Board 24: Promoting the Participation of Elementary School African Americans, Hispanics, and Girls in STEM by Expanding Summer Engineering Experiences
- Conference
- Location
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Tampa, Florida
- Publication Date
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June 15, 2019
- Start Date
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June 15, 2019
- End Date
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June 19, 2019
- Conference Session
- Tagged Topics
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Diversity and NSF Grantees Poster Session
- Page Count
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9
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--32305
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/32305
- Download Count
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358
Paper Authors
Monica E. Cardella
Purdue University-Main Campus, West Lafayette (College of Engineering)
orcid.org/0000-0002-4229-6183
Monica E. Cardella is the Director of the INSPIRE Research Institute for Pre-College Engineering and is an Associate Professor of Engineering Education at Purdue University.
David B. Knight
Virginia Tech
orcid.org/0000-0003-4576-2490
David B. Knight is an Associate Professor and Assistant Department Head of Graduate Programs in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. He is also Director of International Engagement in Engineering Education, directs the Rising Sophomore Abroad Program, and is affiliate faculty with the Higher Education Program. His research tends to be at the macro-scale, focused on a systems-level perspective of how engineering education can become more effective, efficient, and inclusive, tends to be data-driven by leveraging large-scale institutional, state, or national data sets, and considers the intersection between policy and organizational contexts. He has B.S., M.S., and M.U.E.P. degrees from the University of Virginia and a Ph.D. in Higher Education from Pennsylvania State University.
Walter C. Lee
Virginia Tech
orcid.org/0000-0001-5082-1411
Dr. Walter Lee is an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Education and the assistant director for research in the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity (CEED), both at Virginia Tech. His research interests include co-curricular support, student success and retention, and diversity. Lee received his Ph.D in engineering education from Virginia Tech, his M.S. in industrial & systems engineering from Virginia Tech, and his B.S. in industrial engineering from Clemson University.
Karl W. Reid National Society of Black Engineers
Karl W. Reid, Ed.D., executive director of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) since June 2, 2014, is a leading advocate for increasing college access, opportunity and success for low-income and minority youth. He is the author of “Working Smarter, Not Just Harder: Three Sensible Strategies for Succeeding in College…and Life.” A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in materials science and engineering, Dr. Reid came to NSBE from the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), where he was senior vice president for research, innovation and member college engagement. Before his service at UNCF, he worked in positions of progressive responsibility to increase diversity at MIT, last serving as associate dean of undergraduate education and director of the Office of Minority Education. He also earned his Doctor of Education at Harvard University during his employment with MIT. Dr. Reid served as NSBE’s highest-ranking officer, the national chair, in 1984–85.
Morgan M. Hynes Purdue University-Main Campus, West Lafayette (College of Engineering)
Dr. Morgan Hynes is an Assistant Professor in the School of Engineering Education at Purdue University and Director of the FACE Lab research group at Purdue. In his research, Hynes explores the use of engineering to integrate academic subjects in K-12 classrooms. Specific research interests include design metacognition among learners of all ages; the knowledge base for teaching K-12 STEM through engineering; the relationships among the attitudes, beliefs, motivation, cognitive skills, and engineering skills of K-16 engineering learners; and teaching engineering.
Glenda D. Young Collins Mississippi State University
Dr. Glenda D. Young Collins completed her doctoral work at Virginia Tech in the Department of Engineering Education. Her research interests include the role of university-industry partnerships in shaping student career expectations and pathways, the student to workforce continuum, and broadening participation in engineering. Dr. Collins has worked as an Employer Relations Assistant for the VT Career and Professional Development office and has a B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering from Mississippi State University and Master of Industrial and Systems Engineering from Auburn University. She is a Gates Millennium Scholar.
Cheryl Beauchamp Regent University
Cheryl Beauchamp serves as the Engineering and Computer Science Department chair of Regent University’s College of Arts & Sciences. She is currently a PhD student in the Engineering Education program at Virginia Tech. She earned her Master’s of Science degree in Computer Science from George Mason University and her Master’s of Education degree from Regent University. Her research interests include computer science education, STEM education, teamwork development, online learning, and cybersecurity.
Currently, she is on a research team examining the impacts of the Summer Engineering Education for Kids out-of-school program for racially underrepresented youth.
Tikyna Dandridge Purdue University
Tikyna Dandrige is a doctoral student in the School of Engineering Education at Purdue University.
Donovan Colquitt Purdue University-Main Campus, West Lafayette (College of Engineering)
Donovan Colquitt is currently a PhD student at Purdue University. He has interests in engineering and entrepreneurship education for K-12 students in urban contexts.
Abstract
Promoting the participation of under-represented minorities in engineering is a national imperative. It is central for enhancing the likelihood of innovation, including a variety of perspectives when solving problems, and promoting social justice and broad access to the STEM workforce. Focusing on elementary school students is critical for broadening participation in engineering, as many children form lasting beliefs about their STEM identities and STEM self-efficacy by the time they are in fourth grade. While there has been a recent surge in efforts to integrate engineering in engineering curriculum in traditional school settings, out-of-school settings continue to play an important role in promoting equity in pre-college engineering experiences. Out-of-school settings in particular can be ideal for providing children with culturally-relevant engineering experiences.
This project focuses on the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)'s Summer Engineering Experiences for Kids (SEEK) program. SEEK is a three-week summer program that engages 3rd-5th grade-aged children in hands-on, team-based engineering design projects led by "mentors" who facilitate the summer program and are typically undergraduate STEM students an in-service teachers. Since the program was first introduced in 2007, over 20,000 students have participated in SEEK. Based on early success of this program, NSF funded our multi-partner project to expand and strengthen the experience, conduct research on the impact of the program, and conduct research on how such outreach programs might grow in sustainable manners. Two objectives guide the research aspect of this project: 1. Evaluate SEEK’s success at influencing STEM-related academic and career identity, conceptual knowledge, and interpersonal and intrapersonal skills. 2. Generate evidence and a greater understanding of organizational contextual factors that operate to enhance, moderate, or constrain SEEK’s impact from site to site.
Our poster will present a summary of the large-scale data collection that occurred during the summer of 2018 at all 16 sites located across the US. We administered a variety of instruments (that have been vetted through peer-reviewed publication processes) to identify changes in the children's STEM-related outcomes over the course of the SEEK experience. We also collected background information with regard to socio-demographic characteristics, academic preparation, and personal and social experiences, which provide contextual information to help us understand differences between sites. To further operationalize the variation in organizational contexts across sites, we collected data from parents and mentors. In the poster we will share information about the instruments used for this study as well as findings from our 2018 data collection. Additionally, our poster will summarize the work that we have done to further strengthen the curricular and training aspects of SEEK.
This project was funded by the NSF ITEST program.
Cardella, M. E., & Knight, D. B., & Lee, W. C., & Reid, K. W., & Hynes, M. M., & Young Collins, G. D., & Beauchamp, C., & Dandridge, T., & Colquitt, D. (2019, June), Board 24: Promoting the Participation of Elementary School African Americans, Hispanics, and Girls in STEM by Expanding Summer Engineering Experiences Paper presented at 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Tampa, Florida. 10.18260/1-2--32305
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