STEM in 10 Video Submission
Worried about the impact of educational shifts during the pandemic on Minnesota’s STEM students? Wish there was something you could do to help? Consider making a video to share your STEM story with Minnesota students underrepresented in STEM.
The Minnesota Academy of Science (MAS) is collecting content for STEM enrichment units through our FORSE program (Fostering Opportunities & Relationships in STEM Education). This content will be a tool for educators to expose students to different professions, academic tracks, topics, activities, and research in the world of STEM. This program was launched in response to our FORSE educators asking for informative content to share with their students during distance learning.
Our immediate focus is on sharing stories of women and people of color within STEM. Please pass this opportunity onto people in your network that may be a good fit and interested in creating content.
What kind of information should I include in this video?
Begin by telling us a little bit about yourself: What is your name? What branch of STEM do you study or work in? What is your job title?
Please continue by discussing as many of these questions as you are comfortable with:
What is a typical day like at your job? What do you like most about what you do?
What are you currently studying/experimenting/working on right now? Is there anything exciting or surprising happening in your field?
Where might someone see or use your branch of STEM in their everyday life?
What experiences as a kid/teen/young adult made you interested in your STEM path?
What did you study in school/university? What were some of your favorite classes or research projects?
Why is studying STEM interesting/important to you?
Who has been an important mentor or what has been a source of inspiration in your STEM path?
What is your proudest accomplishment in your studies/research/work?
What advice or words of encouragement do you have for someone thinking about going into a STEM field?
Is there anything else I should include?
Do include information about your identity/culture and any obstacles you faced on your way to pursuing your STEM goals, as you feel comfortable.
How long should my video be?
Target your video to be 10-15 minutes long, and no longer than 20 minutes.
What format should my video be in?
You have a lot of flexibility! Videos can be self-recorded or interview-style with someone else. You can speak directly in the camera, or you can include a slide presentation. If you do a presentation, feel free to use this template of slides. Please make a copy and edit, changing photos or deleting slide as you wish. You can also certainly create your own slide presentation. Really, we just want to get your story into the hands of students - there is no wrong way to do so.
Who will my video be shared with?
We will share your video with our FORSE educators, who will share it with their students. We currently are partnered with four Title I schools within St Paul and Minneapolis that primarily serve students from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in STEM.
How will my video be shared?
We enable videos to be added to our website by uploading them to the MAS youtube account. The privacy setting is set to 'unlisted', which means that it can be shared with the link, but it does not appear in any searches. You may read this article for more information about unlisted videos. The video will then be added to our password-protected FORSE educators’ page.
Darn, I wanted to whole world to be able to see my video! Is that possible?
Probably! We love to share Minnesota STEM stories with the MAS community. If you’re interested in reaching a larger or general audience, reach out and we can talk about the best way to make this happen. Of course, we will seek your permission before sharing your video on our website (other than the password-protected FORSE enrichment page).
Okay, I’m in. How do I submit a video?
Great! If you have a google account, please use this link to submit a video. If you don’t have a google account, please contact us for assistance submitting your video.
I’m pretty busy. When do you need this by, anyway?
You may submit content at any time. However, we would love to have your video by April so that our hard-working educators can fit them in their curriculum before the end of the school year.
I’ve never made a video before, do you have any advice?
The easiest way to make a video is probably to record yourself using a free zoom account. This enables easy screen sharing and recording. If you’re having trouble or have further questions, please get in touch.
See these resources for further information:
Using Zoom to Record a Presentation Video
How to Record a Presentation using Zoom (video)
Tips for recording yourself
Can you tell me a little more about FORSE, the program these videos are supporting?
We’re always excited to share information about FORSE, which is MAS’ newest program. Entering its fourth year, this ground-breaking program provides pathways for student populations traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields to participate in science fair and engage in STEM learning and research. In its first three years, FORSE brought students and scientists together for enrichment units at the elementary level and science project mentoring at the middle school level. In the 2020-2021 school year, in response to the shifts in education caused by COVID-19, MAS will be connecting mentors with students for STEM tutoring and offering enrichment activities to support distance learning.
