An official website of the United States government
The University of Akron has had two National Science Foundation (NSF) funded science, technology, engineering and mathematics scholarship (S-STEM) programs. The cohort of the first S-STEM program (2010-2015) were students that were directly admitted to their selected discipline’s department. The current NSF S-STEM cohort (2015-2020) is a mix of students who were either directly admitted to their major or college-ready students. The university classifies college-ready students as those who are ready for college but lack either a requisite high school GPA, ACT score or completion of a high school science or math course. Each program spanned five years with science disciplines typically graduating in four years and engineering students that participated in co-operative education graduating in five years. The final year of each S- STEM was used to provide peer mentoring in a pseudo-formal environment. In each, seniors who had already participated in the S-STEM program for four years mentored new freshmen for one year. This paper will describe demographics of each S-STEM cohort, the activities used during the peer mentoring, observable differences between direct admit and college-ready freshmen with respect to peer mentoring, and possible peer mentoring activities that can be implemented at other institutions.
more »
« less
Experiments at the edge of space: balloon flights to the stratosphere
Abstract Over 1500 balloons are launched every day, from every continent on Earth, to provide forecasting of tropospheric weather. Similar balloons, which can fly to the edge of space (>30 km), can be used for other science projects. Professional scientists, military users, commercial organisations, and interested amateurs, all fly payloads that provide a relatively low-cost means to reach the upper atmosphere. Weather ballooning is perfectly suited to student education and has been carried out for decades by groups of school, college, and university students. Here we report on one such a project. During March/April 2023 a series of balloons were launched from Sodankylä, Finland, in order to study the particle and radiation environment, along with ozone, in the stratosphere. Inexpensive off-the-shelf Geiger-counters were part of a payload flown to investigate how the radiation environment changed over time. Balloon payloads can be tracked with simple and inexpensive radio receivers. Similar projects to the one outlined here should be possible for any school, college, or university that has a reasonably well-equipped workshop, a group of interested and capable students, and a desire to investigate and learn something new about the planet we live on.
more »
« less
- PAR ID:
- 10490828
- Publisher / Repository:
- IOP Publishing
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Physics Education
- Volume:
- 59
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0031-9120
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: Article No. 025024
- Size(s):
- Article No. 025024
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
The challenges faced by first-generation students, particularly within refugee communities, can be formidable as they aspire to attend an American university and pursue a professional career. These challenges include uncertainties in navigating the path from high school to college, limited awareness of various STEM career fields, and a lack of acquaintances who have successfully navigated similar paths. Complexities such as high school graduation and university admission requirements, coupled with few higher education connections, contribute to the frustrations experienced by parents and students. To address these issues, we present the results of a project aimed at promoting STEM aspirations, and enhancing the understanding of college navigation among refugee families residing in the United States. The project focused on parents and their children in grades 7-12 and was a collaboration between a large public university and leaders of several ethnic community-based organizations (ECBOs) representing local Burundian, Congolese, and Syrian communities. Results indicate the project positively affected students and parents’ STEM capital and college social capital, as well as students’ expectations regarding how fulfilling a STEM career might be.more » « less
-
This paper is a work-in-progress, focused on the utilization of the Rising Scholars Program to introduce minority students to experiential engineering projects within Agricultural and Biological Engineering. Traditional admissions processes at top institutions predominately utilize standardized test scores when comparing student applications. The equity of these high-stakes tests most severely affects students of low socioeconomic status (SES). The NSF-sponsored program, Rising Scholars: Web of Support used as an Indicator of Success in Engineering, was created to investigate whether alternative admission criteria could be used to identify low-SES applicants who would excel within STEM fields in higher education, even if they did not have the superior standardized testing metrics preferred by current admissions processes. The students underwent a pre-selection process to determine their eligibility. The overall experience was designed to enhance student connectivity within the collegiate environment. The Gallup-Purdue Index (2014) found that feeling supported and having learning experiences that illustrated learned principles produced a graduate who would be engaged in their work. The Rising Scholar (RS) program utilized a prescribed path through college designed to enhance these features. These positive experiences