PERC 2018 Abstract Detail Page
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Abstract Title: | Mapping the STEM Pipeline for successful underrepresented students in a high-needs school district |
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Abstract: | Much has been written about the leaky STEM pipeline. During the middle school years, interest in STEM falls off, especially among Black and Latinx students and women. In underserved districts, a very small percentage graduate prepared for college, fewer still take math and science courses that prepare them for undergraduate STEM coursework. Beginning in the 2011-12 academic year, we implemented an informal STEM program for upper elementary and middle school students from a nearby underserved district to support them in and through the STEM Pipeline. Students choose from STEM offerings including hands-on engineering and computer technology courses, coding courses, and physics courses taught through hands-on activities and video games. We found that participants are similar in ethnicity, poverty, and residency, but outperform nonparticipants in a variety of NYS standardized measures of achievement while participating in the program ((e.g. Middle School ELA and Math Assessments) and years after leaving. For example program participants outperform nonparticipants in high school assessments in physics, chemistry, and algebra 2. They are also over-represented in advanced science classes, and in receiving diplomas with advanced designation - a key indicator of preparedness for success in a STEM-based-college major. |
Abstract Type: | Symposium Poster |
Parallel Session: | Wonderful Ideas Deserve Wonderful Research: Techniques for Studying Informal Physics Programs |
Parallel Session: | Parallel Sessions Cluster III |
Contributed Paper Record: | Contributed Paper Information |
Contributed Paper Download: | Download Contributed Paper |
Author/Organizer Information | |
Primary Contact: |
Michele W. McColgan Siena College Department of Physics & Astronomy 515 Loudon Road Loudonville, NY 12211 |
Co-Author(s) and Co-Presenter(s) |
Robert J. Colesante Kenneth Robin |