In the field of STEM education and experiences, it would seem that Cindy Hasselbring has done it all – or close to it: teaching high school math courses for 16 years, becoming a pilot and creating a high school aviation curriculum, serving as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow at the National Science Foundation, working at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, even turning a childhood interest in outer space into multiple applications to the U.S. astronaut program as an adult. And though she didn’t become an astronaut, she is now working for NASA on an online platform for educators. So what have all these experiences taught the former math teacher? We asked Hasselbring to share what she has learned about STEM education during her varied professional career:

Q: Did you have early experiences that influenced your career path in STEM? How important are such childhood exposures in shaping a youngster’s hopes and dreams?

A: My first memory of interest in STEM began when my parents took me to Kennedy Space Center as a young child. I was fascinated by the mock-up of the Saturn V mission control room that helped land a man on the moon. My dad told me that some men had planted a flag on the moon, and I remember looking up in the night sky for the flag on the moon. That initiated a curiosity in me about space, and I’ve been hooked ever since.

Also, my mom’s best friend was a math education professor at a local university. She was constantly encouraging my brother and me in math by letting us play with her math teaching manipulatives, creating mathematical thinking games, etc. I grew up liking math as a result of her influence.

I think helping students think STEM is accessible to them at an early age is critical to their STEM success in the future. If students grow with the mindset their STEM skills are inadequate, it takes a lot more energy to help them think otherwise. We need to encourage their curiosity through inquiry, develop their problem-solving skills and build strong STEM knowledge and thinking.

Q: You spent 16 years as a high school math teacher in Michigan. How did those years in the classroom influence your views on the value of STEM education and how a STEM curriculum is best taught?

A: While I was teaching, I learned how to reflect on my practice and had to videotape myself teaching a few times. As I reviewed those taped lessons, I realized that what I said didn’t necessarily “translate” into what students heard.

I learned I needed to listen to more of their thinking to better identify their misconceptions and get to the “root of the problem.” It is so easy as an educator to want success for students but yet not give them enough time to “get there” on their own by allowing productive struggle. 

Also, as a math teacher, I strived to include real world connections to the math content I was teaching. I was learning to fly and had a strong interest in space while in the classroom, so these were areas where I frequently looked for answers to the age-old question, “When are we ever going to use this?” 

While learning to fly, I met another student pilot who happened to be a University of Michigan engineering professor and conducted research on Mars for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. I invited him to speak to my classroom of statistics students, and they were riveted by his presentation. I think helping students see the potential use of their STEM learning is very motivating and inspiring. 

Q: What did you learn from your repeated applications to the U.S. astronaut program?

A: I learned that it was important to keep trying; quitting was not an option for me. I wanted to set a good example for my students and be sure that I would have no regrets – that I had left everything on the table.

As a result of trying to improve my skills and experiences to better my chances, I traveled to Japan three times to improve my understanding of Japanese culture (Japanese astronauts were hired the first time I applied); I gained my SCUBA certification (needed for spacewalking); took two courses in Japanese and two courses in Russian; and earned my pilot certificate.

I gained so much more than I lost from my five “failed attempts” that I never think of them as failures. They were examples of “rejection” turned into “redirection.” Because I wanted to become an astronaut, I became a pilot, which has been one of the greatest blessings of my life. This opened a large door to me into the aviation community, and now I help lead a high school girls aviation camp, which I have done for more than 10 years. 

Q: As a member of the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program, you worked in Washington, D.C., at the National Science Foundation (NSF) to help shape policy for the benefit of math and science teachers. How did that experience influence your views on government’s role in STEM education?

A: In my first year as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow, I supported the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching program that NSF manages on behalf of the White House. I greatly enjoyed my work in the program because this award meant so much to me when I received it in 2005, and it also provided the funding I needed to complete my private pilot certificate. 

In my second year as an Einstein Fellow, my role shifted to supporting the assistant director of education and human resources at NSF in her work across the federal STEM education landscape. At the time, the Committee on STEM Education had been tasked with creating a federal STEM education strategic plan. I was able to support this interagency effort across several federal agencies, attended Federal Coordination in STEM Education subcommittee meetings with my supervisor and joined smaller groups tasked with writing sections of the strategic plan.

This was a wonderful experience for me and gave me a strong foundation in my role at the Office of Science and Technology Policy that came seven years later.

Q: You also worked as a senior director of high school aviation initiatives at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. What did that involve, and how did your previous experiences influence your projects there?

A: I was the initial leader of the High School Aviation Initiative at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), the world’s largest aviation community. The initiative had only begun in thought when I started work, and I built the program almost from scratch.

