticipated release of the iPhone 5 under their belt, Apple has definitely had a stellar year.

Apple came out victorious in other ways as well. The company has experienced impressive success under the reins of former COO-turned-CEO Tom Cook, beating out Microsoft who previously held the MVP title with $618.09 billion in 1999 market value. After winning a high profile suit against competitor Samsung, Apple has successfully defended its turf. From this exclusive creativity comes one of Apple’s newest ideas, the “iPad mini”, which is currently in the production stage. Ultimately, Apple is now peerless in its market. As of the morning of October 7^th, Apple is valued at $652.59 on NASDAQ.

In spite of the general positivity of the year, Apple has faced several obstacles. The infamous Maps app debacle led many to question if, had Steve Jobs still been in charge, this poor-made product would have been released. This leads to further questions of the company’s long term longevity without charismatic Steve Jobs at the helm. Will the ideas continue to flow, the execution remain world-class, and the signature sleekness of an Apple product stay strong for the company? Or will post-Jobs era technologies become diluted away from the Apple dream? CEO Tim Cook argues for the former in his letter commemorating his predecessor’s passing:

“No company has ever inspired such creativity or set such high standards for itself. Our values originated from Steve and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple. We share the great privilege and responsibility of carrying his legacy into the future.” –Tim Cook

While we can’t predict the future of the market (even with Apple’s amazing products) one thing is certain: Apple is the world’s most valuable company in history, and it has set a very high bar for peers to match.

Posted by Sophia Higgins

Sources: CNN, Forbes, Reuters, Apple Intelligence

Photo credit: Apple 2 Apple @ Lori Greig’s photostream courtesy of Flickr user Lori Greig

You are invited to A Debate: Is the American Economy in Decline?

You are invited to: 

The Program on America and the Global Economy (PAGE) presents:

A Debate:

Is the American Economy in Decline?

Thursday, October 18, 2012

3:00 – 4:30 p.m.

5^th floor Conference Room, Woodrow Wilson Center

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Debating the Affirmative:

Robert Atkinson, President, ITIF; Author, Innovation Economics: The Race for Global Advantage

Ed Luce, Financial Times Washington Bureau Chief; Author, Time to Start Thinking

Debating the Negative:

Dan Gross, Daily Beast/Newsweek Global Finance Editor; Author, Better, Stronger, Faster: The Myth of American Decline . . . and the Rise of a New Economy

Jim Pethokoukis, Columnist-blogger, American Enterprise Institute

 

Moderator:

Kent Hughes, Director, Program on America and the Global Economy

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To RSVP or watch the live broadcast click here

We’re the Biggest, but are we the Best? U.S. Global Competitiveness falls from 5th to 7th place

According to the newly released 2012 Global Competitiveness ranking by the World Economic Forum (WEF) the United States has fallen from 5^th place to 7^th place of 144 economies. This marks the fourth year of decline for the U.S., which last year fell from 4^th to 5^th place. The Geneva-based WEF cites the GDP to debt ratio, concerns over January’s upcoming “fiscal cliff”, institutional mistrust by the business community, and a lack of macroeconomic stability as the major reasons for the decline. Additionally, the nation’s 2011 credit downgrade by Standard & Poor from an AAA to AA+ is seen as a reflection of national struggles with these same issues which have also decreased its global competitiveness.

Jennifer Blanke, Chief Economist of the WEF, sought to explain in more detail this ranking, stating that there is “continuing concern about the macro-economic environment, continuing debt levels – the inability to get the spending under control and really political deadlock about how to even deal with this issue. And, this is leading to concern about political institutions in general.” Despite these causes of decreasing U.S. stature, economists do highlight the high score of the United States in innovation and productivity. According to the report, the United States is still considered a premier model for other world economies in these areas and has the potential to improve in all other sectors.

The WEF’s Global Competitiveness Report has been conducted annually for over 30 years and ranks national economies based on 12 influential pillars. Some of these factors include measuring and comparing infrastructure, innovation, technological readiness, higher education and training, and financial market development. Recently adjusted for social and environmental sustainability, the report created a measurement for the ease of citizens maximizing their potential to contribute to economic prosperity and a measurement for overall institutional efficiency in the management of resources.

Who ranks above and below the United States? Western Europe dominates the top 10: Switzerland, Singapore, and Finland round out the top three ranks, followed by Sweden, the Netherlands, and Germany, respectively. Other rankings of interest are Japan in 10^th, China in 26^th, and the rest of the BRIC emerging economies coming in with Brazil in 53^rd, India in 55^th, and Russia trailing in 66^th place. Greece, weakening still, now ranks at 96^th, and Yemen remains in last place at 144^th.

As the United States remains the world’s largest economy we can hardly count out America as a major economic heavyweight and innovator. Still, the slip is seen by some as a serious concern, especially in tangent with the potential fiscal cliff coming in January. No matter who is elected in November, Washington certainly has economic policy changes to make to regain its stature as a top global competitor in the eyes of the World Economic Forum.

Posted by: Sophia Higgins

Sources: CNBC, World Economic Forum, the Hill, Outlook Series

Photo Source: no name @ Gates Foundation photostream courtesy of Flickr user Gates Foundation