CREATE for STEM

CREATE for STEM director Joe Krajcik is featured on The Science of Learning podcast with Dr. Keith Sawyer. In this episode, Joe shares his perspective on how students learn science and the research driving better science education.

For more information and where to listen: https://create4stem.msu.edu/news/joe-krajcik-science-learning-podcast-keith-sawyer

So excited to share the work our director Joe Krajcik is doing with Professor Umesh Ramnarain at the University of Johannesburg's newly launched CALTSTEAM initiative (Centre for Advanced Learning Technologies in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics).

Together with PhD candidate Tebogo Moloi, the team studied how Grade 10 students in Soweto schools learn chemistry using computer simulations. The finding: students who used simulations alongside teacher guidance made significantly bigger gains than those who used simulations alone. A great reminder that technology works best when it supports teachers, not replaces them.

Read more: https://create4stem.msu.edu/news/krajcik-collaborates-new-caltsteam-initiative-university-johannesburg

Congratulations to Aman Yadav, Sarah Gretter and Matt Harkey!

Three College of Education-affiliated projects—including a new AI in Education course led by CREATE Associate Director Aman Yadav—have been selected for Michigan State University's inaugural AI-Ready Spartans: Education Innovation Grants Challenge. The funded initiatives will help prepare future educators, health professionals, and students with the knowledge and skills to use artificial intelligence responsibly, ethically, and effectively in their fields.

The courses created by these proposals may launch as soon as Fall semester 2027.

Read the feature article in the College of Education's New & Events: https://education.msu.edu/news/2026/07/ai-ready-grants-2026

Read President Guskiewicz and Provost Laura Lee McIntyre's announcement of the AI-Ready Spartans Education Innovation Grant Challenge:
https://provost.msu.edu/news-and-updates/2026-ai-ready-spartans?_gl=1*1jgqxqu*_ga*MTI4OTU2ODExNS4xNzY1OTkyNzU3*_ga_D7271B6VVJ*czE3ODQ1NzEyODAkbzI2MSRnMSR0MTc4NDU3MTk2NyRqNjAkbDAkaDA.

Anara Akhmetova is defending her dissertation tomorrow in CREATE at 2pm. Please join us for "Leveraging NotebookLM (Generative AI) for Instructional Planning: A Case Study of Pre-Service Secondary Science Teachers Supporting Multilingual Learners".

For more information on how to attend, please go to: https://create4stem.msu.edu/node/779

The 2026 CREATE Mini Conference recap is here! 🎉
Catch up on:
🎥 Keynote by Dr. Yasemin Copur-Gencturk
⚡ Lightning Talks
🎓 Dean Jackson's welcome
📑 The full poster list

Explore the full recap: https://create4stem.msu.edu/node/778

2026 CREATE Annual Mini Conference featured a new element to program | CREATE for STEM Institute Thank you to all of the participants in this year's CREATE Mini-Conference! We appreciate you giving your time and support, and couldn't have done it without you.

Monday morning, CREATE for STEM Institute had the pleasure of welcoming a delegation from Nanjing University to East Lansing! Director Dr. Joe Krajcik kicked off the morning with an overview of CREATE's work, followed by presentations from Dr. Ehud Aviran (CESE-Physics), Dr. Cory Miller (ML-PBL & MiTEN), Weiwei He (Energy Transfer Approach to Teaching High School Physics), and Dr. Mao-Jen Tseng (Auto Feedback 3DLP).

Thank you to our NJU colleagues for the thoughtful questions and rich conversation! 🌏

🎉 Our 2026 Mini Conference is coming up and we couldn't be more excited!

This year we're thrilled to welcome our first mathematics scholar and researcher, Dr. Yasemin Copur-Gencturk, as our keynote speaker!

Join us Tuesday, May 12 at the STEM Building for a day of learning, sharing, and connecting with colleagues. Attendance is open to all, and if you'd like to present a poster, we'd love to see your work!

Learn more: https://create4stem.msu.edu/miniconference2026

Register here: https://create4stem.msu.edu/form/conference-registration

See you there!

Don't miss the final CREATE Community Talks of the 25-26 academic year! Join us Tuesday, April 28 at 1:00 pm in the CREATE Seminar Space for two fantastic presentations on STEM education research. All are welcome!

For more information, visit: https://create4stem.msu.edu/node/776