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1. A Program to Engage Undergraduate and High School Students in Community-Based Research

   Bello, K. O.; Aqlan, F.; Wood, D.; Brockman, J. B.; Marie, H.; Meyers, K.; Lapsley, D. (June 2023, 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition)

   Community-based research (CBR) is a practice that engages researchers in collaborative, change-oriented, and inclusive projects in the community. One common example of CBR is university-community collaboration in which students and researchers come up with ideas, perspectives, and knowledge at each stage of the project with the goal to address community needs. The community is mainly involved in identifying the research questions for the projects and making decisions about how the results of the research-focused projects will be implemented. This paper presents a replication of a model focused on university-community collaboration, student engagement and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) attraction and retention using three research-focused projects addressing community needs. The three projects are (1) empathic design project aimed at improving quality greenspaces and pedestrian streetscape experience, (2) food justice project to study the disparities in food access between local regions, and (3) analyzing water quality in a local creek. The projects provided a unique opportunity for students to directly experience and contribute to the research process. In addition, students worked closely with their academic peers and community partners who served as collaborators and mentors. The study reports on the impact of the program on student learning and tendency to stay back in the community. The program's collaborative nature and its effect on students' satisfaction while working on specific projects are also examined. Furthermore, the program helped develop and sustain university-community partnerships. The community stakeholders participating in focus groups were satisfied with the process of identifying community projects and also expressed their satisfaction with the students’ work. 

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2. Advanced Manufacturing Curriculum Development in Ohio High Schools and Community Colleges

   Sarder, MD (May 2024, IISE Annual Conference 2024)

   There is a huge lack of qualified personnel in advanced manufacturing in the U.S. Midwest stemming from a lack of student interest compounded with a lack of experienced teachers who usually motivate students. This paper describes the findings of an NSF RET project at Bowling Green State University that successfully addresses the common need to produce STEM graduates in the advanced manufacturing area. The NSF-RET project’s unique hands-on research experience combined with local industry collaboration prepare future STEM teachers, who can interject research experience in a classroom learning and tie that with the real-world implementations. The project cements the partnership among BGSU, local high schools, and community colleges in Ohio to address the common need of producing STEM graduates in advanced manufacturing area. This project addresses the workforce needs by producing competent high schools and community college educators, who are capable to blend research with educational activities at their institutions, motivate students for STEM degrees, and build long-term collaborative partnerships in the region. This project focused on two goals: (1) explore a sustainable educational model that connects high schools, community colleges, university, and industry; and (2) play a transformational role in preparing future leaders in advanced manufacturing. This paper explains the need, scope, and nature of the curriculum development process through engaging K-14 educators. This paper will share some of their successful research projects, how they translated their research into actionable curriculum modules, and some lessons learned from implementations. 

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3. Board 265: Enhancing the Transfer Experience through a Collaborative Cohort Program: the Culmination of a 5-year NSF S-STEM Program at a Community College

   Dancz, Claire L_A; Adams, Elizabeth A; Orfi, Nihal; Evans, Emily (June 2024, 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition)

   This paper reports on the culmination of an NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) awarded to a two-year college located in a metro area with high rates of concentrated poverty and low levels of educational attainment. This two-year college is a minority-serving institution with curriculum to prepare students majoring in engineering to transfer and complete a baccalaureate degree at a four-year university. The Engineering Scholars Program (ESP) was established in fall 2019 to award students majoring in engineering annual scholarships of up to $6000, depending on financial need. In addition to supporting students through scholarships, the program engages scholars in professional development activities inclusive of academic seminars, extracurricular events, and undergraduate research opportunities in collaboration with the local four-year university. The program also established a mentorship structure with faculty mentors, student peer mentors, and academic advising. In addition to supporting scholars at the two-year college, the ESP provides support for a portion of cohorts that have transferred to the local four-year university and remained connected to the program. To date, the ESP has awarded a total of 131 semester long scholarships; 16 in year one (2019-2020), 28 in year two (2020-2021), 35 in year three (2021-2022), including six transfers, 38 in year four (2022-2023), including eight transfers, and 28 in year five (2023-2024), including 10 transfers. In year three, the ESP was awarded supplemental funding to support a larger portion of students and transfer cohorts; this helped reduce the financial burdens resulting from exacerbated financial needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic during years two and three of this project. This paper details the progress made towards the achievement of the program goals of creating a welcoming STEM climate at the two-year college, increasing the participation and persistence in engineering among economically disadvantaged students, and establishing transfer support to the local four-year university. Program evaluation findings have identified several opportunities for sustaining scholar transfer support outside of the financial support provided in the form of scholarships. These opportunities fell into two major themes: (1) peer-led transfer support inclusive of connecting transferred students and students preparing for transfer with emphasis on navigating different university structures, and (2) collaboration across engineering disciplines to develop and offer interdisciplinary undergraduate research and/or collaborative work on other projects. Furthermore, research findings from interviews with scholars provided additional context for taking action on program outcomes while also enhancing the understanding of how participation in a collaborative cohort experience can contribute to students’ membership within the STEM community and the construction of their own STEM identity. Although formal financial support sunsets during the final year of the ESP, program and research findings have identified programmatic elements that provide key support for students and can be sustained into the future. This paper reports on the program strategy for meeting the future needs of scholars at both the two-year college and the four-year transfer university. 

