Now announcing the 2023 SySTEAM mini-conference

 


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About the event

The inaugural INCOSE SySTEAM mini-conference is a free, two-day online event intended to provide individuals from around the globe with the opportunity to convene, discuss, and exchange ideas relating to the intersection between systems STEM/STEAM education and systems thinking/systems engineering competencies. The event will feature talks & posters showcasing SySTEAM-relevant projects, efforts, and ideas from the SySTEAM community members and other members of the public, as well as opportunities for roundtable discussion and small-group discourse with other attendees.

Details:

Dates: Thursday July 27 (11AM to 4PM Eastern) & Friday July 28 (9AM to 1PM Eastern), 2023
Location: Online, via Zoom (Zoom links will be sent to all registrants ahead of the mini-conference).
Who can attend: Anyone! Registration is free, and you can register anytime before July 25th (2 days before the event).

Questions? Comments? Concerns?

Contact the SySTEAM Program Director, Caitlyn Singam (caitlyn.singam@incose.net)

Sign up to attend the conference

Register anytime between now and July 25th, 2023.

Call for abstracts

The abstract submission deadline has been extended to June 5, 2023!

Want to share your ideas with the SySTEAM community and the world?

Who can apply:

All interested individuals are welcome to send in submissions - just make sure that you'll be able to attend the mini-conference (or at least part of it) so that you can present your content if selected. 

Details:

We are currently seeking submissions for either paper or poster presentations in accordance with our Call for Presentations & Submission Guide (bit.ly/3KB1deN). In order to submit your content for consideration, you only need to send in your abstract (200-400 words) at the present time. Abstract submissions will be anonymously peer-reviewed for quality and adherence to the submission requirements, and will be selected based on quality, relevance, and available space in the mini-conference agenda/program.

Each accepted abstract will be given a presentation slot during the SySTEAM mini-conference, where the author(s) will give a live presentation of their full-length, completed paper/poster to conference attendees. Accepted abstracts and associated papers/posters will published in a public SySTEAM proceedings report issued after the mini-conference.

How to submit:

Ready to submit? You can either submit your abstract alongside your registration for the mini-conference (preferred method), or you can submit your abstract separately. Abstracts must be submitted by the extended deadline of June 5, 2023.

Key dates for authors:

Abstract submissions: due June 5, 2023
Acceptance notification: by June 19, 2023
Paper/poster submissions: due July 1, 2023 (for accepted authors)
Camera-ready presentations: due July 24, 2023 (for accepted authors)
 

Call for reviewers

Want to use your knowledge and skills to help support the SySTEAM mini-conference?

We are currently seeking qualified peer reviewers for the mini-conference!

Who can apply:

Anyone who is interested may apply for selection as a peer reviewer. Volunteers also do not need to be SySTEAM members (though they’re encouraged to join!) and are encouraged, but not obligated, to attend the mini-conference in July. We will prioritize applications received by May 15th, 2023.

Details:

Volunteers will be asked to help with one or both phases of the mini-conference peer review process.

Abstract selection (taking place in late May 2023) will focus on reviewing abstracts based on relevance/interest to the SySTEAM community and adherence to content quality requirements (factual accuracy, etc.).
 
Feedback on accepted papers/posters (taking place in early July 2023) will focus on reviewing authors' completed papers/posters for cogency, factual accuracy, and alignment with the associated abstracts.
 
If you are willing and able help with both parts of the process, that would be fantastic! We are particularly encouraging applications from volunteers who fall into one or more of these categories:
  • STEAM educators & teachers
  • professional systems engineers
  • professionals in industry/academia working in interdisciplinary fields
  • experts with prior peer review experience

Prior peer reviewing experience is preferred but not required.

How to apply:

Interested in applying? Register for the mini-conference while you apply or apply separately as a non-attendee.


Call for Presentations and Reviewers + Submission Guide

Additional details about the mini-conference, the call for presentations and call for peer reviewers, including submission requirements/guidelines, is included in our 2-page info sheet.



    Next meeting: GBM #14

    June 1st, 2023 @ 10AM to 12PM Eastern

    Zoom link: bit.ly/3B8Waf7

    INCOSE SySTEAM is excited to announce that its next meeting has been officially scheduled for Thursday, August 3, 2023 @ 10AM to 12PM Eastern. Please note that this is a two-hour meeting, in accordance with our new bimonthly (1 meeting per 2 months) meeting schedule.

    At this meeting, we'll continue to work on developing our systems thinking (ST/SE) integration framework and expounding on our prior discussions and action items related to STEAM education and the systems competencies that we started at our workshops. If you’re interested in supporting the INCOSE SySTEAM mission of “improving education for all students, everywhere”, or otherwise in getting involved in our community, these meetings are where the magic happens. Anyone and everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend, regardless of professional affiliation or INCOSE membership status.

    Please join our online community hub (info provided in the "Join SySTEAM" section below) for more information about our prior meetings and upcoming plans.

    Announcement posted by Caitlyn Singam, SySTEAM Program Director | Jun 01, 2023

    Next meeting: GBM #13

    June 1st, 2023 @ 10AM to 12PM Eastern

    Zoom link: bit.ly/3B8Waf7

    INCOSE SySTEAM is excited to announce that its next meeting has been officially scheduled for Thursday, June 1st, 2023 @ 10AM to 12PM Eastern. Please note that this is a two-hour meeting, in accordance with our new bimonthly (1 meeting per 2 months) meeting schedule.

