skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


Title: Strategies for Building an Inclusive Community within a STEM Internship Program
ISEE Professional Development Program Teaching Teams, Akamai interns, and Akamai staff all participate in a multi-day Preparation for Research Experiences and Projects (PREP) course at the start of the annual Akamai Internship Program. One of the goals for the PREP course is to establish an inclusive, collaborative community amongst the varied participants. Integrated with the inquiry activities taught by Teaching Teams are several Akamai-designed and facilitated activities whose purpose is to build community as well as an understanding of and sensitivity towards an inclusive work environment. These activities include an opening icebreaker, a career pathways discussion, workplace integration role-plays, a workplace inclusion discussion, and a closing celebration dinner. This paper highlights specific connections between the Institute for Scientist and Engineer Educators’ Equity & Inclusion strand and the collaborative activities that engage Teaching Teams, interns, and staff during the Akamai PREP course.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1743117
PAR ID:
10484109
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ;
Editor(s):
Seagroves, Scott; Barnes, Austin; Metevier, Anne; Porter, Jason; Hunter, Lisa
Publisher / Repository:
Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators (ISEE)
Date Published:
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; (, Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators (ISEE))
    Seagroves, Scott; Barnes, Austin; Metevier, Anne; Porter, Jason; Hunter, Lisa (Ed.)
    The Akamai Internship in Hawai‘i and the Professional Development Program (PDP) address key issues of sustaining a diverse, equitable, and inclusive STEM workforce in industry and academia. Established in 2002, the Akamai program builds capacity to overcome the brain-drain workforce problem that Hawaiʻi faces by connecting local undergraduate students with internship opportunities in the STEM industries on the islands of Maui and Hawaiʻi. The PDP provides opportunities for graduate students, early-career scientists and industry leaders to learn effective andragogical practices for teaching science and engineering to the next generation at the undergraduate level. A unique, grounding aspect of the Akamai program across all cohorts is a week-long course preparing interns to work with their local industry partners and build an inclusive community. The course is co-led by Akamai program staff and PDP alumni in collaboration with PDP design teams who run complementary inquiry learning activities. Since the first cohort of 2003, 451 interns and around 100 design team members have participated in Akamai. Of the 451 interns who participated in the Akamai program, at least 8 participants have become PDP design team members. The purpose of this panel discussion is to feature four of those alumni that participated in both Akamai and PDP programs. The panelists will share the factors that influenced them to become a PDP instructor as well as highlight the impacts that both programs had in shaping their respective life and career pathways. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; (, Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators (ISEE))
    Seagroves, Scott; Barnes, Austin; Metevier, Anne; Porter, Jason; Hunter, Lisa (Ed.)
    Participants of the Institute for Scientist and Engineer Educators’ (ISEE) Professional Development Program (PDP) work in Design Teams to create inquiry activities that foster student learning of relevant STEM content and practices. These teams implement the inquiry activities in one or more teaching venues (i.e., a context in which Design Team members act as instructors or facilitators with actual learners or students). One such venue is the Akamai Internship Program’s PREP Course. Concurrent with running the PDP, ISEE supported the development of frameworks to help Akamai interns understand the projects they undertake during their internship. Two frameworks were developed: one focused on scientific explanations and the other on engineering solutions. This paper describes how PDP inquiry activities and the ISEE Frameworks come together in a mutually supportive manner during the Akamai PREP Course. This synergy becomes apparent as we examine the sequential placement of PREP sessions whereby the frameworks both push interns to make sense of their experiences with such activities (e.g., revisiting the explanation framework after a science-oriented inquiry) and prepare interns for effective engagement in upcoming inquiry activities (e.g., using the solution framework before an engineering-oriented inquiry). Recommendations include using a similar pairing of inquiry activities and frameworks in other teaching venues. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; ; (, 2016 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE))
    The percentages of women in undergraduate electrical and computer engineering programs at Iowa State University averages below the national average. An external assessment of diversity and inclusion provided an impetus for faculty, staff and administrators to discuss issues, focus on specific areas, and collaborate on planning. In particular, the department has teamed up with the university's Program for Women in Science and Engineering to better integrate their programs with departmental activities. This has resulted in an enhanced student experience model being designed for undergraduate ECE women. The model leverages effective practices including learning communities, leadership and professional development, academic support and advising for the ISU Engineering Basic Program, academic preparation for the ECE field, and state and national resources for inclusive ECE career awareness, recruiting and teaching. The WI-ECSEL Initiative has been designed to improve diversity and inclusion in Iowa State's electrical, computer, and software engineering programs; improve educational pathways including transfer transitions from community colleges; provide a supportive and integrated student experience; establish a community of practice for faculty; and use research to inform practice. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ; (, Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators (ISEE))
    Seagroves, Scott; Barnes, Austin; Metevier, Anne; Porter, Jason; Hunter, Lisa (Ed.)
    Transitioning from graduate student roles in academia to professional careers in industry and government affords ISEE’s Professional Development Program (PDP) alumni the opportunity to apply lessons and techniques learned at the PDP to new environments with new goals. In mission-focused government roles, PDP alumni apply their expertise in inquiry-style teaching to mentor junior staff and develop projects that meet governmental requirements, while preserving STEM learner identities. Alumni find that the principles of inquiry-style teaching have applicability across professional development spectrums — from mentoring high school interns through training postdoctoral researchers and managing teams of diverse career stages. In industry, where fast-paced corporate goals drive innovation, alumni have found that PDP principles in developing explicit content and practice learning outcomes have helped them develop unique roles within their companies. Additionally, across both industry and government roles, all PDP alumni on this panel report that PDP’s focus on leadership development, effective meeting strategies, and inclusive management practices have readied them for their post-academia careers. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; (, Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators (ISEE))
    Seagroves, Scott; Barnes, Austin; Metevier, Anne; Porter, Jason; Hunter, Lisa (Ed.)
    As part of the Institute for Scientist and Engineer Educators Professional Development Program (PDP), our team designed an activity for the Akamai internship program’s Preparation for Research Experiences and Projects (PREP) course. The activity focused on content around different renewable energy and storage technologies, and the widely applicable engineering practice of optimization through iteration and evaluating trade-offs. Here we describe the overall activity, with primary emphasis on how the PDP backward design process and integration of the Equity & Inclusion (E&I) theme led us to design and implement a unique model we call the “expert training model” that has important E&I implications. We found that an educational activity design that focuses on E&I considerations, such as identifying multiple ways to productively participate and developing learners’ identity in STEM, simultaneously satisfies criteria for being an engaging and authentic STEM experience. We also reflect on potential pitfalls and ways to improve and adapt this model. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email