This included developing a flight training scholarship program for high school students to learn to fly, leading development of high school aviation STEM curriculum (completely funded by donors and free to schools) that is now used in hundreds of schools across the country as full-year courses, often found in career and technical education programs; and organized an annual symposium for high school educators to learn about high school aviation programs and resources. 

Prior to my role at AOPA, I led STEM initiatives for the Maryland State Department of Education. This role gave me a much better understanding of career and technical education (CTE) and its role in STEM. I believe this awareness spurred the concept of building aviation STEM curriculum that could be packaged as a CTE pathway. 

Offering aviation curriculum during the school day led to a much more diverse student population involved in aviation than current aviation workforce numbers indicate. This result of achieving a more diverse population of students becoming involved in aviation made me realize that accessibility is a key issue in STEM engagement.

Q: Your other stint in Washington, D.C., involved a position at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. What did you learn from this job – about public policy, education, STEM, etc.

A: I served as assistant director and senior policy advisor for STEM education at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy for 1 ½ years. In this position, I worked very closely with other federal agencies that had STEM education investments to coordinate efforts, implement the federal STEM education strategic plan and track and report our progress to Congress. 

In this role, I learned that there is a significant amount of collaboration and hard work across federal agencies to coordinate and leverage efforts to promote STEM education. Additionally, I worked with external stakeholders to learn about their efforts and share federal STEM resources with them.

It was always helpful to hear what was going on in schools, communities and states so that I had real examples to share when appropriate.

Q: Of all the projects you have been involved with at the classroom, state and national level, which are you the most proud of and which have had the most lasting impact, and why?

A: I believe I am most proud of my work at AOPA in building aviation STEM curriculum that is free to schools and its future impact on the field of aviation. We do have a shortage of pilots in this country, and there is a severe lack of diversity.

When we originally started developing this curriculum, I did not know how well it would be received by schools, or how hard we would have to work to get schools on board, but it has been a huge success, and teachers have done an amazing job of implementing the curriculum and giving students access to aviation who never had it before. I still receive notes from educators sharing the success occurring in their classrooms, and their stories still brings tears to my eyes.

Q: Describe your work with NASA CONNECTS and how this new platform can help STEM educators. How can they become involved?

A: NASA CONNECTS (Connecting Our NASA Network of Educators for Collaborating Together in STEM) is a new online platform that will serve as a community of practice for educators. This platform enables educators to collaborate with one another and engage in NASA content. There will be opportunities for professional learning for CONNECTS members exclusively. 

Educators can join CONNECTS through an application process on this site, https://nasacentral.force.com/cop/s/. 

Currently, we are recruiting educators to join a large beta test that will run from January through the end of April. We would welcome educators to join the community, check out its features, engage in discussions and provide us with innovative ideas to be considered for future development. 

We will host a kick-off event on Jan. 27, from 5 to 5:30 p.m., to demo the site, answer questions and inspire educators to join. 

For more information on how to join this event, please check out https://www.nasa.gov/stem-ed-resources/nasa-needs-stem-educators-join-the-beta-test-for-nasas-new-online-community-of-practice.html

Q: What are NASA’s future goals for STEM education? What do you think is the future of STEM education in the United States?

A: I can’t really speak to NASA’s future goals; I’ve only worked there for four months. I can share that equity and access to high-quality STEM education resources are on all of our minds, so we are strategically looking at how we can better reach educators in areas where NASA maybe hasn’t reached before.

In terms of the future of education in the United States, I think the pandemic has given us a chance to conduct a “giant beta test” in education generally. We have an unexpected opportunity right now to reflect on what worked in the shift to remote learning – what worked well and what areas need to improve.

I think there may be much more flexibility in education in the future than we have had in recent years. We need to find strategies to better connect secondary education to what knowledge and skills students will need in their future employment. We need to continue to share with students and their parents the various options they have to prepare for their futures – community colleges, vocational training, higher education, work-based learning, etc.

Q: Looking back at your STEM journey, is there anything you wish you could have done differently? What advice would you give STEM educators, based on your varied job experiences?

A: I’m sure there will always be things I look back on and wish I had done differently – I’m a reflective type of person. Given what I learned during my years as an Einstein Fellow, I think if I had gone back to the classroom following that experience, I would have been a much better teacher. Instead, I chose to pursue a career in STEM education leadership and policy, and I do not regret my decision. 

My advice would be to continue to seek learning opportunities and have a growth mindset. Other educators can be fantastic partners, and they don’t have to be located at your school. Join a community of practice that focuses on STEM teaching and learning. It’s not only inspiring to learn from others, it also can help us to think differently and motivate us to try new innovative approaches in teaching and learning.