Former NASA Astronaut Bernard Harris Joins NJIT Forum on Post-COVID STEM Learning

On Oct. 8, NJIT welcomed former NASA astronaut and noted STEM education leader Bernard Harris at its annual STEM School Leadership Forum, sponsored by NJIT's Center for Pre-College Programs (CPCP) — an event that attracted scores of educators virtually for a discussion on what the future of post-COVID STEM learning should look like. 

NJIT’s past STEM School Leadership Forums have brought together K-12 leaders from across New Jersey to professionally network and learn the latest in STEM curricula and programming. However, given the extraordinary challenges posed to educators and students since the widespread shift to remote learning last March, it was no surprise that this year's event honed in on key issues of the times — from addressing digital divides in many rural and urban areas to reimagining how school days are configured post-2020. 

At the event, NJIT President Joel S. Bloom led the way with introductory remarks that reflected the focus of this year's forum theme, "Reimagining 21st Century STEM Education: Beyond the ‘New Normal’ to What STEM Education Can and Should Be." 

“NJIT has played an important role in launching underrepresented minorities and women in STEM professions, but we must redouble our efforts. Look at the data … How can a country driven by technology only have 13% of the engineering profession represented by women today?” said Bloom. “We also know the people who were hurt the most in this pandemic are low-income families, and yet those are the future students for our universities. Reimaging 21st century education is exactly what we have to do.”  

Afterward, CPCP Executive Director Jacqueline Cusack hosted an hour-long interview with Harris, whose decorated career includes logging a total of 438 hours and 7.2 million miles outside the Earth’s orbit as the first African-American to walk in space.  

Since then, Harris’s “terrestrial mission,” as he calls it, has been dedicated to math and science education. His decades-long career as a STEM education advocate includes the past 13 years as a founding board member and CEO (since 2017) of the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) — a nonprofit organization dedicated to making STEM education more accessible for students at the local and national levels.  

“It’s interesting if we recall Sputnik and the threat to the U.S. at the time during the space race that got us off our seat and moving rapidly toward engineering and technology education to catch up with the Russians … I think we are in another Sputnik moment now,” said Harris. “That moment has to do with what is happening to our school systems due to COVID, the unknowns and changes in ways we deliver our education now that we’ve been forced to rely on tech like never before. … I firmly believe there is going to be a ‘new normal’, we won’t return to the old way of teaching.” 

The discussion touched on some futuristic aspects of education, such as the ways that schools may now be freer to configure classroom education in ways that work best for many kinds of learners and teachers, and which may not have been not considered before the pandemic.  

“Before [COVID], online teaching was something not talked about much because we’ve been so far behind, but we now have an opportunity to bring in technologies that we find are working, and integrate them so that we enhance learning and face-to-face teaching when this is all over,” said Harris. “Some may advocate for a six-hour school day, and with that there are still quite a few hours to access students. … Almost 90% of [teenage] students have smartphones, so are we using that platform and using the connectivity that we know already exists to deliver content, or track students’ learning better? We need to think about tools we already have as well as new tools to address our needs.” 

Harris often brought up the need to address “STEM deserts” in many regions throughout the country that lack teachers, courses and funding to prepare K-12 students for pursuing college degrees in mathematics or chemistry for example. It’s a problem that has been compounded with the unprecedented push to virtual education this year in the face of the country’s deep digital divide, which Cusack described as “unbelievable in 2020.” An analysis by Pew Research Center in April found that 59% of parents with lower incomes expected digital obstacles for their children, such as getting access to Wi-Fi and computers, while adapting to learn remotely during the pandemic.    

Harris says last year NMSI developed the STEM Opportunity Index, which is used to assess school districts' access to education and technology resources, and provide better aid STEM deserts around the country. Since March, the organization has also partnered with telecom companies such as Comcast to increase internet connectivity in those communities where they’ve found it lacking. 

“If you happen to be in a STEM desert, what is the effect of that on the community? … This gap gets exacerbated by socioeconomic difference, and when you draw that line it falls squarely on Black, Hispanic, Native American and rural communities,” said Harris. “I believe if we can solve the digital divide issues we have, it could be a more effective way to deliver STEM-based content to students.” 

Addressing opportunity gaps has long been a cause shared between NJIT’s CPCP and NMSI, which have been introducing school districts to in-school and after-school programming along with professional development.  

Barbara Weller, CPCP’s school engagement advisor, says the Center and Dr. Harris have partnered over many years to enhance STEM opportunities for Newark’s K-12 students through educational programs, such as the Bernard Harris Summer STEM Camp program, a two-week residential camp that provides underrepresented and underserved middle school students with STEM experiences. 

CPCP, NJIT's College of Science and Liberal Arts, the Office of the Mayor and Newark Public Schools have also launched the NJIT/Newark Math Success Initiative to provide high-level mathematics training on campus to local high schoolers that will increase the total enrollment of Newark residents at NJIT to a minimum of 600.  

While in-person events this year may be limited, Weller expects such partnerships to find creative ways to continue opening up STEM pathways for young learners. 

"The Center has a long association with Dr. Harris, having co-sponsored the Summer STEM Camp program on campus for more than 10 years,” said Weller. “The summer camp was designed to engage underserved and underrepresented middle school students in STEM. A number of alumni from the program have gone on to STEM higher education and careers. Dr. Harris is an honorary member of our Advisory Board and we are looking forward to developing more programs with him in the future."