Under the umbrella of the Discovery Learning Research Center, www.STEMEDHUB.org, the STEAMlined online community will provide an open repository, web-based collaboration environment for members of the Science, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, and Mathematics (STEAM) community at Purdue University. The overarching goals of this interactive environment are to facilitate academics excellence and develop research expertise in STEAM students through optimizing access to a comprehensive network of critical resources, mentors, collaborators and future employers.

CONNECT:

The following represent the major methods for identifying participants and finding information:

Profiles: Participants (Faculty, Students, Staff, and Industry Partners) will have an opportunity to create professional profiles to identify others within their area of interest to rapidly develop a cohesive network.

Content tagging: This tool is defined by contributor and group managers that expedites resource searching.

ENGAGE:

The following represent major methods participants may share information regarding activities and events geared towards education and training:

Online Presentations (Webinars): Utilizing software currently available at Purdue University, such as Adobe Connect, participants from across the country will be able to virtually interact with individuals/audience here at Purdue University. The webinars will be archived as podcasts for viewing 24/7;

Wiki Pages: This is a self-serve mechanism for users to become contributors by easily uploading their own tools, presentations, and other materials that includes screening for appropriate content and automatic appearance on the main page of the group;

Collections: Categorized archived resources including relevant readings, discussions, and questionnaires for quick access and simple navigation.

Discussions: These virtual meetings are hosted once per month by STEAMlined. These informal discussion sessions will feature a Professional leader within the STEAM community to facilitate a topic of discussion relevant to the community, i.e. “Ask a Professor” in which a faculty member will be invited to provide insight into their journey to professorship and be available to answer questions posed by the community;

Resources: Links to sites relevant to student success i.e. webinars, training, readings, etc. shared by participants;

Ratings and citations: These functions allow the community to judge the quality of the posting, combines with web statistics to rank resources in the list highest to lowest, and allows registered users to post citations that reference the resource in literature so the community can see the work built upon that resource;

Calendar: Allows registered users to post events of interest to the community i.e. upcoming callouts for student STEAM organizations, job fairs, graduate fairs, conferences, funding deadlines, etc.

COLLABORATE:

The following represent methods by which participants may establish productive working relationships:

User sub- groups: This option facilitates private collaboration that allows registered users to create and manage their own group of users and maintain associated resources available only to the group members, which will be particularly key in student success portfolios;

Projects: This option includes short term collaborative activities for community members to engage i.e. research activities with well defined objectives and associated timelines, outreach activities, etc.

Announcements: This allows users to post upcoming opportunities of interest for community members i.e. internship openings, research opportunities, speaker invitations, etc;

User support: This includes a question and answer forum, a help link, and form to file a support ticket for hub administration resolution; usage statistics regarding how hub resources, including individual resources and feedback mechanisms, are being utilized.

Development of Student Success Portfolios

STEAMlined will incorporate the Passport system to apply accomplishment badges to track student participation and encourage the development of a Student Success Portfolio in the online community. Students will have an opportunity to earn badges by actively participating in webinars, discussions, contributions to the community, scholarly productivity, presentation of student research at the national and international levels, participation in research abroad experiences, successfully competing for prestigious external research internships/experiences/workshops etc. For more information about the Passport system, visit www.itap.purdue.edu/studio/passport.

STEAMlined will be an outstanding dissemination mechanism and community-building tool for meaningful and productive interactions at the regional as well as national level. Students will be able to upload resumes, professors and industry employers can advertise for research fellowships, internships, etc.