The Virginia Demonstration Project (VDP) is a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) outreach program for middle school students, sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. The project is a partnership among the Navy, local school divisions, and the College of William and Mary. Through early intervention, the partners seek to address a strategic vulnerability created by a declining STEM work force.
The project includes a variety of components including customized, professional development; co-teaching, mentoring, and career focus; cooperative and problem-based learning; STEM learning module instruction; ethics and school climate; evaluation; and curriculum unit design.
The project has impacted students through a variety of summer and academic year programs. During the summer, students participate in academies in which they participate in workshops related to engineering, robotics, ballistics, rocketry, electronics, biology and chemistry, and environmental science.
Results have been tracked in three areas: career awareness, student awareness, and increasing knowledge. Students have shown increases in all three areas as a result of their participation in the Virginia Demonstration Project.
You can learn more about the project by exploring the web site. We offer more information about the project and its results, resources for teachers and leaders interested in the program, and a section just for students with links to our science magazine Explore! along with videos of scientists.