    At this meeting, we'll continue to work on developing our systems thinking (ST/SE) integration framework and expounding on our prior discussions and action items related to STEAM education and the systems competencies that we started at our workshops. If you’re interested in supporting the INCOSE SySTEAM mission of “improving education for all students, everywhere”, or otherwise in getting involved in our community, these meetings are where the magic happens. Anyone and everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend, regardless of professional affiliation or INCOSE membership status.

    Please join our online community hub (info provided on our main webpage: incose.org/systeam) for more information about our prior meetings and upcoming plans.

    Announcement posted by Caitlyn Singam, SySTEAM Program Director | Apr 05, 2023

The SySTEAM Initiative is an international and interdisciplinary volunteer effort founded on the belief that systems skills should be part of every student’s foundation, so that all students can have the interdisciplinary skills they need to succeed in their chosen endeavors and as global citizens. SySTEAM was established in to address widespread issues in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) education, specifically with regards to the inclusion of interdisciplinary systems thinking (ST) and systems engineering (SE) skills in curricula. The initiative is working on developing a framework for putting these skills in every classroom – from primary school to postgraduate – and is putting together a community of volunteers to help make that happen.

Mission & vision

Our vision is for a world where every student gets equipped with the interdisciplinary skills they need in order to succeed into today’s globalized society. SySTEAM aims to help promote a more just, equitable, and transparent approach to education in general, and interdisciplinary systems thinking/systems engineering competencies in particular, aimed at reducing disparities in educational quality, access, and competency attainment.

SySTEAM strives to improve the quality of STEAM education worldwide, for all students, by changing the way in which educators, administrators, and other relevant stakeholders place value on and leverage ST/SE skills, and by establishing a community to advocate for holistic integration of ST and SE principles and skills into existing STEAM curricula and programs. To that end, SySTEAM’s mission is to promote the integration of ST/SE skills into STEAM educational curricula across the globe, at all levels of education.

STEAM advocacy

We at SySTEAM believe that every student, no matter where in the world they live or what career they want to pursue, has a fundamental right to a quality education.

With the heartfelt conviction that the arts and humanities are a critical part of that interdisciplinary vision, we want to recognize the contributions those fields can offer systems engineering and systems engineering competency education as well as vice versa. We consequently encourage all individuals interested in supporting the SySTEAM vision to join our community, and welcome participants from all academic, geographic, and personal backgrounds (inclusive of individuals from both the sciences and humanities alike).


Core values

SySTEAM is committed to helping promote more just, equitable, and transparent approaches to education, and thus supports the integration and enhancement of ST/SE into STEAM education in such a manner that helps reduce disparities in educational quality, access, and competency attainment. 

SySTEAM's organizational philosophy and strategy reflect this commitment, as well as alignment with a set of core values that support furtherance of the SySTEAM mission and vision.

Accessibility & transparency

The SySTEAM community is publicly accessible, and all of our group’s work products are released to the public, free of cost, upon completion.

Inclusivity & accountability

We are an international community open to anyone, anywhere, interested in supporting our mission, and seek out diverse perspectives and stakeholder feedback on our work.

Quality & action- driven performance

SySTEAM prioritizes the development of implementable, useful recommendations that are beneficial for educators and students alike.

Integrity and ethical conduct

Our community abides by ethical standards and seeks to ensure all of its efforts are viable, implementable, and positively impactful.

Current work

In order to support its mission and vision, SySTEAM is working towards four key goals:

(1) development of a framework for ST/SE integration into STEAM, inclusive of recommendations for including ST/SE skills in both science and humanities classrooms alike;

(2) establishment of a committee that will advocate for adoption of the framework across the globe;

(3) generation of general guidance for companies and members of industry to engage in STEAM and support the SySTEAM vision; and

(4) a large, interdisciplinary community of collaborators, advocates, and experts whose input, suggestions, and participation will help shape SySTEAM’s product development efforts and drive the initiative forward. 

SySTEAM is aiming to have item (1), the integration framework, completed in a preliminary form by the 2023 INCOSE International Workshop (IW), and will be holding biweekly general body meetings (GBMs) in order to interface with the SySTEAM community and help realize that goal.


Join SySTEAM

Interested in becoming a SySTEAM community member? SySTEAM is always actively seeking new participants. Regardless of your professional background, location, or level of commitment, there’s likely something you can contribute to SySTEAM. QR code to join the SySTEM community hub

The best place to start is by joining the SySTEAM Discord server, the aforementioned community hub for anyone interested in SySTEAM and its activities. Joining the community hub grants access to the latest SySTEAM announcements, discussions, and event information. You can join by following these steps:

1)    Enter the invite link into your web browser: https://bit.ly/3oy1GmF or scan the QR code.

2)     Sign in with an existing Discord account or register a new account. You may be asked to verify your email address.

3)     Follow the prompts to join the SySTEAM server.

Once you complete the sign-up process, you’ll be greeted with a welcome message and immediately receive full access to the entire SySTEAM communications hub. Afterwards, you can access the server at any time directly through your account (via discord.com or the Discord app) without having to use the invite link again.

If you have any further questions or run into any issues, please contact the SySTEAM initiative lead and Program Director, Caitlyn Singam, at caitlyn.singam@incose.net.

We hope to see you join us online, and for you to become part of a vibrant global community seeking to improve education for all!