Building Expertise and Bringing STEM Lessons to Life With STEMbound

STEMbound consultant, Rachel Johnson, working with students

A 3D printer, a plasma cutter, and a hydroponics lab. Coding tools, circuitry kits, and a dozen varieties of programmable robot. A laser engraver, LEGO engineering sets, and a kit that can turn a banana into a touchpad.

These are just a few of the modern teaching tools that can help students connect with abstract technical concepts…as long as their teachers have the spare resources, training, and time to learn and teach each tool. That’s a big ask, but for central Minnesota educators, STEMbound just might be able to help.

STEMbound (formerly TechMobile) offers educational STEM tools and training to teachers in school districts throughout central Minnesota. The program, run by Sourcewell, is targeted toward making STEM topics more relatable, exciting, and accessible for students in smaller school districts. According to Angie W., a STEM teacher in Verndale School District:

“Most small schools just don’t have the resources and capability to teach hands-on STEM lessons like these. When I go to other places and tell my peers about the equipment my students are using, they say ‘you are SO lucky.’ And I am. There’s no way my kids would have access to these things without STEMbound. My school just doesn’t have the buying power, and I don’t have the time.”

Broadening access to that equipment was the founding mission of the program, says Amy Huebsch, a member of STEMbound’s consultant team. “How can we help students in smaller, more rural districts access the same opportunities as students in Brainerd or Minnetonka?” says Amy. “Regardless of where they live, regardless of school size, can they still get that same hands-on experience?”

The STEMbound team has worked for years to establish that catalog of STEM teaching tools, activities, lesson plans, and expert consultants who can help bring them to life. Expert consulting in particular has become a major focus, as the topics and tools become increasingly complex. Without partnership from an experienced user, some tools can take too much time or effort to be worth including in a lesson plan.

That time and effort is one of the biggest barriers to use, according to Amy:

“It’s often intimidating to new users. As we’ve grown, we’ve had to make sure we’re delivering what schools are actually asking for. We don’t want to just be saying ‘here’s this bright shiny piece of equipment: Good luck relating it to your lesson!’ We want to help bridge that gap for teachers and students, to make sure there’s that connection to the real world, to other areas of learning and life.”

That expertise (available as either consultant-led or consultant-supported learning) was a massive encouragement to Angie at Verndale as she was getting started with the program. At first, she only tentatively used a tool or two, and kept to lessons that she felt confident learning and leading herself. But with the help of the consulting team, she was able to take on other tools to engage students in new ways:

“My students were so interested in coding, but I haven’t done much of it myself. Thanks to the STEMbound team, I never feel like I’m flying solo, and I can give the students a taste of the subjects that get them excited. It’s so comforting to have the consultants in the classroom, or a phone call away, if I get stuck.

And it’s not just about the lesson itself. I had a fantastic planning session with the consulting team in August where we went through my whole year. We looked through their offerings and where I could fit the right tools into my lesson plan. Not as an obligation, but a conversation: ‘How can we help you teach?’

For Amy, that conversation is what makes the modern version of the program special.

“When TechMobile started out, the name fit: It was a van full of equipment that you could rent. It’s become so much more since then. We’re not just the delivery people, we’re also the experts who can help make STEM topics come alive for your students. We can help you move in the direction you want.

When we call the program STEMbound, it’s about that goal. It’s about the tools, yes; but it’s even more about what you and your students can accomplish.”

Sourcewell’s STEMbound program offers low-cost edtech equipment rentals and consulting services to educators in school districts throughout Cass, Crow Wing, Morrison, Todd, and Wadena counties. Educators can learn more about the program, consultants, and catalogue of available equipment by visiting the main STEMbound webpage.

For more information on the program, please contact Rachel Johnson at rachel.johnson@sourcewell-mn.gov.