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• The process of designing curriculum is quite useful as it details how different activities correspond to learning goals in science, mathematics, and technology. Fig. 3 describes the steps: selecting content through content specialists in the POAC team, making a curriculum outline, individual meetings with content specialists, and making the lesson plans. I really like the activities they designed, such as comparing different mask materials and how they protected against differently-sized viruses. They were also given time to research career pathways and present on epidemiology careers, a step that invites students to imagine career pathways. 

• I realize the scope and audience of this paper is different, but I am so curious about how the Imhotep Academy created a setting that encouraged underrepresented students to participate and speak up, given that they cite evidence of how difficult that can be. How did they choose participants? 

• Having read Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed recently, I am thinking about his approach to curriculum design that is based on a feedback loop between would-be learners and would-be educators. The roles of learners and educators aren’t fixed. Content development is not done beforehand just by content specialists but in an iterative process with multiple feedback loops. Since very few research teams have the time or the resources to deploy Freire’s rigorous approach, I am not surprised that most curriculum development does not follow the route. And educators are working with former experiences anyway. So I am curious about how the authors’ previous experiences shaped their approach to curriculum design?

• A context for this paper is the controversy on the proposed revisions to the California math curriculum that conservative media outlets argue “waters down” calculus–a cherry topping on the college admissions cake–to privilege data science in middle-school grades. Education researchers contend that apart from physics and engineering majors, not many colleges actually require calculus for admissions (many private institutions do), and that the relevance of advanced calculus for college preparation is overrated. 

• National Commission on Excellence in Education ‘s 1983 report Nation At Risk: the need for a new STEM workforce specializing in computer science and technology 

• National Council on Mathematics 2000 guidelines for preparing American students for college in Common Core Mathematics 

• Stuck in the Shallow End: Virtual segregation; Inequality in learning computer science in American schools focusing on Black students 

This organizations aims to provide a support system for returning veterans, more specifically to ensure access to any type of medical support they may need and assist them in readapting to society after extended periods of time in the military.

The organization membership includes two subsets, first the organization membership includes any and all active serviceman, veterans, and limited membership for their families. The other portion of membership includes administrators, doctors, and public health workers who work to provide the services needed.

This organization does not respond to disasters, but rather provides long term assistance to members of the military and their families. The issues faced by veterans, both medical and social, are often chronic and require a lifetime of support. This is in a way a constant emergency for them and their families, and the US Department of Veteran Affairs aims to provide the necessary support.

The US Department of Veteran Affairs is constantly adjusting to new medical research to provide the most effective care possible. This shows a differing approach to emergency response which is only possible due to the long term nature of this organization, most emergency response groups focus on quick response to disasters which does not allow for the same amount of research and adaptation as the Department of Veteran Affairs.

The US government is motivated by both the social necessity of reintegrating thousands of active military servicemen every year, and the responsibility of supporting the veterans who sacrificed for this country.

The organization is fully funded by the government, which is funded itself by taxes. This in part effects their work as it creates a responsibility to be careful with funding and ensure that the care goes directly to those in need. It also requires the organization to be held accountable to the citizens who are funding their efforts.

The organization does have extensive data collected from its members on the number of veterans, what kinds of injuries they are facing, and the level of success in rehabilitation among other topics.

The US Department of Veteran Affairs does not do extensive research but instead uses the existing research and discoveries to keep up to date with medical practices.

The organization relies on all of the infrastructure and technology required to maintain a working hospital as well as advanced prosthetic equipment not often found in regular hospitals.