Examining the Effectiveness of the Florida Education Fund Applied Mathematics SAT Prep Summer Program

Claude Villiers; Shelby Gilbert, Ed.D.; Yves J. Anglade

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Conference: 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Vancouver, BC
Publication Date: June 26, 2011
Start Date: June 26, 2011
End Date: June 29, 2011
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Attracting Young Minds: Part I
Tagged Division: Minorities in Engineering
Page Count: 9
Page Numbers: 22.664.1 - 22.664.9
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--17945
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/17945
Download Count: 359

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Paper Authors

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Claude Villiers Florida Gulf Coast University

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Dr. Villiers received a Ph.D. in Civil and Coastal Engineering with a concentration in Materials and Construction, from The University of Florida in 2004. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at Florida Gulf Coast University. He is working with the Founding Director, Department Chair, and fellow faculty in the growth of the new U.A. Whitaker School of Engineering into a nationally and internationally recognized center of academic excellence in interdisciplinary engineering education. Previously Dr. Villiers was an Assistant Professor at The City College of The City University of New York. Prior to this position, he was employed by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) as a research engineer. Dr. Villiers also was employed by The University of Florida and worked on several projects sponsored by the FDOT and the Federal Highway Administration.

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Shelby Gilbert, Ed.D. Florida Gulf Coast University

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Yves J. Anglade Florida A&M University/Florida State University

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Abstract

Examining the Effectiveness of the Florida Education Fund Applied Mathematics SAT Prep Summer ProgramIn the expanding global economy, many scientific and technological jobs in the United States arebeing outsourced to other countries where better-skilled workers are willing to do the work forsmaller wages. Unfortunately, many corporations and national organizations have pointed to thelack of adequate K-12 educational opportunities for U.S. students to successfully enter, andcomplete, baccalaureate degrees in the scientific, technological, engineering, and mathematical(STEM) fields. As a result, the U.S. has called to action a new focus on preparing its workforceto meet the demands of these highly-skilled occupations to improve its economic standingglobally. To address the issue, many universities and independent organizations have developedsummer programs to provide high school students with opportunities to increase theirmathematics and science understanding, improve their SAT scores, and experience real-worldapplications in STEM careers. The objective of this paper is to describe the effectiveness of onesuch program, the Florida Education Fund (FEF) Applied Mathematics SAT Prep SummerCamp, which has been implemented across the State of Florida for the last 5 years.Since 2004, FEF has successfully offered yearly summer camps with the goal of increasing theavailability of for-credit academic programs offered during the summer months; improvingstudent SAT scores; increasing the number of students who are prepared and eligible foracceptance to college; and exposing students to real-world math and its application in relatedcareer fields. A pure and applied math program is embedded into the summer camp to combatsummer learning loss in math and to address the dearth of students with strong skills in STEMfields. FEF hires and pays certified teachers and an administrator for each camp, as well as acollege or graduate student(s) to assist camp teachers. Staff also administers at least foursimulated SAT math assessments. It is believe that this repeated exposure to the test and testingenvironment help students alleviate anxiety and common test-taking missteps, such as theimproper use of time and guessing. Daily hands-on activities which are structured to apply mathin projects from exciting fields like aerospace technology, robotics, engineering, computing arepresented. To date, a total of 1,815 students have graduated from FEF summer collegepreparatory programs. In 2010, 392 students participated in seven summer college preparatorycamps, in Cocoa, Fort Myers, Fort Pierce, Kissimmee, Lake City, St. Petersburg, and Tampa. 168of the 392 students participated in Applied Math Camps.This paper will examine the effectiveness of the FEF Applied Mathematics SAT Prep SummerCamp by looking at students’ gains in math performance. To meet the program’s goals andmeasure student learning outcomes, a math pre-test is given to each student on the first day ofclass. After the students complete the 20-day camp, they are administered the fourth SATsimulation which serves as a posttest. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) will beused to compare pretest and posttest scores of students, calculate gain scores, and determineaverage overall improvement of the student participants. Lessons learned from the FEF SummerProgram may provide a model for other programs of similar settings.

Citation
Format

Villiers, C., & Ed.D., S. G., & Anglade, Y. J. (2011, June), Examining the Effectiveness of the Florida Education Fund Applied Mathematics SAT Prep Summer Program Paper presented at 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Vancouver, BC. 10.18260/1-2--17945

TY - CPAPER
AB - Examining the Effectiveness of the Florida Education Fund Applied Mathematics SAT Prep Summer ProgramIn the expanding global economy, many scientific and technological jobs in the United States arebeing outsourced to other countries where better-skilled workers are willing to do the work forsmaller wages. Unfortunately, many corporations and national organizations have pointed to thelack of adequate K-12 educational opportunities for U.S. students to successfully enter, andcomplete, baccalaureate degrees in the scientific, technological, engineering, and mathematical(STEM) fields. As a result, the U.S. has called to action a new focus on preparing its workforceto meet the demands of these highly-skilled occupations to improve its economic standingglobally. To address the issue, many universities and independent organizations have developedsummer programs to provide high school students with opportunities to increase theirmathematics and science understanding, improve their SAT scores, and experience real-worldapplications in STEM careers. The objective of this paper is to describe the effectiveness of onesuch program, the Florida Education Fund (FEF) Applied Mathematics SAT Prep SummerCamp, which has been implemented across the State of Florida for the last 5 years.Since 2004, FEF has successfully offered yearly summer camps with the goal of increasing theavailability of for-credit academic programs offered during the summer months; improvingstudent SAT scores; increasing the number of students who are prepared and eligible foracceptance to college; and exposing students to real-world math and its application in relatedcareer fields. A pure and applied math program is embedded into the summer camp to combatsummer learning loss in math and to address the dearth of students with strong skills in STEMfields. FEF hires and pays certified teachers and an administrator for each camp, as well as acollege or graduate student(s) to assist camp teachers. Staff also administers at least foursimulated SAT math assessments. It is believe that this repeated exposure to the test and testingenvironment help students alleviate anxiety and common test-taking missteps, such as theimproper use of time and guessing. Daily hands-on activities which are structured to apply mathin projects from exciting fields like aerospace technology, robotics, engineering, computing arepresented. To date, a total of 1,815 students have graduated from FEF summer collegepreparatory programs. In 2010, 392 students participated in seven summer college preparatorycamps, in Cocoa, Fort Myers, Fort Pierce, Kissimmee, Lake City, St. Petersburg, and Tampa. 168of the 392 students participated in Applied Math Camps.This paper will examine the effectiveness of the FEF Applied Mathematics SAT Prep SummerCamp by looking at students’ gains in math performance. To meet the program’s goals andmeasure student learning outcomes, a math pre-test is given to each student on the first day ofclass. After the students complete the 20-day camp, they are administered the fourth SATsimulation which serves as a posttest. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) will beused to compare pretest and posttest scores of students, calculate gain scores, and determineaverage overall improvement of the student participants. Lessons learned from the FEF SummerProgram may provide a model for other programs of similar settings.
AU - Claude Villiers
AU - Shelby Gilbert, Ed.D.
AU - Yves J. Anglade
CY - Vancouver, BC
DA - 2011/06/26
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Examining the Effectiveness of the Florida Education Fund Applied Mathematics SAT Prep Summer Program
UR - https://peer.asee.org/17945
DO - 10.18260/1-2--17945
ER -