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4. All in the Ohana: A Model to Develop and Sustain Community Partnerships with Teachers and Schools

   Pinner, PC (October 2025, medalliance@meducationalliance.org)

   Science education integrates the study of and practices from the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). At the fundamental level, the pedagogy involves teaching and learning that emphasizes the use of scientific inquiry and the engineering design process to develop students’ problem-solving, critical thinking, and collaboration skills. Unfortunately, funding and professional development for teachers, which is essential to assure successful implementation of science lessons to increase the potential for student achievement, is lacking. Therefore, this NSF-funded science-education research project explored the development of a model that deepens the existing partnerships among grass-roots, non-profit community education organizations, K-12 public schools, and local university partners. Together, they worked collaboratively to develop systems where teachers could implement high-quality, place-based, NGSS-aligned science learning opportunities that actively engage students. This research project may lead to a future proposal for high-quality professional development for teachers, using the Teacher-to-Teacher professional development model, with the goal of impacting student achievement in science. The goals of this research project were to (1) develop a collaborative model that deepens community, public school, and university partnerships designed to support science educators and their students and (2) explore the current academic and social impact of the Teacher-to-Teacher professional development program as a possible solution for the development and implementation of high-quality, place-based, NGSS-aligned learning experiences for and with students. This presentation will focus on the components used to develop the partnership model with community partners, K-12 teachers and administrators, and university professors. Finally, the Teacher-to-Teacher (T2T) model and its new iteration, the Teacher-Plus-Community Partners T+CP Model will be shared for future development of place-based science learning experiences. 

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5. A curricular model to train doctoral students in interdisciplinary research at the food-energy-water nexus

   https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1114529  

   Murray, Rianna Teresa; Marbach-Ad, Gili; McKee, Kelsey; Lansing, Stephanie; Winner, Megan Elizabeth; Sapkota, Amy Rebecca (September 2023, Frontiers in Education)

   Food, energy and water (FEW) systems are inextricably linked, and thus, solutions to FEW nexus challenges, including water and food insecurity, require an interconnected science and policy approach framed in systems thinking. To drive these solutions, we developed an interdisciplinary, experiential graduate education program focused on innovations at the FEW nexus. As part of our program, PhD students complete a two-course sequence: (1) an experiential introduction to innovations at the FEW nexus and (2) a data practicum. The two courses are linked through an interdisciplinary FEW systems research project that begins during the first course and is completed at the end of the second course. Project deliverables include research manuscripts, grant proposals, policy memos, and outreach materials. Topics addressed in these projects include building electrification to reduce reliance on fossil fuels for heating, agrivoltaic farming to combat FEW vulnerabilities in the southwestern United States, assessment of food choices to influence sustainable dining practices, and understanding the complexities of FEW nexus research and training at the university level. Evaluation data were generated from our first three student cohorts (n = 33 students) using a mixed method, multi-informant evaluation approach, including the administration of an adapted version of a validated pre-post-survey to collect baseline and end-of-semester data. The survey assessed student confidence in the following example areas: communication, collaboration, and interdisciplinary research skills. Overall, students reported confidence growth in utilizing interdisciplinary research methods (e.g., synthesize the approaches and tools from multiple disciplines to evaluate and address a research problem), collaborating with range of professionals and communicating their research results to diverse audience. The growth in confidence in the surveyed areas aligned with the learning objectives for the two-course sequence, and the interdisciplinary project experience was continually improved based on student feedback. This two-course sequence represents one successful approach for educators to rethink the traditional siloed approach of training doctoral students working at the FEW nexus. 

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