are exemplified by the Purdue Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ABE) department and how they approach the overall educational process. Faculty are motivated in their teaching, research, and extension efforts by a focus on meeting the world’s grand challenges, in which most college students are also highly interested. The Rising Scholars Program utilized the Vertically Integrated Projects model to introduce their students to real-life projects at the freshman and sophomore level, which could potentially be continued on into graduate school. Several of the RS students have worked with the Purdue ABE Hog Cooling Pad Project and these students have conducted research, prototyping, and design modifications on the pad. They have participated in five experimental bench tests of the design and four consecutive live animal studies related to the pad performance. Within these experiments, Rising Scholars students were able to work on real-life projects, with real-world impact. The preliminary hypothesis question is: Are future graduates of the Rising Scholars Program more likely to thrive in all areas of well-being due to their collegiate experiences?more » « less
-
Parks, Samantha T (Ed.)Community colleges are frequently an affordable, accessible entrance to a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education and career, but the transition from a 2-year program to a 4-year institution can be tumultuous. In this mixed-methods study, we explore the experiences of transfer and prospective transfer students. Through surveys and interviews, we identify the challenges faced by and the supports desired by biology transfer students. We describe how community college students perceive their introductory biology courses, and we compare the biology identity and self-efficacy of these students to peers at a 4-year institution. Students expressed uncertainty about what to expect from the transfer experience, and they benefitted from interventions that made the university experience more concrete or clarified their expectations. We found that community college students are just as interested in biology as peers at a 4-year university, but they are significantly less likely to believe that others recognize them as “biology people” and report less self-efficacy regarding biology courses. Students felt particularly well-prepared for transfer after community college biology courses they described as “rigorous” and “demanding,” especially because students expressed that the community college environment helped support them through the challenges of higher education.more » « less
-
Introduction Despite years of research and practice, there remains a need to broaden participation in engineering. The NSF-funded research study [PROGRAM] addresses this issue by providing engineering curricula and professional development for high school teachers. [PROGRAM] also engages in building and maintaining a Community of Practice (CoP). The CoP model allows for strategic partnerships to create lasting connections between high schools and various community partners. Community partners include stakeholders such as school counselors, school administrators, district officials, parents, university liaisons, community liaisons, and industry representatives that cultivate a local ecosystem to support students and teachers in this pre-college engineering education initiative. Since the roles and responsibilities of community partners vary, this paper focuses on one type of partner: university liaisons. Within the CoP, university liaisons voluntarily commit their knowledge and expertise to support high school teachers during professional development and curriculum implementation. Each liaison typically supports up to two high schools. Liaisons also engage with each other via Slack, an online communication platform. Objective Our paper examines how university liaisons engage with the CoP in [PROGRAM]. The goals of this study are to: 1) Capture aspects that are currently viewed as exciting or challenging for university liaisons, and 2) Understand ways in which [PROGAM] could facilitate further involvement of these university liaisons in the CoP. Methods After obtaining IRB approval, we conducted virtual focus groups with five liaisons from distinct universities who work with eight [PROGAM] schools. Two focus groups averaged 60 minutes long; liaisons discussed their relationships with their partner high schools, resources through [PROGRAM], and education and outreach at their universities. The semi-structured format of the focus groups allowed liaisons to respond to each other and elaborate on their thoughts in a casual atmosphere. The focus groups were recorded and two coders are currently analyzing the transcripts. Results Analysis is ongoing. Initial findings suggest that university liaisons enjoy the experience of engaging with high school teachers and students, especially when they can bring students to campus and share their institutions’ engineering programs. As a proposed program change, liaisons are interested in more structure to the CoP. For example, high school teachers currently meet virtually as small groups for scheduled check-ins; university liaisons expressed interest in a similar monthly meeting to discuss their experiences and share resources and recommendations with other liaisons. Conclusions This paper evaluated the perceived experience of university liaisons in a CoP within [PROGRAM]. Findings provide direction on the best way to support current and future liaisons. These results may also be applicable to other programs that aim to cultivate lasting relationships between K-12 educators and postsecondary institutions.more » « less
